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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12623 ***
+
+THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE
+
+by DANIEL DE FOE
+
+London.
+1808
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: I had one labour to make me a Canoe,
+which at last I finished.]
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE OF DE FOE
+
+
+Daniel De Foe was descended from a respectable family in the county of
+Northampton, and born in London, about the year 1663. His father, James
+Foe, was a butcher, in the parish of St. Giles’s, Cripplegate, and a
+protestant dissenter. Why the subject of this memoir prefixed the _De_
+to his family name cannot now be ascertained, nor did he at any period
+of his life think it necessary to give his reasons to the public. The
+political scribblers of the day, however, thothe utmost hazard theught proper to remedy this
+lack of information, and accused him of possessing so little of the
+_amor patriae_, as to make the addition in order that he might not be
+taken for an Englishman; though this idea could have had no other
+foundation than the circumstance of his having, in consequence of his
+zeal for King William, attacked the prejudices of his countrymen in his
+“True-born Englishman.”
+
+After receiving a good education at an academy at Newington, young De
+Foe, before he had attained his twenty-first year, commenced his career
+as an author, by writing a pamphlet against a very prevailing sentiment
+in favour of the Turks who were at that time laying siege to Vienna.
+This production, being very inferior to those of his maturer years, was
+very little read, and the indignant author, despairing of success with
+his pen, had recourse to the sword; or, as he termed it, when boasting
+of the exploit in his latter years, “displayed his attachment to
+liberty, and protestantism,” by joining the ill-advised insurrection
+under the Duke of Monmouth, in the west. On the failure of that
+unfortunate enterprise, he returned again to the metropolis; and it is
+not improbable, but that the circumstance of his being a native of
+London, and his person not much known in that part of the kingdom where
+the rebellion took place, might facilitate his escape, and be the means
+of preventing his being brought to trial for his share in the
+transaction. With the professions of a writer and a soldier, Mr. De Foe,
+in the year 1685, joined that of a trader; he was first engaged as a
+hosier, in Cornhill, and afterwards as a maker of bricks and pantiles,
+near Tilbury Fort, in Essex; but in consequence of spending those hours
+in the hilarity of the tavern which he ought to have employed in the
+calculations of the counting-house, his commercial schemes proved
+unsuccessful; and in 1694 he was obliged to abscond from his creditors,
+not failing to attribute those misfortunes to the war and the severity
+of the times, which were doubtless owing to his own misconduct. It is
+much to his credit however, that after having been freed from his debts
+by composition, and being in prosperous circumstances from King
+William’s favour, he voluntarily paid most of his creditors both the
+principal and interest of their claims. This is such an example of
+honesty as it would be unjust to De Foe and to the world to conceal. The
+amount of the sums thus paid must have been very considerable, as he
+afterwards feelingly mentions to Lord Haversham, who had reproached him
+with covetousness; “With a numerous family, and no helps but my own
+industry, I have forced my way through a sea of misfortunes, and reduced
+my debts, exclusive of composition, from seventeen thousand to less than
+five thousand pounds.”
+
+At the beginning of the year 1700, Mr. De Foe published a satire in
+verse, which excited very considerable attention, called the “True-born
+Englishman.” Its purpose was to furnish a reply to those who were
+continually abusing King William and some of his friends as
+_foreigners_, by shewing that the present race of Englishmen was a mixed
+and heterogeneous brood, scarcely any of which could lay claim to native
+purity of blood. The satire was in many parts very severe; and though
+it gave high offence, it claimed a considerable share of the public
+attention. The reader will perhaps be gratified by a specimen of this
+production, wherein he endeavours to account for—
+
+     “What makes this discontented land appear
+     Less happy now in times of peace, than war;
+     Why civil feuds disturb the nation more,
+     Than all our bloody wars had done before:
+     Fools out of favour grudge at knaves in place,
+     And men are always honest in disgrace:
+     The court preferments make men knaves in course,
+     But they, who would be in them, would be worse.
+     ’Tis not at foreigners that we repine,
+     Would foreigners their perquisites resign:
+     The grand contention’s plainly to be seen,
+     To get some men put out, and some put in.”
+
+It will be immediately perceived that De Foe could have no pretentious
+to the character of a _poet_; but he has, notwithstanding, some nervous
+and well-versified lines, and in choice of subject and moral he is in
+general excellent. The True-born Englishman concludes thus:
+
+     Could but our ancestors retrieve their fate,
+     And see their offspring thus degenerate;
+     How we contend for birth and names unknown,
+     And build on their past actions, not our own;
+     They’d cancel records, and their tombs deface,
+     And openly disown the vile, degenerate race.
+     For fame of families is all a cheat;
+     ’TIS PERSONAL VIRTUE ONLY MAKES US GREAT.
+
+For this defence of foreigners De Foe was amply rewarded by King
+William, who not only ordered him a pension, but as his opponents
+denominated it, appointed him _pamphlet-writer general to the court_; an
+office for which he was peculiarly well calculated, possessing, with a
+strong mind and a ready wit, that kind of yielding conscience which
+allowed him to support the measures of his benefactors though convinced
+they were injurious to his country. De Foe now retired to Newington
+with his family, and for a short time lived at ease; but the death of
+his royal patron deprived him of a generous protector, and opened a
+scene of sorrow which probably embittered his future life.
+
+He had always discovered a great inclination to engage in religious
+controversy, and the furious contest, civil and ecclesiastical, which
+ensued on the accession of Queen Anne, gave him an opportunity of
+gratifying his favourite passion. He therefore published a tract
+entitled “The shortest Way with the Dissenters, or Proposals for the
+Establishment of the Church,” which contained an ironical recommendation
+of persecution, but written in so serious a strain, that many persons,
+particularly Dissenters, at first mistook its real intention. The high
+church party however saw, and felt the ridicule, and, by their
+influence, a prosecution was commenced against him, and a proclamation
+published in the Gazette, offering a reward for his apprehension[1].
+When De Foe found with how much rigour himself and his pamphlet were
+about to be treated, he at first secreted himself; but his printer and
+bookseller being taken into custody, he surrendered, being resolved, as
+he expresses it, “to throw himself upon the favour of government, rather
+than that others should be ruined for his mistakes.” In July, 1703, he
+was brought to trial, found guilty, and sentenced to be imprisoned, to
+stand in the pillory, and to pay a fine of two hundred marks. He
+underwent the infamous part of the punishment with great fortitude, and
+it seems to have been generally thought that he was treated with
+unreasonable severity. So far was he from being ashamed of his fate
+himself, that he wrote a hymn to the pillory, which thus ends, alluding
+to his accusers:
+
+     Tell them, the men that plac’d him here
+     Are scandals to the times;
+     Are at a loss to find his guilt,
+     And can’t commit his crimes.
+
+Pope, who has thought fit to introduce him in his Dunciad (probably from
+no other reason than party difference) characterises him in the
+following line:
+
+     Earless on high stood unabash’d De Foe.
+
+[Footnote 1: St. James’s, January 10, 1702-3. “Whereas Daniel De Foe,
+alias De Fooe, is charged with writing a scandalous and seditious
+pamphlet, entitled ‘The shortest Way with the Dissenters:’ he is a
+middle-sized spare man, about 40 years old, of a brown complexion, and
+dark-brown coloured hair, but wears a wig, a hooked nose, a sharp chin,
+grey eyes, and a large mole near his mouth, was born in London, and for
+many years was a hose-factor, in Freeman’s Yard, in Cornhill, and now is
+owner of the brick and pantile works near Tilbury Fort, in Essex;
+whoever shall discover the said Daniel De Foe, to one of her Majesty’s
+Principal Secretaries of State, or any of her Majesty’s Justices of
+Peace, so as he may be apprehended, shall have a reward of 50_l_. which
+her Majesty has ordered immediately to be paid upon such discovery.”
+
+_London Gaz_. No. 3679.]
+
+This is one of those instances of injustice and malignity which so
+frequently occur in the Dunciad, and which reflect more dishonour on the
+author than on the parties traduced. De Foe lay friendless and
+distressed in Newgate, his family ruined, and himself without hopes of
+deliverance, till Sir Robert Harley, who approved of his principles, and
+foresaw that during a factious age such a genius could be converted to
+many uses, represented his unmerited sufferings to the Queen, and at
+length procured his release. The treasurer, Lord Godolphin, also sent a
+considerable sum to his wife and family, and to him money to pay his
+fine and the expense of his discharge. Gratitude and fidelity are
+inseparable from an honest man; and it was this benevolent act that
+prompted De Foe to support Harley, with his able and ingenious pen, when
+Anne lay lifeless, and his benefactor in the vicissitude of party was
+persecuted by faction, and overpowered, though not conquered,
+by violence.
+
+The talents and perseverance of De Foe began now to be properly
+estimated, and as a firm supporter of the administration, he was sent
+by Lord Godolphin to Scotland, on an errand which, as he says, was far
+from being unfit for a sovereign to direct, or an honest man to perform.
+His knowledge of commerce and revenue, his powers of insinuation, and
+above all, his readiness of pen, were deemed of no small utility, in
+promoting the union of the two kingdoms; of which he wrote an able
+history, in 1709, with two dedications, one to the Queen, and another to
+the Duke of Queensbury. Soon afterwards he unhappily, by some equivocal
+writings, rendered himself suspected by both parties, so that he once
+more retired to Newington in hopes of spending the remainder of his days
+in peace. His pension being withdrawn, and wearied with politics, he
+began to compose works of a different kind.—The year 1715 may therefore
+be regarded as the period of De Foe’s political life. Faction henceforth
+found other advocates, and parties procured other writers to disseminate
+their suggestions, and to propagate their falsehoods.
+
+In 1715 De Foe published the “Family Instructor;” a work inculcating the
+domestic duties in a lively manner, by narration and dialogue, and
+displaying much knowledge of life in the middle ranks of society.
+“Religious Courtship” also appeared soon after, which, like the “Family
+Instructor,” is eminently religious and moral in its tendency, and
+strongly impresses on the mind that spirit of sobriety and private
+devotion for which the dissenters have generally been distinguished. The
+most celebrated of all his works, “The Life and Adventures of Robinson
+Crusoe,” appeared in 1719. This work has passed through numerous
+editions, and been translated into almost all modern languages. The
+great invention which is displayed in it, the variety of incidents and
+circumstances which it contains, related in the most easy and natural
+manner, together with the excellency of the moral and religious
+reflections, render it a performance of very superior and uncommon
+merit, and one of the most interesting works that ever appeared. It is
+strongly recommended by Rosseau as a book admirably calculated to
+promote the purposes of natural education; and Dr. Blair says, “No
+fiction, in any language, was ever better supported than the Adventures
+of Robinson Crusoe. While it is carried on with that appearance of truth
+and simplicity, which takes a strong hold of the imagination of all
+readers, it suggests, at the same time, very useful instruction; by
+shewing how much the native powers of man may be exerted for surmounting
+the difficulties of any external situation.” It has been pretended, that
+De Foe surreptitiously appropriated the papers of Alexander Selkirk, a
+Scotch mariner, who lived four years alone on the island of Juan
+Fernandez, and a sketch of whose story had before appeared in the voyage
+of Captain Woodes Rogers. But this charge, though repeatedly and
+confidently brought, appears to be totally destitute of any foundation.
+De Foe probably took some general hints for his work from the story of
+Selkirk, but there exists no proof whatever, nor is it reasonable to
+suppose that he possessed any of his papers or memoirs, which had been
+published seven years before the appearance of Robinson Crusoe. As a
+farther proof of De Foe’s innocence, Captain Rogers’s Account of Selkirk
+may be produced, in which it is said that the latter had neither
+preserved pen, ink, or paper, and had, in a great measure, lost his
+language; consequently De Foe could not have received any written
+assistance, and we have only the assertion of his enemies to prove that
+he had any verbal.
+
+The great success of Robinson Crusoe induced its author to write a
+number of other lives and adventures, some of which were popular in
+their times, though at present nearly forgotten. One of his latest
+publications was “A Tour through the Island of Great Britain,” a
+performance of very inferior merit; but De Foe was now the garrulous old
+man, and his spirit (to use the words of an ingenious biographer) “like
+a candle struggling in the socket, blazed and sunk, blazed and sunk,
+till it disappeared at length in total darkness.” His laborious and
+unfortunate life was finished on the 26th of April, 1731, in the parish
+of St. Giles’s, Cripplegate.
+
+Daniel De Foe possessed very extraordinary talents; as a commercial
+writer, he is fairly entitled to stand in the foremost rank among his
+contemporaries, whatever may be their performances or their fame. His
+distinguishing characteristics are originality, spirit, and a profound
+knowledge of his subject, and in these particulars he has seldom been
+surpassed. As the author of Robinson Crusoe he has a claim, not only to
+the admiration, but to the gratitude of his countrymen; and so long as
+we have a regard for supereminent merit, and take an interest in the
+welfare of the rising generation, that gratitude will not cease to
+exist. But the opinion of the learned and ingenious Dr. Beattie will be
+the best eulogium that can be pronounced on that celebrated romance:
+“Robinson Crusoe,” says the Doctor, “must be allowed by the most rigid
+moralist, to be one of those novels 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 the importance of the
+mechanic 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
+shews, how, by labouring with one’s own hands, one may secure
+independence, and open for one’s self many sources of health and
+amusement. I agree, therefore, with Rosseau, that it is one of the best
+books that can be put into the hands of children.”
+
+G.D.
+
+
+
+THE
+
+LIFE AND ADVENTURES
+
+OF
+
+ROBINSON CRUSOE,
+
+&c. &c.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family,
+though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who
+settled first at Hull: he got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving
+off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my
+mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that
+country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the
+usual corruption of words in England, we are now called, nay we call
+ourselves, and write our name Crusoe, and so my companions always
+called me.
+
+I had two elder brothers, one of which was lieutenant-colonel to an
+English regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous
+Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the
+Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, any more than
+my father or mother did know what was become of me.
+
+Being the third son of the family, and not bred to any trade, my head
+began to be filled very early with rambling thoughts: my father, who was
+very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as
+house education and a country free-school generally go, and designed me
+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 something fatal in
+that propension of nature tending directly to the life of misery which
+was to befal 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 me what reasons more than a mere
+wandering inclination 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 for men of desperate fortunes on one hand,
+or of aspiring superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon
+adventures, 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 might 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 mechanic 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 happiness of
+this state by this one thing, viz. 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 wish they had
+been placed in the middle of the two extremes, between the mean 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 bid 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 as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, 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 consequences 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 middle
+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 for
+great things; but in easy circumstances sliding 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.
+
+After this, he pressed me earnestly, and in the most affectionate
+manner, not to play the young man, not 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 recommending 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 encouragement 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, where
+he was killed; 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.
+
+I observed in this last part of his discourse, which was truly
+prophetic, though I suppose my father did not know it to be so himself;
+I say, I observed the tears run down his face very plentifully, and
+especially when he spoke of my brother who was killed; 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
+otherwise? 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 farther
+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 attorney; that I was sure, if I did, I should
+never serve out my time, 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 go one voyage abroad, if I came home again, and did not
+like it, I would go no more, and I would promise by a double diligence
+to recover that 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 subject; that he
+knew too well what was my interest to give his consent to any such thing
+so much for my hurt; and that she wondered how I could think of any such
+thing after such a discourse as I had had with 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 have heard
+afterwards, 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 was ever born; I can give no
+consent to it.”
+
+It was not till almost a year after this that I broke loose, though, in
+the meantime, I continued obstinately deaf to all proposals of settling
+to business, and frequently expostulating with my father and mother
+about their being so positively 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 that time; but
+I say, being there, and one of my companions being going by sea to
+London, in his father’s ship, and prompting me to go with them, with the
+common allurement of seafaring men, viz. that it should cost me nothing
+for my passage, I consulted neither father or mother any more, not so
+much as sent them word of it; but leaving them to hear of it as they
+might, without asking God’s blessing, or my father’s, without any
+consideration of circumstances or consequences, and in an ill hour, God
+knows, on the first of September, 1651, I went on board a ship bound for
+London. Never any young adventurer’s misfortunes, I believe, began
+sooner, or continued longer than mine. The ship was no sooner gotten out
+of the Humber, but the wind began to blow, and the waves to rise in a
+most frightful manner; and, as I had never been at sea before, I was
+most inexpressibly sick in body, and terrified in mind. I began now
+seriously to reflect upon what I had done, and how justly I was
+overtaken by the judgment of Heaven for my wicked leaving my father’s
+house, and abandoning my duty; 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 hardness to
+which it has been since, reproached me with the contempt of advice, and
+the breach of my duty to God and my father.
+
+All this while the storm increased, and the sea, which I had never been
+upon before, went very high, though nothing like what I have seen many
+times since; no, nor like what I saw a few days after: but it was enough
+to affect me 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 here to
+spare my life this one voyage, if ever I got once my foot upon dry land
+again 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 comfortably 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 all the while the storm
+continued, and indeed some time after; but the next day the wind was
+abated, and the sea calmer, and I began to be a little inured to it:
+however, I was very grave for all 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 ever I 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 so pleasant in so
+little time after. And now, lest my good resolutions should continue, my
+companion, who had indeed enticed me away, comes to me: “Well, Bob,”
+says he, (clapping me upon the shoulder) “how do you do after it? I
+warrant you were frighted, wa’n’t you, last night, when it blew but a
+capful of wind?”—“A capful do you call it?” said I; “it was a terrible
+storm.”—“A storm you fool you,” replied 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 of wind as that; but you’re but a
+fresh-water sailor, Bob. Come, let us make a bowl of punch, and we’ll
+forget all that; do you see what charming weather it is now?” To make
+short this sad part of my story, we went the old way of all sailors; the
+punch was made, and I was made drunk with it; and in that one night’s
+wickedness I drowned all my repentance, all my reflections upon my past
+conduct, and all my resolutions for my future. In a word, as the sea was
+returned to its smoothness of surface and settled calmness by the
+abatement of that storm, so the hurry of my thoughts being over, my
+fears and apprehensions of being swallowed up by the sea being
+forgotten, and the current of my former desires returned, I entirely
+forgot the vows and promises that I made in my distress. I found,
+indeed, some intervals of reflection, and the 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 drinking 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 fellow 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
+entirely without excuse: for if I would not take this for a deliverance,
+the next was to be such a one as the worst and most hardened wretch
+among us would confess both the danger and the mercy.
+
+The sixth day of our being at sea we came into Yarmouth Roads; the wind
+having been contrary, and the weather calm, we had made but little way
+since the storm. Here we were obliged to come to anchor, and here we
+lay, the wind continuing contrary, viz. at south-west, for seven or
+eight days, during which time a great many ships from Newcastle came
+into the same roads, as the common harbour where the ships might wait
+for a wind for the river.
+
+We had not, however, rid here so long, but should have tided it up the
+river, but that the wind blew too fresh; and after we had lain four or
+five days, blew very hard. However, the roads being reckoned as good as
+a harbour, the anchorage 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 increased, and we had all hands at
+work to strike our topmasts, 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 rid _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 ahead,
+and the cables veered out to the better end.
+
+By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed; and now I began to see
+terror and amazement in the faces even of the seamen themselves. The
+master, though vigilant in the business of preserving the ship, yet as
+he went in and out of his cabin by me, I could hear him softly to
+himself say 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 cabin, which was in the steerage, and
+cannot describe my temper: I could ill reassume the first penitence
+which I had so apparently trampled upon, and hardened myself against: I
+thought the bitterness of death had been past, and that this would be
+nothing like the first: but when the master himself came by me, as I
+said just now, and said we should be all lost, I was dreadfully
+frighted: 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 round us: two ships that rid near us, we found, had cut their
+masts by the board, being deep loaden; and our men cried out, that a
+ship which rid about a mile ahead of us was foundered. Two more ships
+being driven from their anchors, were run out of the roads 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-sail out
+before the wind.
+
+Towards evening the mate and boatswain begged the master of our ship to
+let them cut away the fore-mast, which he was very unwilling to do: but
+the boatswain protesting to him, that if he did not, the ship would
+founder, he consented; and when they had cut away the fore-mast, the
+main-mast stood so loose, and shook the ship so much, they were obliged
+to cut her 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 in 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 loaden,
+and 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
+know what they meant by founder till I inquired. However, the storm was
+so violent, that I saw what is not often seen, the master, the
+boatswain, and some others more sensible than the rest, at their
+prayers, and expecting every moment when 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 sprang a leak; another said, there was four foot 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 my bed where I sat, into the cabin. However, the men roused me, and
+told me, that I that was able to do nothing before, was 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 master seeing some light
+colliers, who, not able to ride out the storm, were obliged to slip and
+run away to sea, and would come near us, ordered to fire a gun as a
+signal of distress. I, who knew nothing what that meant, was so
+surprised, that I thought the ship had broke, or some dreadful thing
+happened. In a word, I was so surprised, that I fell down in a swoon. As
+this was a time when every body had his own life to think of, nobody
+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, thinking I had
+been dead; and it was a great while before I came to myself.
+
+We worked on; but the water increasing 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 possible she could swim till we might run into a port,
+so the master continued firing guns for help; and a light ship, who had
+rid it out just ahead 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 to 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.
+
+We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship but we
+saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by
+a ship foundering in the sea. I must acknowledge I had hardly eyes to
+look up when the seamen told me she was sinking; for from that moment
+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 with fright, partly with
+horror of mind, and the thoughts of what was yet before me.
+
+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 see the shore, a great many people running along
+the shore to assist us when we should come near; but we made but slow
+way towards the shore, nor were we able to reach the shore, till being
+past the light-house at Winterton, the shore falls off to the westward
+towards Cromer, and so the land broke off a little the violence of the
+wind. Here we got in, and, though not without much difficulty, got all
+safe on shore, and walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth, where, as
+unfortunate men, we were used with great humanity, as well by the
+magistrates of the town, who assigned us good quarters, as by particular
+merchants and owners of ships, and had money given us sufficient to
+carry us either to London or back to Hull, as we thought fit.
+
+Had I now had the sense to have gone back to Hull, and have gone home, I
+had been happy, and my father, an emblem of our blessed Saviour’s
+parable, had even killed the fatted calf for me; for hearing the ship I
+went away in was cast away in Yarmouth Roads, it was a great while
+before he had any assurance that I was not drowned.
+
+But my ill fate pushed me on now 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. 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 push upon it with our eyes
+open. Certainly nothing but some such decreed unavoidable misery
+attending, and which it was impossible for me to escape, could have
+pushed me forward against the calm reasonings and persuasions of my most
+retired thoughts, and against two such visible instructions as I had met
+with in my first attempt.
+
+My comrade, who had helped to harden me before, and who was the master’s
+son, 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 several 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, and 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 very 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.”—“Why, Sir,” said I, “will you go to sea no more?” “That
+is another case,” said he; “it is my calling, and therefore my 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 is 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; “What had I done,” says 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; told me I might see a
+visible hand of Heaven against me. “And young man,” said he, “depend
+upon it, if you do not go back, wherever you go, you will meet with
+nothing but disasters and disappointments, till your father’s words are
+fulfilled upon you.”
+
+We parted soon after; for I made him little answer, 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; and it immediately occurred to me how I should be laughed at
+among the neighbours, and should be ashamed to see, not my father and
+mother only, but even every body else; from whence I have since often
+observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind
+is, especially of youth, to that reason which ought to guide them in
+such cases, viz. that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed
+to repent; nor 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 men.
+
+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 a while, the
+remembrance of the distress I had been in 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,
+that hurried me into the wild and indigested notion of raising my
+fortune; and that impressed those conceits so forcibly upon me, as to
+make me deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties and even the
+command of my father: I say, the same influence, whatever it was,
+presented the most unfortunate of all enterprises 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.
+
+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 learnt the duty and
+office of a foremastman; and in time might have qualified myself for a
+mate or lieutenant, if not for 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, or learnt
+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 unguided 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 very good success there, was resolved to go again; and who taking a
+fancy to my conversation, which was not at all disagreeable at that
+time, hearing me say I had a mind to see the world, told me if I would
+go the voyage with him I should be at no expense; I should be his
+messmate and his companion; and if I could carry any thing with me, 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 an honest and plain-dealing man, I went the voyage with
+him, and carried a small adventure with me, which, by the disinterested
+honesty of my friend the captain, I increased very considerably; for I
+carried about 40_l_. in such toys and trifles as the captain directed me
+to buy. This 40_l_. I had mustered together by the assistance of some of
+my relations 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.
+
+This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my
+adventures, and which I owe to the integrity and honesty of my friend
+the captain, under whom also I got a competent knowledge of the
+mathematics and the rules of navigation, learnt how to keep an account
+of the ship’s course, take an observation, and, in short, to understand
+some things that were needful to be understood by a sailor: for, as he
+took delight to instruct me, I took delight to learn; and, in a word,
+this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant: for I brought home
+five pounds nine ounces of gold-dust for my adventure, which yielded me
+in London at my return almost 300_l_. and this filled me with those
+aspiring thoughts which have so completed my ruin.
+
+Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes 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.
+
+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 same
+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 100_l_. of my new-gained wealth, so that I had 200_l_. 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,
+viz. 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 Turkish rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with
+all the sail she could make. We crowded also as much canvass as our
+yards would spread, or our masts carry, to have got 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
+eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came up with us, and bringing
+to by mistake just athwart 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. However, 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 sixty men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and
+hacking the decks and rigging. We plied them with small-shot,
+half-pikes, powder-cheats, and such like, and cleared our deck of them
+twice. However, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship
+being disabled, and three of our men killed and eight wounded, we were
+obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Sallee, a port
+belonging to the Moors.
+
+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 overwhelmed; 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 I could not be worse; that 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 of this story.
+
+As my new patron, or master, had taken me home to his house, so I was in
+hopes that he would take me with him when he went to sea again,
+believing that it would sometime or other be his fate to be taken by a
+Spanish or Portugal 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 be 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 probability in it:
+nothing presented to make the supposition of it rational; for I had
+nobody to communicate it to that would embark with me, no fellow slave,
+no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotsman there but myself; so that for two
+years, though I often pleased myself with the imagination, 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 Maresco with him to row the boat, we made him very
+merry, and I proved very dexterous in catching fish; insomuch that
+sometimes he would send me with a Moor, one of his kinsmen, and the
+youth the Maresco, as they called him, to catch a dish of fish for him.
+
+It happened one time, that going a-fishing in a stark calm morning, a
+fog rose 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 shore: 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 particularly we were
+all very hungry.
+
+But our patron, 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 taken, he resolved he would not go a-fishing any
+more without a compass and some provision; so he ordered the carpenter
+of his ship, who also was an English slave, to build a little
+state-room, or cabin, in the middle of the long-boat, like that of a
+barge, with a place to stand behind it to steer and hale home the
+main-sheet; and room before for a hand or two to stand and work the
+sails: she sailed with that 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 eat
+on, with some small lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor as he
+thought fit to drink; particularly his bread, rice, and coffee.
+
+We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing, and as I was most
+dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me. It happened
+that he had appointed 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 extraordinarily, and had therefore sent on board
+the boat over-night a larger store of provisions than ordinary; and had
+ordered me to get ready three fuzees 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 had directed, and waited the next morning
+with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out, and every
+thing to accommodate his guests; when by and by my patron 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 got some fish I should bring
+it home to his house; all which I prepared to do.
+
+This moment my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts,
+for 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 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.
+
+My first contrivance was to make a pretence to speak to this Moor, to
+get something for our subsistence on board; for I told him we must not
+presume to eat of our patron’s bread; he said, that was true: so he
+brought a large basket of rusk or bisket of their kind, and three jars
+with fresh water, into the boat. I knew where my patron’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 on
+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 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 Ismael, whom they call Muly or Moley; so I
+called to him: “Moley,” said I, “our patron’s guns are on board the
+boat; can you not get a little powder and shot? It may be we may kill
+some alcamies (a fowl 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 accordingly he brought a great leather pouch which held about
+a pound and a half of powder, or rather more; and another with shot,
+that had five or six pounds, with some bullets, and put all into the
+boat; at the same time I had found some powder of my master’s in the
+great cabin, with which I filled one of the large bottles in the case,
+which was almost empty, pouring what was in it into another; and thus
+furnished with every thing needful, we sailed out of the port to fish.
+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 haled in our sail, and set us down to fish. The wind blew from
+the N.N.E. which was contrary to my desire; for had it blown southerly,
+I 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 that 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 in the
+head of the boat set the sails; and as I had the helm I ran the boat out
+near a league farther, and then brought her to as if I would fish; when
+giving the boy the helm, I stepped forward to where the Moor was, and
+making as if I stooped for something behind him, I took him by surprise
+with my arm under his twist, and tossed him clear overboard into the
+sea; he rose immediately, for he swam like a cork, and called to me,
+begged to be taken in, told me he would go all over the world 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-pieces, I presented it at him,
+and told him, I had done him no hurt, and if he would be quiet I would
+do him none: “But,” said I, “you swim well enough to reach to the shore,
+and the sea is calm; make the best of your way to shore, and I will do
+you no harm; but if you come near the boat I’ll 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, and have
+drowned 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’ll make you a great man; but if you will
+not stroke your face to be true to me,” that is, swear by Mahomet and
+his father’s beard, “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 to me, and go all over the world with me.
+
+While I was in view of the Moor that was swimming, I stood out directly
+to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that they might
+think me gone towards the Straits’ mouth; (as indeed any one that had
+been in their wits must have been supposed to do) for who would have
+supposed we were sailed on to the southward to the truly Barbarian
+coast, where whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with the
+canoes, 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?
+
+But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course, and
+steered directly south and by east, 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 at three o’clock in the afternoon, when I first made the
+land, I could not be less than 150 miles south of Sallee; quite beyond
+the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions, or indeed of any other king
+thereabouts, for we saw no people.
+
+Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful
+apprehensions 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 come 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 principal thing
+I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening,
+resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the
+country; but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard, such dreadful
+noises of the barking, 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
+won’t; but it may be we may see men by day, who will be as bad to us as
+those lions.”—“Then we give them the shoot gun,” says Xury, laughing,
+“make them run wey.” Such English Xury spoke by conversing among us
+slaves. However, I was glad to see the boy so cheerful, and I gave him a
+dram (out of our patron’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; for in two or three
+hours we saw vast great creatures (we knew not what to call them) of
+many sorts, come down to the sea-shore and run into the water, wallowing
+and washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling themselves; and they
+made such hideous howlings and yellings, that I never indeed heard
+the like.
+
+Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed so was I too; but we were both
+more frighted when we heard one of these mighty creatures come 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
+cable with the buoy to it, and go off to sea; they cannot follow us
+far.” I had no sooner said so, but I perceived the creature (whatever it
+was) within two oars’ length, which something surprised me; however, I
+immediately stepped to the cabin-door, and taking up my gun fired at
+him; upon which he immediately turned about, and swam towards the
+shore again.
+
+But it is impossible to describe the horrible noises, and hideous cries
+and howlings, that were raised, as well upon the edge of the shore as
+higher within the country, upon the noise or report of the gun, a thing
+I have some reason to believe those creatures had never heard before:
+this convinced me that there was no going on shore for us in the night
+upon that coast, and how to venture on shore 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 hands 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 or 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 made me love him
+ever after. Says he, “If wild mans come, they eat me, you go
+wey.”—“Well, Xury,” said I, “we will both go, and if the wild mans
+come, we will kill them, they shall eat neither of us.” So I gave Xury a
+piece of rusk bread to eat, and a dram out of our patron’s case of
+bottles which I mentioned before; and we haled the boat in as near the
+shore as we thought was proper, and waded on shore; carrying nothing but
+our arms, and two jars for water.
+
+I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the coming of
+canoes 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 towards me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, or frighted
+with some wild beast, and I run forward towards him 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 that 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 flows but a little way up; so we filled our
+jars, and 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 one voyage to this coast before, I knew very well that the
+islands of the Canaries, and the Cape de Verd islands also, lay not far
+off from the coast. But as I had no instruments to take an observation
+to know what latitude we were in, and not exactly knowing, or at least
+remembering what latitude they were in, and knew not where to look for
+them, or when to stand off to sea towards them; otherwise I might now
+easily have found some of these islands. But my hope was, that if I
+stood along this coast till I came to that 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, that place where I now was, must be that
+country, which, lying between the emperor of Morocco’s dominions and the
+Negroes, lies waste, and uninhabited, except by wild beasts; the Negroes
+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 army, two or three thousand men at a time; and indeed for near
+an 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.
+
+Once or twice in the daytime. I thought I saw the Pico of Teneriffe,
+being the high top of the Mountain Teneriffe in the Canaries; and 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.
+
+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 anchor 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 dreadful monster on the side of that hillock fast
+asleep.” I looked where he pointed, and saw a dreadful monster indeed,
+for it was a terrible great lion that lay on the side of the shore,
+under the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as it were a little
+over him. “Xury,” says I, “you shall go on shore and kill him.” Xury
+looked frighted, and said, “Me kill! he eat me at one mouth;” one
+mouthful he meant: however, I said no more to the boy, but had him lie
+still, and I took our biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and
+loaded it with a good charge of powder, and with two slugs, and laid it
+down; then I loaded another gun with two bullets; and the 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 into the head, but he
+lay so with his leg raised a little above his nose, that the slugs hit
+his leg about the knee, and broke the bone. He started up growling at
+first, but finding his leg broke fell down again, and then got up upon
+three legs, 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 look up
+the second piece immediately, and, though he began to move off, fired
+again, and shot him into the head, and had the pleasure to see him drop,
+and make but little noise, but he 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 into the head again, which
+dispatched him quite.
+
+This was game indeed to us, but this 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 us. 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, “Me cut off his head,” said he. However, Xury could not cut off
+his head, but he cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a
+monstrous great one.
+
+I bethought 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 up both 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 ten or
+twelve days, living very sparing on our provisions, which began to abate
+very much, and going no oftener into the shore than we were obliged to
+for fresh water: my design in this was, to make the river Gambia or
+Senegal, that is to say, any where about the Cape de Verd, where I was
+in 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 there
+among the Negroes. I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sailed
+either to the coast of Guinea or Brasil, 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 passed 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 that they were quite black, and stark 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
+a distance, but talked with 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 ran up into the country, and
+in less than half an hour 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 nor the other was: however, we were willing to
+accept it, but how to come at it was our next dispute, 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;
+for 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 I 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
+frighted, especially the women. The man that had the lance or dart did
+not fly from them, but the rest did; however, as the two creatures ran
+directly into the water, they did not seem to offer to fall upon any of
+the Negroes, 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 possible expedition, and had Xury load both
+the others: as soon as he came fairly within my reach I fired, and shot
+him directly into 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 the 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 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 Negroes
+to hale, they dragged him on shore, and found that it was a most curious
+leopard, spotted and fine to an admirable degree, and the Negroes held
+up their hands with admiration to think what it was I had killed
+him with.
+
+The other creature, frighted 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, nor could I at that distance know what it was. I found
+quickly the Negroes were for eating the flesh of this creature, 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 signs for the skin, which they gave me very
+freely, and brought me a great deal more of their provision, which,
+though I did not understand, yet I accepted; then I 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 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 and corn, such as it was, and water; and,
+leaving my friendly Negroes, 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 the distance of 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 about two leagues from the
+land, I saw plainly land on the other side to seaward; then I concluded,
+as it was most certain indeed, that this was the Cape de Verd, and those
+the _islands_, called from thence Cape de Verd 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 fresh 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,
+“Master, Master, a ship with a sail!” and the foolish boy was frighted
+out of his wits, thinking it must needs be some of his master’s ships
+sent to pursue us, when I knew we were gotten far enough out of their
+reach. I jumped out of the cabin, and immediately saw not only the ship,
+but what she was, viz. that it was a Portuguese ship, and, as I thought,
+was bound to the coast of Guinea for Negroes. 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 muster, 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; but 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, as 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
+ancient on board, I made a waft of it to them for a signal 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.
+
+They asked me what I was in Portuguese, and in Spanish, and in French;
+but I understood none of them; but at last a Scots sailor, who was on
+board, called to me, and I answered him, and told him I was an
+Englishman, that I had made my escape out of slavery from the Moors at
+Sallee. Then they had me come on board, and very kindly took me in, and
+all my goods.
+
+It was an inexpressible joy to me, that any one would believe that I was
+thus delivered, as I esteemed it, from such a miserable and almost
+hopeless condition as I was in, and 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 the Brasils; “For,” says 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,” said he, “when I carry you to the Brasils, so
+great a way from your own country, if I should take from you what you
+have, you will be starved there, and then I only take away that life I
+have given. No, no, Seignor Inglese,” says he, “Mr. Englishman, I will
+carry you thither in charity, and those things will help you to buy your
+subsistence there, and your passage home again.”
+
+As he was charitable in his 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, it was a very good one, and that he saw, and 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 everything, 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 his hand to pay me
+eighty pieces of eight for it at Brasil; 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
+obligation 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 the Brasils, and arrived in the Bay de
+Todos los Santos, or All Saints’ Bay, in about twenty-two days after.
+And now I was 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 twenty ducats for
+the leopard’s skin, and forty for the lion’s skin which I had in my
+boat, and caused every thing I had in the ship to be punctually
+delivered me; and what I was willing to sell he bought, 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 the Brasils.
+
+I had not been long here, but being recommended to the house of a good
+honest man like himself, who had an _ingeino_ as they call it; that is,
+a plantation and a sugarhouse; I lived with him some time, and
+acquainted myself by that means with the manner of their planting and
+making of sugar; and seeing how well the planters lived, and how they
+grew rich suddenly, I resolved, if I could get license to settle there,
+I would turn planter among them, resolving, 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, and such a one as might
+be suitable 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 neighbour, because his plantation lay next to mine, and we went on
+very sociable together. My stock was but low, as well as his: and we
+rather planted for food, than any thing else, for about two years.
+However, we began to increase, 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, that never did right, was no great
+wonder: I had no remedy but to go on; I was gotten into an employment
+quite remote to my genius, and directly contrary to the life I delighted
+in, and for which I forsook my father’s house, and broke through all his
+good advice; 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 at home, and never
+have fatigued myself in the world as I had done; and I used often to say
+to myself, I could have done this as well in England among my friends,
+as have gone five thousand miles off to do it, among strangers and
+savages in a wilderness, and at such 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 had 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, by their experience; I say, how just
+has it been, that the truly solitary life I reflected on in, an island
+of mere desolation should be my lot, who had so often unjustly compared
+it with the life which I then led, in which had I continued, I had in
+all probability been exceeding 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 there, in providing his
+loading, 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; “Seignor Inglese,” says he, for so he
+always called me, “if you will give me letters, and a procuration 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, God willing, at my return; but since human affairs are
+all subject to changes and disasters, I would have you give orders but
+for 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 gentlewoman with whom I had left my money, and a
+procuration to the Portuguese captain, as he desired.
+
+I wrote the English captain’s widow a full account of all my adventures,
+my slavery, escape, and how I had met with the Portugal 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
+Portugal 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 writ for, sent them directly to him at Lisbon,
+and he brought them all safe to me to the Brasils; among which, without
+my direction (for I was too young in my business to think of them) he
+had taken care to have all sort of tools, iron work, and utensils
+necessary 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 joy of it; and my good steward the captain had laid out the five
+pounds which my friend had sent him for 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 accept, being of my own produce.
+
+Neither was this all; but my goods being all English manufactures, such
+as cloth, stuffs, baize, and things particularly valuable and desirable
+in the country, I found means to sell them to a very great advantage; so
+that I may 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 a hundred weight,
+were well cured and laid by against the return of the fleet from Lisbon.
+And now, increasing 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 of which he had so sensibly
+described the middle station of life to be full; but other things
+attended me, and I was still to be the wilful agent of all my own
+miseries; and particularly to increase 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 apparent
+obstinate adhering to my foolish inclination of wandering abroad, and
+pursuing that inclination, in contradiction to the clearest views of
+doing myself good in a fair and plain pursuit of those prospects and
+those measures of life, which nature and Providence concurred to present
+me with, and to make my duty.
+
+As I had done thus in my 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 gulf of
+human misery that ever man fell into, or perhaps could be consistent
+with life and a state of health in the world.
+
+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 the
+Brasils, and beginning to thrive and prosper very well upon my
+plantation, I had not only learnt the language, but had contracted
+acquaintance and friendship among my fellow-planters, as well as among
+the merchants at St. Salvadore, which was our port; and that in my
+discourse among them, I had frequently given them an account of my two
+voyages to the coast of Guinea, the manner of trading with the Negroes
+there, and how easy it was to purchase upon the coast, for trifles, such
+as beads, toys, knives, scissars, hatchets, bits of glass, and the like,
+not only gold-dust, Guinea grains, elephants teeth, &c. but Negroes for
+the service of the Brasils in great numbers.
+
+They listened always very attentively to my discourses on these heads,
+but especially to that part which related to the buying Negroes, 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 for permission of the
+kings of Spain and Portugal, and engrossed in the public, so that few
+Negroes were brought, and those excessive dear.would undertake to look
+
+It happened, being in company with some merchants and planters of my
+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
+secrecy, they told me, that they had 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 could not be
+carried on, because they could not publicly sell the Negroes when they
+came home, so they desired to make but one voyage, to bring the Negroes
+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 my equal share of the Negroes, without
+providing any part of the stock.
+
+This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, had it been made to any
+one that had not had a settlement and 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 entered and
+established, 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 addition, could
+scarce have failed of being worth three or four thousand pounds
+sterling, and that increasing 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, that was born to be my own destroyer, could no more resist the
+offer, than I could restrain my first rambling designs, when my father’s
+good counsel was lost upon me. 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
+miscarried. This they all engaknew his dangerged to do, and entered into writings or
+covenants to do so; and I made a formal will, disposing of my plantation
+and effects, in case of my death, making the captain of the ship that
+had saved my life as before, my 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 keep
+up my plantation: had I used half as much prudence to have looked into
+my own 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 prosperous
+an undertaking, leaving all the probable views of a thriving
+circumstance, and gone upon a voyage to sea, attended with all its
+common hazards; to say nothing of the reasons I had to expect particular
+misfortunes to myself.
+
+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, the 1st of September, 1650,
+being the same day eight years that I went from my father and mother at
+Hull, in order to act the rebel to their authority, and the fool to my
+own interest.
+
+Our ship was about one hundred and twenty ton burden, carrying six guns,
+and fourteen men, besides the master, his boy, and myself; we had on
+board no large cargo of goods, except of such toys as were fit for our
+trade with the Negroes, such as beads, bits of glass, shells, and odd
+trifles, especially little looking-glasses, knives, scissars, hatchets,
+and the like.
+
+The same day I went on board we set sail, standing away to the northward
+upon our own coast, with design to stretch over for the African coast;
+when they came about 10 or 12 degrees of northern latitude, which it
+seems was the manner of their course in those days. We had very good
+weather, only excessive hot, all the way upon our own coast, till we
+made 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 Fernand de Noronha, holding our course N.E. by N. and leaving those
+isles on the east. In this course we passed the line in about twelve
+days time, and were by our last observation in 7 degrees 22 min.
+northern latitude, when a violent tornado or hurricane took us quite out
+of our knowledge; it began from the south-east, came about to the
+north-west, and then settled into the north-east, from whence it blew in
+such a terrible manner, that for twelve days together we could do
+nothing but drive; and scudding away before it, let it carry us whither
+ever fate and the fury of the winds directed; and during these twelve
+days, I need not say that I expected every day to be swallowed up, nor
+indeed did any in the ship expect to save their lives.
+
+In this distress, we had, besides the terror of the storm, one of our
+men die of the calenture, and one man and the boy washed overboard;
+about the twelfth day the weather abating a little, the master made an
+observation as well as he could, and found that he was in about 11
+degrees north latitude, but that he was 22 degrees of longitude
+difference west from Cape St. Augustino; so that he found he was gotten
+upon the coast of Guinea, or the north part of Brasil, beyond the river
+Amazones, toward that of the river Oronoque, commonly called the Great
+River, and began to consult with me what course he should take, for the
+ship was leaky and very much disabled, and he was going directly back to
+the coast of Brasil.
+
+I was positively against that, and looking over the charts of the sea
+coasts 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 islands, and therefore resolved to stand away for Barbadoes,
+which by keeping off at sea, to avoid the indraft of the bay or gulf of
+Mexico, we might easily 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 to ourselves.
+
+With this design we changed our course, and steered away N.W. by 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
+deg. 18 min. 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!_ 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 sand, and in a moment, her motion being so
+stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner, that we expected we
+should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven
+into our close quarters to shelter us from the very foam and spray
+of the sea.
+
+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, 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 winds by a kind of miracle should
+turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking one upon 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
+yet, 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 struck 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 broken already.
+
+In this distress, the mate of our vessel lays hold of the boat, and with
+the help of the rest of the men they got her slung over the ship’s side,
+and getting all into her, let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven
+in number, to God’s mercy and the wild sea; for though the storm was
+abated considerably, yet the sea went dreadful high upon the shore, and
+might well be called _den wild zee_, 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 the shore, she would be dashed
+into a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we committed
+our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind driving us
+towards the shore, we hastened 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 gulf, 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
+there was nothing of this appeared; but 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 league and a half, as we
+reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,
+and plainly had us expect the _coup-de-grace_. In a word, it took us
+with such a 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.
+
+Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sunk
+into the water; for though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver
+myself from the waves so as to draw 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 great hill, and as 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 sea, as it would carry me a
+great way towards the shore when it came on, might not carry me back
+again with it when it gave back towards the sea.
+
+The wave that came upon me again, buried me at once twenty or thirty
+foot 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 relief, 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, and 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 near 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, and that with such force, as 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 it returned again immediately, I must have been strangled
+in the water; but I recovered a little before the return of the waves,
+and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I resolved to hold
+fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible, till
+the wave went back. Now as the waves were not so high as at first,
+being near 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 very grave; and I do not wonder now at
+that custom, viz. that when a malefactor, who has the halter about his
+neck, is tied up, and 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:
+
+     For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.
+
+I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands and my whole being, as
+I 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 troth of the
+sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far off, and
+considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore!
+
+After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition,
+I began to look round me, to see what kind of 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 me into terrible agonies
+of mind, that for a while I ran about like a madman. Night coming upon
+me, I began 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 dashing me against it; this being within about 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 the
+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
+neck or inlet of water between me and the boat, which was about half a
+mile broad; 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
+safe 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 help of that rope got up 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 lay so on the side of a bank of hard
+sand, or rather earth, and 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 pockets with bisket, and ate it as I went about
+other things, for I had no time to lose. I also found some rum in the
+great cabin, of which I took a large drain, and which I had indeed need
+enough of to spirit me for what was before me. Now I wanted nothing but
+a boat to furnish myself with 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 extremity roused my application. We had several spare yards, and
+two or three large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in the
+ship; I resolved to fall to work with these, and flung as many of them
+overboard as I could manage of 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 crossways, 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 topmast into three lengths, and added them to my raft,
+with a great deal of labour and pains; but hope of furnishing myself
+with necessaries 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 first got three of the seamen’s
+chests, which I had broken open and emptied, and lowered them down upon
+my raft. The first of these I filled with provisions, viz. bread, rice,
+three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat’s flesh, which we lived
+much upon, and a little remainder of European corn which had been laid
+by for some fowls which we 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
+all. As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles belonging to our
+skipper, in which were some cordial waters, and in all above five or six
+gallons of rack: these I stowed by themselves, there being no need to
+put them into the chest, nor no 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, swim away; as for my breeches, which were only
+linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and 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 out the carpenter’s
+chest, which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and much more
+valuable than a ship-loading 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.
+
+My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very good
+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; but with much search I
+found them, two of them 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, or rudder, and the least capful of wind would
+have overset all my navigation.
+
+I had three encouragements: 1. A smooth, calm sea; 2. The tide rising
+and setting in to the shore; 3. What little wind there was blew me
+towards the land: and thus, having found two or three broken oars
+belonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest, I
+found two saws, an axe, and a hammer; and 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 keep in the middle of the stream;
+but here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if I
+had, I think verily would have broke my heart; for knowing nothing of
+the coast, my raft run 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 stir from the posture I was in, but holding up
+the chests with all my might, 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 in the sea
+again; for that shore lying pretty steep, that is to say sloping, there
+was no place to land, but where one end of the float, if it run on
+shore, would lie so high, and the other sink lower as before, that it
+would endanger my 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
+on 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 seek 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 out one of the
+fowling-pieces, and one of the pistols, and an 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 to the top, I saw my fates to
+my great affliction, viz. 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 small islands less than this, which lay about three
+leagues to the west.
+
+I found also that the island I was in was barren, and, as I saw good
+reason to believe, uninhabited, except by wild beasts, of whom, however,
+I saw none; yet I saw abundance of fowls, 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 believe it was the first gun that
+had been fired there since the creation of the world. I had no sooner
+fired, but from all 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 it, but 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 bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that day; and
+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.
+
+However, as well as I could, I barricadoed myself round with the chests
+and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of a hut for
+that night’s lodging. As for food, I yet saw 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 yet 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, till I got every thing
+out of the ship that I could get. 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 checked shirt and a pair of linen trowsers, 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 grindstone; all these I
+secured, together with several things belonging to the gunner,
+particularly two or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket-bullets,
+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.
+
+Besides these things, I took all the men’s clothes that I could find,
+and a spare fore-topsail, hammock, and some bedding; and with this I
+loaded my second raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to my very
+great comfort.
+
+I was under some apprehensions during my absence from the land, that at
+least my provisions might be devoured on shore; 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, though 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 of it, and 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 man 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 an 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 me, I went to bed for the first time, and slept very
+quietly all night, for I was very weary and heavy, as 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 were 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 all the small
+ropes and rope-twine I could get, with a piece of spare canvass, which
+was to mend the sails upon occasion, and the barrel of wet gunpowder; 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 canvass only.
+
+But that which comforted me more still, was, that at 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, and three large
+runlets of rum or spirits, and a box of sugar, and a barrel of fine
+flower; 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 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 spritsail-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 me; for this raft was
+so unwieldy and so overladen, that after I had entered 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 overset, 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; for I was fain to dip for
+it into the water, a work which fatigued me very much. After this, 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 weather held, I should have brought away the whole ship,
+piece by piece; but preparing 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 another
+I found about thirty-six pounds value in money, some European coin, some
+Brasil, some pieces of eight, some gold, some silver.
+
+I smiled to myself at the sight of this money. “O drug!” said I, aloud,
+“what art thou good for? thou art not worth to me, no not the taking off
+of the ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap; I have no
+manner of use for thee; even remain where thou art, and go to the bottom
+as a creature whose life is not worth saving.” However, upon second
+thoughts, I took it away, and wrapping all this in a piece of canvass, I
+began to think of making another raft; but while I was preparing this, I
+found the sky overcast, and 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, otherwise I might not be able to reach the shore at all;
+accordingly I let myself down into the water, and swam cross the
+channel which lay between the ship and the sands, and even that with
+difficulty enough, partly with the weight of 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 gotten 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, viz. that I had lost no time, nor abated no diligence to get
+every thing out of her that could be useful to me, and that indeed 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
+pieces of her afterwards did; but those things were of small use to me.
+
+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, and what
+kind of dwelling to make; whether I should make me a cave in the earth,
+or a tent upon the earth: and, 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
+because it was upon a low moorish ground near the sea, and I believed
+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 found would be proper
+for me: 1st, Health, and fresh water, I just now mentioned, 2dly,
+Shelter from the heat of the sun. 3dly, Security from ravenous
+creatures, whether man or beast. 4thly, A view to the sea, that, if God
+sent any ship in sight, I might not lose any advantage for my
+deliverance, of which I was not willing to banish all my
+expectation yet.
+
+In search of a place proper for this, I found a little plain on the side
+of a rising 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 grounds by the
+sea-side. It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill, so that I was sheltered
+from the heat every day, till it came to a W. and by 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, and
+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 very firm, like piles, the biggest end
+being out of the ground about five foot and a half, and sharpened on the
+top; the two rows did not stand above six inches from one another.
+
+Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in the ship, and laid
+them in rows one upon another, within the circle between these two rows
+of stakes, up to the top, placing other stakes in the inside, leaning
+against them, about two foot and a half high, like a spur to a post; and
+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 short
+ladder, to go over the top: which ladder, when I was in, I lifted over
+after me: and so I was completely 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 afterward,
+there was no need of all this caution from the enemies that I
+apprehended danger from.
+
+Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labour, I carried all my
+riches, all 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 there, I made
+double, viz. 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 awhile 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
+all the earth and stones that I dug down, out through my tent, I laid
+them up within my fence in the nature of a terrace, that so 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 happened, and after that a great clap of thunder, as is
+naturally the effect of it. I was not so much surprised with the
+lightning, as I was with a thought which darted into my mind as swift as
+the lightning itself; O my powder! my very heart sunk within me, when I
+thought, that at one blast all my powder might be destroyed; on which,
+not my defence only, but the providing me food, as I thought, entirely
+depended; I was nothing near so anxious about my own danger; though, had
+the powder took fire, I had never known who had hurt me.
+
+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, in hope, that, whatever might come, it might
+not all take fire at once, and to keep it so apart, that it should not
+be possible to make one part fire another. I finished this work in about
+a fortnight; and I think my powder, which in all was about two hundred
+and forty pounds 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 up and down in holes among the rocks, so
+that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where I laid it.
+
+In the interval of time while this was doing, I went out once at least
+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 in the island, which was a great
+satisfaction to me; but then it was attended with this misfortune to me,
+viz. 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
+discouraged at this, not doubting but I might now and then shoot one, as
+it soon happened; 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 vallies,
+though they were upon the rocks, they would run away as in a terrible
+fright; but if they were feeding in the vallies, and I was upon the
+rocks, they took no notice of me; from whence I concluded, that by the
+position of their optics, their sight was so directed downward, that
+they did not readily see objects that were above them; so afterward 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 killed a she-goat, which had a little kid by her which she
+gave suck to, which 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 would 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 saved 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 conveniencies I made, I
+shall give a full account of in its 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 is said, by a violent storm quite
+out of the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, viz. 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 expostulate with myself, why
+Providence should thus completely ruin his creatures, and render them so
+absolutely miserable, so without help abandoned, so entirely 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, expostulating with the t’other way,
+thus: “Well, you are in a desolate condition, ’tis 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 they not saved and you lost? Why
+were you singled out? Is it better to be here or there?” And then I
+pointed to the sea. All evils are to be considered with the good that is
+in them, and with what worse attended them.
+
+Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my
+subsistence, and what would have been my ease if it had not happened,
+which was an hundred thousand to one, that the ship floated from the
+place where she first struck, and was driven so near 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 necessaries of life, or necessaries to supply and
+procure them? “particularly,” said I, loud (though to myself), “what
+should I have done without a gun, without ammunition, without any tools
+to make any thing, or to work with; without clothes, bedding, a tent, or
+any manner of covering?” and 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 subsisting, without any want, as long as I lived; for
+I considered from the beginning how I should provide for the accidents
+that might happen, and for the time that was to come, even 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 lightning;
+and this made the thoughts of it so surprising to me when it lightned
+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 in the world before, I
+shall take it from its beginning, and continue it in its order. It was,
+by my account, the 30th of September, 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 9 degrees 22 minutes
+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 books, and
+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, and making it into a great cross, I set it up on the
+shore where I first landed, viz. “I came on shore here on the 30th of
+September 1659.” Upon the sides of this square post, I cut every day a
+notch with my knife, and every seventh notch was as long again as the
+rest, and every first day of the month as long again as that long one;
+and thus I kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning
+of time.
+
+In the next place we are to observe, that among the many things which I
+brought out of the ship in the several voyages, which, as above
+mentioned, I made to it, I got several things of less value, but not all
+less useful to me, which I omitted setting down before; as in
+particular, pens, ink, and paper, several parcels in the captain’s,
+mate’s, gunner’s, and carpenter’s keeping, three or four compasses, some
+mathematical instruments, dials, perspectives, charts, and books of
+navigation; all which I huddled together, whether I might want them or
+no. Also I found three very good 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 popish prayer-books, and several
+other books; all which I carefully secured. And I must not forget, that
+we had in the ship a dog and two cats, of whose eminent history I may
+have occasion to say something in it’s place; for I carried both the
+cats with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship of 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 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 he could not do. As I observed
+before, I found pen, ink, and paper, and I husbanded them to the utmost;
+and I shall shew, 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.
+
+And 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
+spade, pickaxe, and shovel, to dig or remove the earth; needles, pins,
+and thread. As for linen, I soon learnt to want that without much
+difficulty.
+
+This want of tools made every work I did 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 those posts or piles very laborious and
+tedious work.
+
+But what need I have been concerned at the tediousness of any thing I
+had to do, seeing I had time enough to do it in? Nor had I 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 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 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_.                      _Good_.
+
+     I am cast upon a horrible    But I am alive, and
+     desolate island, void        not drowned, as all my
+     of all hope of recovery.     ship’s company was.
+
+     I am singled out and         But I am singled out
+     separated, as it were,       too from all the ship’s
+     from all the world to be     crew to be spared from
+     miserable.                   death; and He that
+                                  miraculously saved me from
+                                  death, can deliver me
+                                  from this condition.
+
+     I am divided from            But I am not starved
+     mankind, a solitaire, one    and perishing on a barren
+     banished from human society. place, affording no sustenance.
+
+     I have not clothes to        But I am in a hot climate,
+     cover me.                    where if I had
+                                  clothes I could hardly wear
+                                  them.
+
+     I am without any defence     But I am cast on an
+     or means to resist           island, where I see no
+     any violence of man or       wild beasts to hurt me,
+     beast.                       as I saw on the coast of
+                                  Africa: and what if I
+                                  had been shipwrecked
+                                  there?
+
+     I have no soul to speak      But God wonderfully
+     to, or relieve me.           sent the ship in near
+                                  enough to the shore, that
+                                  I have gotten out so many
+                                  necessary things as will
+                                  either supply my wants,
+                                  or enable me to supply
+                                  myself even as long as I
+                                  live.
+
+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 something _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 description of good and evil,
+on the credit side of the account.
+
+Having now brought my mind a little to relish my condition, and given
+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 make things as easy to me 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 wall up against
+it of turfs, about two foot thick on the outside; and after some time, I
+think it was a year and 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 observed how I brought all my goods into this pale, and
+into the cave 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 so when I found I was pretty safe as to 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, on 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 me 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 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 it, 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 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 had 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, and in a word, to separate every thing at
+large in their places, that I might come easily at them. I knocked
+pieces into the wall of the rock to hang my guns and all things that
+would hang up.
+
+So that, had my cave been to be seen, it looked like a general magazine
+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 a hurry; and not only hurry as to
+labour, but in too much discomposure of mind, and my journal would have
+been full of many dull things. For example, I must have said thus: Sept.
+the 30th, after I got to shore, and had escaped drowning, instead of
+being thankful to God for my deliverance, having first vomited with 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, yet I could not forbear getting up to the
+top of a little mountain, and looking out to sea in hopes of seeing a
+ship; then fancy at a vast distance I spied a sail; please myself with
+the hopes of it; and then after looking steadily till I was almost
+blind, lose it quite, and sit down and weep like a child, and thus
+increase 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 handsome 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 those
+particulars over again) as long as it lasted; for having no more ink, I
+was forced to leave it off.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE JOURNAL.
+
+_September 30, 1659_.
+
+I poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked, 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 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, viz. I had neither food, house,
+clothes, weapon, or place to fly to, and in despair of any relief, saw
+nothing but death before me, either that I should be devoured by wild
+beasts, murdered by savages, or starved to death for want of food. 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 to 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 spent 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.
+
+Oct. 20. I overset my raft, and all the goods I had got up upon it; but
+being in shoal water, and the things being chiefly heavy, I recovered
+many of them when the tide was out.
+
+Oct. 25. It rained all 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 wreck of her,
+and that only at low water. I spent this day in covering and securing
+the goods which I had saved, that rain might not spoil them.
+
+Oct. 26. I walked about the shore almost all day, to find out a place to
+fix my habitation, greatly concerned to secure myself from any attack in
+the night, either from wild beasts or men. Towards night I fixed upon a
+proper place under a rock, and marked out a semicircle for my
+encampment, which I resolved to strengthen with a work, wall, or
+fortification made of double piles, lined within with cable, 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
+exceeding 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.
+
+Nov. 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.
+
+Nov. 3. I went out with my gun, and killed two fowls like ducks, which
+were very good food. In the afternoon went to work to make me a table.
+
+Nov. 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 of the next were wholly employed in making my
+table, for I was yet but a very sorry workman, though time and necessity
+make me a complete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe it would do
+any one else.
+
+Nov. 5. This day went abroad with my gun and my dog, and killed a wild
+cat, her skin pretty soft, but her flesh good for nothing: every
+creature I killed I took off the skins and preserved them. Coming back
+by the sea-shore I saw many sorts of sea-fowls, which I did not
+understand; but was surprised and almost frighted with two or three
+seals, which, while I was gazing at, not well knowing what they were,
+got into the sea, and escaped me for that time.
+
+Nov. 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 learnt
+to mend it.
+
+Nov. 7. Now it began to be settled fair weather. The 7th, 8th, 9th,
+10th, and part of the 12th (for the 11th was Sunday), I took wholly up
+to make me a chair, and with much ado brought it to a tolerable shape,
+but never to please me; and even in the making I pulled it in pieces
+several times. _Note_, I soon neglected my keeping Sundays, for omitting
+my mark for them on my post, I forgot which was which.
+
+Nov. 13. This day it rained, which refreshed me exceedingly, and cooled
+the earth, but it was accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning,
+which frighted 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.
+
+Nov. 14, 15, 16. These three days I spent in making little square chests
+or boxes, which might hold a pound, or two pound, at most, of powder;
+and so putting the powder in, I stowed it in places as secure and remote
+from one another 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.
+
+Nov. 17. This day I began to dig behind my tent into the rock, to make
+room for my farther conveniency. _Note_, Three things I wanted
+exceedingly for this work, viz. a pickaxe, a shovel, and a wheel-barrow
+or basket; so I desisted from my work, and began to consider how to
+supply that want, and make me some tools: as for a pickaxe, 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.
+
+Nov. 18. The next day in searching the woods I found a tree of that
+wood, or like it, which in the Brasils they call the iron tree, for 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 having no other way, made me 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 exactly 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 a
+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 the iron gudgeons for the spindle or axis of the
+wheel to run in, so I gave it over; and so 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, when they serve 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 failed; and very seldom
+failed also bringing home something to eat.
+
+Nov. 23. My other work having now stood still, because of my making
+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.
+
+_Note_, During all this time, I worked to make this room or cave
+spacious enough to accommodate me as a warehouse or magazine, a kitchen,
+a dining-room, and a cellar: as for my 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 rafters,
+leaning against the rock, and load them with flags and large leaves of
+trees like a thatch.
+
+Dec. 10. I began now to think my cave or vault finished, when on a
+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 frighted me,
+and not without reason too; for if I had been under it I had never
+wanted a gravedigger. 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.
+
+Dec. 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 boards 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.
+
+Dec. 17. From this day to the twentieth 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.
+
+Dec. 20. Now 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; but boards began to be very scarce with me: also I made
+me another table.
+
+Dec. 24. Much rain all night and all day; no stirring out.
+
+Dec. 25. Rain all day.
+
+Dec. 26. No rain, and the earth much cooler than before and pleasanter.
+
+Dec. 27. Killed a young goat, and lamed another, so that I caught it,
+and led it home in a string; when I had it home, I bound and splintered
+up its leg which was broke. N.B. 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.
+
+Dec. 28, 29, 30. 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.
+
+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 vallies 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.
+
+Jan. 2. 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.
+
+     N.B. 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 twenty-four yards in length, being
+     a half-circle from one place in the rock to another place
+     about eight 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 until this wall was finished; and it is scarce credible what
+inexpressible 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 need 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
+upon a very remarkable occasion.
+
+During this time I made my rounds in the woods for game every day, when
+the rain admitted me, and made frequent discoveries in these walks of
+something or other to my advantage; particularly I found a kind of wild
+pigeons, who built 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 away, which perhaps 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 myself 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, I 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 capacity of making one by them, though I
+spent many weeks about it; I could neither put in the heads, or joint
+the staves so true to one another as to make them hold water: so I gave
+that also over.
+
+In the next place, I was at a great loss for candle; so that as soon as
+ever it was dark, which was generally by seven o’clock, I was obliged to
+go to bed: I remembered 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, 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 rains, 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,
+or thereabout, 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,
+or 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 in these things,
+or his order in governing events in the world: but after I saw barley
+grow there, in a climate which I knew was not proper for corn, and
+especially that 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, and brought 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, when I was ashore there.
+
+I not only thought these the pure productions of Providence for my
+support, but not doubting but that there was more in the place, I went
+all over that part of the island, where I had been before, peeping in
+every corner and under every rock to see for more of it, but I could not
+find any; at last it occurred to my thought, that I had shook a bag of
+chicken’s meat out in that place, and then the wonder began to cease;
+and I must confess, my religious thankfulness to God’s providence began
+to abate too upon discovering that all this was nothing but what was
+common; though I ought to have been as thankful for so strange and
+unforeseen a providence as if it had been miraculous; for it was really
+the work of Providence as to me, that should order or appoint ten or
+twelve grains of corn to remain unspoiled, when the rats had destroyed
+all the rest, as if it had been dropped 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 were else at that time, it had been burnt up and destroyed.
+
+I carefully saved the ears of 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 say afterwards in its order; for I lost all that I
+sowed the first season, by not observing the proper time; for I sowed it
+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 kind 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 excessive hard these three or four months to get my wall done;
+and the 14th of April I closed it up, contriving to go into it, not by a
+door, but over the wall by a ladder, that there might be no sign in 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 on 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 had 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 in the entrance into
+my cave, I was terribly frighted with a most dreadful surprising thing
+indeed; for 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 was really 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 was no sooner stept 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 the very sea was
+put into violent motion by it; and I believe the shocks were stronger
+under the water than on the island.
+
+I was so amazed with the thing itself, having never felt the like, or
+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 then but the hill falling upon my
+tent and all my household goods, and burying all at once; and 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, and yet I had not heart enough to get 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 serious 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 that the wind rose by little and little, so that
+in less than half an hour it blew a most dreadful hurricane: the sea was
+all on a sudden covered over with foam and froth, the shore was covered
+with the breach of the water, the trees were torn up by the roots, and a
+terrible storm it was; and this held about three hours, and then began
+to abate, and in two hours more it was stark 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 go 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, viz. to cut a hole through my
+new fortification like a sink, to let water go out, which would else
+have drowned my cave. After I had been in my cave some time, and found
+still 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, concluding, 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: but concluded, 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
+stood, which was just under the hanging precipice of the hill, and
+which, if it should be shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent.
+And I spent the two next days, being the 19th and 20th of April, in
+contriving where and how to remove my habitation.
+
+The fear of being swallowed up alive, made me 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 concealed I was, and how safe
+from danger, it made me very loth to remove.
+
+In the meantime 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 venture
+where I was, till I had formed a camp for myself, and had secured it so
+as to remove to it. So with this resolution 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 my tent
+up in it when it was finished, but that I would venture to stay where I
+was till it was finished and fit to remove to. This was the 21st.
+
+April 22. The next morning I began to consider of means to put this
+resolve in execution, but I was at a great loss about my tools. I had
+three large axes and abundance of hatchets (for we carried the hatchets
+for traffic with the Indians); but with much chopping and cutting
+knotty hard wood, 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 statesman 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. _Note_, 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 grindstone 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 my bread had been low a great while, now I
+took a survey of it, and 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
+which 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 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 lay before buried in sand, was heaved up at least six
+foot; and the stern, which was broke to pieces, and parted from the rest
+by the force of the sea, soon after I had left rummaging 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 whereas there was a great place
+of water before, so that I could not come within a quarter of a mile of
+the wreck without swimming, I could now walk quite up to her when the
+tide was out. 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 that all the inside of the
+ship was choked up with sand: however, as I had learnt 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.
+
+Way 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. I had made me a long line of some rope yarn, but I had no
+hooks, yet I frequently caught fish enough, as much as I cared to eat;
+all which I dried in the sun, and ate them dry.
+
+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 on 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, but with an intent not to work, but
+found the weight of the wreck had broke itself down, the beams being
+cut, that several 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 or sand; I wrenched open
+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
+the wreck, and felt several casks, and loosened them with the crow, but
+could not break them up: I felt also the roll of English lead, and could
+stir it, but it was too heavy to remove.
+
+May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Went every day to the wreck, and 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.
+
+May 16. It had blown hard in the night, and the wreck appeared more
+broken by the force of the water; but I staid so long in the woods to
+get pigeons for food, that the tide prevented me going to the wreck
+that day.
+
+May 17. I saw some pieces of the wreck blown on shore, at a great
+distance, near 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
+labour I loosened some things so much with the crow, that the first
+flowing 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 hogshead, which had some Brasil 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
+employment, 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 also
+I 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 turtle:
+this was the first I had seen, which it seems was only 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 hundreds of 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 savory and pleasant that
+ever I tasted in my life, having had no flesh, but of goats and fowls,
+since I landed in this horrid place.
+
+June 18. Rained all day, and I stayed within. I thought at this time the
+rain felt cold, and I was something chilly, which I knew was not usual
+in that latitude.
+
+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, frighted 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 off 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.
+
+June 23. Very bad again, cold and shivering, and then a violent headach.
+
+June 24. Much better.
+
+June 25. An ague very violent; the fit held me seven hours, cold fit and
+hot, with faint sweats after it.
+
+June 26. 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, and 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 abed all day, and neither
+ate or 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 to God
+again, but was light-headed; and when I was not I was so ignorant, that
+I knew not what to say; only I 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 wearing off, I fell asleep, and did not
+wake till far in the night; when I waked, 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 bright flame of fire, and
+light 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
+inexpressibly dreadful, impossible for words to describe; 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 was 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 shall die:” at which words I
+thought he lifted up the spear that was in his hand to kill me.
+
+No one, that 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.
+
+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 nothing but such as were, like myself, wicked and profane to the
+last degree. I do not remember that I had in all that time one thought
+that so much as tended either to looking upwards toward God, or inwards
+towards a reflection upon my own ways. But a certain stupidity of soul,
+without desire of good, or conscience of evil, had entirely overwhelmed
+me, and I was all that the most hardened, unthinking, wicked creature
+among our common sailors can be supposed to be, not having the least
+sense, either of the fear of God in danger, or of thankfulness to God 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 me, I never had so much as one
+thought of it being the hand of God, or that it was a just punishment
+for my sin, my rebellious behaviour against my father, or my present
+sins, which were great; or so much as a punishment 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 merely thoughtless
+of a God, or a Providence, acted like a mere brute from the principles
+of nature, and by the dictates of common sense only, and indeed
+hardly that.
+
+When I was delivered, and taken up at sea by the Portugal captain, well
+used, and dealt justly and honourably with, as well as charitably, I had
+not the least thankfulness on my thoughts. When again I was shipwrecked,
+ruined, and in danger of drowning on this island, I was as far from
+remorse, or looking on it as a judgment; I only said to myself often,
+that I was _an unfortunate dog_, and born to be always miserable.
+
+It is true, when I got on shore first here, and found all my ship’s crew
+drowned, and myself spared, I was surprised with a kind of ecstasy, and
+some transports of soul, which, had the grace of God assisted, might
+have come up to true thankfulness; but it ended where it begun, 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; or an inquiry why Providence had been
+thus merciful to me; even just the same common sort of joy which seamen
+generally have, after they have got safe on shore 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 dreadful 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, all the sense of my affliction wore off, and I
+began to be very 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, or as the hand of God against me:
+these were thoughts which very seldom entered into my head.
+
+The growing up of the corn, as is hinted in my Journal, had at first
+some little influence upon me, and began to affect me with seriousness,
+as long as I thought it had something miraculous in it; but as soon as
+ever that part of thought was removed, all the impression which was
+raised from it wore off also, as I have noted already.
+
+Even the earthquake, though nothing could be more terrible in its
+nature, or more immediately directing to the invisible Power which alone
+directs such things; yet no sooner was the first fright over, but the
+impression it had made went off also. I had no more sense of God, or his
+judgments, much less of the present affliction of my circumstances being
+from his hand, than if I had been in the most prosperous condition
+of life.
+
+But now, when I began to be sick, and a leisurely view of the miseries
+of death came to place itself before me; when my spirits began to sink
+under the burden 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 began to reproach myself with my past life, in which I had
+so evidently, by uncommon wickedness, provoked the justice of God to lay
+me under uncommon strokes, and to deal with me in so vindictive
+a manner.
+
+These reflections oppressed me from the second or third day of my
+distemper, and in the violence, as well of the fever as of the dreadful
+reproaches of my conscience, extorted some words from me, like praying
+to God, though I cannot say they were either a prayer attended with
+desires, or with hopes; it was rather the voice of mere fright and
+distress; my thoughts were confused, the convictions great upon my mind,
+and the horror of dying in such a miserable condition, raised vapours
+into my head with the mere apprehensions; 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, the good advice of my father came to my mind; and
+presently his prediction, which I mentioned in the beginning of this
+story, viz. 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: God’s justice
+has overtaken me, and I have none to help or hear me: I rejected the
+voice of Providence, which had mercifully put me in a posture or station
+of life wherein I might have been happy and easy; but I would neither
+see it myself, nor learn to know the blessing of it from my parents; I
+left them to mourn over my folly, and now I am left to mourn under the
+consequences of it: I refused their help and assistance, who would have
+lifted me into 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 assistance, no help, no comfort, no advice.”
+Then I cried out, “Lord be my help, for I am in great distress!”
+
+This was the first prayer, if I might 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 support myself when I should be ill; and the first thing I
+did, I filled a large 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 under a sense
+of my miserable 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, as we call it, in the shell; and this was
+the first bit of meat I had ever asked God’s blessing to, even, 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 the 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?
+
+Sure 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 naturally: it is God that has made it all: well,
+but then it came on strangely; if God has made all these things, he
+guides and governs them all, and all things that concern them; for the
+Being that could make all things, must certainly have power to guide and
+direct them.
+
+If so, nothing can happen in the great circuit of his works, either
+without his knowledge or appointment.
+
+And if nothing happens without his knowledge, he knows that I am here,
+and am in a dreadful condition; and if nothing happens without his
+appointment, he has appointed all this to befal me.
+
+Nothing occurred to my thoughts to contradict any of these conclusions;
+and therefore it rested upon me with the greater force, that it must
+needs be, that God had appointed all this to befal 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 happened in the
+world. Immediately it followed,
+
+Why has God done this to me? 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 misspent 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 Yarmouth Roads?
+killed in the fight when the ship was taken by the Sallee 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 have
+I done?”
+
+I was struck with these reflections as one astonished, and had not a
+word to say, no, not to answer to myself: but rose up pensive and sad,
+walked back to my retreat, and went up 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 my chair, and lighted my lamp,
+for it began to be dark. Now, as the apprehensions of the return of my
+distemper terrified me very much, it occurred to my thought, that the
+Brasilians take no physic but 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, viz. the tobacco; and as the few books I had saved lay there too, I
+took out one of the Bibles which I mentioned before, and which, to 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, or
+whether it was good for it or no; 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 that I had
+not been much used to it; 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 the
+virtue of it, and I held almost to suffocation.
+
+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, and thou shalt glorify me.”
+
+The 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 for being delivered, the word had no sound, as I may
+say, to me; the thing was so remote, so impossible in my apprehension of
+things, that I began to say as the children of Israel did, when they
+were promised flesh to eat, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?”
+So I began to say, Can God himself deliver me from this place? And as it
+was not for many years that any hope appeared, this prevailed very often
+upon my thoughts: but, however, the words made a very great impression
+upon me, and I mused upon them very often. It grew now late, and the
+tobacco had, as I said, dozed my head so much, that I inclined to sleep;
+so that I left my lamp burning in the cave, lest I should want any thing
+in the night, and went to bed; but before I lay 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, and I found presently it 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 the opinion, that I slept all the
+next day and night, and till almost three the day after; for otherwise I
+knew 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 lost it
+by crossing and recrossing the line, I should have lost more than a day;
+but in my account it was lost, and I never knew which way.
+
+Be that however one way or 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 ate some more of the turtle’s eggs, which were very good.
+This evening I renewed 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 spice of the
+cold fit, but it was not much.
+
+July 2. I renewed the medicine all the three ways, and dozed myself with
+it 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 this scripture, “I will deliver thee;”
+and the impossibility of my deliverance lay much 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 questions
+as these; viz. 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 had I taken of it? had I done my
+part? _God had delivered me;_ but _I had not glorified him_: that is to
+say, I had not owned and been thankful for that as a deliverance; and
+how could I expect greater deliverance?
+
+This touched my heart very much, and immediately I kneeled down, and
+gave God thanks aloud, for my recovery from my sickness.
+
+July 4. In the morning I took the Bible; and, beginning at the New
+Testament, I began seriously to read it, and imposed upon myself to read
+a while every morning and every night, not tying 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, but I found my heart more deeply and
+sincerely affected with the wickedness of my past life; the impression
+of my dream revived, and the words, “All these things have not brought
+thee to repentance,” ran seriously in my thoughts: I was earnestly
+begging of God to give me repentance, when it happened providentially
+the very day, that, reading the Scripture, I came to these words, “He is
+exalted a Prince, and a Saviour, to give repentance, and to give
+remission.” I threw down the book, and with my heart as well as my hand
+lifted up to heaven, in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud,
+“Jesus, thou Son of David, Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour, give
+me repentance!”
+
+This was the first time that I could say, in the true sense of the
+words, that I prayed in all my life; for now I prayed with a sense of my
+condition, and with a true Scripture view of hope, founded on the
+encouragement of the word of God; and from this time, I may say, I began
+to have hope that 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 delivered from the captivity I was in; for though I was
+indeed at large in the place, yet the island was certainly a prison to
+me, and that in the worst sense in the world; but now I learnt to take
+it in another sense. Now I looked back upon my past life with such
+horror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of
+God, but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all my
+comfort. As for my solitary life, it was nothing; I did not so much as
+pray to be delivered from it, or think of it; it was all of no
+consideration in comparison of this; and I added this part here, to hint
+to whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of
+things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than
+deliverance from affliction.
+
+But, leaving this part, I return to my journal. My condition began now
+to be, though not less miserable as to my way of living, yet much easier
+to my mind; and my thoughts being directed, by a constant reading the
+Scripture, and praying to God, to things of a higher nature, I had a
+great deal of comfort within, which till now I knew nothing of; also as
+my health and strength returned, I bestirred myself 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 with my gun in my hand a little and a little at a time, as a man
+that was gathering 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 weaken me; for I had frequent convulsions in my
+nerves and limbs for some time.
+
+I learnt 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 storms and hurricanes
+of wind; for as the rain which came in a dry season was always most
+accompanied with such storms, so I found this rain was much more
+dangerous than the rain which fell in September and October.
+
+I had been now in this unhappy island above ten months; all possibility
+of deliverance from this condition seemed to be entirely taken from me;
+and I firmly believed that no human shape had ever set foot upon that
+place. Having now secured my habitation, as I thought, fully to my mind,
+I had a great desire to make a more perfect discovery of the island, and
+to see what other productions I might find, which yet I knew nothing of.
+
+It was the 15th of July that I began to take a more particular survey of
+the island itself. I went up the creek first, where, as I hinted, 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, and very fresh and good: but this being
+the dry season, there was hardly any water in some parts of it, at least
+not enough to run into any stream, so as it could be perceived.
+
+On the bank of this brook I found many pleasant savannas or 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 great and very strong stalk: there were divers other plants which I
+had no notion of, or understanding about; and might perhaps have virtues
+of their own, which I could not find out.
+
+I searched for the cassave root, which the Indians in all that climate
+make their bread of, but I could find none. I saw large plants of aloes,
+but did not then understand them: I saw several sugar-canes, but wild,
+and, for want of cultivation, imperfect. I contented myself with these
+discoveries for this 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 the
+Brasils, that I knew little of the plants of 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 done the day before, I found the brook and
+the savannas began to cease, and the country became 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 had spread indeed over the trees, and the clusters of grapes
+were just now in their prime, very ripe and rich. This was a surprising
+discovery, and I was exceeding glad of them; but I was warned by my
+experience to eat sparingly of them, remembering, 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: but I
+found an excellent use for these grapes, and that was to cure or dry
+them in the sun, and keep them as dried grapes or raisins are kept,
+which I thought would be, as indeed they were, as wholesome, and as
+agreeable to eat, when no grapes might 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. In the night I took my first contrivance, and got up into a tree,
+where I slept well, and the next morning proceeded upon 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 side 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 garden.
+
+I descended a little on the side of that delicious valley, surveying it
+with a secret kind of pleasure (though mixed with other afflicting
+thoughts) to think that this was all my own, that I was king and lord of
+all this country indefeasibly, and had a right of possession; and if I
+could convey it, I might have it in inheritance, as completely as any
+lord of a manor in England. I saw here abundance of cocoa-trees, orange
+and lemon, and citron-trees, but all wild, and few bearing any fruit; at
+least, not then: however, the green limes that I gathered were not only
+pleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I mixed their juice afterwards
+with water, which made it very wholesome, and very cool and refreshing.
+
+I found now I had business enough to gather and carry home; and 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 do this I gathered a great heap of grapes in one place, and
+a lesser heap in another place, and a great parcel of limes and lemons
+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.
+
+Accordingly, 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 fruit, and the weight of the
+juice, having broken them, and bruised them, they were good for little
+or nothing: as to the limes, they were good, but I could bring but
+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 abroad, 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 on 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; for I 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
+on the fruitfulness of that valley, and the pleasantness of the
+situation, the security from storms on that side of the water, and the
+wood; and concluded that I had pitched upon a place to fix my abode,
+which was by far the worst part of the country. Upon the whole, I began
+to consider of removing my habitation, and to look out for a place
+equally safe as where I now was situated, 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, and to consider that I was now by the sea-side,
+where it was at least possible that something might happen to my
+advantage, and that 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 with 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, 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 brushwood; and 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 house, and my
+sea-coast house: and this work took me up the beginning of August.
+
+I had but newly finished my fence, and began to enjoy my labour, but the
+rains came on, and made me stick close to my first habitation; for
+though I had made me a tent like the other, with a piece of a 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 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; for the rains which followed would have spoiled them, and
+I had 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 thence,
+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 the 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 tale or tidings of
+her, till to my astonishment she came home about the end of August, with
+three kittens. This was the more strange to me, because though I had
+killed a wild cat, as I called it, with my gun, yet I thought it was a
+quite different kind from our European cats; yet the young cats were the
+same kind of house breed like the old one; and both my cats being
+females, I thought it very strange: but from these three cats I
+afterwards came to be so pestered with cats, that I was forced to kill
+them like vermin, 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 straitened 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, and my food was regulated thus: I ate
+a bunch of raisins for my breakfast, a piece of the goat’s flesh, or of
+the turtle, for my dinner, broiled (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 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 hill,
+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 seen
+upon the island being a goat.
+
+September the 30th. 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 to a religious exercise, prostrating myself to the
+ground with the most serious humiliation, confessing myself to God,
+acknowledging his righteous judgment upon me, and praying to him to have
+mercy on me, through Jesus Christ; and having not tasted the least
+refreshment for twelve hours, even till the going down of the sun, I
+then ate a biscuit-cake 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; for as at first I had no
+sense of religion upon my mind, 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 before, I found I had been there a year;
+so I divided it into 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
+of my reckoning.
+
+A little after this my ink began to fail me, and so 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 learnt to divide them so as to provide for them accordingly.
+But I bought all my experience before I had it; and this I am going to
+relate, was one of the most discouraging experiments that I made at all.
+I have mentioned, that I had saved the few ears of barley and rice which
+I had so surprisingly found spring up, as I thought, of themselves, and
+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.
+
+Accordingly I dug up 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 thought, 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 seeds, leaving about a handful of each.
+
+It was a great comfort to me afterwards that I did so; for not one grain
+of that I sowed this time came to any thing; for the dry months
+following, the earth having 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 newly sown.
+
+Finding my first seed did not grow, which I easily imagined was by 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; and this,
+having the rainy months of March and April to water it, sprung up very
+pleasantly, and yielded a very good crop; but having part of the seed
+left only, and not daring to sow all that I had yet, I had but a small
+quantity at last, my whole crop not amounting to above half a peck of
+each kind.
+
+But by this experience I was made master of my business, and knew
+exactly when the proper season was to sow; and that I might expect two
+seed-times, and two harvests, every year.
+
+While this corn 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 month 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 circle or double hedge that I
+had made, was not only firm and entire, but the stakes which I had cut
+off 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. 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; and I pruned them, and led them up to grow
+as much 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 an hedge like
+this in a semicircle round my wall, I mean that of my first dwelling,
+which I did; and placing the trees or stakes in a double row, at above
+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
+defence also, as I shall observe in its order.
+
+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 seasons, which were generally thus:
+
+     Half February, } Rainy, the sun being then on, or near,
+          March,    }        the equinox.
+     Half April,    }
+
+     Half April,    }
+          May,      } Dry, the sun being then to the north
+          June,     }      of the line.
+          July,     }
+     Half August,   }
+
+          September,}
+     Half October,  } Rain, the sun being then come back.
+     Half October,  }
+
+          November, }
+          December, } Dry, the sun being then to the south
+          January,  }      of the line.
+     Half February, }
+
+The rainy season sometimes held longer or shorter, as the winds happened
+to blow; but this was the general observation I made. After I had found,
+by experience, the ill consequence of being abroad in the rain, I took
+care to furnish myself with provision beforehand, that I might not be
+obliged to go out; and I sat within doors as much as possible during the
+wet months.
+
+In this time I found much employment, (and very suitable also to the
+time) for I found great occasion of 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 myself a basket; but all the
+twigs I could get for the purpose proved so brittle, that they would 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 them 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 lent an hand,
+I had by this means so full knowledge of the methods of it, 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, and 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 an hatchet
+to cut down a quantity, which I soon found, for there was a great plenty
+of them: these I set up to dry within my circle or hedges; and when they
+were fit for use, I carried them to my cave; and here during the next
+season I employed myself in making (as well as I could) a great many
+baskets, both to carry earth, or to carry or lay up any thing, as I had
+occasion; and 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 I made 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 wants. I had
+no vessels 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
+waters, spirits, &c. I had not so much as a pot to boil any thing in,
+except a great kettle which I saved out of the ship, and which was too
+big for such uses as I desired it for, viz. to make broth, and stew a
+bit of meat by itself. 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 rows of stakes of piles, and in
+this wicker-work, 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 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 and 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 the west to the W.S.W. at a very great
+distance; by my guess it could not be less than fifteen or twenty
+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; and therefore I 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 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 vessels pass or repass one way or other; but if not, then it was
+the savage coast between the Spanish country and Brasil, which were
+indeed the worst of savages; for they are cannibals, or men-eaters, and
+fail not to murder and devour all the human bodies that fall into their
+hands. With these considerations I walked very leisurely forward. I
+found that side of the island where I now was, much pleasanter than
+mine, the open or savanna fields sweet, adorned with flowers and grass,
+and full of very fine woods. I saw abundance of parrots, and fain would
+I have caught one, if possible, to have kept it to be tame, and taught
+it to speak to me. I did, after some painstaking, 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 very diverting in
+its place.
+
+I was exceedingly diverted with this journey: I found in the low
+grounds, hares, as I thought them to be, and foxes, but they differed
+greatly from all the other kinds I had 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 or
+tortoise; which added to my grapes. Leadenhall-market could not have
+furnished a better table than I, in proportion to the company: and
+though my case was deplorable enough, yet I had great cause for
+thankfulness, that I was not driven to any extremities for food; but
+rather plenty, even to dainties.
+
+I never travelled in this journey above two miles outright in a day, or
+thereabouts; but I traise this pasteook 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 all night; and then 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 me.
+
+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 an half. Here was also an infinite
+number of fowls of many kinds, 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.
+
+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: and though there were many goats
+here more than on the other side of 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 on the hills.
+
+I confess this side of the country was much pleasanter than mine, but
+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 shore of the sea 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 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 all the island so much 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 woods, 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.
+
+It 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 uncomfortably, 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 exceeding 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 I
+running in to take hold of it, 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 spent.
+
+I made a collar for this little creature, and with a string which I made
+of some rope-yarn, which I always carried about me, I led him along,
+though with some difficulty, till I came to my bower, and there I
+enclosed him, and left him; for I was very impatient to be at home, from
+whence I had been absent above a month.
+
+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 Pol, who began now to be a mere domestic,
+and to be mighty well acquainted with me. Then I began to think of the
+poor kid, which I had pent in within my little circle, and resolved to
+go and fetch it home, and give it some food; accordingly I went, and
+found it where I left it; 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 continually fed it, the creature became so
+loving, so gentle, and so fond, that it became 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 prospect of being delivered than the first day I came
+there. I spent the whole day in humble and thankful acknowledgments of
+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, that God had been pleased to discover to
+me even that it was possible I might be more happy in this solitary
+condition than I should have been in a liberty of society, and in all
+the pleasures of the world: that he could fully make up to me the
+deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of human society, by his
+presence, and the communication of his grace to my soul, supporting,
+comforting, and encouraging me to depend upon his providence here, and
+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,
+cursed, abominable life I led all the past part of my days; and now,
+having changed both my sorrows and my joys, my very desires altered, my
+affections changed their gust, and my delights were perfectly new from
+what they were at 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 deserts 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
+made me wring my hands, and weep like a child. Sometimes 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, and this was still
+worse to me; for if I could burst out into tears, or vent myself by
+words, it would go off; and the grief, having exhausted itself,
+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, 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 one
+forsaken of God and man? “Well then,” said I, “if God does not forsake
+me, of what ill consequence can it be, or what matters it, though the
+world should all forsake me; seeing, on the other hand, if I had all the
+world, and should lose the favour and blessing of God, there would be no
+comparison in the loss?”
+
+From this moment I began to conclude in my mind, that it was possible
+for me to be more happy in this forsaken, solitary condition, than it
+was probable I should have ever been in any other particular state in
+the world; and with this thought I was going to give thanks to God for
+bringing me to this place.
+
+I know not what it was, but something shocked my mind at that thought,
+and I durst not speak the words, “How canst thou be such an hypocrite,”
+said I, even audibly, “to pretend to be thankful for a condition, which,
+however thou mayst endeavour to be contented with, thou wouldst rather
+pray heartily to be delivered from?” So I stopped there; but though I
+could not say I thanked God for being there, yet I sincerely gave
+thanks to God for opening my eyes, by whatever afflicting providences,
+to see the former condition, of my life, and to mourn for my wickedness,
+and repent. I never opened the Bible, or shut it, but my very 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
+afterwards 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 at the first, yet in general it may be observed,
+that I was very seldom idle; having regularly divided my time, according
+to the several daily employments that were before me; such as, first, my
+duty to God, and reading the Scriptures, which I constantly set apart
+some time for, thrice, every day: secondly, the going abroad with my gun
+for food, which generally took me up three hours every morning when it
+did not rain: thirdly, the 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
+exceeding laboriousness of my work; the many hours, which for want of
+tools, want of help, and want of skill, every thing that 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 saw-pit, would have cut six of them out of the same
+tree in half a day.
+
+My case was this: it was to be a large tree which was to be cut down,
+because my board was to be a broad one. The tree I was three days a
+cutting down, and two more 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 began to be 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 smooth
+on both sides. Any one may judge the labour of my hands in such a piece
+of work; but labour and 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, viz. 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.
+
+But notwithstanding this, with patience and labour, I went through many
+things, and indeed ever 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 not above the quantity
+of half a peck; for I had 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, which, 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 stalks.
+
+This I saw no remedy for, 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 a great deal of speed; the creatures daily spoiling my corn.
+However, as my arable land was but small, suited to my crop, I got it
+totally 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 of I know not how many sorts, which stood as it
+were watching till I should be gone. I immediately let fly among them
+(for I always had my gun with me.) I had no sooner shot, but there arose
+up a little cloud of fowls, which I had not seen at all, from among 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: however, 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
+the remainder was like 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 I was gone, I was no sooner out of their sight, but they
+dropped 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 that they ate now was, as it might be said, a peck loaf to me in
+the consequence; but 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 is impossible to imagine almost, that
+this should have such an effect as it had; for the fowls would not only
+not come at 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
+scarecrows hung there.
+
+This I was very glad of, you may be sure; 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 a 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 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 out with my hands: and at the end of all my 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 at that time.
+
+However, this was a great encouragement to me; and I foresaw, that in
+time it would please God to supply me with bread: and 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 meantime to employ all my study and hours of working to
+accomplish this great work of providing myself with corn and bread.
+
+It might be truly said, that I now worked for my bread. It is a little
+wonderful, and what I believe few people have thought much upon; viz.
+the strange multitude of little things necessary in the providing,
+producing, curing, dressing, making, and finishing this one article
+of bread.
+
+I, that was reduced to a mere state of nature, found this to be my daily
+discouragement, and was made more and more sensible of it every hour,
+even after I 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 the earth, no spade or shovel to dig it. Well, this I conquered
+by making a wooden spade, as I observed before; but this did my work but
+in a wooden manner; and though 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 made it be performed much worse.
+
+However, this I bore with too, and was content to work it out with
+patience, and bear with the badness of the performance. When the corn
+was sowed, 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 the earth, as it
+may be called, rather than rake or harrow it.
+
+When it was growing or grown, I have observed already how many things I
+wanted, to fence it, secure it, mow or reap it, cure or carry it home,
+thresh, part it from the chaff, and save it. Then I wanted a mill to
+grind it, sieves to dress it, yeast and salt to make it into bread, and
+an oven to bake it in; and all these things I did without, as shall be
+observed; and yet the corn was an inestimable comfort and advantage to
+me too; but all this, as I said, made every thing laborious and tedious
+to me, but that there was no help for; neither was my time so much loss
+to me, because I had divided it; a certain part of it was every day
+appointed to these works; and as I resolved to use none of the corn for
+bread till I had a greater quantity by me, I had the next six months to
+apply myself wholly by labour and invention, to furnish myself with
+utensils proper for the performing all the operations necessary for the
+making the corn, when I had it, fit for my use.
+
+But first I was to prepare more land, for I had now 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 a very sorry one
+indeed, and very heavy, and required double labour to work with it;
+however, I went through that, and sowed my seeds 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, which I knew 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 was not so little as to take me up
+less than three months; because great part of that time was in the wet
+season, when I could not go abroad.
+
+Within-door, that is, when it rained, and I could not go out, I found
+employment on the following occasion, always observing, that all the
+while I was at work, I diverted myself with talking to my parrot, and
+teaching him to speak; and I quickly learnt him to know his own name; at
+last, to speak it out pretty loud, Pol; 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 assistant to my work; for now, as I said, I had a
+great employment upon my hands, as follows: viz. I had long studied, by
+some means or other, to make myself some earthen vessels, which indeed I
+wanted sorely, 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
+such clay, I might botch up some such pot as might, being dried by the
+sun, be hard enough 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 preparing 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 like
+jars to hold what should be put into them.
+
+It would make the reader pity me, or rather laugh at me, to tell how
+many awkward ways I took to raise this paste, what odd misshapen ugly
+things I made, how many of them fell in, and how many fell out, the clay
+not being stiff enough to bear its own weight; how many cracked by the
+over-violent heat of the sun, being set out too hastily; and how many
+fell to 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, and any thing my hand turned to; and
+the heat of the sun baked them strangely hard.
+
+But all this would not answer my end, which was to get an earthen pot to
+hold what was liquid, and bear the fire, which none of these could do.
+It happened after some time, 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 earthenware 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 me 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 piled the fire with fresh fuel round the outside,
+and upon the top, till 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 that I wanted no sort of
+earthenware for my use; but 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 learnt 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 upon the
+fire again with some water in it, to boil me some meat, which I did
+admirably well; and with a piece of a kid I made some very good broth,
+though I wanted oatmeal, and several other ingredients requisite to
+make it so good as I would have had it.
+
+My next concern was to get me 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 whatever; neither had 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, and 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 hardness
+sufficient, but were all of a sandy crumbling stone, which would neither
+bear the weight of an 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 an hollow place in it, as the Indians in Brasil make their canoes.
+After this, I made a great heavy pestle or beater of the wood called the
+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 or
+meal to make my bread.
+
+My next difficulty was to make a sieve or searce, to dress my meal, and
+part it from the bran and the husk, without which I did not see it
+possible I could have any bread. This was a most difficult thing, so
+much as but to think on; for to be sure I had nothing like the necessary
+things to make it with; I mean fine thin canvass, or stuff, to searce
+the meal through. And 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 I how to weave or spin it; and had
+I known how, here were no tools to work it with. All the remedy that I
+found for this, was, that at last I did remember I had among the
+seamen’s clothes which were saved out of the ship, some neckcloths of
+calico or muslin; and with some pieces of these I made three small
+sieves, but proper enough for the work; and thus I made shift for some
+years; how I did afterwards, I shall shew in its place.
+
+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 yeast: 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 in great pain. At length I
+found out an experiment 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 burnt 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 the hearth, which I had paved with some square
+tiles of my own making and burning also; but I should not call
+them square.
+
+When the fire-wood was burnt pretty much into embers, or live coals, I
+drew them forward upon this hearth, so as to cover it all over; and
+there I let them lie, till the hearth was very hot; then sweeping away
+all the embers, I set down my loaf, or loaves; and whelming down the
+earthen pot upon them, 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
+mere pastry-cook into the bargain; for I made myself several cakes of
+the rice, and puddings; indeed I made no pies, neither had I any thing
+to put into them, supposing I had, except the flesh either 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, that in the
+intervals of these things I had my new harvest and husbandry to manage:
+for I reaped my corn in its season, and carried it home as well as I
+could, and laid it up in the ear, in my large baskets, till I had time
+to rub it out; for I had no floor to thresh it on, or instrument 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 the rice as much, or more; insomuch that I now resolved
+to begin to use it freely, for my bread had been quite gone a great
+while; also I resolved 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 more 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 the island; and I was not without 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 means of escape.
+
+But all this while I made no allowance for the dangers of such a
+condition, and how 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 into their power, I should run an hazard
+more than a thousand to one of being killed, and perhaps of being eaten;
+for I had heard that the people of the Caribean coasts were cannibals,
+or men-eaters; and I knew by the latitude that I could not be far off
+from that shore: that, suppose they were not cannibals, yet they might
+kill me, as many Europeans who had fallen into their hands had been
+served, even when they had been ten or twenty together; much more I that
+was but one, and could make little or no defence. All these things, I
+say, which I ought to have considered well of, and I did cast up in my
+thoughts afterwards, yet took none of my apprehensions at first; and my
+head ran mightily upon the thoughts of getting over to that 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 on our
+ship’s boat, which, as I have said, was blown up upon the shore a great
+way in the storm, when we were first cast away. She lay almost where she
+did at first, but not quite; and was turned by the force of the waves
+and the winds almost bottom upwards, against the high ridge of a beachy
+rough sand, but no water about her as before.
+
+If I had had hands to have refitted her, and have launched her into the
+water, the boat would have done well enough, and I might have gone back
+into the Brasils with her easy enough; but I might have easily 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 wood, and 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, I might
+easily repair the damage she had received, and she would be a very good
+boat, and I might go to sea in her very easily.
+
+I spared no pains indeed in this piece of fruitless toil, and spent, I
+think, three or four weeks about it; at last finding it impossible to
+heave it up with my little strength, I fell to digging away the sand to
+undermine it; and so to make it fall down, setting pieces of wood to
+thrust and guide it right in the fall.
+
+But when I had done this, I was unable to stir it up again, or to get
+under it, much less to move it forwards 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 for the main increased, rather than
+decreased, as the means for it seemed impossible.
+
+This at length set me upon thinking 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, viz. of the trunk
+of a great tree. This I not only thought possible, but easy: and pleased
+myself extremely with my thoughts of making it, and with my having much
+more convenience for it than any of the Negroes or Indians; but not at
+all considering the particular inconveniences which I lay under more
+than the Indians did, viz. want of hands to move it into the water, when
+it was made; a difficulty much harder for me to surmount than all the
+consequences of want of tools could be to them: for what was it to me,
+that when I had chosen a vast tree in the woods, I might with great
+trouble cut it down, if after I might be able with my tools to hew and
+dub the outside into a proper shape of a boat, and burn or cut out the
+inside to make it hollow, so to make a boat of it, if, after all this, I
+must leave it just there where I found it, and was not able to launch it
+into the water?
+
+One would have thought I could not have had the least reflection upon my
+mind of this circumstance, while I was making this boat, but I should
+have immediately thought how I should get it into the sea; but my
+thoughts were so intent upon my voyage over the sea 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 about 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 ever able to undertake it; not but
+that the difficulty of launching my boat came often into my head; but I
+put a stop to my own inquiries into it by this foolish answer, which I
+gave myself; Let me first make it, I’ll warrant I’ll 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
+prevailed, and to work I went, and felled a cedar-tree: I question much
+whether Solomon ever had such an one for the building the temple at
+Jerusalem; it was 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, after which it lessened for a while, and then parted into
+branches. It was not without infinite labour that I felled this tree: I
+was twenty days hacking and hewing at it at the bottom; I was fourteen
+more getting the branches and limbs, and the vast spreading head of it,
+cut off, which I hacked and hewed through with my axe and hatchet, with
+inexpressible labour: 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; till I had brought it to be a very handsome
+periagua, and big enough to have carried six-and-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 I ever saw a canoe or periagua,
+that was made of one tree, in my life; many a weary stroke it had cost,
+you may be sure, for there remained nothing but to get it into the
+water; and had I gotten it into the water, I make no question but I
+should have begun the maddest voyage, and the most unlikely to be
+performed, that ever was undertaken.
+
+But all my devices to get it into the water failed me, though they cost
+infinite 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 began, and it
+cost me a prodigious deal of pains: but who grudge pains, that have
+their deliverance in view? but when this was worked through, and this
+difficulty managed, it was still much at one; 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 into it, and calculated how deep it was to be dug, how broad, how
+the stuff to be thrown out, I found, that by the number of hands I had,
+being none but my own, it must have been ten or twelve years before I
+should have gone through with it; for the shore lay high, so that at the
+upper end it must have been at least twenty feet deep: so at length,
+though with great reluctancy, I gave this attempt over also.
+
+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 lightly
+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 the same devotion, and with as much comfort, as
+ever before; for by a constant study, and serious application of the
+word of God, and by the assistance of his grace, I gained a different
+knowledge from what I had before; I entertained different notions of
+things; I looked now upon the world as a thing remote; which I had
+nothing to do with, no expectation from, and indeed no desires about: in
+a word, I had nothing indeed to do with it, nor was ever like to have;
+so I thought it looked as we may perhaps look upon it hereafter; viz. as
+a place I had lived in, but was come out of it; and well I might say,
+as father Abraham to Dives, “Between me and thee there is a great
+gulf fixed.”
+
+In the first place, I was removed from all the wickedness of the world
+here: I had neither the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the
+pride of life: I had nothing to covet, for I had all I was now capable
+of enjoying; I was lord of the whole manor, or, if I pleased, I might
+call myself king or emperor over the whole country which I had
+possession of: there were no rivals: I had no competitor, none to
+dispute sovereignty or command with me; I might have raised
+ship-loadings of corn, but I had no use for it; so I let as little grow
+as I thought enough for my occasion: I had tortoises or turtles enough;
+but now and then one was as much as I could put to any use: I had timber
+enough to have built a fleet of ships; I had grapes enough to have made
+wine, or to have cured into raisins, to have loaded that fleet when they
+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 all the rest to me? If I
+killed more flesh than I could eat, the dog must eat it, or the vermin;
+if I sowed more corn than I could eat, 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 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 no farther good
+to us, than as they are for our use: and that whatever we may heap up
+indeed to give to others, we enjoy as much as we can use, and no more.
+The most covetous griping miser in the world would have been cured of
+the vice of covetousness, 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 of things which I had not, and they were 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-six pounds sterling;
+alas! there the nasty, sorry, useless stuff lay; I had no manner of
+business for it; and I often thought with myself, that I would have
+given an handful of it for a gross of tobacco-pipes, or for an hand-mill
+to grind my corn; nay, I would have given it all for six-penny-worth of
+turnip and carrot seed out of England, or for an 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 season; and if I had had the
+drawer full of diamonds, it had been the same case; and 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 easier in itself than it
+was at first, and much easier to my mind, as well as to my body. I
+frequently sat down to my meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand
+of God’s providence, which had thus spread my table in the wilderness: I
+learnt 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 sometimes 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 hath 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 should
+be; nay, with what it would certainly have been, if the good providence
+of God had not wonderfully ordered the ship to be cast up near to 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 tools to work, weapons for defence, or 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; how 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 first: 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 them, 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 sensible of the goodness of Providence to
+me, and 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 what their case might have been, if Providence had
+thought fit.
+
+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 from the hand of
+Providence. I had lived a dreadful life, perfectly 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 early endeavours to
+infuse a religious awe of God into my mind, a sense of my duty, and of
+what the nature and end of my being required of me. But, alas! falling
+early into the seafaring life, which of all the lives is the most
+destitute of the fear of God, though his terrors are always before them;
+I say, 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; by an hardened despising of dangers,
+and the views of death, which grew habitual to me; by my long absence
+from all manner of opportunities to converse with any thing but what was
+like myself, or to hear any thing of what was good, or tended
+towards it.
+
+So void was I of every thing that was good, or of the least sense of
+what I was, or was to be, that in the greatest deliverance I enjoyed,
+such as my escape from Sallee, my being taken up by the Portuguese
+master of the ship, my being planted so well in Brasil, my receiving the
+cargo from England, and the like, I never once had the words, Thank God,
+so much as on my mind, or in my mouth; nor in the greatest distress had
+I so much thought as to pray to him; nor so much as to say, Lord, have
+mercy upon me! no, not to mention the name of God, unless it was to
+swear by, and blaspheme it.
+
+I had terrible reflections upon my mind for many months, as I have
+already observed, on the account of my wicked and hardened life past;
+and when I looked about me, and considered what 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
+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 resignation to
+the will of God in the present disposition of my circumstances, but even
+to a sincere thankfulness of my condition; and that I, who was yet a
+living man, ought not to complain, seeing I had not the due punishment
+of my sins; 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 cloud of wonders could have brought: that I
+ought to consider I had been fed even 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 uninhabited 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, to threaten my life; no
+venomous creatures, or poisonous, which I might have fed on to my hurt;
+no savages to murder and 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
+be able to make my sense of God’s goodness to me, and care over me in
+this condition, be my daily consolation; and after I made a just
+improvement of these things, I went away, 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 a little and a little, till 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 away from my
+father and my friends, and ran away to Hull in order to go to sea, the
+same day afterwards I was taken by the Sallee man of war, and made
+a slave.
+
+The same day of the year that I escaped out of the wreck of the ship in
+Yarmouth Roads, that same day of the year afterwards I made my escape
+from Sallee in the boat.
+
+The same day of the year I was born on, viz. the 20th of September, the
+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
+solitary life, both began on a day.
+
+The next thing to my ink’s 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 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 a good
+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 other 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 several thick watch-coats of the
+seamen, which were left behind, but they were too hot to wear; and
+though it is true, that the weather was so violent 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.
+
+One reason why I could not go quite naked, was, I could not 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 a hat; the heat of the sun
+beating with such violence as it does in that place, would give me the
+headach presently, by darting so directly on 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 which 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 waistcoats, which I hoped would serve me a great
+while; as for breeches or drawers, I made but very sorry shift indeed,
+till 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, it seems, were 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 a suit of clothes wholly of those skins;
+that is to say, a waistcoat and breeches open at the knees, and both
+loose; for they were rather wanted to keep me cool, than to keep me
+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 a very good shift with; and when I was abroad, if it
+happened to rain, the hair of the waistcoat and cap being outmost, I was
+kept very dry.
+
+After this I spent a deal of time and pains to make me an umbrella: I
+was indeed in great want of one, and had a great mind to make one: I had
+seen them made in the Brasils, where they are 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 equinox; 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 would not be portable for me any way, but
+just over my head, which would not do. However, at last, as I said, I
+made one to answer; I covered it with skins, the hair upwards, so that
+it cast off the rain like a penthouse, 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
+need of it, I could close it, and carry it under my arm.
+
+Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being entirely composed by
+resigning to the will of God, and throwing myself wholly upon the
+disposal of his providence: 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, as I hope I
+may say, with even my Maker, by ejaculations and petitions, was not
+better than the utmost 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 thing 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 the
+year’s provisions beforehand; I say, besides this yearly labour, and my
+daily labour of going out with my gun, I had one labour to make me a
+canoe, which at last I finished: so that by digging a canal to it, six
+feet wide, and four feet deep, I brought it into the creek, almost half
+a mile. As for the first, that was so vastly big, as I made it without
+considering beforehand, as I ought to do, how I should be able to launch
+it; so never being able to bring it to 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 next time. Indeed the next time, though I could not get a
+tree proper for it, and was in a place where I could not get the water
+to it, at any less distance than, as I have said, of near half a mile;
+yet as I saw it was practicable at last, I never gave it over; and
+though 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; accordingly, the smallness of my boat assisted to put
+an end to that design, and now I thought no more of it. But as I had a
+boat, my next design was to make a tour 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 journey
+made me very eager to see the other parts of the coast; and now I had a
+boat, I thought of nothing but sailing round the island.
+
+For this purpose, and that I might do every thing with discretion and
+consideration, I fitted up a little mast to 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 store by me.
+
+Having fitted my mast and sail, and tried the boat, I found she would
+sail very well. Then I made little lockers and boxes at each end of my
+boat, to put provisions, necessaries, and ammunition, &c. into, to be
+kept dry, either from rain, or the spray of the sea; and a little long
+hollow place I cut in the 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; but at last, being eager to
+view the circumference of my little kingdom, I resolved upon my tour,
+and accordingly I victualled my ship for the voyage; putting in two
+dozen of my loaves (cakes I should rather call them) 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, and powder with 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 though 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 this 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
+that point.
+
+When I first discovered them, I was going to give over my enterprise,
+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 broken
+grappling which I got out of the ship.
+
+Having secured my boat, I took my gun, and went on shore, climbing up an
+hill, which seemed to over-look that point, where I saw the full extent
+of it, and resolved to venture.
+
+In my viewing the sea from that hill where I stood, I perceived a
+strong, and indeed a most furious current, which ran to the east, even
+came close to the point; and I took the more notice of it, because I
+saw there might be 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, had I not gotten first upon this hill, I
+believe it would have been so; for there was the same current on the
+other side of the island, only that it set off at a farther 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
+my boat’s length from the shore, but I found myself in a great depth of
+water, and a current like a sluice of a mill. It carried my boat along
+with it with such violence, that all I could do could 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 the left hand. There was no wind
+stirring to help me, and all that I could do with my paddles signified
+nothing; and now I began to give myself over for lost; for, as the
+current was on both sides 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 avoiding 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 tortoise 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
+no shore, no main land or island, for a thousand leagues at least?
+
+And now I saw how easy it was for the providence of God to make the most
+miserable condition that mankind could be in, 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 there
+again: I stretched out my hands to it with eager wishes; “O happy
+desert!” said I, “I shall never see thee more! O miserable creature!”
+said I, “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 consternation I was now 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, till indeed 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 small gentle gale. By this time I was gotten at a
+frightful distance from the island; and, had the least cloud or hazy
+weather intervened, I had been undone another way too; for I had no
+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 mast 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; 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 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, leaving the rocks to the
+north-east, so the other returned by the repulse of the rock, 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 or eddy under foot.
+
+This eddy carried me about a league in my way back again directly
+towards the island, but about two leagues more towards the northward
+than the current lay, which carried me away at first; 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 the two great currents, viz. that on the
+south side which had hurried me away, and that on the north which lay
+about two leagues on the other side; I say, between these two, in the
+west 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 about a league of
+the island, I found the point of the rocks which occasioned this
+distance stretching out as is described before, to the southward, and
+casting off the current more southwardly, had of course made another
+eddy to the north; and this I found very strong, but 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 God thanks for my
+deliverance, resolving to lay aside all thoughts of my 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 espied 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 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
+thereabouts, 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 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 my 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 good order, 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 I 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 awaked out of my
+sleep by a voice calling me by my name several times, “Robin, Robin,
+Robin Crusoe, 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 walking the latter part,
+that I did not awake thoroughly; and 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 awake more
+perfectly, and was at first dreadfully frighted, and started up in the
+utmost consternation: but no sooner were my eyes open, but I saw my Pol
+sitting on the top of the hedge, and immediately knew that this 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 learnt it so perfectly, that he would
+sit upon my finger, and lay his bill close to my face, and cry, “Poor
+Robin Crusoe, where are you? Where have you been? How came you here?”
+and such things as I had taught him.
+
+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 it over; and
+holding out my Hand, and calling him by his Name Poll, the sociable
+Creature came to me, and sat upon my Thumb, 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 had 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 supposing 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 my self 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 unto 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 composed as to my condition, and fully comforted in resigning my
+self to the dispositions of Providence, I thought I lived really very
+happily in all things, except that of society.
+
+I improved my self in this time in all the mechanic exercises which my
+necessities put me upon applying my self to, and I believe could, upon
+occasion, make 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 shapeable,
+which before were filthy things indeed to look on. But I think I was
+never more vain of my own performance, or more joyful for any thing I
+found out, than for my being able to make a tobacco-pipe. And tho it was
+a very ugly clumsy thing, when it was done, and only burnt red like
+other earthen ware, 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 knowing 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 abundance of necessary
+baskets, as well as my invention shewed me, tho not very handsome, yet
+they were such as were very handy and convenient for my laying things up
+in, or fetching things home in. For example, if I killed a goat abroad,
+I could hang it up in a tree, flea it, and 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 my receivers for my corn, which
+I always rubbed out as soon as it was dry, and cured, and kept it in
+great baskets.
+
+I began now to perceive my powder abated considerably, and 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 goat. 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 hope of getting a he-goat, but I could not by any means bring
+it to pass, ’till my kid grew an old goat; and I could never find in my
+heart to kill her, till she dyed 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.
+
+To this purpose I made snares to hamper them; and believe they were more
+than once taken in them; but my tackle was not good, for I had no wire,
+and always found them broken, and my bait devoured.
+
+At length I resolved to try a pitfall; so I dug several large pits in
+the earth, in places where I had observed the goats used to feed, and
+over these 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, that I could see the mark 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 trap; 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 other, 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 e’en let him
+out, and he ran away as if he had been frightened out of his wits; but I
+did not then know what I afterwards learnt, that hunger would tame a
+lion: if I had let him stay there three or four days without food, and
+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 mighty
+sagacious tractable creatures, where they are well used.
+
+However, for the present 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 tame: and now I found, that
+if I expected to supply myself with goat’s flesh, when I had no powder
+or shot left, breeding some up tame was my only way, when perhaps I
+might have them about my house like a flock of sheep.
+
+But then it presently 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 up 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 of doing it, my first piece of work was to
+find out a proper piece of ground; viz. where there was likely to be
+herbage for 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 (as our people call
+it in the western colonies) which had two or three little drills of
+fresh water in it, and at one end was very woody; I say they will smile
+at my forecast, when I shall tell them I began my enclosing of 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
+compass; for if it was 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 one hundred and
+fifty yards in length, and one hundred yards in breadth, which as it
+would maintain as many as I should have in any reasonable time, so, as
+my flock 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 year and a half I had a flock of
+about twelve goats, kids and all; and in two years more I had
+three-and-forty, besides several that I took and killed for my food; and
+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 them; and
+gates out of one piece of ground into another.
+
+But this was not all; for now I not only had goat’s flesh to feed on
+when I pleased, but milk too, a thing which indeed in my beginning I did
+not so much as think of, and which, when it came into my thoughts, was
+really an agreeable 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, dictates even naturally how to make
+use of it; so I, that never milked a cow, much less a goat, or saw
+butter or cheese made, very readily and handily, though after a great
+many essays and miscarriages, made me both butter and cheese at last,
+and never wanted it afterwards.
+
+How mercifully can our great Creator treat his creatures, even in those
+conditions in which they seemed to be overwhelmed in destruction! How
+can he sweeten the bitterest providences, and give us cause to praise
+him for dungeons and prisons! 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 down to dinner: there was my majesty, the prince and lord of the
+whole island; I had the lives of all my subjects at absolute command; I
+could hang, draw, give life and liberty, and 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! Pol, as if he had been my favourite, as the only person
+permitted to talk to me; my dog, which was now grown very old and crazy,
+and found no species to multiply his kind upon, sat always at my right
+hand; and two cats, one on one side 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
+my own hands; but one of them having multiplied by I know not what kind
+of creature, these were two which I preserved tame, whereas the rest ran
+wild into 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, in
+some time after this, I was like to have too much.
+
+I was something impatient, as I had observed, to have the use of my
+boat, though very loath to run any more hazard; and therefore sometimes
+I sat contriving 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 length I resolved to
+travel thither by land, and 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 frighted them, 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 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 my thighs; and a pair of open-kneed breeches of the same; the
+breeches were made of a 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 I had made me a
+pair of something, I scarce knew 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 on 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, one on the other: I had another belt not
+so broad, and fastened in the same manner, which hung over my shoulder;
+and at the end of it, under my left arm, hung two pouches, both made of
+goat’s skin too; in one of which hung my powder, in the other my shot:
+at my back I carried my basket, on my shoulder my gun, and over my head
+a great clumsy ugly 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 equinox. 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 Mahometan whiskers, such as I
+had seen worn by some Turks whom I saw at Sallee; for the Moors did not
+wear such, though the Turks did: of these mustachios, or whiskers, I
+will not say they were long enough to hang my hat upon them; but they
+were of length and shape monstrous enough, and such as in England would
+have passed for frightful.
+
+But all this is by the by; 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 up 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 rock which lay out, and which I was to double with my
+boat, as I said above, I was surprised to see the sea all smooth and
+quiet; no rippling, no motion, no current, any more there than in
+other places.
+
+I was at a strange loss to understand this, and resolved to spend some
+time in the observing of it, to see if nothing from the sets of the tide
+had occasioned it: but I was presently convinced how it was; viz. that
+the tide of ebb setting from the west, and joining with the current of
+waters from some great river on the shore, must be the occasion of this
+current, and that according as the wind blew more forcible from the
+west, or from the north, this current came near, or went farther from
+the shore; for, waiting thereabouts till evening, I went up to the rock
+again, and then the tide of the 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 in my canoe 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, or canoe; and so have one for one side
+of the island, and one for the other.
+
+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 apartments or caves, one within another. One of
+these, which was the driest and largest, and had a door out beyond my
+wall or fortification, that is to say, beyond where my wall joined to
+the rock, was all filled up with 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 hands.
+
+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-ground; 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 circled 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; I kept them always so
+cut, 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 belonged 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 I had taken an inconceivable deal of pains to fence and
+enclose this ground, I was so uneasy to see it kept entire, lest the
+goats should break through, that I never left off, till 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 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, I was forced to pull some of them up again.
+
+In this place also I had my grapes growing, which I principally depended
+on for my winter store of raisins, and which I never failed to preserve
+very carefully, as the best and most agreeable dainty of my whole diet;
+and indeed they were not agreeable only, but physical, wholesome,
+nourishing, and refreshing to the last degree.
+
+As this was also about half way between my other habitation and the
+place where I had laid up my boat, I generally staid 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, which was
+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, 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 very print of a
+foot, toes, heel, and every part of a foot; how it came thither I knew
+not, nor could in the least imagine. But after innumerable fluttering
+thoughts, like a man perfectly confused, and out of myself, I came home
+to my mortification, 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 an affrighted imagination represented things to me in; how many
+wild ideas were formed every moment in my fancy, and what strange
+unaccountable 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 called a
+door, I cannot remember; for never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox
+to earth, with more terror of mind than I to this retreat.
+
+I had no sleep 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 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 come 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 amazement the other way: I
+considered that the devil might have found out abundance of other ways
+to have terrified me, than 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 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 an high wind would have defaced entirely.
+All this seemed inconsistent with the thing itself, and with all notions
+we usually entertain of the subtlety of the devil.
+
+Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue me out of all
+apprehensions of its being the devil. And I presently concluded that it
+must be some more dangerous creature; viz. 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 staid 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 thought, 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 imaginations
+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 religious hope; all that former confidence
+in God, which was founded upon such wonderful experience as I had had of
+his goodness, now vanished; as if he that had fed me by miracle
+hitherto, could not preserve by his power the provision which he had
+made for me by his goodness. I reproached myself with my uneasiness,
+that I would not sow any more corn one year, than would just serve me
+till the next season, as if no accident could 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 of Providence is the life of man! And by what
+secret differing springs are the affections hurried about, as differing
+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 call a 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 seemed to me a raising me from death to life, and the
+greatest blessing that Heaven itself, next to the supreme blessing of
+salvation, 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 appearance of a man’s having set his foot on
+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 infinitely
+wise and good providence of God had determined for me; that as I could
+not foresee what the ends of divine wisdom might be in all this, 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 who 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 God, who was not only righteous, but omnipotent,
+as he had thought fit thus to punish and afflict me, so he was able to
+deliver me; that if he did not think fit to do it, it was my
+unquestioned duty to 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 cogitations on this occasion I
+cannot omit; viz. one morning early, lying in my bed, and filled with
+thoughts about my danger from the appearance of savages, I found it
+discomposed me very much; upon which those 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 out of 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,
+and be of good cheer, and he shall strengthen thy heart: Wait, I say, on
+the Lord.” It is impossible to express the comfort this gave me; and in
+return, I thankfully laid down the book, and was no more sad, at least,
+not 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 not I 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, I had played the
+part of those fools, who strive to make stories of spectres and
+apparitions, and then are themselves frighted at them more than any
+body else.
+
+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 provision; 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 evening 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.
+
+Heartening myself therefore with the belief, that this was nothing but
+the print of one of my own feet (and so 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 have thought I was haunted with an evil conscience, or that I had
+been lately most terribly frighted; 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, till I should go down to the shore again, and see this print of a
+foot, and measure it by my own, and see if there was any similitude or
+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 thereabouts. 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, that the
+enemy might not 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 corn fields, that they might not find such a grain there, and still
+to be prompted to frequent the island; then to demolish my bower and
+tent, that they might not see any vestiges of my habitation, and be
+prompted to look farther, in order to find out the persons inhabiting.
+
+These were the subjects of the first night’s cogitation, after I was
+come home again, while the apprehensions which had so over-run my mind
+were fresh upon me, and my head was full of vapours, as above. Thus fear
+of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself, when
+apparent to the eyes; and, we find the burden of anxiety greater by
+much than the evil which we are anxious about; but, which was worse than
+all this, 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 providence, 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 waking 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 I
+awaked much better composed than I had ever been before. And now I began
+to think sedately; and, upon the utmost debate with myself, I concluded,
+that this island, which was so exceeding 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 design, 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 before; 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 there upon
+any occasion, to this time.
+
+That the most I could suggest any danger from, was, from any such 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 daylight 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 considering this,
+therefore, I resolved to draw me a second fortification, in the manner
+of a semicircle, 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 before, there wanted but a few
+piles to be driven between them, that they should 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 thickened my wall to about ten
+feet thick, continually bringing earth out of my cave, and laying it at
+the foot of the wall, and walking upon it; and through the seven holes I
+contrived to plant the muskets, of which I took notice that I got seven
+on shore out of the ship; these, I say, I planted like my cannon, and
+fitted them into frames that held them like a carriage, that so I could
+fire all the seven guns in two minutes time. This wall I was many a
+weary month in finishing, 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
+way 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; insomuch 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.
+
+Thus in two years time I had a thick grove; and in five or six years
+time I had a wood before my dwelling, grown so monstrous thick and
+strong, that it was indeed perfectly impassable; and no man of what kind
+soever would ever imagine that there was any thing beyond it, much less
+an habitation: as for the way I proposed 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 mischiefing himself; and if they had come
+down, they were still on the outside of my outer wall.
+
+Thus I took all the measures human prudence could suggest for my own
+preservation; and it will be seen at length, that they were not
+altogether without just reason; though I foresaw nothing at that time
+more than my mere fear suggested.
+
+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 present supply to me upon every occasion, and began to be
+sufficient for me, without the expense of powder and shot, but also
+abated the fatigue of my hunting after the wild ones; and I was loath to
+lose the advantage of them, and to have them all to nurse up over again.
+
+To this purpose, after long consideration, I could think but of 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, which 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 she-goats and two he-goats to this piece; and when
+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 from 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 these uneasinesses, which indeed made my life much less
+comfortable than it was before; as may well be imagined, by any who know
+what it is to live in the constant snare of the fear of man; and this I
+must observe with grief too, that the discomposure 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 cannibals 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 the
+morning; and I must testify from my experience, that a temper of peace,
+thankfulness, love, and affection, is much more the 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 comforting performance of
+the duty of praying to God, than he is for repentance on a sick bed; for
+these discomposures affect the mind as the others do the body; and the
+discomposure of the mind must necessarily be as great a disability as
+that of the body, and much greater; praying to God 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 deposit; 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, though I looked at it till my eyes
+were not able 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 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, but 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 cannibals, 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 it is supposed the
+savage wretches had sat down to their inhuman feastings upon the bodies
+of their fellow-creatures.
+
+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 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
+discharged the disorder from my stomach, and, having vomited with an
+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 own habitation.
+
+When I came a little out of that part of the island, I stood still a
+while as amazed; and then recovering myself, I looked up with the utmost
+affection 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 condition very miserable, had yet given me so
+many comforts in it, that I had still more to give thanks for than to
+complain of; and this above all, that I had, even in this miserable
+condition, been comforted with the knowledge of himself, and the hope of
+his blessing, which was a felicity more than sufficiently equivalent to
+all the misery which I had suffered, or could suffer.
+
+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
+footsteps of a human creature there before; and might be here eighteen
+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 cannibals 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; nor did I so much as go to look after my boat in all this time,
+but began rather to think of making me another; for I could not think
+of ever making any more attempts to bring the other boat round the
+island to me, lest I should meet with some of those creatures at sea, in
+which, if I had 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 difference, 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 on the island should happen to hear it; and it was therefore
+a very good providence to me, that I had furnished myself with a tame
+breed of goats, that I had no need to hunt any more about the woods, or
+shoot at them; and if I did catch any more 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 carried them out with me, or at least two of them,
+sticking them in my goat-skin belt: I likewise furbished up one of the
+great cutlasses that I had out of the ship, and made me a belt to put it
+in 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 my 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 shew me more and more how far my condition
+was from being miserable, compared to some others; nay, to many other
+particulars of life, which it might have pleased God to have made my
+lot. It put me upon reflecting, how little repining there would be
+among mankind, at any condition of life, if people would rather compare
+their condition with those that are worse, in order to be thankful, than
+be always comparing them with those which are better, to assist their
+murmurings 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 upon; and
+that was, to try if I could not make some 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 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 yeast to make it work, no copper or kettle to
+make it boil; and yet, had not all these things intervened, I mean the
+frights and terrors I was in about the savages, I had undertaken it, and
+perhaps brought it to pass too; for I seldom gave any thing over without
+accomplishing it, when I once had it in my head enough to begin it.
+
+But my invention now ran quite another way; for night and day I could
+think of nothing, but how I might destroy 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 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 perhaps 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 I could with my gun?
+
+Sometimes I contrived to dig a hole under the place where they made
+their fire, and put in five or 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 very loath to waste
+so much powder upon them, my store being now within the quantity of a
+barrel, so neither could I be sure of its going off at any certain time,
+when it might surprise them; and, at best, that it 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
+ceremony let fly at them, when I should be sure to kill or wound perhaps
+two or three at every shoot; 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 indignation, 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; and especially while my mind was thus filled
+with thoughts of revenge, and of a bloody putting twenty or thirty of
+them to the sword, as I may call it; but the horror I had at the place,
+and at the signals of the barbarous wretches devouring one another,
+abated my malice.
+
+Well, at length I found a place in the side of the hill, where I was
+satisfied I might securely wait till I saw any of the boats coming, and
+might then, even before they would be ready to come on shore, convey
+myself unseen into thickets of trees, in one of which there was an
+hollow large enough to conceal me entirely; and where 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 shoot, or that I could fail wounding three or four
+of them at the first shoot.
+
+In this place then I resolved to fix my design; and accordingly I
+prepared two muskets 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 an 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 for 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 not on the whole ocean, so far as my eyes or glasses could reach
+every way.
+
+As long as I kept up my daily tour to the hill to look out, so long also
+I kept up the vigour of my design, and my spirits seemed to be all the
+while in a suitable frame for so outrageous an execution, as the killing
+twenty or thirty naked savages for an offence, which I had not at all
+entered into a discussion of in my thoughts, any further 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 suffered
+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 for some ages, to act such
+horrid things, and receive such dreadful customs, as nothing but nature,
+entirely abandoned of 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 fruitless 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 it
+was 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 his judgments upon one another; also,
+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 one
+upon 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 offence, 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 had 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 frequently, upon many occasions, put whole
+troops of men to the sword, without giving quarter, though they threw
+down their arms and submitted.
+
+In the next place, it occurred to me, that albeit 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 preservation to fall upon them,
+something might be said for it; but that I was yet out of their power,
+and they had really 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 practised in America, where they destroyed millions of these
+people, who, however they were idolaters and barbarians, and had several
+bloody and barbarous rites in these 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 utmost abhorrence and detestation, even by the Spaniards themselves,
+at this time, and by all other Christian nations of Europe, as a mere
+butchery, a bloody and unnatural piece of cruelty, unjustifiable either
+to God or man; and such, as for which the very name of a Spaniard is
+reckoned to be frightful and terrible to all people of humanity, or of
+Christian compassion: as if the kingdom of Spain were particularly
+eminent for the product 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 a 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 of my design, and to
+conclude I had taken a wrong measure in my resolutions to attack the
+savages; 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, then 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 thousands 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 principles nor 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, 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 to me; as to the crimes they were guilty of towards one
+another, I had nothing to do with them; they were national punishments
+to make a just retribution for national offences; and to bring public
+judgments upon those who offend in a public manner, by such ways as best
+please God.
+
+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 barbarians; or that
+I might not lay my hands upon them, unless I had a more clear call from
+Heaven to do it, in defence of my own life.
+
+In this 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 provoked, by any 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 currents, the savages durst not, at least would not, come with their
+boats upon any account whatsoever.
+
+With my boat I carried away every thing that I had left there belonging
+to her, though not necessary for the bare going thither; viz. a mast and
+sail, which I had made for her, and a thing like an anchor, but indeed
+which could not be called either anchor or grappling; however, it was
+the best I could make of its kind. All these I removed, that there might
+not be the least shadow of any discovery, or any appearance of any boat,
+or of any habitation upon the island.
+
+Besides this, I kept myself, as I said, more retired than ever, and
+seldom went from my cell, other than upon my constant employment, viz.
+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 here, 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; and 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 I should have done, and how I not only should not have been able to
+resist them, but even should not have had presence of mind enough to do
+what I might have done; much less what now, after so much 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 at last all into thankfulness to that
+Providence which had delivered me from so many unseen dangers, and had
+kept me from those mischiefs, which I could no way have 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 nothing of it: how, when we are in a
+quandary, (as we call it) a doubt or hesitation, whether to go this way,
+or that way, a secret hint shall direct us this way, when we intended to
+go another way; nay, when sense, our own inclination, 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 would 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 pressings of
+my mind, to doing or not doing any thing that presented, or to 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 an
+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; besides many occasions which
+it is very likely I might have taken notice of, if I had seen with the
+same eyes then that I saw with now: but ’tis 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 though 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 account for; but certainly they are a proof
+of the converse of spirits, and the secret communication between 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 more now upon my hands than
+that of my food. I cared not to drive a nail, or chop a stick of wood
+now, for fear the noise I should make should be heard; much less would I
+fire a gun, for the same reason; and, above all, I was very uneasy at
+making any fire, lest the smoke, which is visible at a great distance in
+the day, should betray me; and for this reason I removed that part of my
+business which required fire, such as burning of pots and pipes, &c.
+into my new apartment in the wood; where, after I had been some time, I
+found, to my unspeakable consolation, a mere 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
+mere accident, (I would say, if I did not see an 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, 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, cooking 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, which fire was wanting for at home, without danger or smoke.
+
+But this by the by: while I was cutting down some wood here, I perceived
+that behind a very thick branch of low brushwood, or underwood, there
+was a kind of hollow place: I was curious to look into 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 perhaps another
+with me; but I must confess to you, I made more haste out than I did in,
+when, looking further into the place, 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 tell myself, that he that was afraid to see the
+devil, was not fit to live twenty years in an island all alone, and that
+I durst to believe there was nothing in this cave that was more
+frightful than myself: upon this, plucking up my courage, I took up a
+large 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 if 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 an 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 encouraging 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
+firebrand, 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 a mere old age.
+
+I 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 lie 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, either round or 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 so low, that it required me to creep upon my hands
+and knees to get into it, and whither it went I knew not; so having no
+candle, I gave it over for some time, but resolved 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 wildfire 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 goats tallow; 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, or what was
+beyond it. When I was got through the streight, 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 candles; what it was in the rock, whether
+diamonds, or any other precious stones, or gold, which I rather supposed
+it to be, I knew not.
+
+The place I was in was a most delightful cavity, or grotto, of its kind,
+as could be expected, though perfectly dark; the floor was dry and
+level, and had a sort of small loose gravel upon it; so that there was
+no nauseous creature to be seen; neither was there any damp or wet on
+the sides of the 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 utmost fence, and
+were ready also to take out upon any expedition.
+
+Upon this occasion of removing my ammunition, I was obliged 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 a shell; so that I had near sixty
+pounds of very good powder in the centre of the cask; and this was an
+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 ancient 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, which 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 hole there, and throw him in, and cover him with earth, than to
+drag him out: so I interred him there, to prevent offence to my nose.
+
+I was now in my twenty-third year of residence in this island, and was
+so naturalized to the place, and to the manner of living, that could I
+have but enjoyed 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 more pleasantly with me a great deal than it did before; as, first,
+I had taught my Pol, 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; and he lived with me no less than six-and-twenty years:
+how long he might live afterwards I knew not; though I know they have a
+notion in the Brasils, that they live an hundred years; perhaps some of
+my Polls may be alive there still, calling after poor Robin Crusoe to
+this day; I wish no Englishman the ill luck to come there and hear them;
+but if he did, he would certainly believe it was the devil. My dog was a
+very 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 have observed, to that degree, that I was obliged to
+shoot several of them 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, when they had
+any, I always drowned, and these were part of my family: besides these,
+I always kept two or three household kids about me, which I taught to
+feed out of my hand; and I had also 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 know not, which 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 it might but have been
+secured from the dread of savages.
+
+But it was otherwise directed; and it might not be amiss for all people
+who shall meet with my story to make this just observation from it, viz.
+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 was it more particularly remarkable,
+than in the circumstances of my last 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 daylight, I was surprised with seeing a light of
+some fire upon the shore, at a distance from me of about two miles,
+towards the end of the island, where I had observed some savages had
+been, as before; but not on the other side; but, to my great affliction,
+it was on my side of the island.
+
+I was indeed terribly surprised 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 apprehensions 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 immediately
+conclude that there were people in the place, and would then never give
+over till they found me out. In this extremity I went back directly to
+my castle, pulled up the ladder after me, having 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
+recommend myself to the divine protection, and earnestly to pray to God
+to deliver me out of the hands of the barbarians; and in this posture I
+continued about two hours, but began to be mighty impatient for
+intelligence abroad, for I had no spies to send out.
+
+After sitting awhile longer, and musing what I should do in this case, I
+was not able to bear sitting in ignorance 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 extreme 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 know.
+
+They had two canoes with them, which they had haled up upon the shore;
+and as it was then tide of ebb, they seemed to me to wait 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 the
+island, and so near me too; but when I observed their coming must be
+always with the current of the ebb, I began afterwards to be more sedate
+in my mind, being satisfied that I might go abroad with safety all the
+time of tide of flood, if they were not on shore before; and having made
+this observation, I went abroad about my harvest work with the more
+composure.
+
+As I expected, so it proved; for as soon as the tide made to the
+westward, I saw them all take boat, and row (or paddle, as we call it)
+all away: I should have observed, that for an hour and more before they
+went off, they went to dancing, and I could easily discern their
+postures and gestures by my glasses; I could only perceive, by my nicest
+observation, that they were stark naked, and had not the least covering
+upon them; but whether they were men or women, that I could not
+distinguish.
+
+As soon as I saw them shipped and gone, I took two guns upon my
+shoulders, and two pistols at my girdle, and my great sword by my side,
+without a scabbard; and with all the speed I was able to make, I went
+away to the hill, where I had discovered the first appearance of all. As
+soon as I got thither, which was not less than two hours, (for I could
+not go apace, being so loaded with arms as I was,) I perceived there had
+been three canoes more of savages on that place; and looking out
+further, I saw they were all at sea together, making over for the main.
+
+This was a dreadful sight to me, especially when, going down to the
+shore, I could see the marks of horror which the dismal work they had
+been about had left behind it, viz. the blood, the bones, and part of
+the flesh of human bodies, eaten and devoured by those wretches with
+merriment and sport. I was so filled with indignation at the sight, that
+I began now to premeditate the destruction of the next that I saw there,
+let them be who or how many soever.
+
+It seemed evident to me, that the visits which they thus made 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 never saw
+them, or any 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 I was in of their coming upon me by surprise;
+from whence I observe, that the expectation of evil is more bitter than
+the suffering, especially if there is no room to shake off that
+expectation or those apprehensions.
+
+During all this time, I was in the murdering humour; and took up most of
+my hours, which should have been better employed, in contriving how to
+circumvent and fall upon them the very next time I 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 _ad infinitum_, till I should be at
+length no less a murderer than they were in being men-eaters, and
+perhaps much more so.
+
+I spent my days now in great perplexity and anxiety of mind, expecting
+that I should one day or other fall into the hands of those merciless
+creatures; 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 had provided a
+tame flock or 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 alarm the savages; and if they had fled from me now, I was
+sure to have them come back again, with perhaps two or three hundred
+canoes with them in a few days, and then I knew what to 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 hear them; but in the
+month of May, as near as I could calculate, and in my four-and-twentieth
+year, I had a very strange encounter with them, of which in its place.
+
+The perturbation of my mind, during this fifteen or 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; in the night I dreamed often of killing
+the savages, and the reasons why I might justify the doing of it. But to
+wave all this for awhile, it was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth
+day, I think, as well as my poor 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 great storm of wind all day, with a great deal of
+lightning and thunder, and a very foul night was after it: I know not
+what was the particular 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 surprise of a quite different nature from any I
+had met with before; for the notions this put into my thoughts were
+quite of another kind: I started up in the greatest haste imaginable;
+and in a trice clapped up 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; that very moment a flash of fire bade me listen for a second
+gun, which accordingly in about half a moment I heard, and by the sound
+knew that it was from that part of the sea where I was driven out with
+the current in my boat.
+
+I immediately 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, and to obtain help. I had this
+presence of mind at that minute as to think, that though I could not
+help them, it may be they might 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 though
+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 need 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, till day broke; and when it was broad day, and
+the air cleared up, I saw something at a great distance at sea, full
+east of the island, whether a sail, or an hull, I could not distinguish,
+no not with my glasses, 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-east side of the island, to the rocks, where I
+had been formerly carried away with the current; and getting up there,
+the weather by this time being perfectly clear, I could plainly 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 then 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, whoever they were, being out of their knowledge, and
+the rocks being wholly under water, had been driven upon them in the
+night, the wind blowing hard at E. and E.N.E. Had they seen the island,
+as I must 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 the firing of their guns for help, especially when they saw,
+as I imagined, my fire, filled me with many thoughts: first, I imagined,
+that, upon seeing my light, they might have put themselves into their
+boat, and have 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 obliges men to stave, or take in pieces their boat; and sometimes
+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
+whiles 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 think of starving,
+and of being in a condition to eat one another.
+
+All these were but conjectures at best, so, in the condition I was in, I
+could do no more than look 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 to God, who had so happily and comfortably
+provided for me in my desolate condition; and that of two ships’
+companies, who were now cast away upon this part of the world, not one
+life should be spared but mine. I learnt here again to observe, that it
+is very rare that the providence of God 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 men, 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 wish 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 least signal or appearance of any such thing.
+
+I cannot explain, by any possible energy of words, what a strange
+longing, or hankering of desire, I felt in my soul upon this sight;
+breaking out sometimes thus: “O that there had been but one or two, nay,
+but one soul saved out of the ship, to have escaped to me, that I might
+but have had one companion, one fellow-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 the society of my
+fellow-creatures, or so deep a regret at 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 be it some object though
+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! O
+that it had been but one!” I believe I repeated the words, “O that it
+had been but one!” a thousand times; and my desires were so moved by it,
+that when I spoke the words, my hands would clinch together, and my
+fingers press the palms of my hands, that if I had had any soft thing in
+my hand, it would have crushed it involuntarily; and my teeth in my head
+would 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 of them is, to describe the fact, which was ever
+surprising to me when I found it, though I knew not from what it should
+proceed; 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-christians would have been to me.
+
+But it was not to be; either their fate, or mine, or both, forbad it;
+for till 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 corpse 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 pocket 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 nor day, but I must venture out in my boat on
+board this wreck; and committing the rest to God’s 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 for fresh water, a compass to steer by, a bottle of rum, (for I had
+still a great deal of that left) a basket full of raisins: and thus
+loading myself with every thing necessary, I went down to my boat, got
+the water out of her, and got her afloat, loaded all my cargo in her,
+and then went home again for more: my second cargo was a great bag full
+of rice, the umbrella to set up over my head for shade, another large
+pot full of lush 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 sweat, I brought to my boat;
+and praying to God to direct my voyage, I put out, and rowing or
+paddling the canoe along the shore, I came at last to the utmost point
+of the island, on that side, viz. N.E. And now I was to launch out into
+the ocean, and either to venture, or not to venture; I looked on the
+rapid currents which ran constantly on both sides of the island, at a
+distance, and which were very terrible to me, from the remembrance of
+the hazard I had been in before, and my heart began to fail me; for I
+foresaw, that if I was driven into either of those currents, I should
+be carried a vast way out to sea and perhaps out of my reach, or sight
+of the island again; and that then, as my boat was but small, if any
+little gale of wind should rise, I should be inevitably lost.
+
+These thoughts so oppressed my mind, that I began to give over my
+enterprise, and having haled my boat into a little creek on the shore, I
+stepped out, and sat me down upon a little spot of rising 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 flood
+came on, upon which my going was for so many hours impracticable: upon
+this it presently 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 in my head, but 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 of the island in my return, and I should do
+well enough.
+
+Encouraged with this observation, I resolved the next morning to set out
+with the first of the tide; and reposing myself for that night in the
+canoe, under the great watch-coat I mentioned, I launched out. I made
+first a little out to sea full north, till I began to feel the benefit
+of the current, which sat eastward, and which carried me at a great
+rate, and yet did not so hurry me as the southern side current had done
+before, and so as to take from me all government of the boat; but having
+a strong steerage with my paddle, I went, I say, at a great rate,
+directly for the wreck, and in less than two hours I came up to it.
+
+It was a dismal sight to look at: the ship, which by its building was
+Spanish, stuck fast, jambed in between two rocks; all the stern and
+quarter of her was beaten to pieces with the sea; and as her forecastle,
+which stuck in the rocks, had run on with great violence, her main-mast
+and fore-mast were brought by the board, that is to say, broken short
+off, but her boltsprit was sound, and the head and bow appeared firm.
+When I came close to her, a dog appeared upon her, which, seeing me
+coming, yelped and cried, and as soon as I called him, jumped into the
+sea to come to me: and I took him into the boat, but found him almost
+dead for hunger and thirst: I gave him a cake of my bread, and he ate
+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 would
+have let him, he would have burst himself.
+
+After this I went on board. 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 sea broke so high, and so
+continually over her, that the men were not able to bear it, and were
+strangled with the constant 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 fore part 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 by the course she steered, she must have
+been bound from the Buenos Ayres, or the Rio de la Plata, in the south
+part of America, beyond the Brasils, to the Havanna, in the Gulf 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 the rest
+of her people 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 a 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 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 gotten in my new cave, not to 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 the Brasils; and, in a word, not at all
+good; but when I came to open the chests, I found several things which I
+wanted: for example, 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 chests, I found there three
+great bags of pieces of eight, which held about eleven hundred pieces in
+all; and in one of them, wrapt up in a paper, six doubloons of gold, and
+some small bars or wedges of gold; I suppose they might all weigh near
+a pound.
+
+The other chest I found had some clothes in it, but of little value; but
+by the circumstances, it must have belonged to the gunner’s mate, as
+there was no powder in it, but about two pounds of glazed powder in the
+three flasks, kept, I suppose, for charging their fowling-pieces on
+occasion. Upon the whole, I got very little by this voyage that was of
+much use to me; for, as to the money, I had no manner of occasion for
+it; it was to me as the dirt under my feet; and I would have given it
+all for three or four pair of English shoes and stockings, which were
+things I greatly wanted, but had not had on my feet now for many years:
+I had, indeed, got two pair of shoes now, 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 case or service, being rather what we
+call pumps than shoes. I found in the seaman’s chest about fifty pieces
+of eight in royals, but no gold: I suppose this belonged to a poorer man
+than the other, which seemed to belong to some officer.
+
+Well, however, I lugged the 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
+great pity, as I said, that the other part of the ship had not come to
+my share, for I am satisfied I might have loaded my canoe several times
+over with money, which, if I had ever escaped to England, would have
+lain here safe enough till I might have come again and fetched it.
+
+Having now brought all my things on shore, and secured them, I went back
+to my boat, and rowed or 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; so I began to
+repose myself, live after my old fashion, and take care of my family
+affairs; and for awhile 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 might 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 verity, if I had had
+the boat that I went from Sallee in, I should have ventured to sea,
+bound any where, I knew not whither.
+
+I have been, in all my circumstances, a memento to those who are touched
+with that general plague of mankind, whence, for aught I know, one half
+of their miseries flow; I mean, that of not being satisfied with the
+station wherein God and nature hath placed them; 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 have been the means of my coming
+into this miserable condition; for had that Providence, which so happily
+had seated me at the Brasils as a planter, blessed me with confined
+desires, and could I have been contented to have gone on gradually, I
+might have been by this time, I mean in the time of my being on this
+island, one of the most considerable planters in the Brasils; nay, I 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
+stayed, I might have been worth a hundred thousand moidores; and what
+business had I to leave a settled fortune, well-stocked plantation,
+improving and increasing, to turn supercargo to Guinea, to fetch
+Negroes, when patience and time would have so increased our stock at
+home, that we could have bought them at our own doors, from those whose
+business it was to fetch them? And though 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 ordinarily the fate of young heads, so reflection upon
+the folly of it is as ordinarily the exercise of more years, or of the
+dear-bought experience of time; and so 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; 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 conceptions on
+the subject of this foolish scheme for my escape; and how, and upon what
+foundation, I acted.
+
+I am now to be supposed to be 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 Indians of Peru had before the Spaniards
+came thither.
+
+It was one of the nights in the rainy season in March, the
+four-and-twentieth year of my first setting foot in this island of
+solitariness, I was lying in my bed or hammock, awake, and very well in
+health, had no pain, no distemper, no uneasiness of body, no, 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 long, otherwise
+than as follows:
+
+It is as impossible as needless to set down the innumerable crowd of
+thoughts that whirled through that great thoroughfare of the brain, the
+memory, in this night’s time: I ran over the whole history of my life in
+miniature, 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, to that course 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 the shore there; but as I had never known it, and was incapable
+of any apprehensions 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 settled in its government
+of mankind such narrow bounds to his sight and knowledge of things; and
+though he walks in the midst of so many 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 hid
+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 tranquillity, even perhaps when nothing but a brow on
+a hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night, had been between
+me and the worst kind of destruction, viz. that of falling into the
+hands of cannibals, and savages, who would have seized on me with the
+same view, as I did of a goat, or a turtle; and have thought it no more
+a crime to kill and devour me, than I did of a pigeon, or a curlieu: I
+would unjustly slander my self, if I should say I was not sincerely
+thankful to my great Preserver, to whose singular protection I
+acknowledged, with great humility, that all these unknown deliverances
+were due; and without which, I must inevitably have fallen into their
+merciless hands.
+
+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 governour of all
+things should give up any of his creatures to such inhumanity; nay, to
+something so much below, even brutality it self, as to devour its own
+kind; but as this ended in some (at that time fruitless) speculations,
+it occurred to me to enquire, 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 my self, 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 my self to consider what I should do with my
+self, when I came thither; what would become of me, if I fell into the
+hands of the savages; or how I should escape from them, if they
+attempted me; no, nor so much as how it was possible for me to reach the
+coast, and not be attempted by some or other of them, without any
+possibility of delivering my self; 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 back 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; that if I reached
+the shore of the main, I might, perhaps, meet with relief; or I might
+coast along, as I did on the shore of Africa, till I came to some
+inhabited country, and where I might find some relief; and after all,
+perhaps, I might fall in with some Christian 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 impatient temper, made, as it were, desperate 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 the
+obtaining of what I so earnestly longed for, viz. somebody to speak to,
+and to learn some knowledge from of the place where I was, and of the
+probable means of my deliverance; I say, I was agitated wholly by these
+thoughts. All my calm of mind in my resignation to Providence, and
+waiting the issue of the dispositions of Heaven, seemed to be suspended;
+and I had, as it were, no power to turn my thoughts to any thing but 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
+high as if I had been in a fever, merely with the extraordinary fervour
+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, I 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:
+then I thought in my sleep, that he came running into my little thick
+grove, before my fortification, to hide himself; and that I seeing him
+alone, and not perceiving that the others sought him that way, shewed
+myself to him, and, smiling upon him, encouraged him: that he kneeled
+down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him; upon which I shewed my
+ladder, made him go up it, 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 escape.” I waked with this thought,
+and was under such inexpressible impressions of joy at the prospect of
+my escape in my dream, that the disappointments which I felt upon coming
+to myself, and finding it was no more than a dream, were equally
+extravagant the other way, and threw me into a very great dejection
+of spirit.
+
+Upon this, however, I made this conclusion, that my only way to go about
+an attempt for an escape, was, if possible, to get a savage in my
+possession; and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners whom
+they had 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 caravan of them,
+and killing them all; and this was not only a very desperate attempt,
+and might miscarry; but, on the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the
+lawfulness of it to me, and my heart trembled at the thoughts of
+shedding so much blood, though it was for my deliverance: I need not
+repeat the arguments which occurred to me against this, they being the
+same mentioned before: but though I had other reasons to offer now, viz.
+that those men were enemies to my life, and would devour me, if they
+could; that it was 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 for
+my deliverance were very terrible to me, and such as I could by no means
+reconcile myself to a great while.
+
+However, at last, after many secret disputes with myself, and after
+great perplexities 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 these savages into my hands, cost what it would:
+the next thing then 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 came on shore, and leave the rest to the event, taking such
+measures as the opportunity should present, let it be what it would.
+
+With these resolutions in my thoughts, I set myself upon the scout as
+often as possible, and indeed so often, till I was heartily tired of it;
+for it was above a year and a half that I waited, and for a great part
+of that time went out to the west end, and to the south-west corner of
+the island, almost every day, to see the canoes, but none appeared. This
+was very discouraging, and began to trouble me much; though I can’t say
+that it did in this case, as it had done some time before that, viz.
+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
+more careful to shun the sight of these savages, and avoid being seen by
+them, than 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 that 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 had entertained these notions, and, by
+long musing, had, as it were, resolved them all into nothing, for want
+of an occasion to put them in 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 I 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 had meat dressed; how they cooked it,
+that I knew not, or what it was; but they were all dancing in I know not
+how many barbarous gestures and figures, their own way, round the fire.
+
+When I was thus looking on them, I perceived by my perspective two
+miserable 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, till they should be ready for him.
+In that very moment this poor wretch, seeing himself a little at
+liberty, nature inspired him with hopes of life, and 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 frighted (that I must acknowledge) when I perceived him
+to 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, viz. 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 were not above three men that followed him; and still
+more was I encouraged, when I found that he out-stript 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
+at the first part of my story, when I landed my cargoes out of the ship;
+and this I knew he must necessarily swim over, or the poor wretch would
+be taken there: but when the savage escaping came thither, he made
+nothing of it, though the tide was then up; but plunging in, swam
+through in about thirty strokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran on with
+exceeding strength and swiftness. When the three pursuers came to the
+creek, I found that two of them could swim, but the third could not, and
+that he, standing on the other side, looked at the other, but went no
+farther; and soon after went softly back again, which, as it happened,
+was very well for him in the main.
+
+I observed, that the two who swam were yet more than twice as long
+swimming over the creek than the fellow was that fled from them. It
+came now very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now
+was my time to get a servant, and perhaps a companion, or assistant, and
+that I was called plainly by Providence to save this poor creature’s
+life. I immediately got down the ladders with all possible expedition,
+fetched my two guns, for they were both at the foot of the ladder, as I
+observed above; and getting up again with the same haste to the top of
+the hill, I crossed towards the sea; and having a very short cut, and
+all down hill, clapped myself in the way between the pursuers and the
+pursued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, who, looking back, was at
+first perhaps as much frighted at me as at them; but I beckoned with my
+hand to him to come back; and in the meantime I slowly advanced towards
+the two that followed; then rushing at once upon the foremost, I knocked
+him down with the stock of my piece; I was loath to fire, because I
+would not have the rest hear, 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. I 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, though
+he saw both his enemies fallen, and killed, (as he thought) yet was so
+frighted 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 to fly still, than to come on. I hallooed 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, 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 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,
+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
+five-and-twenty 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 perceived 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: so 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
+own wooden swords: however, it seems, as I learnt 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, nay, 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 me.
+
+But that which astonished him most was, to know how I had killed the
+other Indian so far 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; turned him first on one
+side, then on t’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. Then 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 signed 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
+again to him 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 also by the other;
+I believe he had buried them both in a quarter of an hour: then calling
+him away, I carried him not to my castle, but quite away to my cave, on
+the farther part of the island; so I did not let my dream come to pass
+in that part; viz. that he came 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 lie down
+and sleep, pointing to a place where I had laid a great parcel of
+rice-straw, and a blanket upon it, which I used to sleep upon myself
+sometimes; so the poor creature lay down, and went to sleep.
+
+He was a comely handsome fellow, perfectly well made, with straight long
+limbs, not too large, tall, and well-shaped, and, as I reckon, about
+twenty-six 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 sweetness and softness of an European in his
+countenance too, especially when he smiled: his hair was long and black,
+not curled like wool; his forehead very high and large, and a great
+vivacity and sparkling 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 Brasilians and Virginians, and other natives of America
+are, but of a bright kind of a dun 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 Negroe’s, a very good
+mouth, thin lips, and his teeth fine, well-set, and white as ivory.
+After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half an hour, he waked
+again, and comes out of the cave to me, for I had been milking my goats,
+which I had in the 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 many, antic gestures to
+shew 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 subjection, servitude, and
+submission imaginable, to let me know how much he would serve me as long
+as he lived. I understood him in many things, and let him know I was
+very well pleased with him. In a little time I began to speak to him,
+and teach him to speak to me; and first, I made him know his name should
+be Friday, which was the day I saved his life; and 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 before him, and sop my bread in
+it; and I 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 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 spot, and shewed 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 submission. 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 of their canoes; so that it was
+plain that they were gone, and had left their two comrades behind them,
+without, any search after them.
+
+But I was not content with this discovery; but having now more courage,
+and consequently more curiosity, I took my man Friday with me, giving
+him the sword in 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 further
+intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my very blood ran chill
+in my veins, 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 the blood, great pieces of flesh left here and there,
+half-eaten, mangled, and scorched; and, in short, all the tokens of the
+triumphant feast they had been making there, after a victory over their
+enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands, and the bones of three or four
+legs and feet, and abundance of other parts of the bodies; and Friday,
+by his 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 taken a great number of prisoners, all which were
+carried to several places by those that had taken them in the flight, 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 on an 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 still a cannibal 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 we had done this, we came back to our castle, and there I fell to
+work for my man Friday; and first of all, I gave him a pair of linen
+drawers, which I had out of the poor gunner’s chest I mentioned, and
+which I found in the wreck; and which, with a little alteration, fitted
+him very well; then I made him a jerkin of goat’s skin as well as my
+skill would allow, and I was now grown a tolerable good tailor; and I
+gave him a cap, which I had made of a hare-skin, very convenient, and
+fashionable enough: and thus he was dressed, for the present, tolerably
+well, and mighty well was he pleased to see himself almost as well
+clothed as his master. It is true, he went awkwardly in these things at
+first; wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of
+the waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a
+little easing them, where he complained they hurt him, and using himself
+to them, at length he took to them very well.
+
+The next day after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to
+consider where I should lodge him; and that I might do well for him, and
+yet be perfectly 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: and as there was a door or entrance there into
+my cave, I made a formal 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 on 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 awaken me; for my first wall had now a complete roof over it
+of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up to the side of the
+hill, which was again laid cross with small 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 trapdoor, 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; and as to weapons, I took them all
+in to my side every night.
+
+But I needed none of all this precaution; for never man had a more
+faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me; without
+passions, sullenness, or designs; perfectly obliging and engaging; his
+very affections were tied to 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 whatsoever: 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
+the works of his hands, to take from so great a part of the world of his
+creatures 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 of
+kindness and obligation, the same passions and resentments of wrongs,
+the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities
+of doing good, and receiving good, that he has given to us; and that
+when he pleases to offer them occasions of exerting these, they are as
+ready, nay more ready, to apply them to the right uses for which they
+were bestowed, than we are. And this made me very melancholy sometimes,
+in reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we
+make of all these, even though we have these powers enlightened by the
+great lamp of instruction, the Spirit of God, and by the knowledge of
+his word, added to our understanding; and why it has pleased God to hide
+the life saving 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 invade the sovereignty of
+Providence; and, as it were, arraign the justice of so arbitrary a
+disposition of things, that should hide that light from some, and reveal
+it to others, and yet expect a like duty from both: but I shut it up,
+and checked my thoughts with this conclusion: first, that we do 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 that if these creatures were all sentenced to
+absence from himself, 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 acknowledge to be just, though the foundation
+was not discovered to us: and, secondly, that still, as we are all clay
+in the hand of the potter, no vessel could say to him, “Why hast 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 spake: and 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. And 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 while
+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 way of feeding, and
+from the relish of a cannibal’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,” said I, “stand still;” and made signs to him not to stir.
+Immediately I presented my piece, shot and killed one of the kids. The
+poor creature, who had, at a distance indeed, seen me kill the savage
+his enemy, but did not know, or could imagine how it was done, was
+sensibly surprised, trembled and shook, and looked so amazed, that I
+thought he would have sunk down: he did not see the kid I had shot at,
+or perceive I had killed it, but ripped up his waistcoat to feel if 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
+that his 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, and by and by I saw a great fowl, like a hawk,
+sit upon a tree within shot; so, to let Friday understand a little what
+I would do, I called him to me again, pointing at the fowl, which was
+indeed a parrot, though I thought it had been a hawk: I say, pointing to
+the parrot, and to my gun, and to the ground under the parrot, to let
+him see I would make him fall, I made him understand that I would shoot
+and kill that bird; accordingly I fired, and bid him look, and
+immediately he saw the parrot fall; he stood like one frighted again,
+notwithstanding all that 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 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;
+for the astonishment this created in him was such, as could not wear off
+for a long time; and I believe, if I would have let him, he would have
+worshipped me and my gun; as for the gun itself, he would not so much as
+touch it for several days over; but would speak to it, and talk to it,
+as if it had answered him, when he was by himself; which, as I
+afterwards learnt of him, was to desire it not 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 a good way off from
+the place where she fell; however, he found her, took her up, and
+brought her to me; and, as I had perceived his ignorance about the gun
+before, I took this advantage to charge the gun again, and not 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 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 month, 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 in 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 meat, or in
+his broth; at least, not 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 in a string, as I had seen many people do in England,
+setting two poles up, one on each side the fire, and one cross 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 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; 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 not only
+worked 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 have 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 occasion to call for, and of every place I had to send
+him to, and talk 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. Besides 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 learnt him English so well, that he could
+answer me almost any questions, 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. “You
+always fight the better!” said I: “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 than my nation in the place where me was; they take
+one, two, 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 the 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 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 said man eating occasions that he was now brought for; 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 ate 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 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, no canoes ever lost; but that after a little way
+out to sea, there was a current, and a wind always one way in the
+morning, the other in the afternoon.
+
+This I understand 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
+draught and reflux of the mighty river Oroonoque; in the mouth of which
+river, as I thought afterwards, our island lay; and that this land,
+which I perceived to the W. and N.W. was the great island Trinidad, on
+the north point of the mouth of the river. 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
+that part of America which reaches from the mouth of the river Oroonoque
+to Guinea, and onwards to St. Martha. He told me, that up a great way
+beyond the moon, that was, beyond the setting of the moon, which must be
+W. from their country, there dwelt white-bearded men, like me, and
+pointed to my great whiskers, which I mentioned before; and that they
+had killed much mans, that was his word: by which I understood he meant
+the Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had been spread over the whole
+countries, and were remembered by all the nations from father to son.
+
+I inquired if he could tell me how I might come from this island, and
+get among those white men; he told me, Yes, yes, I might go in two
+canoe; I could not understand what he meant by two canoe; till at last,
+with great difficulty, I found he meant, that it must be in a large
+great boat as big as two canoes.
+
+This part of Friday’s 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 from this place, and that this
+poor savage might be a means to help me to do it.
+
+During the long time that Friday had now been with me, and that he began
+to speak to me, and 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 who was his father: but I took it by another handle,
+and asked him, Who made the sea, the ground he 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 said 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 those they ate 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 there,
+pointing up towards heaven; that he governs the world by the same power
+and providence by which he made it; that he was omnipotent, 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 manner of making our prayers to God, and
+his being able to hear us, even into heaven: he told me one day, that if
+our God could hear 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 Oowookakee, 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
+Benamuckee said. By this I observed, that there is priestcraft even
+amongst the most blinded ignorant Pagans in the world; and the policy of
+making a secret religion, in order to preserve the veneration of the
+people to the clergy, is not only to be found in the Roman, but perhaps
+among all religious 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 spoke 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 original of
+him, his rebellion against God, his enmity 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, to adapt his snares so to our inclinations, as to
+cause us even to be our own tempters, and to run upon our own
+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 over-ruling governing Power, a secret directing Providence, and of
+the equity and justice of paying homage to Him that made us, and the
+like: but there appeared nothing of all this 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 dreadful
+aversion to sin, his being a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity;
+how, as he had made as 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 to ruin the kingdom of Christ in the world,
+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,”
+said I, Friday, “God is stronger than the devil, God is above the devil,
+and therefore we pray to God to tread him under our feet, and enable us
+to resist his temptations, and quench his fiery darts.”—“But,” says he
+again, “if God much strong, much might, as the devil, why God not kill
+the devil, so make him no more wicked?”
+
+I was strangely surprised at his question; and after all, though I was
+now an old man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill enough qualified
+for a casuist, or a 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 understand: but why not kill the 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 muses awhile at this; “Well, well,” says he,
+mighty 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 the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and of a redemption purchased for
+us; of a Mediator; of a new covenant; and of an Intercessor at the
+footstool of God’s throne; I say, nothing but a revelation from Heaven
+can form these in the soul; and that therefore the Gospel of our Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean the word of God, and the Spirit of God,
+promised for the guide and sanctifier of his people, are the absolutely
+necessary instructors of the souls of men in the saving knowledge of
+God, and the means of salvation.
+
+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 some thing a great 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 in Christ, reconciling him to himself, and would
+guide me to speak so to him from the word of God, 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 redemption of man by the Saviour of the world, and of the
+doctrine of the Gospel preached from Heaven, viz. of the repentance
+towards God, and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus: I then explained to
+him, as well as I could, why our blessed Redeemer took not on him the
+nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham, and how, for that reason, the
+fallen angels had no share in the redemption; that he came only to the
+lost sheep of the house of Israel, 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 acknowledge, what 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 my 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 measure;
+and when I reflected, that in this solitary life, which I had been
+confined to, I had not only been moved myself to look up to Heaven, and
+to seek to the Hand that brought me thither, 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,
+and of the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, to know
+whom is life eternal; 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 often thought the
+most dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have befallen me.
+
+In this thankful frame I continued all the remainder of my time; and the
+conversation 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 found
+in a sublunary state. The savage was now a good Christian, a much better
+than I; though I have reason to hope, and bless God for it, that we were
+equally penitent, and comforted 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 to reading the Scripture, and to let him know as
+well as I could the meaning of what I read; and he again, by his serious
+inquiries and questions, made me, as I said before, a much better
+scholar in the Scripture knowledge, than I should ever have been by my
+own private reading. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing here,
+also from experience, in this retired part of my life; viz. how infinite
+and inexpressible a blessing it is, that the knowledge of God, and of
+the doctrine of salvation by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in
+the Word of God, so easy to be received and understood, that as the bare
+reading the Scripture made me capable of understanding enough of my duty
+to carry me directly on to the great work of sincere repentance for my
+sins, and laying hold of a Saviour for life and salvation, 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 plain
+instruction sufficiently served to the enlightening this savage
+creature, and bringing him to be such a Christian, as I have known few
+equal to him in my life.
+
+As to the disputes, wranglings, strife, and contention, which has
+happened in the world about religion, whether niceties in doctrines, or
+schemes of church-government, they were all perfectly useless to us, as,
+for aught I can yet see, they have been to all the rest in the world: we
+had the sure guide to heaven, viz. the Word of God; and we had, blessed
+be God! comfortable views of the Spirit of God, teaching and instructing
+us by his Word, leading us into all truth, and making us both willing
+and obedient to His 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, and take every part in its order.
+
+After Friday and I became more intimately acquainted, and that he could
+understand almost all I said to him, and speak fluently, though in
+broken English, to me, I acquainted him with my own story, or at least
+so much of it as related to my coming into the place, how I had lived
+there, and how long: I let him into the mystery (for such it was to him)
+of gunpowder and bullets, 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 many
+occasions.
+
+I described to him the countries of Europe, and particularly 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 the parts of the
+world. I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on board of,
+and shewed him as near as I could, the place where she lay; but she was
+all beaten in pieces long before, and quite gone.
+
+I shewed 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 understand him a good while; but at last, when I had examined
+further into it, I understood 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 was so dull,
+that I never once thought of men making escape from a wreck thither,
+much less whence they might come; so I only inquired after a description
+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 the white mans
+from drown.” Then I presently asked him, if there, were white mans, as
+he called them, in the boat? “Yes,” he said, “the 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, they dwell
+at my nation.”
+
+This put new thoughts into my head again; for I presently imagined, that
+these might be the men belonging to the ship that was cast away in sight
+of my island, as I now call 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 inquired 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.
+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 eat no mans but when make the war
+fight:” that is to say, they never eat any men, but such as come to
+fight with them, and are taken in battle.
+
+It was after this, some considerable time, that being on 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 the main 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? “O joy!” says he, “O glad! there see my country, there
+my nation!”
+
+I observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure appeared 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; and this observation
+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 obligations to me; and would
+be forward enough to give his countrymen 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 afterwards: 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 of the
+best principles, both as a religious Christian and as a grateful friend,
+as appeared afterwards to my full satisfaction.
+
+Whilst 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, walking 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 turn wild again, eat men’s flesh 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, they no kill me, they willing love
+learn:” he meant by this, they would be willing to learn. He added,
+they learnt much of the bearded mans that came in the boat. Then I asked
+him, if he would go back to them? He smiled at that, and told me he
+could not swim so far. I told him I would make a canoe for him. He told
+me he would go, if I would so with him. “I go!” said I, “why, they will
+eat me if I come there.”—“No, no,” says he, “me make them 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 in distress.
+
+From this time, I confess, I had a mind to venture over, and see if I
+could possibly join with these 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 boat
+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 the water), I brought it out,
+shewed it him, and we both went into it.
+
+I found he was a most dexterous fellow at managing it, would make it go
+almost as swift and fast 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 told him then 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 taken 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.
+
+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 thus, “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! no angry!” says he, repeating the words several times, “why
+send Friday home away to my nation?”—“Why,” said I, “Friday, did you
+not 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!” said I; “what
+should I do there?” He turned 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,” said I, “thou knowest not what thou sayest; I am but an
+ignorant man myself.”—“Yes, yes,” says he, “you teechee me good, you
+teechee them good.”—“No, no, Friday,” said 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 me. “What must I do with
+this?” said 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
+discovered 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 former discourse; viz. that there were
+seventeen bearded men there; and therefore, without any delay, I went to
+work with Friday, to find out a great tree proper to fell, and make a
+large periagua or canoe, to under take the voyage: there were trees
+enough in the island to have built a little fleet, not of periaguas and
+canoes only, but even of good large 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 tustick, or between that and the Nicaragua 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 into a boat: but I shewed him how
+rather to cut it out with tools, which after I shewed 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 shewed
+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 great 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 though she was so big, it amazed me to
+see with what dexterity and how swift my man Friday could 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, “he venture over in her very
+well, though great blow wind.” However, I had a farther design that he
+knew nothing of, and that was, to make a mast and sail, and to fit her
+with an anchor and cable. As to a mast, that was easy enough to get; so
+I pitched upon a straight young cedar-tree, which I found near the
+place, and which there was a great plenty of in the island; and I 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 twenty-six 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 awkward tedious
+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 ships’ long-boats sail with, and
+such as I best knew how to manage; because it was such a one as I used
+in 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 foresail 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; and though I was but a bungling shipwright, yet
+as I knew the usefulness, 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 my boat; for though he knew very well how
+to paddle the canoe, he knew nothing what belonged to a sail and a
+rudder, and was the more 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; I 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 expert
+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 those parts, there was the less
+occasion for a compass, 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 my time. I kept the
+anniversary of my landing here with the same thankfulness to God for his
+mercies as at first; and if I had such cause of acknowledgment at first,
+I had much more so now, having such additional testimonies of the care
+of Providence 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 deliverance was at hand, and that I should not be
+another year in this place. However, I went on with my husbandry,
+digging, planting, and fencing, as usual; I gathered 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; so I 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 haling her up to the
+shore, at high water mark, I made my man Friday dig a little dock, just
+big enough for her to float in; and then, when the tide was out, we made
+a strong dam cross the end of it, to keep the water out; and 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
+returned with the fair weather, I was preparing daily for the voyage;
+and the first thing I did was to lay up a certain quantity of provision,
+being the store for the voyage; and intended, in a week or a fortnight’s
+time, to open the dock, and launch out our boat. I was busy one morning
+upon something of this kind, when I called to Friday, and bid 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 outward 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 cried out to me, “O master! O master! O sorrow! O bad!”—“What’s the
+matter, Friday?” said 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 there were but three. “Well, Friday,” said
+I, “do not be frighted;” so I heartened him up as well as I could.
+However, I saw the poor fellow 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; 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,” said I, “Friday, we must resolve to fight them: can you fight,
+Friday?” “Me shoot,” says he, “but there come many great number.” “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 bade him? He said,
+“Me die, when you bid die, master;” so I went and fetched a good 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 close almost down to the sea: this, with the
+abhorrence of the inhuman errand these wretches came about, so filled me
+with 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 was now gotten 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 first 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, 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 bullet; and as to orders, I charged him to keep close behind me, and
+not to stir, 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 wood; so that I might come within shot of them before I could 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 my resolution; I do not mean, that I entertained any fear of their
+number; 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, 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 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 me. These things were so warmly pressed upon my thoughts all
+the way as I went, that I resolved I would only go 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 till 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 so, and came immediately back
+to me, and told me they might be plainly viewed there; that they were
+all about the fire, eating the flesh of one of their prisoners; and that
+another lay bound upon the sand, a little from them, whom he said they
+would kill next, and which fired the very soul within me. He told me, it
+was not one of their nation, but one of the bearded men whom he had told
+me of, who came to their country in the boat. I was 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.
+
+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-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 I 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 Christian, and bring him, perhaps limb by
+limb, to their fire; and they were stooped down to untie the bands at
+his feet. I turned to Friday; “Now, Friday,” said I, “do as I bid thee.”
+Friday said, he would. “Then, Friday,” said 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 aim at the savages, bidding him 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 up upon their
+feet immediately, but did not know which way to run, or which way to
+look; for they knew not from whence their 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; he sees me cock, and
+present; he did the same again. “Are you ready, Friday?” said I. “Yes,”
+says he. “Let fly then,” said 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 call 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
+miserably wounded most of them; whereof three more fell quickly after,
+though not quite dead.
+
+“Now, Friday,” said I, laying down the discharged pieces, and taking up
+the musket, which was yet loaden, “follow me,” said I; which he did,
+with a deal of courage; upon which I rushed, out of the wood, and shewed
+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 near them, he shot at them, and I thought he had
+killed them all; for I saw them all fall on an heap into the boat;
+though 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? and he said, _Espagnole_; 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. “Seignior,” 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 frighted 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 in the boat; for as three of
+them fell with the hurt they received, so the other two fell with
+the fright.
+
+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 fetch the arms which lay there, that had 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 weapon that
+was to have killed him before, if I had not prevented it: the Spaniard,
+who was as bold and as brave as could be imagined, though weak, had
+fought this Indian 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 his sword,
+drew the pistol from his girdle, shot the savage through the body, and
+killed him upon the spot, before I, who was running to help, could
+come near him.
+
+Friday, being now left at his liberty, pursued the flying wretches with
+no weapon in his hand but his hatchet; and with that he dispatched 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 he plunged into the sea, and swam with all his might off to those
+who were left in the canoe; which three in the canoe, with one wounded,
+who we know not whether he died or no, were all that escaped our hands
+of one-and-twenty. The account of the rest is as follows:
+
+     3 Killed at our shot from the tree.
+     2 Killed at the next shot.
+     2 Killed by Friday in the boat.
+     2 Killed by ditto, of those at first wounded.
+     1 Killed by ditto, in the wood.
+     3 Killed by the Spaniard.
+     4 Killed, being found dropt here and there of their
+         wounds, or killed by Friday in his chase of
+         them.
+     4 Escaped in the boat, whereof one wounded, if
+         not dead.
+
+    ———
+
+     21 in all.
+
+Those that were in the canoe worked hard to get out of gun-shot; and
+though Friday made two or three shot at them, I did not find that he hit
+any of them: Friday would fain have had me take one of their 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 their canoes, and devour us by mere
+multitudes; 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
+alive, bound hand and foot, as the Spaniard was, for the slaughter, and
+almost dead with fear, not knowing what the matter was; 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 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 looked
+in his face, it would have moved any one to tears, to have seen how
+Friday kissed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, laughed, hallooed,
+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 was not easy for me to express how it moved me, to see what ecstasy
+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 extravagances of his affection after this; for he went into the
+boat and out of the boat a great many times: when he went in to him, he
+would sit down by him, open his breast, and hold his father’s head
+close to his bosom, half an hour 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 action put an end to our pursuit of the canoe with the other
+savages, who were now gotten almost out of sight; and it was happy for
+us that we did not; for it blew so hard within two hours after, and
+before they could be gotten 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 to their own coast.
+
+But to return to Friday: he was so busy about his father, that I could
+not find in my heart to take him 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.” So I 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
+also two or three bunches of my 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 of 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 though I called and hallooed too after him,
+it was all one; away he went, and in a quarter of an hour I saw him come
+back again, though 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 an earthen
+jug, or pot, to bring his father some fresh water; and that he had get
+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 sip of it: this water revived his father more than all the rum or
+spirits I had given him; for he was just fainting with thirst.
+
+When his father had drank, I called him, to know if there was any water
+left? he said, “Yes;” and I bade him give it to the poor Spaniard, who
+was in as much want of it as his father; and I 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 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, turned 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 swiftness to him, that one could
+scarce perceive his feet to touch the ground as he went: but when he
+came, he only found he had laid himself down to ease his limbs: so
+Friday came back to me presently, and I then spoke to the Spaniard to
+let Friday help him up, if he could, and load him to the boat, and then
+he should carry him to our dwelling, where I would take care of him: but
+Friday, a lusty young 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
+lifted them quite in, and 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, though the wind blew pretty hard too; so
+he brought them both safe into our creek; and leaving them in the boat,
+runs 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 ran 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 them sit down on the bank while he came to me, I soon made a kind of
+hand-barrow to lay them on, and Friday and I carried them up both
+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 down: 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 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 very 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 undoubted right of dominion: 2dly, My people were
+perfectly subjected: I was absolute lord and lawgiver; they all owed
+their lives to me, and were ready to lay down their lives, if there had
+been occasion for it, for me: it was remarkable too, I had but three
+subjects, and they were of three different religions. My man Friday was
+a Protestant, his father a Pagan and a cannibal; and the Spaniard was a
+Papist: however, I allowed liberty of conscience throughout my
+dominions: but this 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: then I cut off the hind quarter, and, chopping it into
+small pieces, I set Friday to work to boiling and stewing, and made them
+a very 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 ate my
+dinner also with them; and, as well as I could, cheered them and
+encouraged them, Friday being 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; and 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 defaced 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 pointing 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 he might
+expect a return of them with a power too great for us to resist? His
+first opinion was, that the savages in the boat 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 frighted with
+the manner of being attacked, the noise, and the fire, that he believed
+they would tell their people they were all killed by thunder and
+lightning, and not by the hand of man; and that the two which appeared
+(viz. 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 to one another; for it
+was impossible for them to conceive that a man should 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 of that part never attempted to go
+over to the island afterwards. They were so terrified with the accounts
+given by these 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, and therefore was under continual
+apprehensions for a good while, and kept always upon my guard, I and all
+my army; for as there were now four of us, I would have ventured 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 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 cannibal coast, where they
+expected to have been devoured every moment.
+
+He told me, they had some arms with them, but they were perfectly
+useless, for that they had neither powder nor ball, the washing of the
+sea having spoiled all their powder, but 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, nor tools to
+build one, or provisions of any kind, their counsels 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 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
+an 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 persuaded, if they were all here, we might,
+with so many hands, build a bark large enough to carry us all away
+either to the Brasils southward, or to the islands or 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 ingenuity, that their
+condition was so miserable, and they were so sensible of it, that he
+believed they would abhor the thought of using any man unkindly that
+should contribute 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 answer: that he would make conditions
+with them upon their solemn oath, that they would be absolutely under my
+leading, as their commander and captain; and that they should swear upon
+the holy Sacraments and Gospel, to be true to me, and go to such
+Christian country as 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 me himself, that he would never
+stir from me as long as he lived, till I gave him order; and that he
+would take my side to the last drop of 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 greatest 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 the Spaniard over to them to
+treat: but when he had gotten 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, with the assistance of Providence,
+for my support; and he saw evidently what stock of corn and rice I had
+laid up; which, as it was more, than sufficient for myself, so it was
+not sufficient, at least without good husbandry, for my family, now it
+was increased to number four: but much less would it be sufficient, if
+his countrymen, who were, as he said, fourteen 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 Christian colonies of
+America. So he told me, he thought it would be more adviseable, to let
+him and the other two dig and cultivate 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 at 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 be 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 furnished with permitted; and in about a month’s
+time, by the end of which it was seed time, we had gotten as much land
+cured and trimmed up as we sowed twenty-two 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.
+
+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, wherever 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; to this purpose, I marked out several trees, which I
+thought fit for our work, and I set Friday and his father to cutting
+them down; and then I caused the Spaniard, to whom I imparted my
+thoughts 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 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 to this purpose I made Friday and the Spaniard
+to 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 flock: 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 should have filled sixty or eighty barrels; and these, with
+our bread, was a great part of our food, and very good living too, I
+assure you; for it is an exceeding nourishing food.
+
+It was now harvest, and our crop in good order; it was not the most
+plentiful increase I had seen in the island, but, however, it was enough
+to 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, though 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 the world, that
+is to say, of America. When we had thus housed and secured our magazine
+of corn, we fell to work to make more wicker-work; viz., great baskets,
+in which we kept it; and the Spaniard was very handy and 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 no need of it. And now having a
+full supply of food for all the guests expected, I gave the Spaniard
+leave to go over to the main, to see what he could do with those he left
+behind him there: I gave him a strict charge in writing not to bring any
+man with him, who would not first swear, in the presence of himself and
+of the old savage, that he would no way injure, fight with, or attack
+the person he should find in the island, who was so kind to send for
+them in order to their deliverance; but that they would stand by and
+defend him against all such attempts; 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 we were to have this
+done, when I knew they had neither pen or ink, that indeed 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 either of them but upon urgent occasions.
+
+This was a 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 their countrymen for about eight days
+time; and wishing them a good voyage, I let 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 the
+full; by my account in the month of October; but as for the 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 punctually, as to be
+sure that I was right, though, as it proved when I afterwards examined
+my account, I found I had kept a true reckoning of years.
+
+It was no less than eight days I waited for them, when a strange and
+unforeseen 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 are 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’s 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 bid him be close, for
+these were not the people we looked for, and that we did not know yet
+whether they were friends or enemies.
+
+In the next place, I went in to fetch my perspective 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 my foot on the hill, when my eye plainly discovered a
+ship lying at an anchor, at about two leagues and a half’s 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, though the joy of seeing a
+ship, and one whom I had reason to believe was manned by my own
+countrymen, and consequently 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
+English really, 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 observation of things 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 abundantly confirms me in the justice of this
+reasoning; for had I not been made cautious by this secret admonition,
+come 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 on shore upon the beach, at about half a mile from me,
+which was very happy for me; for otherwise they would have landed just,
+as I may say, at my door, and would have soon 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 on 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, 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 prisoners as well as savage
+mans.”—“Why,” said I, “Friday, do you think they are going to eat them
+then”—“Yes,” says Friday, “they will eat them.”—“No, no,” said 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 seamen 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 our 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 outrageous usage of the three men by the
+insolent seamen, I observed the fellows ran scattering about the land,
+as if they wanted to see the country. I observed also, that the three
+other men had liberty to go 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 finest 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
+tides, by which I have 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 they thought
+themselves lost, and their case desperate.
+
+So little do we see 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 while, partly they stood parleying with the prisoners they brought,
+and partly while they rambled about to see what kind of place they were
+in, they had carelessly staid till 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
+sooner than the other, and finding the boat too fast aground for him to
+stir it, hallooed 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 ye?
+she’ll float next tide.” By which I was fully confirmed in the main
+inquiry, of what countrymen they were.
+
+All this while I kept myself close, not once daring to stir out of my
+castle, any further 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 know it
+was no less then ten hours before the boat could be on float again, and
+by that time it would be dark and I might be more at liberty to see
+their motions, and to hear their discourse, if they had any.
+
+In the meantime I fitted myself up for a battle, as before, though with
+more caution, knowing I had to do with another kind of enemy than I had
+at first: I ordered Friday also, whom I had made an excellent marksman
+with his gun, to load himself with arms: I took myself two
+fowling-pieces, and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, was
+very fierce; I had my formidable goat-skin coat on, with the great cap I
+mentioned, a naked sword, 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 till 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, were all laid down to sleep. The three poor distressed men, too
+anxious for their condition to get any sleep, were however set down
+under the shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter 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 them, and learn something of
+their condition. Immediately I marched in the figure 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 surprized at me;
+perhaps you may have a friend near you 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 me to be
+in some great distress: I saw you when you landed, and when you seemed
+to make applications to the brutes that came with you, I saw one of them
+lift up his sword to kill you.”
+
+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 cloathed, and
+armed after another manner than you see me in; 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 arms 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 murtherers
+are so near; but in short, sir, I was commander of that ship, my men
+have mutinied against me; they have been hardly prevailed on not to
+murther 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 uninhabited, and know not
+yet what to think of it.”
+
+“Where are those brutes, your enemies,” said I; “do you know where they are
+gone?”—“There they are, 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,
+and one 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 shew 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 describe 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,
+least they awake, and we will resolve further;” so they willingly went
+back with me, till the woods covered us from them.
+
+“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 dye with me in what part of the world
+soever I would send him; and the two other men said the same.
+
+“Well,” says I, “my conditions are but two. 1. That while you stay on this
+island with me, you will not pretend to any authority here; and if I put
+arms into 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.
+
+“2. 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 assurance that the invention and faith of a 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 testimony 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 were 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 villains, 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,” said I, “necessity legitimates
+my advice; for it is the only way to save our lives.” However, seeing
+him still cautious of shedding blood, I told him, they should go
+themselves, and manage 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 men who he had said were the heads of the mutiny? He said, No.
+“Well then,” said I, “you may let them escape, and Providence seems to
+have wakened them on purpose to save themselves.”—“Now,” said 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
+pistol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with each man a piece
+in his hand: the two men, who were with him, going first, made some
+noise, at which one of the seamen, 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 villany; 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 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 I obliged him to keep
+them bound hand and foot while they were upon 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 sail, which they
+did; and by and by, three straggling men, that were (happily for them)
+parted from the rest, came back upon hearing the guns fired; and seeing
+their captain, who before was their prisoner, now their conqueror, they
+submitted to be bound also; and so our victory was complete.
+
+It now remained, that the captain and I should inquire into one
+another’s circumstances: 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 he could not speak a word more.
+
+After this communication was at an end, I carried him and his two men
+into my apartments, leading them in just where I came out, viz. at the
+top of the house; where I refreshed them with such provisions as I had,
+and shewed them all the contrivances I had made during my long, long
+inhabiting that place.
+
+All I shewed them, all I said to them, was perfectly amazing; but, above
+all, the captain admired my fortification; and how perfectly I had
+concealed my retreat with a grove of trees, which, having now been
+planted near twenty years, and the trees growing much 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: this I told him 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 measure 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
+reduced, they should 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 had said, and found it was a very
+rational conclusion, and that therefore something was to be resolved on
+very speedily, as well to draw the men on board into some snare for
+their surprise, as to prevent their 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 see for them; and
+that then perhaps they might come armed, and be too strong for us: this
+he allowed was rational.
+
+Upon this I told him, the first thing we had to do was to stave the
+boat, which lay upon the beach, so that they might not carry her off;
+and taking every thing out of her, leaving 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, an horn of
+powder, and a great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas; the sugar was
+five or six pounds; all which was very welcome to me, especially the
+brandy and sugar, of which I had 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 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 capable 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 away 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 up 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 sat down musing what we
+should do; we heard the ship fire a gun, and saw her make a waft with
+her ancient, as a signal for the boat to come on board; but no boat
+stirred; and they fired several times, making other signals for
+the boat.
+
+At last, when all their signals and firings proved fruitless, and they
+found the boat did not stir, we saw them (by the help of our 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 of the men, 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 and characters of all the men in the boat; of whom he said
+that there were three very honest fellows, who he was sure were led into
+this conspiracy by the rest, being overpowered and frighted: but that
+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 operations of fear: that seeing almost every condition that could be
+was better than that we were supposed to be in, we ought to expect that
+the consequence, whether death or life, would be sure to be a
+deliverance: I asked him, what he thought of the circumstances of my
+life, and whether a deliverance were not worth venturing for? “And
+where, Sir,” said I, “is your belief of my being preserved here on
+purpose to save your life, which elevated you a little while ago? For my
+part,” said I, “there seems to be but one thing amiss in all the
+prospect of it.”—“What’s that?” says he. “Why,” said I, “’tis 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 of them that comes ashore,
+are 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 set vigorously to our business. We had,
+upon the first appearance of the boat’s coming from the ship, considered
+of separating our prisoners, and 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 faithfully to bear
+their confinement with patience, and were very thankful that they had
+such good usage as to have provisions and a 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
+indeed, because the captain was not free to trust them; but the other
+two were taken into my service upon their captain’s recommendation, and
+upon their solemnly 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 a-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 the 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 awhile upon this, they set up two or three great
+shouts, hallooing 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 there, that the men were all murdered, and the long-boat
+staved; accordingly, they immediately launched the 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 up 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 frighted
+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 consulted 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; for our seizing 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.
+
+However, we had no remedy but to wait and see what the issue of things
+might present. 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 in the valley and woods, which lay towards the north-east
+part, and where the island lay lowest, they shouted and hallooed till
+they were weary; and not caring, it seems, to venture 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 party 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; viz. 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 the proposal, provided it was done while we 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 set them over, as
+indeed I expected.
+
+When they had set themselves over, I observed, that the boat being gone
+up 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 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 surprized the two men before they were
+aware; one of them lying on 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, and knocked him down, and
+then called out to him in the boat, to yield, or he was a dead man.
+
+There needed very few arguments to persuade a single man to yield, when
+he saw five men upon him, and his comrade knocked down; besides, this
+was it seems one of the three who were not so hearty in the mutiny as
+the rest of the crew, and therefore was easily persuaded, not only to
+yield, but afterwards to join very sincere with us.
+
+In the mean time, Friday and the captain’s mate so well managed their
+business with the rest, that they drew them by hollooing and answering,
+from one hill to another, and from one wood to another, till they not
+only heartily tired them but left them, where they were very 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
+being able to come any faster, which was very welcome news to us.
+
+At length they came up to the boat; but it is impossible 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
+gotten into an enchanted island; that either there were inhabitants in
+it, and they should all be murdered; or else there were devils or
+spirits in it, and they should be all carried away and devoured.
+
+They hallooed 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, 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 to
+spare them, and kill as few of them as I could; and especially I was
+unwilling to hazard the killing any of our men, knowing the other men
+were very well armed: I resolved to wait to see if they did not
+separate; and therefore, to make sure of them, I 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, till the boatswain, who was the
+principal ringleader of the mutiny, and had now shewn 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 the 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 feet, let fly at them.
+
+The boatswain was killed upon the spot; the next man was shot in the
+body, and fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour or two
+after; and the third ran 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 and his two men, and the three prisoners
+of war, whom he had trusted with arms.
+
+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 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 be 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, “Who’s that? Robinson?” For it seems he knew his voice. The
+other answered, “Ay, ay; 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 is our captain and fifty men with him, have been
+hunting you this two hours; the boatswain is killed, Will Frye is
+wounded, and I am a prisoner; and if you do not yield, your are
+all lost.”
+
+“Will they give us quarter then?” says Tom Smith, “and we will
+yield.”—“I’ll go and 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 immediately, 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 been all as bad as I,” (which by
+the way was not true, either; 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 parleyed with them, and two more, who bound them
+all; and then my great army of fifty men, which, particularly with those
+three, were all but eight, came up and seized upon them all, 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 to 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 farther 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 the
+island 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.
+
+Though this was all a fiction of his own, yet it had its desired effect.
+Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the captain to intercede with the
+governor for his life; and all the rest begged of him for God’s 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 possession 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 replied, “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
+who came on shore with the captain.
+
+They conveyed them to the cave, as to a prison; and it was indeed a
+dismal place, especially to men in their condition.
+
+The others I ordered to my bower, as I called it, of which I have given
+a full description; and as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, the
+place was 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 such 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 for 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 five of them, and tell them, that they should see
+that they did not want men; but 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 prisoners 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 upon
+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 persuade the
+other five to do their duty.
+
+Our strength was now thus ordered for the expedition: 1. The captain,
+his mate, and passenger. 2. 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. 3. The other two whom I kept till
+now in my bower pinioned; but, upon the captain’s motion, had now
+released. 4. 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: for, 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
+employment 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 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 shewed myself to the two hostages, it was with the captain, who
+told them, I was the person the governor had ordered to look after them,
+and that it was the governor’s pleasure that they should not stir any
+where but by my direction; that if they did, they should be fetched into
+the castle, and be laid in irons; so that as we never suffered them to
+see me as governor, so I now appeared as another person, and spoke of
+the governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like, upon all
+occasions.
+
+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 other men; and himself, and 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 he
+had brought off the men and the boat, but that it was a 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 but end of their muskets; being very faithfully seconded by
+their men, they seemed all the rest that were upon the main and quarter
+decks, and began to fasten the hatches to keep them down who were below;
+when the other boat and their men, entering at the fore chains, secured
+the forecastle of the ship, and the skuttle which went down into the
+cook-room, making three men they found there prisoners.
+
+When this was done, and all safe upon the deck, the captain ordered the
+mate with three men to break into the round-house, where the new rebel
+captain lay, and, having taken the alarm, was gotten up, and with two
+men and a boy had gotten fire arms in their hands; and when the mate
+with a crow split upon the door, the new captain and his men fired
+boldly among them, and 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, however, into the round-house,
+wounded as he was, and with his pistol shot the new captain through the
+head, the bullets entering at his mouth, and came out again behind one
+of his ears; so that he never spoke a word; upon which the rest yielded,
+and the ship was taken effectually without any more lives being 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 of the clock in
+the morning.
+
+Having thus heard the signal plainly, I laid me down; and it having
+been a day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound, till I was
+something surprised with the noise of a gun; and presently starting up,
+I heard a man call me by the name of governor, governor; and presently I
+knew the captain’s voice; when climbing up to the top of the hill, there
+he stood, and pointing to the ship, he embraced me in his arms: “My 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.” I cast my eyes to the
+ship, and there she rode within a little more than half a mile of the
+shore; for they had weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters of
+her; and the weather being fair, had brought her to an anchor just
+against the mouth of a little creek; and the tide being up, the captain
+had brought the pinnace in near the place where I first landed my rafts,
+and so landed just at my door.
+
+I was, at first, ready to 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 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 surprise, and immediately pulled a bottle out of his
+pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial, which he had brought on purpose
+for me: after I 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 while the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not
+under any surprise, as I was; and he said a thousand kind 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 into tears, and in a little while after I recovered my speech.
+
+Then I 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
+eyes 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 one 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 awhile, the captain told me, he had brought me some
+little refreshments, such as the ship afforded, and such as the wretches
+who had been so long his masters, had not plundered him of. Upon this he
+called aloud to the boat, and bids his men bring the things ashore that
+were for the governor; and indeed it was a present, as if I had been
+one, not that I was to be carried along with them, but as if I had been
+to dwell upon the island still, and they were to go without me.
+
+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
+apiece; two pounds of excellent good 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 brought me also a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of lemons,
+and two bottles of lime-juice, and abundance of other things: but
+besides these, and what was a thousand times more useful to me, he
+brought me six clean new shirts, six very good neckcloths, two pair of
+gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings, and a very
+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, awkward, and uneasy, as it was to me to wear such
+clothes at their first putting on.
+
+After these ceremonies passed, and after all his things were brought
+into my little apartment, we began to consult what was to be done with
+the prisoners we had; for it was worth considering whether we might
+venture to take them away with us or no, especially two of them, whom we
+knew to be incorrigible 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 durst undertake to
+bring the two men he spoke of to make 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,” said I, “I will send for them, and 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 had a full
+account of their villanous behaviour to the captain, 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 digged 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 see by and by, that their new
+captain had received the reward of his villany; for that they might 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 my commission they could not doubt I had authority 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 shew them; for, 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 running
+away with the ship; the consequence of which they must needs know, would
+be the gallows; so that I could not tell which was best for them, unless
+they had a mind to take their fate in the island; if they desired that,
+I did not care, as I had liberty to leave it; I had some inclination to
+give them their lives, if they thought they could shift on shore. They
+seemed very thankful for it; said they would much rather venture to stay
+there, than to 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 to be a little angry with
+the captain, and told him, that they were my prisoners, not his; and
+that seeing I had offered them so much favour, I would be as good as my
+word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to it, I would set
+them at liberty as I found them; and if he did not like that, he might
+take them again if he could catch them.
+
+Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I 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,
+that I would stay that night to prepare my things; and desired him to go
+on board in the meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send the
+boat on shore the next day for me; ordering him in the meantime 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 of their circumstances: I
+told them, I thought they had made a right choice; that if the captain
+carried them away, they would certainly be hanged: I shewed them their
+captain hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, and told them they had
+nothing less to expect.
+
+When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I 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: shewed them my
+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 of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be expected; for
+whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat them in common with
+themselves.
+
+I left them my fire-arms; viz. five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and
+three swords: I had about a barrel of powder left; for after the first
+year or two I used but little, and wasted none. I gave them a
+description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to milk and
+fatten them, to make both butter and cheese.
+
+In a word, I gave them every part of my own story; and I told them, I
+would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder
+more, and some garden-seed, 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 night: the
+next morning 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 take them on board though 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 some time after soundly whipped and pickled;
+after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows.
+
+Some time after this, I went with the boat on shore, the tide being up,
+with the things 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 way to send a vessel to take them in, I would
+not forget them.
+
+When I took leave of this island, I carried on board for relics the
+great goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and one of my parrots; also
+I forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by
+me so long useless that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could
+hardly pass for silver, till it had been a little rubbed and handled;
+and also the money I found in the wreck of the Spanish ship.
+
+And thus I left the island the nineteenth of December, as I found by the
+ship’s account, in the year 1686, after I had been upon it
+eight-and-twenty years, two months, and nineteen days: being delivered
+from the second captivity the same day of the month that I first made
+my escape in the barco-longo, from among the Moors of Sallee.
+
+In this vessel, after a long voyage, I arrived in England the eleventh
+of June, in the year 1687; having been thirty and five years absent.
+
+When I came to England, I was a perfect stranger to all the world, as if
+I had never been known there: my benefactor, and faithful steward, whom
+I had left in trust with my money, was alive, but had had great
+misfortunes in the world, was become a widow the second time, and very
+low in the world: I made her easy as to what she owed me, assuring her I
+would give her no trouble; but on the contrary, in gratitude to her
+former care and faithfulness to me, I relieved her as my little 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 her, when I had sufficient to help her; as shall be
+observed in its place.
+
+I went down afterwards into Yorkshire; but my father was dead, and my
+mother and all the family extinct; except that I found 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 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 means saved the ship and cargo, having given a very
+handsome account to 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 that subject, and a present of almost two hundred pounds sterling.
+
+But after making several reflections upon the circumstances of my life,
+and how little way this would go towards settling me in the world, I
+resolved to go to Lisbon, and see if I might not come by some
+information of the state of my plantation in the Brasils, and what was
+become of my partner, who, I had reason to suppose, had some years now
+given me over for dead.
+
+With this view I took shipping for Lisbon, where I arrived in April
+following; my man Friday accompanying me very honestly in all these
+ramblings, and proving a most faithful servant upon all occasions.
+
+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 the sea, having put his son, who was far from a young man, into his
+ship; and who still used the Brasil trade. The old man did not know me,
+and, indeed, I hardly knew him; but I soon brought myself to his
+remembrance, when I told him who I was.
+
+After some passionate expressions of our old acquaintance, I inquired,
+you may be sure, after my plantation and my partner; the old man told
+me, he had not been in the Brasils 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, however, he believed that 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. Augustine, to
+be expended for the benefit of the poor, and for the conversion of the
+Indians to the Catholic faith; but that if I appeared, or any one for
+me, to claim the inheritance, it would be restored; only that the
+improvement, or annual production, being distributed to charitable uses,
+could not be restored; but he assured me, that the steward of the
+king’s revenue, (from lands) and the provedore, 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 received duly 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 no 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 growing exceeding rich
+upon the enjoying but one half 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 moidores 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 county. 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 about twelve years.
+
+I shewed 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 that, 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 he 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 sugarhouse) and had given his son,
+who was now at the Brasils, order 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, that
+believing you were lost, and all the world believing so also, your
+partner and trustees did offer to account to me in your name, for six or
+eight of the first years of profit, which I received; but there being at
+that time,” says he, “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 ancient friend, he brought
+me an account of the six first years income of my plantation, signed by
+my partner, and the merchants’ trustees, being always delivered in
+goods; viz. tobacco in roll, 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 increased: but, as
+above, the disbursement being large, the sum at first was small:
+however, the old man let me see, that he was debtor to me four hundred
+and seventy moidores of gold, besides sixty chests of sugar, and fifteen
+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 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 two hundred Portugal
+moidores in gold; and giving me the writings of his title to the ship
+which his son was gone to the Brasils in, of which he was a quarter part
+owner, and his son another, he puts them both in 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 particularly how sincere a friend he was now to me, I
+could hardly refrain weeping at what he said to me: therefore, first 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 spake. In short, I took one hundred of the
+moidores, 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, as indeed I
+afterwards did; and then, 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 began to ask me if he should put me in a
+method to make my claim to my plantation. I told him, I thought to go
+over to it 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 Brasil, 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 the 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 any thing was more honourable than the proceedings upon this
+procuration; for in less than seven months I received a large packet
+from the survivors of my trustees, the merchants, on 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 1171
+moidores 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 call _civil-death_; and the balance of this, the value of
+plantation increasing, amounted to 38892 crusadoes, which made 3241 moidores.
+
+Thirdly, There was the prior of the Augustines account, who had received
+the profits for above fourteen years; but not being able to account for
+what was disposed to the hospital, very honestly declared he had 872
+moidores not distributed, which he acknowledged to my account. As to the
+king’s part, that refunded nothing.
+
+There was also a letter of my partner’s, congratulating me very
+affectionately upon my being alive; giving me an account how the estate
+was improved, and what it produced a year, with a particular of the
+number of squares or acres that it contained; how planted, how many
+slaves there were upon it, and making two and twenty crosses for
+blessings, told me 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 my self; concluding
+with a hearty tender of his friendship, and that of his family, and sent
+me, as a present, seven fine leopard’s skins, which he had it seems
+received from Africa, by some other ship which he had sent thither, and
+who it seems had made a better voyage than I: he sent me also five
+chests of excellent sweetmeats, and an hundred pieces of gold uncoined,
+not quite so large as moidores.
+
+By the same fleet, my two merchant trustees shipped me 1,200 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 Job was better than
+the beginning. It is impossible to express here the flutterings of my
+very heart, when I looked over these letters, and especially when I
+found all my wealth about me; for as the Brasil 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 the sudden surprize of joy had overset
+nature, and I had died upon the spot.
+
+Nay after that, I continued very ill, and was so some hours, ’till 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 it had not been eased by a vent
+given in that manner, to the spirits, I should have died.
+
+I was now master, all on a sudden, of above 5000_l_. sterling in money,
+and had an estate, as I might well call it, in the Brasils, 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 my self, 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 distress, kind to
+me in my beginning, and honest to me at the end: I shewed him all that
+was sent me, I told him, that next to the Providence of Heaven, which
+disposes all things, it was owing to him; and that it now lay on me to
+reward him, which I would do a hundred fold: so I first returned to him
+the hundred moidores 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
+moidores, which he had acknowledged he owed me in the fullest and
+firmest manner possible; after which, I caused a procuration to be
+drawn, impowering him to be my receiver of the annual profits of my
+plantation, and appointing my partner to account to 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 moidores a year to him, during his life, out of the
+effects, and 50 moidores a year to his son after him, for his life: and
+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 Providence 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 ne’er 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 who to trust with it. My old patron, the
+captain, indeed was honest, and that was the only refuge I had.
+
+In the next place, my interest in the Brasils seemed to summon me
+thither, but now I could not tell, how to think of going thither, ’till
+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 my self, 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, an
+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, each of them an
+hundred pounds, 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 the Brasils, and leave things safe behind me; and this greatly
+perplexed me.
+
+I had once a mind to have gone to the Brasils, and have settled my self
+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,
+of which I shall say more presently. However, it was not religion that
+kept me from going thither for the present; and as I had made no scruple
+of being openly of 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 religion to die in.
+
+But, as I have said, this was not the main thing that kept me from going
+to the Brasils, 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 them,
+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 for England with all my wealth.
+
+In order to prepare things for my going home, I first (the Brasil fleet
+being just going away) resolved to give answers suitable to the just and
+faithful account of things I had from thence; and first to the prior of
+St. Augustine I wrote a letter full of thanks for his just dealings, and
+the offer of the eight hundred and seventy-two moidores, which was
+undisposed of, which I desired might be given, five hundred to the
+monastery, and three hundred and seventy-two 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 of 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 for the remainder of my life. 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 bays, 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 though I
+could give no reason for it, yet the difficulty increased upon me so
+much, that though 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 one 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, that
+is to say, so as in one of them to put my things on board, and in the
+other to have agreed with the captain; I say, two of these ships
+miscarried, viz. one was taken by the Algerines, and the other was cast
+away on the Start, near Torbay, and all the people drowned except three;
+so that in either of those vessels I had been made miserable, and in
+which most, it was hard to say.
+
+Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I
+communicated every thing, pressed me earnestly not to go to sea; but
+either to go by land to the Groyne, and cross over the Bay of Biscay to
+Rochelle, 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 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 who were English, and
+merchants also, and two young Portuguese gentlemen, the last going to
+Paris only; so that we were in all 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
+a stranger to be capable of supplying the place of a servant upon
+the road.
+
+In this manner I set out from Lisbon; and our company being all 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 servants, and indeed was the original of the
+whole journey.
+
+As I have troubled you with none of my sea journals, so shall I trouble
+you with none of my land journals. But some adventures that happened to
+us in this tedious and difficult journey, I must not omit.
+
+When we came to Madrid, we, being all of us strangers to Spain, were
+willing to stay some time to see the court of Spain, and to see what 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 travellers were obliged to come back to
+Pampeluna, after having attempted, at an extreme hazard, to pass on.
+
+When we came to Pampeluna itself, we found it so indeed; and to me that
+had been always used to a hot climate, and indeed to countries where we
+could scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insufferable; nor,
+indeed, was it more painful than it was surprising: to come but ten days
+before out of the Old Castile, where the weather was not only warm, but
+very hot, and immediately to feel a wind from the Pyrenees mountains, so
+very keen, so severely cold, as to be intolerable, and to endanger
+benumbing and perishing of our fingers and toes, was very strange.
+
+Poor Friday was really frighted 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, after we came to Pampeluna, 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 impassable: 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 northern
+countries, there was no going without being in danger of being buried
+alive every step. We staid no less than twenty days at Pampeluna; 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 many
+years) proposed that we should all go away to Fontarabia, and there take
+shipping for Boardeaux, which was a very little voyage.
+
+But while we were considering this, there came in four French gentlemen,
+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; and 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 us 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 ensure 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 satisfied us 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 servants, some French, some Spanish, who, as I
+said, had attempted to go, and were obliged to come back again.
+
+Accordingly we all set out from Pampeluna, with our guide, on the
+fifteenth 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, above 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 the left, he approached the mountains another way; and though
+it is true, the hills and the precipices looked dreadfully, yet he made
+so many tours, such meanders, and led us by such winding ways, we
+insensibly passed the height of the mountains, without being much
+encumbered with the snow; and all on a sudden he shewed us the pleasant
+fruitful provinces of Languedoc and Gascoigne, all green and
+flourishing; though indeed they were at a great distance, and we had
+some rough way to pass yet.
+
+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 of a hollow way, adjoining to a thick wood. Two
+of the wolves flew upon the guide, and had he been half a mile before
+us, he had been devoured indeed, 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 not presence of mind enough, to draw
+his pistol, but hallooed and cried out to us most lustily. My man Friday
+being next to me, I bid him ride up, and see what was the matter. As
+soon as Friday came in sight of the man, he hallooed, as loud as the
+other, “O master’ O master!” But, like a bold fellow, rode directly up
+to the 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 that kind of creature in his country, had no fear upon him,
+but went close up to him, and shot him as above; whereas any of us would
+have fired at a farther distance, 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 dismallest howlings of wolves, and the noise
+redoubled by the echo of the mountains, that it was to us as if there
+had been a prodigious multitude of them; and perhaps indeed there 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, having happily fastened
+upon his head, where the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his teeth, so
+that he had not done him much hurt; the man, indeed, was most hurt; for
+the raging creature had bit him twice, once on the arm, and the other
+time a little above his knee; and he was just as it were tumbling down
+by the disorder of the 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 rid 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 plainly what
+had been the case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide; though
+we 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, 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. As the bear is a heavy, clumsy creature,
+and does not gallop as the wolf does, which is swift and light; so he
+has two particular qualities, which generally are the rule of his
+actions: first, as to men, who are not his proper prey, I say not his
+proper prey, because though I can’t say what excessive hunger might do,
+which was now their case, the ground being all covered with snow; yet as
+to men, he does not usually attempt them, unless they first attack him;
+on the contrary, if you meet him in the woods, if you don’t meddle with
+him, he won’t meddle with you; yet then you must take care to be very
+civil to him, and give him the road; for he is a very nice gentleman, he
+won’t go a step out of the way for a prince; nay, if you are really
+afraid, your best way is to look another way, and keep going on; for
+sometimes, if you stop, and stand still, and look steadfastly at him, he
+takes it for an affront; and 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
+takes it for an affront, and sets all other business aside to pursue his
+revenge; for he will have satisfaction in point of honour, and this is
+his first quality; the next is, that if he be once affronted, he will
+never leave you, night or day, till he has his revenge, but follow at a
+good round rate till he overtakes 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
+frighted, and indeed the last more than the first; when, on a sudden, we
+espied the bear come out of the wood, and a very monstrous one it was,
+the biggest by far that ever I saw: we were all a little surprised when
+we saw him; 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 makee you good laugh.”
+
+I was surprised to see the fellow so pleased: “You fool you,” said I,
+“he will eat you up.”—“Eatee me up! eatee me up!” says Friday, twice
+over again; “me eatee him up; me make you good laugh; you all stay here,
+me shew you good laugh.” So down he sits and gets his boots off in a
+moment, and put on a pair of pumps, (as we call the flat shoes they
+wear) and which he had in his pocket, and 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 wit you,” We followed
+at a distance; for now being come down to the Gascoigne side of the
+mountains, we were entered a vast great forest, where the country was
+plain, and pretty open, though many trees in it scattered here
+and there.
+
+Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with him
+quickly, and takes up a great stone, and throws at him, and hit him just
+on the head; but did him no more harm than if he had thrown it 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 shew us some
+laugh, as he called it.
+
+As soon as the bear felt the stone, and saw him, he turns about, and
+comes after him, taking devilish long strides, and strolling along at a
+strange rate, so as he would put a horse to a middling gallop. Away runs
+Friday, and takes his course, as if he ran 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,” said I, “is this your making us laugh? Come away, and
+take your horse, that we may shoot the creature.” He hears me, and cries
+out, “No shoot, no shoot, stand still, you get much laugh;” and as the
+nimble creature ran two feet for the beast’s one, he turned on a sudden,
+on one side of us, and seeing a great oak tree, fit for his purpose, he
+beckoned us to follow, and doubling his pace, he gets nimbly up the
+tree, laying his gun down upon the ground, at about five or 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
+he scrambles into the tree, climbing like a cat, though 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, till seeing the bear get
+up the tree, we all rode nearer to him.
+
+When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small of a
+large limb of the tree, and the bear got about half way to him. As 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 the bear 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 he sees 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 bough; and the bear, just 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 on the head, and called to
+Friday to stand still, and we would shoot the bear; but he cried out
+earnestly, “O pray! O pray! no shoot, 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
+indeed, 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 get 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 where 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,” said Friday, “you no come farther, me go, me go; you no
+come to me, me come to you;” and upon this he goes out to the smallest
+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 ran to his gun, takes it up, and
+stands still.
+
+“Well,” said I to him, “Friday, what will you do now? Why don’t you
+shoot him?”—“No shoot,” 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 leisurely, 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 feet upon the
+ground, Friday stepped close to him, clapped the muzzle of his piece
+into his ear, and shot him as dead as a stone.
+
+Then the rogue turned about to see if we did not laugh; and when he saw
+we were pleased by our looks, he falls a-laughing himself very loud; “So
+we kill bear in my country,” says Friday. “So you kill them?” said I;
+“why, you have no guns.”—“No,” says he, “no guns, but shoot great much
+long arrow.”
+
+This was, indeed, 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
+howling 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 the skin of
+this monstrous creature off, which was worth saving; but we had 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 mountains; 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 any 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 defile 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 sunset when we entered the first wood; and
+a little after sunset, 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 chase of some
+prey, and had it in view: they took no notice of us, and were gone and
+out of sight in a few moments.
+
+Upon this our guide, who, by the way, was a wretched faint-hearted
+fellow, bade us keep in a ready posture; for he believed there were more
+wolves a-coming.
+
+We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us; but we saw no more wolves
+till we came through that wood, which was near half a league, and
+entered the plain: as soon as we came into the plain, we had occasion
+enough to look about us. The first object we met with was a dead 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 disturb 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 half gone
+over the plain, but we began to hear the wolves howl in the woods, 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 that then those who had fired at first, should not pretend
+to load their fusils again, but stand ready, with every one 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 wounded, 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 our company to halloo
+as loud as we could, and I found the notion not altogether mistaken; for
+upon our shout, they began to retire, and turn about; then I 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 doing; but we had but little more than loaded our
+fusils, and put ourselves into a 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 night began to be dusky, which made it
+the worse on our side; but, the noise increasing, we could easily
+perceive that it was the howling and yelling of those hellish creatures;
+and, on a sudden, we perceived two or three troops of wolves on our
+left, one behind us, and one on 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 large trot; and in this manner we only
+came in view of the entrance of the wood through which we were to pass,
+at the farther side of the plain; but we were greatly surprised, when,
+coming near the lane, or pass, we saw a confused number 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; and no question but they did.
+
+Here we had a most horrible sight; for, riding up to the entrance where
+the horse came out, we found the carcass of another horse, and of two
+men devoured by these ravenous creatures, and of one the man was no
+doubt the same whom we heard fire a 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,
+were 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 by some large timber trees, which had
+been cut down the summer before, and I suppose lay there for carriage: I
+drew my little troop in among these 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 breastwork, to stand in a triangle, or three
+fronts, enclosing 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 us with a
+growling kind of a noise, and mounted the piece of timber (which, as I
+said, was our breastwork,) 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, which was the prey they aimed at. I ordered
+our men to fire as before, every man; and they took their aim so sure,
+that indeed 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 behind pushing on those before.
+
+When we had fired our second volley of 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 our vollies of pistols; and I
+believe in these four firings we 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 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 time to get away, when the
+wolves came up to it, and some were got up upon it; when I, snapping an
+uncharged pistol close to the powder, set it on fire; and 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 frighted
+with the light, which the night, for now it was 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 lame ones, which 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 were
+better understood by their fellows; so that they fled and left us.
+
+We had, first and last, killed about three score of them; and had it
+been daylight, we had killed many more. The field of battle being thus
+cleared, we made forward again; for we had still near a league to go. We
+heard the ravenous creatures 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 certain; so 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, that, the night before, the
+wolves and some bears had broken into that village, and put them in a
+terrible fright; and 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 limbs so swelled with the
+rankling of his two wounds, that he could go no farther; so we were
+obliged to take a new guide there, and go to Tholouse, where we found a
+warm climate, a fruitful pleasant country, and no snow, no wolves, or
+any thing like them; but when we told our story at Tholouse, they told
+us it was nothing but what was ordinary in the great 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 gotten, that would venture to
+bring us that way in such a severe season; and told us, it was very much
+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 that made the wolves so furious, seeing their prey; and that at
+other times they are really afraid of a gun; but they 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 all together, 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 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 Tholouse to Paris, and
+without any considerable stay came to Calais, and landed safe at Dover,
+the fourteenth of January, after having had a severe cold season to
+travel in.
+
+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 me, having been very currently paid.
+
+My principal guide and privy-counsellor was my good ancient widow, who,
+in gratitude for the money I had sent her, thought 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 my beginning, and now to the end, in
+the unspotted integrity of this good gentlewoman.
+
+And now I began to think of leaving my effects with this woman, and
+setting out for Lisbon, and so to the Brasils. But now another scruple
+came in the way, and that was religion; for as I had entertained some
+doubts about the Roman religion, even while I was abroad, especially in
+my state of solitude; so I knew there was no going to the Brasils for
+me, much less going to settle there, unless I resolved to embrace the
+Roman Catholic religion, without any reserve; except on the other hand I
+resolved to be a sacrifice to my principles, be a martyr for religion,
+and die in the Inquisition: so I resolved to stay at home, and, if I
+could find means for it, to dispose of my plantation.
+
+To this purpose I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, who in return gave
+me notice, that he could easily dispose of it there: but that if I
+thought fit to give him leave to offer it in my name to the two
+merchants, the survivors of my trustees, who lived in the Brasils, who
+must fully understand the value of it, who lived just upon the spot, and
+who I knew to be very rich, so that he believed they would be fond of
+buying it; he did not doubt, but I should make 4 or 5000 pieces of eight
+the more of it.
+
+Accordingly I agreed, gave him orders to offer it to them, and he did
+so; and in about eight months more, the ship being then returned, he
+sent me an account, that they had accepted the offer, and had remitted
+33,000 pieces of eight to a correspondent of theirs at Lisbon, to
+pay for it.
+
+In return, I signed the instrument of sale in the form which they sent
+from Lisbon, and sent it to my old man, who sent me the bills of
+exchange for 32,800 pieces of eight for the estate; reserving the
+payment of 100 moidores a year, to him (the old man) during his life,
+and 50 moidores afterwards to his son for his life, which I had promised
+them; and which the plantation was to make good as a rent charge. And
+thus I have given the first part of a life of fortune and adventure, a
+life of Providence’s chequer-work, and of a variety which the world will
+seldom be able to shew the like of: beginning foolishly, but closing
+much more happily than any part of it ever gave me leave to much as
+to hope for.
+
+Any one would think, that in this state of complicated good fortune, I
+was past running any more hazards, and so indeed I had been, if other
+circumstances had concurred: but I was inured to a wandering life, had
+no family, nor many relations; nor, however rich, had I contracted much
+acquaintance; and though I had sold my estate in the Brasils, yet I
+could not keep that country out of my head, and had a great mind to be
+upon the wing again; especially I could not resist the strong
+inclination I had to see my island, and to know if the poor Spaniards
+were in being there; and how the rogues I left there had used them.
+
+My true friend the widow earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so far
+prevailed with me, that almost for seven 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: and this young
+fellow afterwards drew me in, as old as I was, to farther
+adventures myself.
+
+In the meantime, I in part settled myself here; for, first of all, I
+married, and that not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction; and
+had three children, two sons and one daughter: but my wife dying, and my
+nephew coming home with good success from a voyage to Spain, my
+inclination to go abroad, and his importunity, prevailed, and engaged me
+to go in his ship as a private trader to the East Indies. This in the
+year 1694.
+
+In this voyage I visited my new colony in the island, saw my successors
+the Spaniards, had the whole story of their lives, and of the villains I
+left there; how at first they insulted the poor Spaniards, how they
+afterwards agreed, disagreed, united, separated, and how at last the
+Spaniards were obliged to use violence with them; how they were
+subjected to the Spaniards; how honestly the Spaniards used them; an
+history, if it were entered into, as full of variety and wonderful
+accidents as my own part: particularly also as to their battles with the
+Caribbeans, who landed several times upon the island, and as to the
+improvement they made upon the island itself; and how five of them made
+an attempt upon the main land, and brought away eleven men and five
+women prisoners; by which, at my coming, I found about twenty young
+children on the island.
+
+Here I stayed about twenty days; left them supplies of all necessary
+things, and particularly of arms, powder, shot, clothes, tools, and two
+workmen, which I brought from England with me; viz. a carpenter and
+a smith.
+
+Besides this, I shared the lands into parts with them, reserved to
+myself the property of the whole, but gave them such parts respectively,
+as they agreed on; and, having settled all things with them, and engaged
+them not to leave the place, I left them there.
+
+From thence I touched at the Brasils, from whence I sent a bark, which I
+bought there, with more people to the island; and in it, besides other
+supplies, I sent seven women, being such as I found proper for service,
+or for wives to such as would take them. As for the Englishmen, I
+promised them to send them some women from England, with a good cargo of
+necessaries, if they would apply themselves to planting; which I
+afterwards could not perform: the fellows proved very honest and
+diligent, after they were mastered, and had their properties set apart
+for them, I sent them also from the Brasils five cows, three of them
+being big with calf, some sheep, and some hogs, which, when I came
+again, were considerably increased.
+
+But all these things, with an account how three hundred Caribbees came
+and invaded them, and ruined their plantations, and how they fought with
+that whole number twice, and were at first defeated and some of them
+killed; but at last a storm destroying their enemies’ canoes, they
+famished or destroyed almost all the rest, and renewed and recovered the
+possession of their plantation, and still lived upon the island:—
+
+All these things, with some very surprising incidents in some new
+adventures of my own, for ten years more I may, perhaps, give a further
+account of hereafter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That homely proverb used on so many occasions in England, viz. “That
+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 seven
+years of peace and enjoyment in the fulness of all things; grown old,
+and when, if ever, it might be allowed me 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 into 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: if I had gained
+ten thousand pounds, I had been no richer; for I had already sufficient
+for me, and for those I had to leave it to, and that I had was visibly
+increasing; 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 family, 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 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; particularly the desire of seeing my new
+plantation in the island, and the colony I left there, ran in my head
+continually. I dreamed of it all night, and my imagination ran 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 ran into it, even to
+impertinence, and I saw it myself.
+
+I have often heard persons of good judgment say, that all the stir
+people make in the world about ghosts and apparitions, is owing to the
+strength of imagination, and the powerful operation of fancy in their
+minds; that there is no such thing as a spirit appearing, or a ghost
+walking, and the like; that people’s poring affectionately upon the past
+conversation of their deceased friends so realizes it to them, that they
+are capable of fancying upon some extraordinary circumstances that they
+see them, talk to them, and are answered by them, when, in truth, there
+is nothing but shadow and vapour in the thing; and they really know
+nothing of the matter.
+
+For my part, I know not to this hour whether there are any such things
+as real apparitions, spectres, or walking of people after they are dead,
+or whether there is any thing in the stories they tell us of that kind,
+more than the product of vapours, sick minds, and wandering fancies. But
+this I know, that my imagination worked up to such a height, and brought
+me into such excess of vapours, or what else I may call it, that I
+actually supposed myself oftentimes upon the spot, at my old castle
+behind the trees, saw my old Spaniard, Friday’s father, and the
+reprobate sailors whom I left upon the island; nay, I fancied I talked
+with them, and looked at them so steadily, though I was broad awake, as
+at persons just before me; and this I did till I often frightened myself
+with the images my fancy represented to me: one time in my sleep I had
+the villany of the three pirate sailors so lively related to me, by the
+first Spaniard and Friday’s father, that it was surprising; they told me
+how they barbarously attempted to murder all the Spaniards, and that
+they set fire to the provisions they had laid up, on purpose to distress
+and starve them; things that I had never heard of, and that were yet all
+of them true in fact; but it was so warm in my imagination, and so
+realized to me, that to the hour I saw them, I could not be persuaded
+but that it was or would be true; also how I resented it when the
+Spaniard complained to me, and how I brought them to justice, tried them
+before me, and ordered them all three to be hanged. What there was
+really in this, shall be seen in its place; for however I came to form
+such things in my dream, and what secret converse of spirits injected
+it, yet there was, I say, very much of it true. I own, that this dream
+had nothing literally and specifically true; but the general part was so
+true, the base and villanous behaviour of these three hardened rogues
+was such, and had been so much worse than all I can describe, that the
+dream had too much similitude of the fact; and as I would afterwards
+have punished them severely, so if I had hanged them all, I had been
+much in the right, and should have been justifiable both by the laws of
+God and man.
+
+But to return to my story.—In this kind of temper I had 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 so wholly bent upon it, told me very seriously one
+night, that she believed there was some secret powerful impulse of
+Providence 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 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,” says she, “and
+rather than I will be the only hindrance, I will go with you; for though
+I think it a 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 makes 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 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?
+
+With those thoughts, I considered my new engagement; that I had a wife,
+one child born, and my wife then great with child of another; 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, reasoned myself out of it,
+_as I believe people may always do in like cases, if they will_; and, in
+a word, I conquered it; composed myself with such arguments as occurred
+to my thoughts, and which my present condition furnished me plentifully
+with; and particularly, as the most effectual method, I resolved to
+divert myself with other things, and to engage in some business that
+might effectually tie me up from any more excursions of this kind; for I
+found the thing return upon me chiefly when I was idle, had nothing to
+do, or any thing of moment immediately before me.
+
+To this purpose I bought a little farm in the county of Bedford, and
+resolved to remove myself thither. I had a little convenient house upon
+it, and the land about it I found was capable of great improvement, and
+that it was many ways suited to my inclination, which delighted in
+cultivating, managing, planting, and improving of land; and
+particularly, being an inland country, I was removed from conversing
+among ships, sailors, and things relating to the remote part of
+the world.
+
+In a word, I went down to my farm, settled my family, bought me ploughs,
+harrows, a cart, waggon, horses, cows, sheep; and setting seriously to
+work, became in one half year a mere country gentleman; my thoughts were
+entirely taken up in managing my servants, cultivating the ground,
+enclosing, planting, &c.; and I lived, as I thought, the most agreeable
+life that nature was capable of directing, or that a man always bred to
+misfortunes was capable of being retreated to.
+
+I farmed 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, and 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 my 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,
+a kind of heavenly life, something like what is described by the poet
+upon the subject of a country life:
+
+     Free from vices, free from care,
+     Age has no pains, and youth no snare.
+
+But in the middle of all this felicity, one blow from unforeseen
+Providence unhinged me at once; and not only made a breach upon me,
+inevitable and incurable, but drove me, by its consequence, upon a deep
+relapse into the wandering 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 on 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 upon my wife, to give a
+character of her particular virtues, and make my court to the sex by the
+flattery of a funeral sermon. 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
+instructions, a friend’s counsel, or all my own reasoning powers could
+do. I was happy in listening to her tears, 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 the Brasils when I went first
+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 do, or what not
+to do; I saw the world busy round me, one part labouring for bread, and
+the other part squandering in vile excesses or empty pleasures, equally
+miserable, because the end they proposed still fled from them; for the
+men of pleasure 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 a
+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 mildewed, 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 before the wind; my thoughts run all away again into the
+old affair, my head was quite turned with the whimsies of foreign
+adventures; and all the pleasing innocent amusements of my farm and 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 housekeeping, let my farm, and return to London; and in a few months
+after I did so.
+
+When I came to London I was still as uneasy as before; I had no relish
+to 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
+God’s creation, and it is not one farthing 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 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
+commander of a ship, was come home from a short voyage to Bilboa, 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’ll engage to land you upon your
+old habitation in the island, for we are to touch at the Brasils.”
+
+Nothing can be a greater demonstration of a future state, and of the
+existence of an invisible world, than the concurrence of second causes
+with the ideas of things which we form in our minds, perfectly reserved,
+and not communicated to any in the world.
+
+My nephew knew nothing how far my distemper of wandering was returned
+upon me, and I knew nothing of what he had in his thoughts 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 my circumstances in my
+mind, come to this resolution, viz. that I would go to Lisbon, and
+consult with my old sea-captain; and 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 also with the thoughts
+of peopling the place, and carrying inhabitants from hence, getting a
+patent for the possession, and I know 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 awhile at his words, and looking steadily at him, “What devil,”
+said I, “sent you of this unlucky errand?” My nephew startled, as if he
+had been frighted at first; but perceiving 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 of your brother-monarchs in the world.”
+
+In a word, the scheme hit so exactly with my temper, that is to say,
+with 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 in your
+return?” He told me, it could not be possible that the merchants would
+allow him to come that way with a loaden 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 miscarry,” 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.
+
+I was not long resolving; for indeed the importunities of my nephew
+joined in 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 one way or other, except my
+ancient good friend the widow, who earnestly struggled with me to
+consider my years, my easy circumstances, and the needless hazard 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 impressions I had upon
+my mind for the voyage, that it would be a kind of resisting Providence,
+if I should attempt to stay at home; after which she ceased her
+expostulations, and joined with me, not only in making provision for my
+voyage, but also in settling my family affairs in 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 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 my widow, with a
+sufficient maintenance 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; and as she lived till I came home, I also lived
+to thank her for it.
+
+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 my own account
+while I stayed, and either to leave them there, or carry them forward,
+as they should appear willing; particularly, I carried two carpenters, a
+smith, and a very handy, ingenious fellow, who was a cooper by trade,
+but 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 potmaker; 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 passenger
+to the East Indies with my nephew, but afterwards consented to stay on
+our new plantation, and proved a most necessary handy fellow as could
+be desired, in many other businesses besides that of this 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 an account of
+the particulars, consisted of a sufficient quantity of linen, and some
+thin English 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 which 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. besides 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 fuzees, besides some
+pistols, a considerable quantity of shot of all sizes, three or four
+tons of lead, and two pieces of brass cannon; and because I knew not
+what time and what extremities I was providing for, I carried an hundred
+barrels of powder, besides swords, cutlasses, and the iron part of some
+pikes and halberts; so that, in short, we had a large magazine 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 they 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 of it all, and much more, if we hoped to maintain our possession
+of the island, as shall be seen in the course of the 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, viz. my first voyage to
+Guinea, in which I might be said to come back again as the voyage was at
+first designed, began to think the same ill fate still attended me; and
+that I was born to be never contented with being on shore, and yet to be
+always unfortunate at sea.
+
+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-thirty 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 several 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 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 shewed
+itself, no, not for five hundred 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 it could not be far
+off, we stood directly towards it, and were presently satisfied we
+should discover it, because the farther we sailed the greater the light
+appeared, though 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, in what condition I was in when taken up by the
+Portugal captain; and how much more deplorable the circumstances of the
+poor creatures belonging to this ship must be if they had no other ship
+in company with them: upon this I immediately 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 flame in 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 daylight; when on a sudden, to our great terror, though we
+had reason to expect it, the ship blew up in the air, and immediately
+sunk. This was 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 boats 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
+lanterns 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; and found there were two of them,
+both thronged with people, and deep in the water; we perceived they
+rowed, the wind being against them; that they saw our ship, and did the
+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 a 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 three hundred
+tons, homeward-bound from Quebec, in the river of Canada. The master
+gave us a long account of the distress 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 everybody thought, entirely put out: but they soon
+found that some sparks of the first fire had gotten into some 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 themselves 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 had a
+possibility, that some ship might happen to be at sea, and might take
+them in. They had sails, oars, and a compass; and were preparing to make
+the best of their way to Newfoundland, the wind blowing pretty fair; for
+it 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 storms to overset and founder them; rains
+and cold to benumb and perish their limbs; contrary winds to keep them
+out and starve them; that it must have been next to miraculous if they
+had escaped.
+
+In the midst of their consultations, every one being hopeless, and ready
+to despair, the captain with tears in his eyes told me, they were on a
+sudden surprised 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 designed it should, viz. that there was a ship at
+hand for their help.
+
+It was upon the hearing these guns, that they took down their masts and
+sails; and 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 ahead, at least that we might the sooner
+come up with them; and at last, to their inexpressible 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 head and hands, make up the sum of its
+variety: but an excess of joy, a surprise of joy, has a thousand
+extravagances 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 downright lunatic; some ran about the ship stamping
+with their feet, others wringing their hands; some were dancing, several
+singing, some laughing, more crying; many quite dumb, 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
+afterward; but the passion was too strong for them at first, and they
+were not able to master it; they were thrown into ecstasies and a kind
+of frenzy, and so there were but a very few who were composed and
+serious in their joy.
+
+Perhaps also the case may have some addition to it, from the particular
+circumstance of the nation they belonged to; I mean the French, whose
+temper is allowed to be more volatile, more passionate, and more
+sprightly, and their spirits more fluid, than of other nations. I am not
+philosopher to determine the cause, but nothing I had ever seen before
+came up to it: the ecstasies 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 two 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 farther observable, that these extravagances did not shew
+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 person. A man that we saw this minute dumb,
+and, as it were, stupid and confounded, should the next minute be
+dancing and hallooing like an antic; and the next moment a-tearing his
+hair, or pulling his clothes to pieces, and stamping them under his feet
+like a madman; a few minutes after that, we should have him all in
+tears, then sick, then swooning; and had not immediate help been had,
+would in a few moments more 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 remember right, our surgeon was obliged to let above thirty of
+them blood.
+
+There were two priests among them, one an old man, and the other a young
+man; and that which was strangest was, that the oldest man was
+the worst.
+
+As soon as he set his foot on board our ship, and saw himself safe, he
+dropped 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: and 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, flowed something freely; in
+three minutes after the man opened his eyes; and about 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 circumstances in
+his mind, and this put him into an ecstasy 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 waked next morning perfectly composed
+and well.
+
+The younger priest behaved himself with great command of his passion,
+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 moments, 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 a 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
+as he to give thanks to God, who had blessed us so far as to make us the
+instruments 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, in 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 satisfaction, 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, desiring 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 the 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 consider
+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
+Portugal 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 the Brasils as I had been at Barbary, the being sold to a
+Mahometan only excepted; and perhaps a Portuguese is not a much better
+master than a Turk, if not, in some cases, a much worse.
+
+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 as 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 serve them, not to
+plunder them; and that 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 then
+abandon them to starving; 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, which perhaps was directed by Heaven on purpose for
+their deliverance, yet it was impossible for us wilfully to change our
+voyage on this particular account; nor could my nephew, the captain,
+answer it to the freighters, with whom he was under charter-party to
+pursue his voyage by the way of Brasil; and all I knew he 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 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 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 possible I might meet
+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 inclined 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 to the poor people, but would be ruining our 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 see 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.
+
+The wind continued fresh easterly, but the weather pretty good; and as
+it had blowed continually 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 shore, 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 Coromandel: I readily agreed to that;
+for I wonderfully liked the man, and had very good reason, as will
+appear afterwards; also four of the seamen entered themselves in 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 degrees 5 minutes N. and the 19th day of
+March 1684—5, when we espied a sail, our course S.E. and by S. We soon
+perceived it was a large vessel, 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-topmast, fore-mast, and bowsprit;
+and presently she fires 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 Barbadoes, but had been
+blown out of the road at Barbadoes, 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 beside the terror of the storm, they were
+but 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, and in which they had 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-foremast, 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 was quite gone, they had not an ounce left in the ship, and
+had 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 sweetmeats they had at first, but
+they were devoured; and they had seven casks of rum.
+
+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, that they had three passengers in
+the great cabin, that they 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 overruled things with my nephew, that I
+would have victualled them, though we had gone away to Virginia, or any
+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 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 ate.
+
+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 awhile, 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, he grew better: in the meantime I forgot not the
+men; I ordered victuals to be given them, and the poor creatures rather
+devoured than ate it; they were so exceeding hungry, that they were in a
+manner 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 respect of at my first coming on shore in
+my island, where I had not the least mouthful of food, or any hopes of
+procuring it; besides the hourly apprehension I had of being made the
+food of other creatures. But all the while the mate was thus relating to
+me the miserable condition 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 whom he seemed to confess
+they had wholly neglected, their own extremities 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’s 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 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 time 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 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 order, 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 them with the liquor of the meat, which they call brewis,
+and gave every one one, 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 broke into the
+cook-room by force, and torn the meat out of the furnace; for words
+indeed are of a very small force to an hungry belly: however, we
+pacified them, and fed them gradually and cautiously for the first time,
+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 had no food at all, and
+for several days before, very little.
+
+The poor mother, who, as the first mate reported, was a woman of good
+sense and good breeding, had spared all she could get 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 in 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 mate, who was exceedingly moved with the sight, endeavoured
+to get some of the broth into her mouth; and, as he said, got two or
+three spoonfuls down, though I question whether he 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 spoonfuls extraordinary, 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 mistress, 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 one chair, and she griped it so
+hard, that we could not easily make her let it go; 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 last
+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 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, and with great
+application recovered her as to life, he had her upon his hand as to her
+senses, for she was little less than distracted for a considerable time
+after; as shall appear 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 topmast to his jury-foremast, we did, as it were, lie by him
+for three or four days, and then having given him five barrels of beef
+and pork, two hogsheads of biscuit, and a proportion of peas, flour, and
+what other things we could spare; and taking three casks of sugar and
+some rum, and some pieces of eight of them for satisfaction, we left
+them, taking on board with us, at their own earnest 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, as it happened 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 just to keep her alive. But
+hunger knows no friend, no relation, no justice, no right; and therefore
+is remorseless, and capable of no compassion.
+
+The surgeon told him how far we were going, and how it would carry him
+away from all his friends, and put him perhaps in as bad circumstance,
+almost, as we found them in; that is to say, starving in the world. He
+said it mattered 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 whither
+we would. The surgeon represented the case so affectionately to me, that
+I yielded, and we took them both on 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 him to go, as soon as he came to Bristol, 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 I met with her.
+
+I was now in the latitude of 19 deg. 32 min. and had hitherto had a
+tolerable 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. on the rest of our voyage; but, shortening 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 Brasils; 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 no.
+
+We beat about a great while, and went on shore on several islands in the
+mouth of the great river Oroonoque, but none for my purpose: only this I
+learnt by my coasting the shore, that I was under one great mistake
+before, viz. 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 Caribbees, but islanders, and other
+barbarians of the same kind, who inhabited something nearer to our side
+than the rest.
+
+In short, I visited several of the 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 that they came
+thither to make salt, and catch some pearl-muscles, if they could; but
+they belonged to the Isle de 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 therefore kept her with their very good will,) at length I
+came fair on the south side of my island, and I presently knew the very
+countenance of the place; so I brought the ship safe to an anchor
+broadside with the little creek where was my old habitation.
+
+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,” said I, “do you think we shall find any body here, or
+no? and what do you think, shall we see your 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 see the tears run
+down his face very plentifully. “What is the matter, Friday?” said I;
+“are you troubled because you may see your father”—“No, no,” says he,
+shaking his head, “no see him more, no ever more see 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,” said 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 just to the hill
+above my old house; and though we lay half a league off, he cries out,
+“Me see! me see! yes, yes, me see much man there, and there, and there.”
+I looked, but I could see 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 stood to look at the ship, not knowing what to
+think of us.
+
+As soon as Friday had 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 about half a quarter of an hour after, we perceived a smoke
+rise from the side of the creek; so I immediately 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 whole story of living there, and the
+manner of it, and every particular both of myself and those that I left
+there, and who was on that account extremely desirous to go with me, We
+had besides about sixteen men very well armed, if we had found any new
+guest 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 whom 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 of the Spaniards, where indeed I saw nothing of
+him; and if they had not let him go on shore 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 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 lay down
+upon the ground, and stroked his legs, and kissed them, and then got up
+again, and stared at him; one would have thought the fellow bewitched:
+but it would have made a dog laugh to see how the next day his passion
+run 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 would come to fetch
+something or other for him from the boat, either a lump of sugar, or a
+dram, a biscuit, 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 made a thousand antic postures and
+gestures; and all the while he did this he would be talking to him, and
+telling him one story or another 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 parts of
+the world, one would be tempted to say there hardly would have been any
+need of the fifth commandment.
+
+But this is a digression; I return to my landing. It would be endless to
+take notice of all the ceremonies and civilities that the Spaniards
+received me with. The first Spaniard whom, as I said, I knew very well,
+was he whose life I saved; he came towards the boat attended by one
+more, carrying a flag of truce also; and he did not only not know me at
+first, but he had no thoughts, no notion, of its being me that was come
+til I spoke to him. “Seignior,” 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, and saying something 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 of 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 there, had been 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, in ten years
+time they were grown so big, that, in short, the place was
+inaccessible, 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 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 oftentimes a strong persuasion that one time or other he
+should see me again: but nothing that ever befel him in his life, he
+said, was so surprising and afflicting to him at first, as the
+disappointment 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 themselves 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,” and with that he crossed himself upon 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 making 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 other 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, ungovernable villains, and were fit for any
+manner of mischief.
+
+While I was saying this came the man 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 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 I the like, but really as if they had been ambassadors or
+noblemen, and I a monarch or a 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 manners 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 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 that 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’s, and Said
+he’s, and He told me’s, and I told him’s, 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 which the
+persons were in of whom I am to speak. At 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; I say, I had sent them away
+in a large canoe to the main, as I then thought it, to fetch over the
+Spaniard’s companions whom he had 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 afterward.
+
+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 I any foreknowledge of what after happened, I mean
+of an English ship coming on shore there to fetch them 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, however, 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, they
+having very calm weather and a smooth sea; 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 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 the deliverance, and in what manner he was furnished for
+carrying them away, it was like a dream to them; and their astonishment,
+they said, was something like that of Joseph’s brethren, when he told
+them who he was, and told them the story of his exaltation in Pharaoh’s
+court; but when he shewed them the arms, the powder, the ball, and the
+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 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 or periaguas, 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, or
+provisions, or 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, ungoverned, 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 on
+shore, 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 them, containing the particular
+methods which I took for managing every part of my life there; the way
+how I baked my bread, bred up my 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 whom
+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 method, and Friday’s father together, managed all their
+affairs; for 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 would the other but
+have left 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, and would not let others eat neither: 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 began 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.
+
+But before I come to the particulars of this part, I must supply a
+defect in my former relation; and this was, that 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 till the
+captain, rousing up his courage, and taking us all to his assistance,
+parted them 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 dangerous words the second
+time, he threatened to carry them in irons to England, and have them
+hanged there for mutiny, and running away with the ship.
+
+This, it seems, though the captain did not intend to do it, frighted
+some other men in the ship; and some of them had put it in the heads of
+the rest, that the captain only gave them good words for the present
+till they should come to some English port, and that then they should
+be all put into a gaol, and tried for their lives.
+
+The mate got intelligence of this, and acquainted 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 forgiven.
+
+But this mutiny had brought us to 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 stole each of them a musket and some other weapons;
+what powder or shot they had we knew not; and had taken the ship’s
+pinnace, which was not yet haled up, and run away with her to their
+companions in roguery on shore.
+
+As soon as we found this, I ordered the long-boat on shore, with twelve
+men and the mate, 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. The mate was once resolved, in
+justice to their roguery, to have destroyed their plantations, burnt all
+their household stuff and furniture, and left them to shift without it;
+but having no order, he let all alone, left every thing as they found
+it, and bringing the pinnace away, came on board without them.
+
+These two men made their number five: but the other three villains were
+so much wickeder than these, that after they had been two or three days
+together, they turned their two new-comers out of doors to shift for
+themselves, and would have nothing to do with them; 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 to
+have taken in their two countrymen again, that, as they said, they might
+be all one family; but they would not hear of it: so the two poor
+fellows lived by themselves, and finding nothing but industry and
+application would make them live comfortable, they pitched their tents
+on the north shore of the island, but a little more to the west, to be
+out of the danger of the savages, who always landed on the east parts of
+the island.
+
+Here they built 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 and planted, 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 or 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 a little thriving posture, when the three
+unnatural rogues, their own countrymen too, in mere humour, and to
+insult them, came and bullied them, and told them the island was theirs;
+that the governor, meaning me, had given them possession of it, and
+nobody else had any right to it; and, damn them, they should build no
+houses upon their ground, unless they would pay them rent for them.
+
+The two men thought they had jested at first, and asked them to come and
+sit down, and see what fine houses they were that they had built, and
+tell them what rent they demanded: and one of them merrily told them, if
+they were ground-landlords, he hoped if they built tenements upon the
+land and made improvements, they would, according to the custom of all
+landlords, grant them a long lease; and bid them go fetch a scrivener to
+draw the writings. One of the three, damning 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 turned upon him with a pole he had in his hand; and had not the
+man avoided the blow very nimbly, and run into the hut, he had ended his
+days at once. His comrade, seeing the danger they were both in, ran in
+after him, and immediately they came both out with their muskets; and
+the man that was first struck at with the pole knocked the fellow down
+who began 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 all dead men, and boldly
+commanded them to lay down their arms. They did not indeed lay down
+their arms; but seeing him 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 advantage, that
+they did not disarm them effectually, as they might have done, and have
+gone immediately to the Spaniards, and given them an account how the
+rogues treated them; for the three villains studied nothing but
+revenge, and every day gave them some intimation that they did so.
+
+But not to crowd this part with an account of the lesser part of their
+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 that 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 call
+the honest men; and he had made a sad complaint to the Spaniards, of the
+barbarous 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, he took the freedom to reprove the
+three Englishmen, though in gentle and mannerly terms, and asked them,
+how they could be so cruel, they being harmless inoffensive fellows, and
+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 had?
+
+One of the Englishmen returned very briskly, “What had they to do there?
+That they came 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, “Seignior Inglese, they must not starve.” The
+Englishman replied, like a true rough-hewn tarpaulin, “they might starve
+and be d—ed, they should not plant nor build in that place.”—“But what
+must they do then, Seignior?” says the Spaniard. Another of the brutes
+returned, “Do! d—n them, they should be servants, and work for
+them.”—“But how can you expect that of them? They are not bought with
+your money; you have no right to make them servants.” The Englishman
+answered, “The island was theirs, 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 he would go and burn all their new huts; they should
+build none upon their land.
+
+“Why, Seignior,” says the Spaniard, “by the same rule, we must be your
+servants too.”—“Ay,” says the bold dog, “and so you shall too, before
+we have done with you;” mixing two or three G—d d—mme’s in the proper
+intervals of his speech. The Spaniard only smiled at that, and made him
+no answer. However, this little discourse had heated them; and starting
+up, one says to the other, I think it was he they called Will Atkins,
+“Come, Jack, let us go and have the other brush with them; we will
+demolish their castle, I will warrant you; they shall plant no colony in
+our dominions.”
+
+Upon this they were 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 them 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 poor men when they were asleep; and they acknowledged it afterwards,
+intending to set fire to their huts while they were in them, and either
+burn them in them, or murder them as they came out: and, as malice
+seldom sleeps very sound, it was very strange they should not have been
+kept waking.
+
+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 thither, 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 d—n them, the birds are flown.” They mused awhile 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
+revenged of the Spaniards. 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 found, afterwards, some of their
+things a mile off from their habitation.
+
+When they had done this, they pulled up all the young trees which the
+poor men had planted; pulled up the enclosure they had made to secure
+their cattle and their corn; and, in a word, sacked and plundered every
+thing, as completely as a herd of Tartars would have done.
+
+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 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 differing conduct presently. When the three came back,
+like furious creatures, flushed with the rage which the work they had
+been about 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, jeering in his face, says he to him, “And you,
+Seignior Jack Spaniard, shall have the same sauce, if you do not mend
+your manners.” The Spaniard, who, though quite a civil man, was as brave
+as a man could desire to be, and withal a strong well-made man, looked
+steadily 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, insolent as the first, fixed his pistol at the Spaniard
+immediately; he missed his body indeed, for the bullets 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 arms
+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 had 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 one another, told them they would do them no harm; and if
+they would live peaceably 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 more capable to hear reason than to act reason; but
+being refused their arms, they went raving away, 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 do ravenous beasts, wherever
+they found them; and if they fell into their hands alive, they would
+certainly be hanged. However, this was far from cooling them; but away
+they went, swearing and raging like furies of hell. As soon as they were
+gone, came back the two men 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
+provocation 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 their remedy against them, what pains soever it cost to
+find them out.
+
+But the Spaniards interposed here too, and told them, that they were
+already disarmed: 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, as 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 full satisfaction for you; and upon this condition
+we hope you will promise to use no violence with them, other than in
+your defence.”
+
+The two Englishmen; yielded to this very awkwardly and with great
+reluctance; but the Spaniards protested, 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 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 turtles’ eggs all
+that while, came back to the grove: and finding my Spaniard, who, as I
+have said, was the governor, 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 unnaturally 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 put to it; for, as they were to wait this half-hour for an answer,
+they begged they would send them out some bread in the meantime, which
+they did, sending at the same time a large piece of goat’s flesh and a
+boiled parrot, which they ate very eagerly.
+
+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, plant trees in the room of those pulled up, dig up
+the land again for planting corn, and, in a word, to restore everything
+to the same state as they found it, that is, as near as they could.
+
+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 plantation, they
+would be content to work for them, and let them walk about and be as
+idle as they pleased; and thus, having lived pretty well together for a
+month or two, the Spaniards let them have 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,
+before the ungrateful creatures began to be as insolent and troublesome
+as ever. However, an accident happened presently upon this, which
+endangered the safety of them all, and they were obliged to lay by all
+private resentments, and look to the preservation of their lives.
+
+It happened one night that the governor, the Spaniard whose life I had
+saved, who was now the governor of the rest, found himself very uneasy
+in the night, and could by no means get any sleep: he was perfectly well
+in body, 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
+them, on goat-skins laid thick upon such couches and pads as they made
+for themselves, so they had little to do, when they were willing to
+rise, but to get 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 see little or nothing, and besides, the trees which I had
+planted, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his sight, so that
+he could only look up, and see that it was a starlight night, and
+hearing no noise, he returned and lay down again; but to no purpose; he
+could not compose himself to anything 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 it 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,” says he, “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 apartment, and had made a place, where the three
+Englishmen, since their last mutiny, always quartered by themselves, and
+could not come at the rest. “Well,” says the Spaniard, “there is
+something in it, I am persuaded from my own experience; I am satisfied
+our spirits embodied have 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 know how to make use
+of it. Come,” says he, “let us go out and look abroad; and if we find
+nothing at all in it to justify our trouble, I’ll tell you a story of
+the purpose, that shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it.”
+
+In a word, they went out to go to the top of the hill, where I used to
+go; but they, being strong, and in good company, nor alone, as I was,
+used none of my cautions to go up by the ladder, and then 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 savage 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 necessity
+they came to know it, they felt it so effectively, 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 me, escape to tell any
+one else, except it were the three savages in our last encounter, who
+jumped into the boat, of whom I mentioned that I was afraid 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, and not have seen them at all;
+much less to have let the savages have seen, that there were any
+inhabitants in the place; but 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 tranquillity for a
+great while.
+
+We need not doubt but that the governor, and the man with him, surprised
+with this sight, ran 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 that 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 some 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 straggling all over the shore, they made no
+doubt, but, first or last, some of them would chop in upon their
+habitation, or upon some other place, where they would see the tokens 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 dispatch three men away before it was light, viz. 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 an hundred
+of them, to have attacked them; but that could not be obtained, for
+there 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
+beaten their brains in considering their present circumstances, they
+resolved, at last while it was 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, and 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 undiscovered, that he found
+they were two parties, and of two several nations who had war with one
+another, and had had 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 in the same island for the devouring their prisoners, and
+making merry; but this 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 daylight
+began to appear; he did not perceive that they had any notion of
+anybody’s being on the island but themselves. He had hardly made an end
+of telling the 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 to lie still, and the savages
+would kill one another to their hands, and 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, 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 fight, and, as
+they thought, not to 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 spirits, 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 more,
+some of them began to fly; and this put our men again into a great
+consternation, lest any 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 should do the like in
+search for them. Upon this they resolved, that they would stand armed
+within the wall, and whoever came into the grove they should 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 stock of the musket,
+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 crossing 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 satisfaction, viz. 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 and come in behind them, 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, and made no
+pursuit, or very little, but drawing themselves into a body together,
+gave two great screaming shouts, which they suppose were by way of
+triumph, and so the fight ended; and 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 dead men
+upon the spot; some were killed with great long arrows, several of which
+were found sticking in their bodies, but most of them were killed with
+their 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 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 of their arms and legs broken; so that
+it is evident they fight with inexpressible rage and fury. They found
+not one wounded man that was not stone dead; for either they stay by
+their enemy till they have quite killed them, 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 consequence 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 unusual
+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 very tractable, and
+went about the common business of the whole society well enough;
+planted, sowed, reaped, and began to be all naturalized to the country;
+but some time after this they fell all into such simple measures again
+as brought them into a great deal of trouble.
+
+They had taken three prisoners, as I had observed; and these three being
+lusty stout young fellows, they made 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, viz. to begin with
+them upon the principle of having saved their lives, and then instructed
+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 family 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 consideration 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 way of living, and
+manifestly to their advantage, they should not rather remove their
+habitation, and plant in some more proper place for their safety, and
+especially for the security of their cattle and corn.
+
+Upon this, after long debate, it was conceived that they should 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 would be sure to direct them on that side,
+where if they should find the place demolished they would conclude the
+savages had killed us all, and we were gone, and so our supply would
+go away 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 to 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 piece
+of prudence they used, which it was very well they did; viz. that they
+never trusted these three savages, which they had taken prisoners, with
+knowing any thing of the plantation they had made in that valley, or of
+any cattle they had there; much 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 left 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 and
+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: to this purpose, as I had planted trees
+(or rather thrust in stakes which in time all grew to be trees) for some
+good distance before the entrance into my apartment, 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 had noted formerly, they took care to have
+generally very much larger and taller than those which I had planted,
+and placed them so very thick and close, that when they had been three
+or four years grown there was no piercing with the eye any considerable
+way into the plantation. 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
+palisado 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; which ladder, when it 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 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 fully persuaded we might
+prevent many of the disasters 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 in a great consternation
+for some of the Spaniards being out early one morning on the west side,
+or rather end of the island which, by the way, was that end where I
+never went, for fear of being discovered, 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 at that
+time on the island, but pursued some other design.
+
+And now they had another broil with the three Englishmen, one of which,
+a most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one of the three slaves
+which I mentioned they had taken, because the fellow had not done
+something right which he bid him do, and seemed a little untractable in
+his shewing him, drew a hatchet out of a frog-belt, in which he bore it
+by his side, and fell upon him, 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 shoulder, 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, clapt
+in 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 perceiving, avoided the blow, and with a
+shovel which he had in his hand (for they were working in the field
+about the 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 to help their man, and a third
+Englishman fell upon them. They had none of them any fire-arms, or any
+other weapons but hatchets and other tools, except the third Englishman;
+he had one of my old rusty cutlasses, with which he made at the 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 furious, so desperate, and so
+idle withal, that they knew not what course to take with them, for they
+were mischievous to the highest degree, and valued not what hurt they
+did 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 his own countrymen he would have hanged them all; 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 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,
+Seignior Atkins,” says he, “will you murder us all? What have you to say
+to that?” That hardened villain was so far from denying it, that he said
+it was true, and G-d d-mn him they would do it still before they had
+done with them. “Well, but Seignior Atkins,” said 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 your killing us? Must we kill
+you, or will you kill us? Why will you put us to the necessity of this,
+Seignior Atkins?” says the Spaniard very calmly and smiling.
+
+Seignior 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 weapons
+with him, it was thought he would have attempted to have killed the
+Spaniard in the middle of all the company.
+
+This harebrained carriage obliged them to consider seriously what was to
+be done. The two Englishmen and the Spaniard who saved the poor savage,
+were of the opinion that they should hang one of the three for an
+example to the rest; and that particularly it should be he that had
+twice attempted to commit murder with his hatchet; and 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 Englishman
+to death though 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 gainsaying it; and as merciful counsels are most apt to prevail,
+where they are so earnestly pressed, so they all came into it; but then
+it was to be considered what should be done to keep them from 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, or powder, or shot, or sword, or any
+weapon, and should be turned out of the society, and left to live where
+they would, and how they could 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 forbid to come
+within a certain distance of the place where the rest dwelt; and that 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, that they should die without mercy, and would
+shoot them wherever they could find them.
+
+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 supposed 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 field; such
+as six hatchets, an axe, 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
+themselves. They went away sullen and refractory, as neither contented
+to go away or to stay; but as there was no remedy they went, pretending
+to go and choose a place where they should settle themselves, to plant
+and live by themselves; and some provisions were given, 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 an habitation or plantation: it was a very
+convenient place indeed, on the remotest part of the island, 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 foolish
+attempt to surround the island.
+
+Here they built themselves two handsome huts, and contrived them in a
+manner like my first habitation being close under the side of a hill,
+having some trees growing already to the 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 dry goat-skins for beds and
+covering, which were given them; and upon their giving their words that
+they would not disturb the rest, or injure any of their plantations,
+they gave them hatchets, and what other tools they could spare; some
+peas, barley, and rice, for sowing, and, in a word, any thing they
+wanted but arms and ammunition.
+
+They lived in this separate condition about six months, and had got in
+their 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: and this
+humbled them much; so 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: but 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 mischief enough upon them, and had very near been the
+ruin of the whole colony. 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 not seize upon some prisoners among the natives there, and
+bring them home, so as to make them do the laborious part of the
+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 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 as they shewed not the least remorse for the
+crime, but added new villanies to it, such as particularly that piece of
+monstrous cruelty of wounding a poor slave because he did not, or
+perhaps could not understand to do what he was directed, and to wound
+him in such a manner as, no question, 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
+cold blood, and in their sleep.
+
+But I leave observing, and return to the story: The three fellows came
+down to the Spaniards one morning, and in very humble 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, 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 for their defence, they would go over to the main, and seek
+their fortune, and so deliver them from the trouble of supplying them
+with any other provisions.
+
+The Spaniards were glad enough to be rid of them; but yet very honestly
+represented 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 that 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 demand, declaring that 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 go, they should not go like naked men, and be in no condition to
+defend themselves, 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 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 full of dried grapes, a pot
+full of fresh water, and a young kid alive to kill, they boldly set out
+in a canoe for a voyage over the sea, where it was at least forty
+miles broad.
+
+The boat was indeed a large one, and would have very well carried
+fifteen or twenty men, and therefore was rather too big for them to
+manage; but as they had a fair breeze and the flood-tide with them, they
+did well enough; they had made a mast of a long pole, and a sail of four
+large goat-skins dried, which they had sewed or laced together; and away
+they went merrily enough; the Spaniards called after them, “Bon veajo;”
+and no man ever thought of seeing them any more.
+
+The Spaniards would often say to one another, and the two honest
+Englishmen who remained behind, how quietly and comfortably they lived
+now those three turbulent fellows were gone; as for their ever coming
+again, that was the remotest thing from their thoughts could be
+imagined; when, behold, after twenty-two days absence, one of the
+Englishmen being abroad upon his planting work, sees three strange men
+coming towards him at a distance, two of them with guns upon their
+shoulders.
+
+Away runs the Englishman, as if he was bewitched, and became frighted
+and amazed, to the governor Spaniard, and tells him they were all
+undone, for there were strangers landed upon the island, he could not
+tell who. The Spaniard pausing a while, says to him, “How do you mean,
+you cannot tell who? They are savages to be sure.”—“No, no,” says the
+Englishman, “they are men in clothes, with arms.”—“Nay then,” says the
+Spaniard, “why are you concerned? If they are not savages, they must be
+friends; for there is no Christian nation upon earth but will do us good
+rather than harm.”
+
+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, viz. 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 something 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: that 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 were courteous and friendly to them, and they gave them
+several roots, 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 inquired, 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 eat men; but as for
+themselves, they said, that they never ate men or women, except only
+such as they took in the wars; and then they owned that they made a
+great feast, and ate their prisoners.
+
+The Englishmen inquired when they had a feast of that kind, and they
+told them two moons ago, pointing to the moon, and then 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 to see 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 morning they brought down
+five women and eleven men, and gave them to the Englishmen 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 home, 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
+offered them; and what to do with them they knew not; however, upon 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, they seemed extremely pleased with; and then tying the poor
+creatures’ hands behind them, they (the people) dragged the prisoners
+into the boat for our men.
+
+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 about 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; then they
+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 concluded 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 to beg some victuals for them; they (the
+Spaniards) and the other two Englishmen, 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,
+straight and fair limbs, about thirty or thirty-five years of age, and
+five women; whereof two might be from thirty to forty, two more not
+above twenty-four or twenty-five, and the fifth, a tall, comely maiden,
+about sixteen or seventeen. The women were well-favoured, agreeable
+persons, both in shape and features, only tawny; and two of them, had
+they been perfect white, would have passed for handsome women, even in
+London itself, having very pleasant, agreeable countenances, and of a
+very modest behaviour, especially when they came afterwards to be
+clothed, and dressed, as they called it, though 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. to be 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 man 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 of 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 and 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, and 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 presently
+be attended with some inconveniency, 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, he shall
+take but one; and that, having taken one, none else should touch her;
+for though we cannot marry any 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 should 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 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 temporary 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 they had taken in the late battle of the savages, lived
+with them; and these carried on the main part of the colony, supplying
+all the rest with food, and assisting 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 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 the 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 that they
+were to expect assistance in as much as any thing else, and she proved
+the best wife in the parcel.
+
+When the poor women saw themselves in a row thus, and fetched out one by
+one, the terrors of their condition returned upon them again, and they
+firmly believed that 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 such affection as would have grieved the
+hardest heart in the world; nor was it possible for the Englishmen to
+satisfy them that they were not to be immediately murdered, till they
+fetched the old man, Friday’s father, who instantly 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 hut 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 separate as before: and thus
+my island was peopled in three places, and, as I might say, three towns
+were begun to be planted.
+
+And here it is very well worth observing, that as it often happens in
+the world, (what the wise ends of God’s providences are in such a
+disposition of things I cannot say) 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 ill 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 the 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, planting, 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 planting, of the
+fences, and indeed every thing else, was easy to be seen at first view.
+
+The two men had innumerable young trees planted about their huts, that
+when you came to the place nothing was to be seen but a wood; and
+though they had their plantation twice demolished, once by their own
+countrymen, and once by the enemy, as shall be shewn in its place; yet
+they had restored all again, and every thing was flourishing and
+thriving about them: they had grapes planted in order, and managed like
+a vineyard, though they had themselves 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 formed themselves 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, grow so easily, made a grove impassable except in one place,
+where they climbed up to get over the outside part, and then went in by
+ways of their own leaving.
+
+As to the three reprobates, as I justly call them, though they were much
+civilized by their new settlement compared to what they were before, and
+were not so quarrelsome, having not the same opportunity, yet one of the
+certain companions 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
+vineyard of the slothful, and it was overgrown 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 gotten 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 steed was stolen; whereas, when they
+looked on the colony of the other two, here 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: “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, more
+utensils and necessaries within doors, and yet more pleasure and
+diversion too.
+
+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; whereas the
+other could not be brought to understand it; but then the husband, who
+as I said, had been cook’s mate, did it himself; but as for the husbands
+of the three wives, they loitered about, fetched turtles’ eggs, and
+caught fish and birds; in a word, any thing but labour, and they fared
+accordingly. The diligent lived well and comfortably and the slothful
+lived hard and beggarly; and so I believe, generally speaking, it is all
+over the world.
+
+But now I come to a scene different from all that had happened before,
+either to them or 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 that
+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 the business was done, having as yet not
+the least notion of there being any inhabitants in the island; I say
+having been made sensible of this, they had nothing to do but to give
+notice to all the three plantations to keep within doors, and not to
+shew themselves; only placing a scout in a proper place, to give notice
+when the boats went off 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 they had been doing. Here,
+to their great surprise, they found three savages left behind, and lying
+fast asleep upon the ground; it was supposed they had either been so
+gorged with their inhuman feast, that, like beasts, they were asleep,
+and would not stir when the others went, or they were 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 Spaniard 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 Spaniard governor told me they could
+not think of shedding innocent blood; for as to them, the poor creatures
+had done no wrong, invaded none of their property; 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 all
+the accounts of Spanish cruelty in Mexico and Peru be what they will, I
+never met with seventeen men, of any nation whatsoever, in any foreign
+country, who were so universally modest, temperate, virtuous, so very
+good-humoured, and so courteous as these Spaniards; and, as to cruelty,
+they had nothing of it in their very nature; 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 that if they were
+left to rove about the island, they would certainly discover that there
+were inhabitants in it, and so they should be undone that way.
+
+Upon this they went back again, and there lay the fellows fast asleep
+still; so they resolved to awaken them, and take them prisoners; and
+they did so. The poor fellows were strangely frighted 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 do as
+they do, eating mens’ 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 into the woods, they could never hear of
+him 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 again
+in two days time. This thought terrified them exceedingly; for they
+concluded, and that not without good cause indeed, that if this fellow
+got safe home among his comrades, he would certainly give them an
+account that there were people in the island, as also how weak and few
+they were; for this savage, as I observed before, had never been told,
+as it was very happy he had not, how many they were, or where they
+lived, nor had he ever seen or heard the fire of any of their guns, much
+less had they shewn him any other of their 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 or 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 sunrise, 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 them would have escaped:
+but the case differed now very much; for two men to fifty were too much
+odds. The two men had the happiness to discover them about a league off,
+so that it was about an hour before they landed, and as they landed
+about 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 slaves which 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 place 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 bent their course directly that way, they opened the fences where
+their milch-goats were kept, and drove them all out, leaving their goats
+to straggle into the wood, 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 gave them an account of it all, for they went
+directly to the place.
+
+When the poor frighted 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, and to them irretrievable, 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, rummaging every way, and
+every place they could think of, in search for prey, and in particular
+for the people, of whom it plainly appeared they had intelligence.
+
+The two Englishmen, seeing this, thinking themselves not secure where
+they stood, as it was likely some of the wild people might come that
+way, so 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.
+
+The 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 what might offer.
+
+They had not stood there long, but two of the savages appeared running
+directly that way, as if they had already 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; besides 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 might, perhaps, find out their retreat in the
+woods, and then all would be lost; so they resolved to stand them there;
+and if there were too many to deal with, then they would get 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 were near fifty, were to attack them.
+
+Having resolved upon this, they next considered whether they should fire
+at the two first, 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 two first pass by, unless they should
+spy them in the tree, and come to attack them. The two first savages
+also confirmed them in this resolution, by turning a little from them
+towards another part of the wood; but the three, and the five after
+them, came forwards directly to the tree, as if they had known the
+Englishmen were there.
+
+Seeing them come so straight towards 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; to which purpose, the
+man who was to fire put three or four 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 came 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, though 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 echoes rattling from one
+side to another, and the fowls rising from all parts, screaming, and
+every sort making a different noise, according 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, till they came to the place where their
+companions lay in a condition miserable enough. Here the poor ignorant
+creatures, not sensible that they were within reach of the same
+mischief, stood all together over the wounded man, talking, and, as may
+be supposed, inquiring of him how he came to be hurt; 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 anything
+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 to view the fate of their fellows, without some
+apprehensions of their own.
+
+Our two men, as they confessed to me, were grieved to be obliged to kill
+so many poor creatures, who 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, seeing 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 mischief, and of another that was hurt in
+the knee, and put them out of their pain; then the man that was not hurt
+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-yarn, which he had by great chance
+in his pocket, tied his two 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 a valley towards the sea, the quite 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-folks, yet they were
+most terribly afraid of them, and perhaps the more, for the knowledge
+they had of them.
+
+When they came thither, they found the savages had been in the wood, and
+very near the place, but had not found it; for indeed it was
+inaccessible, by the trees standing so thick, as before, unless the
+persons seeking it had been directed by those that knew it, which these
+were not; they found, therefore, every thing very safe, only the women
+in a terrible fright. While they were here they had the comfort of seven
+of the Spaniards coming 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 were 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
+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 done
+the two others, who were left when the third run away.
+
+The prisoners began now to be a burden to them; and they were so afraid
+of their escaping, that they thought they were under an absolute
+necessity to kill them for their own preservation: however, the Spaniard
+governor would not consent to it; but ordered, 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; 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 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, though 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 embarking
+again in their canoes, in order to be gone.
+
+They seemed sorry at first that there was no way to come at them to give
+them a parting blow; but upon the whole 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 thing good, yet, as
+soon as they heard of it (for they, living remote, knew nothing till all
+was over), came and offered their help and assistance, and did very
+friendly work for several days to restore their habitations and make
+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 onshore, and at some distance
+from them, with 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 blew 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
+happened to them; and to whet them on to another enterprise 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 told them of
+inhabitants, they could say little to 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 it 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 not forgot their
+former bad luck, or had given over the hopes of better; when on a sudden
+they were invaded with a most formidable fleet of no less than
+twenty-eight 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 easternmost 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 much more be so now, while the
+number of their enemies was so great, they therefore resolved, first of
+all, to take down the huts 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 appearance of inhabitants any where as possible;
+and the next morning early they posted themselves with all their force
+at the plantation of the two men, waiting 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.
+      1 Old Friday, or Friday’s father.
+      3 Slaves, taken with the women, who proved very
+          faithful.
+      3 Other slaves who lived with the Spaniards.
+     —
+     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.
+      3 Old halberts.
+     —
+     29
+
+To their slaves they did not give either musket or fusil, but they had
+every one an halbert, 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 hatchets. 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 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 have described so often, commanded the
+whole; and William 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 nimbly as he could, round a part of
+the wood, and so come in behind the Spaniards where they stood, having a
+thicket of trees all 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 throng, he orders
+three of his men to fire, having loaded their muskets with six or seven
+bullets apiece, 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, who were frighted 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,
+William 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
+them a third volley.
+
+Had William 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; viz. that they were killed by the gods with thunder and
+lightning, and could see nobody that hurt them: but William Atkins
+staying to load again, discovered the cheat; some of the savages who
+were at a distance, spying them, came upon them behind; and though
+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 fifty of
+them were killed, and more than so 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
+were 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 inclined to pursue them,
+but drew themselves up in a kind of ring, which is, it seems, their
+custom, and shouted twice in token of their victory; after which, they
+had the mortification to see several 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, though he was wounded, would have had him march,
+and charge them again all together at once: but the Spaniard replied,
+“Seignior Atkins, you see how their wounded men fight; let them alone
+till morning; all these wounded men will be stiff and sore with their
+wounds, and faint with the loss of blood, and so we shall have the fewer
+to engage.”
+
+The advice was good; but Will Atkins replied merrily, “That’s true,
+Seignior, and so shall I too; and that’s the reason I would go on while
+I am warm.”—“Well, Seignior Atkins,” says the Spaniard, “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 moonlight night, and they found the savages in
+great disorder about their dead and wounded men, and a great hurry and
+noise 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 discovered. This they had a fair opportunity to
+do; for one of the two Englishmen, in whose quarter it was where the
+fight began, led them round between the woods and the sea-side,
+westward, and 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-four, whereof were 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 halberts
+and staves. They would have had the women keep back; but they said they
+were resolved to die with their husbands. Having thus formed their
+little army, they marched out from among the trees, and came up to the
+teeth of the enemy, shouting and hallooing as loud as they could. The
+savages stood all together, but were in the utmost confusion, hearing
+the noise of our men shouting from three quarters together; they would
+have fought if they had seen us; and 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 butt ends of
+their muskets, their swords, armed staves, and hatchets; and laid about
+them so well, that in a word they 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 one hundred and eighty of them: the rest, being
+frighted out of their wits, scoured through the woods and over the
+hills, with all the speed that fear and nimble feet could help them to
+do; and as we did not trouble ourselves 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 seaward, so that it was impossible
+for them to put 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 order in this case; for their own
+savages, who were their servants, dispatched those 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 one hundred
+still: their posture was generally sitting upon the ground, with their
+knees up towards their mouth, and the head put between the hands,
+leaning down upon the knees.
+
+When our men came within two musket-shot 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 discouraged, 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 yawling away, with a kind of an
+howling noise, which our men did not understand, and had never heard
+before; and thus they ran 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 into the woods, and live there desperate; and so
+they should have them to hunt like wild beasts, be afraid to stir about
+their business, and have their plantation continually rifled, all their
+tame goats destroyed, and, in short, be reduced to a life of
+continual distress.
+
+Will Atkins told them they had better have to do with one hundred men
+than with one hundred nations; that as they must destroy their boats, so
+they must destroy the men, or be all of them destroyed themselves. In a
+word, he shewed 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 scarce burn. However, the
+fire so burned the upper part, that it soon made them unfit for swimming
+in the sea as boats. When the Indians saw what they were about, some of
+them came running out of the woods, and coming as near as they could to
+our men, kneeled down and cried, _Oa, Oa, Waramokoa_, and some 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 return thither 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
+ever 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 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 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.
+
+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 about 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 deplorable, but at the same time our
+men were also brought to very hard circumstances 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.
+The three Englishmen, William Atkins and his comrades, 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 murdered the Spaniards.
+
+I look 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 method of planting and raising my corn, and my tame cattle; for
+now they had, as I may say, an hundred wolves upon the island, which
+would devour every thing they could come at, yet could be very hardly
+come at themselves.
+
+The first thing they concluded when they saw what their circumstances
+were, 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, till they
+had reduced the 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 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
+frighted they were, that they kept out of sight farther and farther,
+till at last our men following them, and every day almost killing and
+wounding some of them, they kept up in the woods and 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, but
+merely 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 to 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 spoil.
+
+It was some time 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 nor 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 a part of the island to live in,
+provided they would give satisfaction; that they should keep in their
+own bounds, and not come beyond them, 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 rest of his
+countrymen, and hear what they said to it, assuring them that if they
+did not agree immediately they should all be 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, and three Indian slaves, and old Friday, marched
+to the place where they were; the three Indian slaves carried them a
+large quantity of bread, and some rice boiled up to cakes, and dried in
+the sun, and three live goats; and they were ordered to go to the side
+of an hill, where they sat down, ate the 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; for they had a piece of land 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 were ever
+heard of.
+
+After this the colony enjoyed a perfect tranquillity with respect to the
+savages, till I came to revisit them, which was in about two years. 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 for them to have found them out.
+
+Thus, I think, I have given a full account of all that happened to them
+to my return, at least that was worth notice. The Indians, or savages,
+were wonderfully civilized by them, and they frequently went among them;
+but forbid, on pain of death, any 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, cupboards, &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, pickaxes, and all things of
+that kind which they could want.
+
+With the help of these 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 lived
+all like bees in a hive; and as for Will Atkins, who was now become a
+very industrious, necessary, and sober fellow, he had made himself such
+a tent of basket work as I believe was never seen. It was one hundred
+and twenty 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 twenty-two paces round, but built
+stronger, being eight-square in its form, and in the eight corners stood
+eight very strong posts, round the top of which he laid strong pieces,
+joined together with wooden pins, from which he raised a pyramid before
+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 shewed abundance of ingenuity in several
+things which he had no knowledge of; he made himself a forge, with a
+pair of wooden bellows to blow the fire; he made himself charcoal for
+his work, and he formed out of one 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 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
+covered the top, that his house was as dry as if it had been tiled or
+slated. Indeed he owned that the savages made the basket-work for him.
+
+The outer circuit was covered, as a lean-to, all round his 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 wicker 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 into six apartments, for 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; and another door into the space or
+walk that was round it; so that this 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 circumference, 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 straight before you to the door of
+the inner house; but on either side was a wicker partition, 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 retired rooms to the respective chambers
+of the inner circle; and four large warehouses or barns, or what you
+please to call them, which went in 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
+an house or tent so neatly contrived, much less so built. In this great
+beehive lived the three families; that is to say, Will Atkins and his
+companions; 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
+don’t know that there was any thing of that kind among them; they pretty
+often indeed put one another in mind that there was a God, by the very
+common method of seamen, viz. swearing by his name; nor were their poor,
+ignorant, savage wives much the 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 incapable of entering into any
+discourse with their wives about a God or to talk any thing to them
+concerning religion.
+
+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 all the children they had, 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 were
+none of those 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 the Christian
+religion, and to be legally married; both which were happily brought
+about afterwards by my means, or at least by the consequence of my
+coming among them.
+
+Having thus given an account of the colony in general, and pretty much
+of my five runagate Englishmen, 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, miserable, dejected handful of people; that if
+means had been put into their hands, they had yet so abandoned
+themselves to despair, and so sunk under the weight of their
+misfortunes, that they thought of nothing but starving. One of them, a
+grave and very sensible man, told me he was convinced they were in the
+wrong; that it was not the part of wise men to give up themselves 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 impossible to be
+recalled or to be remedied, but had no view to 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 proverb, which though I cannot repeat in just the same words
+that he spoke it, 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 then ran on 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 together. 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 unhappy nation, and the Portuguese, were the
+worst men in the world to struggle with misfortunes; for that their
+first step in dangers, after common efforts are over, was always 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 of
+present sustenance, till they could provide it; that it is 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.
+“Seignior,” says the Spaniard, “had we poor Spaniards been in your case
+we should never have gotten half those things out of the ship as you
+did.” “Nay,” says he, “we should never have found means to have gotten a
+raft to carry them, or to have gotten a raft on shore without boat or
+sail; and how much less should we have done,” said he, “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 had been told, where there were provisions though no people; that
+is to say, that the Spaniards of Trinidad had frequently been there, and
+filled the island with goats and hogs at several times, where they have
+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 cannibals, and eat
+men’s flesh, which was the great dainty of the country.
+
+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 thither for assistance and support,
+should attempt to set up for instructors of those that gave them bread;
+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, that they could not but see with what demonstrations
+of wisdom and goodness the governing providence of God directs the event
+of things in the world, which they said appeared in their circumstances;
+for if, pressed by the hardships they were under, and the barrenness of
+the country where they were, they had searched after a better place to
+live in, they had then been out of the way of the relief that happened
+to them by my means.
+
+Then they gave me an account how the savages whom they lived among
+expected 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 not have been serviceable only to their
+friends, but have made themselves terrible both to friends and enemies;
+but being without powder and shot, and in a condition that they could
+not in reason deny to go out with their landlords to their wars; when
+they came in the field of battle they were in a worse condition than the
+savages themselves, for they neither had bows nor arrows, nor could they
+use those the savages gave them, so that they could do nothing but stand
+still and be wounded with arrows, till they came up to the teeth of
+their enemy; and then indeed the three halberts they had were of use to
+them, and they would often drive a whole little army before them with
+those halberts 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 were once five of them 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
+afterwards they 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 he who they thought had been dead; and then they
+made their way with their halberts 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 in my former.
+
+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, viz. by wild men; and
+yet how more and more they were surprised with the account he gave them
+of his errand, and that there was a Christian in a place near, 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 their coming to that miserable place; how often they crossed
+it, and blessed it as bread sent from heaven; and what a reviving
+cordial it was to their spirits to taste it, as also of 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 they told me it was impossible to express it by
+words, for their excessive joy driving them to unbecoming
+extravagancies, they had no way to describe them but by telling me that
+they bordered upon lunacy, having no way to give vent to their passion
+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 out into tears; others be half mad, and others
+immediately faint. This discourse extremely affected me, and called to
+my mind Friday’s ecstasy when he met his father, and the poor people’s
+ecstasy when I took them up at sea, after their ship was on fire; the
+mate of the ship’s joy, 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 that, if they were, they would
+be able to cut them off, if they were twice as many as before; so that
+they had no concern about that. Then I entered into a serious discourse
+with the Spaniard whom I called governor, about their stay in the
+island; for as I was not come to carry any of 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 convenience as their
+defence; and that I had such particular persons with me, as well to
+increase and recruit their number, as by the particular necessary
+employments which they were bred to, being artificers, to assist them in
+those things in which at present they were to seek.
+
+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 could shake hands with one another, and engage in a
+strict friendship and union of interest, so that there might be no more
+misunderstandings or jealousies.
+
+William Atkins, with abundance of frankness and good humour, said, they
+had met with afflictions 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
+bad humour made necessary, and what he would have done, and perhaps much
+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 on 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
+William 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 William Atkins had behaved himself so bravely
+in the great fight they had with the savages, and on several occasions
+since, and had shewed 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 that they had testified their
+satisfaction in him, by committing the command to him, next to the
+governor himself; and as they had an entire confidence in him and all
+his countrymen, so they acknowledged they had merited that confidence by
+all the methods that honest men 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 Englishmen had
+tasted for many years; and which it may be supposed they were
+exceeding 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 our
+ship to the seamen, that they might feast on fresh meat from on shore,
+as we did with their salt meal from on board.
+
+After this feast, at which we were very innocently merry, I brought out
+my cargo of goods, wherein, that there might be no dispute about
+dividing, I shewed them that there was sufficient for them all; and
+desired 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, and 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.
+
+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 needful 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 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 for the carpenters, I scarce need mention how useful they were, for
+they took in pieces all my clumsy unhandy things, and made them clever
+convenient tables, stools, bedsteads, 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 William 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 pickaxe, a crow, a broadaxe, 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, scissors, and all
+sorts of tools and iron-work, they had without tale as they required;
+for no man would care to 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.
+
+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 of
+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 nor
+acquaintance in the East Indies, or reason for taking so long a voyage;
+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 it 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, palisaded like Atkins’s, and adjoining to his plantation.
+Their tents were contrived so, that they had each of them a room, a part
+to lodge in, and a middle tent, like a great storehouse, to lay all
+their goods in, and to eat and drink in. And now the other two
+Englishmen moved 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, I believe, 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 matted into one
+another, that nothing but cutting them down first, could discover the
+place, except the 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 the ladder at twice, as
+I have already formerly described it; and they had a large wood, thick
+planted, also on the top of the hill, which contained above an acre,
+which grew apace, and covered the place from all discovery there, with
+only one narrow place between two trees, not easy to be discovered, to
+enter on that side.
+
+The other colony was that of Will Atkins, where there were four families
+of Englishmen, I mean those I had left there, with their wives and
+children; three savages that were slaves; the widow and children of the
+Englishman that was killed; the young man and the maid; and by the way,
+we made a wife of her also before we went away. There were 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 the gunsmith,
+to take care of their arms; and my other man, whom I called Jack of all
+Trades, who was 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, whom 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 took at sea. It is true, this man was a Roman, and perhaps
+it may give offence 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 Popish 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 conversation; 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, giving me an opportunity of free conversation. Now, Sir,” says
+he, “you see by my habit what my profession is, and I guess by your
+nation what yours is. I may think it is my duty, and doubtless it is so,
+to use my utmost endeavours on all occasions to bring all the souls that
+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 debates 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 modest that I could not but acknowledge
+it; that it was true, we were such people as they call heretics, but
+that he was not the first Catholic that I had conversed with without
+falling into any inconveniencies, or carrying the questions to any
+height in debate; that he should not find himself the worse used for
+being of a different opinion from us; and if we did not converse without
+any dislike on either side, upon that score, it would be his fault,
+not ours.
+
+He replied, that he thought our conversation might be easily separated
+from disputes; that it was not his business to cap principles with every
+man he discoursed with; and that he rather desired me to converse with
+him as a _gentleman_ than as a _religieux_; 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 though
+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 a 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 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. Maloes; but being
+forced into Lisbon in bad weather, the ship received some damage by
+running aground in the mouth of the river Tagus, and was obliged to
+unload her cargo there: that 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 Martinico, 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 in his reckoning, and they drove to
+Fyal; 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, to go away to Newfoundland. He had
+no remedy in the 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 ship
+proceeded no farther. So the next voyage he shipped himself for France,
+in the ship that was burnt, when we took them up at sea, and then
+shipped them 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 affair 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.
+
+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 me, 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,
+and your design is exceeding good, and will prosper. But, Sir,” said he,
+“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 Israel, one Achan, in the camp, removed God’s
+blessing from them, and turned his hand so against them, that thirty-six
+of them, though not concerned in the crime, were the objects of divine
+vengeance, and bore the weight of that punishment.”
+
+I was sensibly touched with this discourse, and told him his inference
+was so 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 meantime, because it seemed
+that what we had both to say might take up some time, I told him I was
+going to the Englishmens’ plantation, and asked him to go with me, and
+we might discourse of it by the way. He told me he would more willingly
+wait on me thither, because there, partly, the thing was acted which he
+desired to speak to me about. So we walked on, and I pressed him to be
+free 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 differing
+opinions in the practice of particulars. First, Sir, though we differ in
+some of the doctrinal articles of religion, and it is very unhappy that
+it is so, especially in the case before us, as I shall shew afterwards,
+yet there are some general principles in which we both agree; viz.
+first, 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 knowingly 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 a 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 and 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 me; and
+there are three things which, if I am right, must stand in the way of
+God’s blessing upon your endeavours here, and which I should rejoice,
+for your sake, and their own, to see removed. And, Sir,” says he, “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.”
+
+He gave me no leave to put in any more civilities, but went on: “First,
+Sir,” says he, “you have here four Englishmen, who have fetched women
+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 adulterers, and living in
+adultery. To this, Sir,” says he, “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 these 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 Roman) 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 these
+subsist; and on all occasions, as ability allows, to provide honestly
+for them and their children; and to oblige the women to the same, on
+like conditions, _mutatis mutandis_, on their 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, and take other women and marry them whilst 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 at the thing itself, but much more with the
+convincing arguments he supported it with. For it was certainly true,
+that though they had no clergyman on the spot, yet a formal contract on
+both sides, made before witnesses, and confirmed by any token which they
+had all agreed to be bound by, though it had been but the breaking a
+stick between them, engaging the men to own these women for their wives
+upon all occasions, and never to abandon 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 telling 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, matter not yourself that you
+are not therefore under an obligation to do your uttermost 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 yours.”
+
+I was so dull still, that I did not take him right, 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 in confusion. He
+seemed surprised that I should so far mistake him. “No, Sir,” says he,
+“I do not mean that you should separate them, but legally and
+effectually marry them now. And, Sir, as my way of marrying may not be
+so easy to reconcile them to, though it will be as effectual 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 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 a true warmth for the preserving 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 would stand too, 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 I was very much his debtor for the first, and
+thanked him heartily for it. He told me he would use the same freedom
+and plainness in the second, and hoped I would take it as well; and this
+was, that notwithstanding these English subjects of mine, as he called
+them, had lived with these women for almost seven years, and 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, to 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 who, was false and absurd.
+
+This, he said, was an unaccountable neglect, and what God would
+certainly call them to an account 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 idolaters, and to worship the devil, than any of
+these men, so far as I can see, has 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 should be all 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 being a Christian.”—“O, Sir, do not
+say so,” replied he; “this thing is not your fault.”—“No,” said 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,” said he, “to talk with these poor men about it?”—“Yes, with all
+my heart,” said I, “and I will oblige them to give heed to what you say
+too.”—“As to that,” said he, “we must leave them to the mercy of
+Christ; but it is our business to assist them, encourage them, and
+instruct them; and if you will give me leave, and God his blessing, I do
+not doubt but the poor ignorant souls shall be brought home into the
+great circle of Christianity, if not into the particular faith that 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 yonder, 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. that 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, and China; and that our clergy, even of the
+superior sort, willingly engage 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 an opportunity here to have six or
+seven-and-thirty poor savages brought over from idolatry to the
+knowledge of God, their Maker and Redeemer, that I wonder how you can
+pass by 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 Christian zeal for God and religion before me, let his
+particular principles be of what kind soever. As for me, I had not so
+much as entertained a thought of this in my heart before, and I believe
+should not have thought of it; for I looked upon these savages as
+slaves, and people whom, 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 them, 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,” said he, “I shall be
+very sorry, if what I have said gives you any offence.”—“No, no,” said
+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,” said 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 upon the owners’ account. It is
+true, I agreed to be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more I
+must pay 32 sterling per diem demurrage; nor can I stay upon demurrage
+above eight days more, and I have been here thirteen days 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 seven-and-thirty
+souls was not worth my venturing all I had in the world for. I was not
+so sensible of that as he was, and I returned upon him thus: “Why, Sir,
+it is a valuable thing indeed to be an instrument in God’s hand to
+convert seven-and-thirty heathens to the knowledge of Christ: but as you
+are an ecclesiastic, and are given over to that work, so that it seems
+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 it!”
+
+Upon this he faced about, just before me, as he walked along, and
+pulling me to a full stop, made me a very low bow: “I most heartily
+thank God, and you, Sir,” says 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 of the hazards and difficulties of such a broken
+disappointed voyage as I have met with, that I have 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 bowed, and his colour came and
+went as if he had been falling into fits; in a word, he was tired with
+the agony 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 an 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 any 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 consented to go in your ship to the
+East Indies for?”—“Nay,” said I, “that I know not, unless it was to
+preach to the Indians.”—“Doubtless it was,” said he; “and do you think
+if I can convert these seven-and-thirty men to the faith of Christ, it
+is not worth my time, though I should never be fetched off the island
+again? Nay, 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 these poor men though I was never to set my foot off this island, or
+see my native country any more. But since you will honour me,” says he,
+“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,” said he
+“besides.”—“What is that?” said I. “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 troubled 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 bring him to embrace another profession; and he
+would never, while his eyes were open, believe that his old master was a
+heretic, 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 on any
+account whatever; though a work that to him was of more value than his
+life, ought to me to be 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 consent to part with me; and then to force him to it
+without his consent would be 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.
+
+He 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 learnt Spanish, which I found he also
+understood, and he should serve him for an interpreter; so he was much
+better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he would stay to
+endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave another and 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 accounts 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
+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 already taken of it; and arguing how unchristian and
+irreligious a life it was, I first asked them if they were married men
+or bachelors? They soon explained their condition to me, and shewed me
+that two of them were widowers, and the other three were single men or
+bachelors. I asked them with what conscience they could take these
+women, and lie with them as they had done, call them their wives, and
+have so many children by them, and not be married lawfully to them?
+
+They all gave me the answer that I expected, viz. that there was nobody
+to marry them; that they agreed before the governor to keep them as
+their wives; and to keep 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 them as their wives; but that the laws
+of men being otherwise, they might pretend they were not married, and so
+desert the poor women and children hereafter; and that their wives,
+being poor, desolate 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 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.
+
+All this passed as I expected; and they told me, especially Will Atkins,
+who seemed now 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, if any man would take him away, and
+offer to carry him home to England, and to 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 clergyman 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 that
+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 the
+next morning, and bade him consider of it, and talk with the rest. He
+said, as for himself, he need not consider 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 that 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. But I say
+they never inquired about it. So we parted; I went back to my clergyman,
+and Will Atkins went in to talk with his companions. 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 very glad to hear I
+had a clergyman 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 from 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 morning, and that 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 interpreter.
+
+But the seriousness of his behaviour to them, and the scruple he made of
+marrying the women because they were not baptized, and professed
+Christians, gave them an exceeding reverence for his person; and there
+was no need after that to inquire whether he was a clergyman or no.
+
+Indeed I was afraid his scruple 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 refused absolutely to marry them, unless he had first talked
+with the men and the women too; and though 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 perform that part of his function, and 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 different men, and
+in the sense of the laws of society, they had lived all this while in an
+open adultery; and that it was true that nothing but the consenting to
+marry, or effectually separating them from one another now, could 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 a savage, an
+idolater, and a heathen, one that is not baptized; and yet that he did
+not see that there was time left for it to endeavour to persuade the
+women to be baptized, or to profess the name of Christ, whom they had,
+he doubted, heard nothing of, and without which they could not
+be baptized.
+
+He told me he doubted they were but indifferent Christians themselves;
+that they had but little knowledge of God or his ways, and therefore he
+could not expect that they had said much to their wives on that head
+yet; but that unless they would promise him to use their endeavours with
+their wives to persuade them 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 principles 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 myself and what were the clergyman’s words. They told me it
+was very true what the gentleman had said, that they were but 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 ourselves; and besides,
+Sir,” said he, “should we go to talk to them of God, and Jesus Christ,
+and heaven and hell, it would be to make them laugh at us, and ask us
+what we believe ourselves? and if we should tell them we believe all
+the things that 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
+intended to go ourselves who believe all this, and yet are such wicked
+fellows, as we indeed are: why, Sir,” said Will, “’tis enough to give
+them a surfeit of religion, at that hearing: folks must have some
+religion themselves before they pretend to teach other people.”—“Will
+Atkins,” said I to him, “though I am afraid what you say has too much
+truth in it, yet can you not tell your wife that 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 that made all things, and that can destroy all that he has made;
+that he rewards the good, and punishes the bad; 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’s 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, that 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 let the clergyman know 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 repentance 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 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-suffering, forbears to punish those that offend; waiting to be
+gracious, and willing not the death of a sinner, but rather that he
+should return and live; that he often suffers wicked men to go on 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, or wicked men their punishment,
+till they come into another world; and this will lend him to teach his
+wife the doctrine of the resurrection, and of the last judgment: let him
+but repent 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 han’t the
+impudence to talk thus to my wife, when God and my own conscience knows,
+and my wife will be an undeniable evidence against me, that I have lived
+as if I never heard of God, or a 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 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, Sir,” says he; “I mean ’tis too late; and
+that is too true.”
+
+I told my 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 singular 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
+zealous, affectionate man could not refrain tears also: but recovering
+himself, he 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 man be easy in a condition that certainly must end in
+eternal destruction?” That he was far from being easy; but that, on the
+contrary, he believed it would one time or the other ruin him.
+
+“What do you mean by that?” said I.—“Why,” he said, “he believed he
+should, one time or another, cut his own throat to put an end to the
+terror of it.”
+
+The clergyman shook his head, with a great concern in his face, when I
+told him all this; but turning quick to me upon it, said, “If that be
+his case, you may assure him it is not too late; Christ will give him
+repentance. But pray,” says he, “explain this to him, that as no man is
+saved but by Christ, and the merit of his passion, procuring divine
+mercy for him, how can it be too late for any man to receive mercy? 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 ’tis never too late
+for men to ask mercy; and we that are Christ’s servants are commanded to
+preach mercy at all times, in the name of Jesus Christ, to all those
+that sincerely repent: so that ’tis 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 awhile, and
+we talked to the rest. I perceived they were all stupidly ignorant as to
+matters of religion; much as I was when I went rambling away from my
+father; and yet that 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 endeavour to persuade them to turn
+Christians.
+
+The clergyman 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, ’tis all we can do; we are bound to accept their good words; but
+believe me, Sir,” said he, “whatever you may have known of the life of
+that man you call William Atkins, I believe he is the only sincere
+convert among them; I take that man to be a true penitent; I won’t
+despair of the rest; but that man is perfectly struck with the sense of
+his past life; and I doubt not but 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 knew a
+man,” added he, “who having nothing but a summary notion of religion
+himself, and being wicked and profligate to the last degree in his life,
+made a thorough reformation in himself by labouring to convert a Jew:
+and if that poor Atkins begins but once to talk seriously of Jesus
+Christ to his wife, my life for it he talks himself into a thorough
+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
+three 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, says he, “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 with 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 thick set, as 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 tawny
+savage wife, sitting under the shade of a bush, very eager in discourse.
+I stopped short till my clergyman came up to me, and then having shewed
+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; 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 earth, the sea, the woods, the trees, &c.”—“I
+believe he is,” said I. Immediately we perceived Will Atkins start up
+upon his feet, fall down upon his knees, and lift up both his hands; we
+supposed he said something, but we could not hear him; it was too far
+off 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 or no 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 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 sudden 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, “St. Paul, St.
+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, and yet
+the most agreeable, that ever I saw in my life. Well, he strove with
+himself, and contained himself for awhile, but was in such raptures of
+joy 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 miraculous a
+testimony of the success of our endeavours: some he spoke softly, and I
+could not well hear; others audibly; some in Latin, some in French; then
+two or three times the tears of joy would interrupt him, that he could
+not speak at all. But I begged that he would compose himself, and let us
+more narrowly and fully observe what was before us, which he did for a
+time, and the scene was not ended there 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 by her motion that she was greatly
+affected with what he said, by her frequent lifting up her hands, laying
+her hand to her breast, and such other postures as usually express the
+greatest seriousness and attention. This continued about half a quarter
+of an hour, and then they walked away too; so that we could see no more
+of them in that situation.
+
+I took this interval to talk with my clergyman: and first I told him, I
+was glad to see the particulars we had both been witnesses to; that
+though 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 both might be; and I hoped such a beginning would
+have yet 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, “ay, upon all
+of them: depend upon it, if those two savages (for _he_ has been but
+little better as you relate it) should embrace Jesus Christ, they will
+never leave 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 a true zeal, as well
+as a generous heart in him. “But, my friend,” said I, “will you give me
+liberty to start one difficulty here? I cannot tell how to object the
+least thing against that affectionate concern which you shew 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; and,
+for other reasons, as effectually lost as the Pagans themselves?”
+
+To this he answered with abundance of candour and Christian charity,
+thus: “Sir, I am a Catholic 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 this 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 reformed, without some charity: I dare not say, though I know
+it is our opinion in general, yet I dare not say, 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 imperceivable, and which it is impossible for us to know; and I hope
+you have the same charity for us. I pray daily for your being all
+restored to Christ’s church, by whatsoever methods he, who is all-wise,
+is pleased to direct. In the mean time, sure you will allow it to
+consist with me, as a Roman, to distinguish far between a Protestant and
+a Pagan; between him that calls on Jesus Christ, though in a way which I
+do not think is according to the true faith; and a savage, a barbarian,
+that knows no God, no Christ, no Redeemer at all; 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 at all of God or his church.
+I rejoice, therefore, when I see this poor man, who, you say, has been a
+profligate, and almost a murderer, kneel down and pray to Jesus Christ,
+as we suppose he did, though not fully enlightened; believing that God,
+from whom every such work proceeds, will sensibly touch his heart, and
+bring him to the further knowledge of the 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 Christ, 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 to the goodness of Christ to perfect his work in his own
+time, and his own way? Certainly I would rejoice if all the savages in
+America were brought, like this poor woman, to pray to God, though they
+were to be all Protestants at first, rather than they should continue
+pagans and heathens; firmly believing, that He who had bestowed that
+first light upon 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 truly 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 were joined to, or joined in; that a spirit of charity
+would soon work us all up into right principles; and, in a word, as he
+thought that the like charity would make us all Catholics, as I told
+him, I believed had all the members of his church the like moderation
+they would soon be all 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,” said I, “I wish all the clergy of the Roman church were blessed
+with such moderation, and 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 Italy, they would put you into the Inquisition.”
+
+“It may be so,” said he; “I know not what they might do in Spain and
+Italy; but I will not say they would be the better Christians for that
+severity; for I am sure there is no heresy in too much 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 no; and
+it was his opinion we should not; but that we should talk to him first,
+and hear what he would say to us: so we called him in alone, nobody
+being in the place but ourselves; and I began with him thus:
+
+“Will Atkins,” said I, “pr’ythee 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,
+instruction, or correction, like a beast as I was.
+
+_R.C._ It is true, Solomon says, “He that despiseth reproof is brutish.”
+
+_W.A._ Ay, Sir, I was brutish indeed; I murdered my father; for God’s
+sake, Sir, talk no more about that, Sir; I murdered my poor father.
+
+_Priest_. Ha! a murderer?
+
+     [Here the priest started (for I interpreted every word as he
+     spoke it), and looked pale: it seems he believed that Will
+     had really killed his own father.]
+
+_R.C._ No, no, Sir, I do not understand him so. Will Atkins, explain
+yourself: 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 comforts, and shortened his days; I broke his heart by the most
+ungrateful, unnatural return for the most tender, affectionate treatment
+that ever father 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, and forgive you that
+and all your other sins; but I asked you, because I see that, though you
+have not much learning, yet you 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 sensible 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 base usage of a good tender father; a father much like yours by your
+description; and I murdered my father as well as you, Will Atkins; but
+think for all that, my repentance is short of yours 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 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._ Ay, Sir, with such a 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 though I cannot give you an account of it, this
+I can tell you of it, that I resolve 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, or inheritances be settled
+by a 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 thing
+among the savages, but marry any how, without any regard to relation,
+consanguinity, or family; brother and sister, nay, as I have been told,
+even the father and daughter, and the son and the mother.
+
+_W.A._ I believe, Sir, you are misinformed;—my wife assures me of the
+contrary, and that they abhor it. Perhaps for any further relations they
+may not be so exact as we are; but she tells me they never touch one
+another in the near relations you speak of.
+
+_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.C._ But did you tell her what marriage was?
+
+_W.A._ Ay, ay, there began all our dialogue. I asked her, if she would
+be married to me our way? She asked me, what way that was? I told her
+marriage was appointed of God; and here we had a strange talk together
+indeed, as ever man and wife had, I believe.
+
+     [N.B. This dialogue between W. Atkins and his wife, as I took
+     it down in writing just after he told it me, was as follows:]
+
+_Wife_. Appointed by your God! Why, have you a God in your country?
+
+_W.A._ Yes, my dear; God is in every country.
+
+_Wife._ No your God in my country; my country have the great old
+Benamuckee God.
+
+_W.A._ Child, I am very unfit to shew you who God is; God is in heaven,
+and made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is.
+
+_Wife._ No makee de earth; no you God makee de earth; no make my
+country.
+
+     [W.A. laughed a little at her expression of God not making
+     her country.]
+
+_Wife._ No laugh: why laugh me? This no ting to laugh.
+
+     [He was justly reproved by his wife, for she was more serious
+     than he at first.]
+
+_W.A._ That’s true, indeed; I will not laugh any more, my dear.
+
+_Wife._ Why you say, you God make all?
+
+_W.A._ Yes, child, our God made the whole world, and you, and me, and
+all things; for he is the only true God; there is no God but he; he
+lives for ever in heaven.
+
+_Wife._ Why you no tell me long ago?
+
+_W.A._ That’s true, indeed; but I have been a wicked wretch, and have
+not only forgotten to acquaint thee with any thing before, but have
+lived without God in the world myself.
+
+_Wife._ What have you de great God in your country, you no know him? No
+say O to him? No do good ting for him? That no impossible!
+
+_W.A._ It is too true though, for all that: we live as if there was no
+God in heaven, or that he had no power on earth.
+
+_Wife._ But why God let you do so? Why he no makee you good live!
+
+_W.A._ It is all our own fault.
+
+_Wife._ But you say me he is great, much great, have much great power;
+can make kill when he will: why he no make kill when you no serve him?
+no say O to him? no be good mans?
+
+_W.A._ That is true; he might strike me dead, and I ought to expect it;
+for I have been a wicked wretch, that is true: but God is merciful, and
+does not deal with us as we deserve.
+
+_Wife._ But then do not you tell God tankee for that too?
+
+_W.A._ No, Indeed; I have not thanked God for his mercy, any more than I
+have feared God for his power.
+
+_Wife._ Then you God no God; me no tink, believe he be such one, great
+much power, strong; no makee kill you, though you makee him much angry!
+
+_W.A._ What! will my wicked life hinder you from believing in God! What
+a dreadful creature am I! And what a sad truth is it, that the horrid
+lives of Christians hinder the conversion of heathens!
+
+_Wife._ Now me tink you have great much God up there, (_she points up to
+heaven_) and yet no do well, no do good ting? Can he tell? Sure he no
+tell what you do.
+
+_W.A._ Yes, yes, he knows and sees all things; he hears us speak, sees
+what we do, knows what we think, though we do not speak.
+
+_Wife_ What! he no hear you swear, curse, speak the great damn?
+
+_W.A._ Yes, yes, he hears it all.
+
+_Wife._ Where be then the muchee great power strong?
+
+_W.A._ He is merciful; that is all we can say for it; and this proves
+him to be the true God: he is God, and not man; and therefore we are
+not consumed.
+
+     [Here Will Atkins told us he was struck with horror to think
+     how he could tell his wife so clearly that God sees, and
+     hears, and knows the secret thoughts of the heart, and all
+     that we do; and yet that he had dared to do all the vile
+     things he had done.]
+
+_Wife._ Merciful! what you call dat?
+
+_W.A._ He is our father and maker; and he pities and spares us.
+
+_Wife._ So then he never makee kill, never angry when you do wicked;
+then he no good himself, or no great able.
+
+_W.A._ Yes, yes, my dear; he is infinitely good, and infinitely great,
+and able to punish too; and some times, to shew his justice and
+vengeance, he lets fly his anger to destroy sinners and make examples;
+many are cut off in their sins.
+
+_Wife._ But no makee kill you yet; then he tell you, may be, that he no
+makee you kill, so you make de bargain with him, you do bad ting, he no
+be angry at you, when he be angry at other mans?
+
+_W.A._ No, indeed, my sins are all presumptions upon his goodness; and
+he would be infinitely just if he destroyed me as he has done other men.
+
+_Wife._ Well, and yet no kill, no makee you dead! What you say to him
+for that? You no tell him tankee for all that too!
+
+_W.A._ I am an unthankful, ungrateful dog, that is true.
+
+_Wife._ Why he no makee you much good better? You say he makee you.
+
+_W.A._. He made me as he made all the world; ’tis I have deformed
+myself, and abused his goodness, and have made myself an
+abominable wretch.
+
+_Wife._ I wish you makee God know me; I no makee him angry; I no do bad
+wicked ting.
+
+     [Here Will Atkins said his heart sunk within him, to hear a
+     poor, untaught creature desire to be taught to know God, and
+     he such a wicked wretch that he could not say one word to her
+     about God, but what the reproach of his own carriage would
+     make most irrational to her to believe; nay, that already she
+     could not believe in God, because he that was so wicked was
+     not destroyed.]
+
+_W.A._ My dear, you mean you wish I could teach you to know God, not God
+to know you, for he knows you already, and every thought in your heart.
+
+_Wife._ Why then he know what I say to you now; he know me wish to know
+him; how shall me know who makee me?
+
+_W.A._ Poor creature, he must teach thee, I cannot teach thee; I’ll pray
+to him to teach thee to know him; and to forgive me that I am unworthy
+to teach thee.
+
+     [The poor fellow was in such an agony at her desiring him to
+     make her know God, and her wishing to know him, that he said
+     he fell down on his knees before her, and prayed to God to
+     enlighten her mind with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,
+     and to pardon his sins, and accept of his being the unworthy
+     instrument of instructing her in the principles of religion;
+     after which he sat down by her again, and their dialogue
+     went on.]
+
+     N.B. This was the time when we saw him kneel down and lift up
+     his hands.
+
+_Wife._ What you put down the knee for? What you hold up the hand for?
+What you say? Who you speak to? What is that?
+
+_W.A._ My dear, I bow my knees in token of my submission to Him that
+made me: I said O to him, as you call it, and as you say your old men do
+to their idol Benamuckee; that is, I prayed to him.
+
+_Wife._ What you say O to him for?
+
+_W.A._ I prayed to him to open your eyes and your understanding, that
+you may know him, and be accepted by him.
+
+_Wife._ Can he do that too?
+
+_W.A._ Yes, he can; he can do all things.
+
+_Wife._ But he no hear what you say?
+
+_W.A._ Yes, he has bid us pray to him; and promised to hear us.
+
+_Wife._ Bid you pray? When he bid you? How he bid you? What you hear him
+speak?
+
+_W.A._ No, we do not hear him speak; but he has revealed himself many
+ways to us.
+
+     [Here he was at a great loss to make her understand that God
+     had revealed himself to us by his word; and what his word
+     was; but at last he told it her thus:]
+
+_W.A._ God has spoken to some good men in former days, even from heaven,
+by plain words; and God has inspired good men by his Spirit; and they
+have written all his laws down in a book.
+
+_Wife._ Me no understand that: where is book?
+
+_W.A._. Alas! my poor creature, I have not this book; but I hope I
+shall, one time or other, get it for you to read it.
+
+     [Here he embraced her with great affection; but with
+     inexpressible grief, that he had not a Bible.]
+
+_Wife._ But how you makee me know that God teachee them to write that
+book?
+
+_W.A._ By the same rule that we know him to be God.
+
+_Wife._ What rule? what way you know?
+
+_W.A._ Because he teaches and commands nothing but what is good,
+righteous, and holy, and tends to make us perfectly good, as well as
+perfectly happy; and because he forbids, and commands us to avoid, all
+that is wicked, that is evil in itself, or evil in its consequences.
+
+_Wife._ That me would understand, that me fain see; if he reward all
+good thing, punish all wicked thing, he teachee all good thing, forbid
+all wicked thing, he makee all thing, he give all thing; he hear me when
+I say O to him, as you go to do just now; he makee me good if I wish be
+good; he spare me, no makee kill me when I no be good; all this you say
+he do: yes, he be great God; me take, think, believe him be great God;
+me say O to him too with you, my dear.
+
+Here the poor man said he could forbear no longer; but, raising her up,
+made her kneel by him; and he prayed to God aloud to instruct her in the
+knowledge of himself by his Spirit; and that by some good providence, if
+possible, she might some time or other come to have a Bible, that she
+might read the word of God, and be taught by him to know him.
+
+     [This was the time that we saw him lift her up by the hand,
+     and saw him kneel down by her, as above.]
+
+They had several other discourses, it seems, after this, too long to
+set down here; and particularly she made him promise, that, since he
+confessed his own life had been a wicked, abominable course of
+provocation against God, he would reform it, and not make God angry any
+more, lest he should make him dead, as she called it, and then she
+should be left alone, and never be taught to know this God better; and
+lest he should be miserable, as he told her wicked men should be
+after death.
+
+This was a strange account, and very affecting to us both, but
+particularly 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 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 himself, 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
+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 the 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
+immediately 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 reproached 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
+contemn religion than receive it: but he was assured, he said, that her
+mind was so disposed to receive due impressions of all those things,
+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 religious priest and the woman, I entreated him to begin with her.
+But sure such a sermon 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 Christian, without the
+errors 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 be
+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 should not know by it that he was
+a Roman Catholic himself if I had not known it before, and so he did;
+for saying only some words over to himself in Latin, which I could not
+understand, he poured a whole dishfull 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 what religion he was of: he gave the
+benediction afterwards in Latin; but either Will Atkins did not know but
+it was in French, or else did not take notice of it at that time.
+
+As soon as this was over, he married them; and after the marriage was
+over, he turned himself 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 convictions 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 honoured 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 dishonour the grace of God; and that if he did, he would see the
+heathen a better Christian than himself; the savage converted, and the
+instrument cast away!
+
+He said a great many good things to them both, and then recommended
+them, in a few words, 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, 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 staid
+upon the island to have undertaken it; but I convinced him, first, that
+his undertaking was impracticable in itself; and secondly, that,
+perhaps, I could put it into a way of being done, in his absence, to his
+satisfaction; of which by and by.
+
+Having thus brought the affair of the island to a narrow compass, I was
+preparing to go on board the ship when the young man, whom I had taken
+out of the famished ship’s company, came to me, and told me, he
+understood I had a clergyman with me, and that I had caused the
+Englishmen to be married to the savages whom they called wives; that he
+had a match too, which he desired might be finished before I went,
+between 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 that he had some
+considerable substance in the world, and good friends, as I understood
+by himself, and by his maid also; that the maid was not only poor, and a
+servant, but was unequal to him, she being twenty-six or twenty-seven
+years old, and he not above seventeen or eighteen; that he might very
+probably, with my assistance, make a remove from this wilderness, and
+come into his own country again, and that then it would be a thousand 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 me, 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, his present circumstances being melancholy and disconsolate
+enough; and he was very glad to hear that I had some thoughts of putting
+them in a way to see their own country again; and that nothing should
+have set 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 me, but that I
+would settle him in some little property of 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 him, 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 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.
+
+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 England, I would deliver his letters, and do his
+business effectually, and that he might depend I would never forget the
+circumstances I 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 agreeably surprised when he named the match; for indeed I had
+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; had 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 not backward to speak when any thing
+required it, or impertinently forward to speak when it was not her
+business; very handy and housewifely in any thing that was before her;
+an excellent manager, and fit indeed to have been governess to the whole
+island; she knew very well how to behave herself to all kind of folks
+she had about her, and to better if she had found any there.
+
+The match being proposed in this manner, we married them the same day:
+and as I was father at the altar, as I may say, and gave her away, so I
+gave her a portion, for I appointed 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 me, to give him a small property in
+the island, put me upon parcelling it out among them, that they might
+not quarrel afterwards about their situation.
+
+This sharing out the land to them I left to Will Atkins, who indeed was
+now grown a most sober, grave, managing fellow, perfectly reformed,
+exceeding pious and religious, and as far as I may be allowed to speak
+positively in such a case, I verily believe was a true sincere penitent.
+
+He 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
+made them 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 but 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 in doing 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 take them into their several families as servants, to be
+maintained for their labour, but without being absolute slaves, for I
+would not admit them to make them slaves by force by any means, because
+they had their liberty given by capitulation, and as it were articles
+of surrender, which they ought not to break.
+
+They most willingly embraced the proposal, and came all very cheerfully
+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 settled; and thus my colony was in a manner
+settled as follows: The Spaniards possessed my original habitation,
+which was the capital city, and extended their plantation all along the
+side of the brook which made 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 part of the Spaniards; and every plantation had a great
+addition of land to take in, if they found occasion, so that they need
+not jostle one another for want of room.
+
+All the west end of the island was left uninhabited, that, if any of the
+savages should come on shore there, only for their usual customary
+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, for I never heard that the planters were ever attacked and
+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 absence to his satisfaction; and I 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 effect.
+
+He agreed presently in that; “if,” said he, “they will do 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 of their Saviour Jesus
+Christ; 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!) I say, when I came thither I found the young woman I have
+mentioned above, and William Atkins’s wife, were become intimates; and
+this prudent and 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
+Christian as I have seldom heard of any like her, in all my observation
+or conversation in the world.
+
+It came next into my mind in the morning, before I went to them, that
+among all the needful things I had to leave with them, I had not left a
+Bible; in which I shewed myself less considering for them than my good
+friend the widow was for me, when she sent me the cargo of 100_l_. from
+Lisbon, where 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.
+
+I took one of the Bibles in my pocket; and when I came to William
+Atkins’s tent, or house, I found the young woman and Atkins’s baptized
+wife had been discoursing of religion together (for William 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: “O Sir,” says William 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 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 in my pocket, and pulled out my
+Bible. “Here,” said 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 hands, 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
+is 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 thus, the man fell in
+such transports of a 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 firmly believed God had sent the book
+upon her husband’s petition: it is true that providentially it was so,
+and might be taken so in a consequent sense; but I believed it would
+have been no difficult matter at that time to have persuaded the poor
+woman to have believed that an express messenger came 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 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 do not expect returns from
+Heaven in a miraculous and particular manner; and that it is our mercy
+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 this Bible; and I
+believe never any man was glad of a Bible from a better principle; and
+though he had been a most profligate creature, desperate, headstrong,
+outrageous, furious, and wicked to a great degree, yet this man is a
+standing rule to us all for the well instructing 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 obstinate,
+refractory, or to appearance insensible of instruction; for if ever God
+in his providence touches the consciences of such, the force of their
+education returns upon them, and the early instruction of parents is not
+lost, though 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 ignorant he was, or divested 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 could now come to his mind was of use to him.
+
+Among the rest it occurred to him, he said, how his father used to
+insist much upon the inexpressible value of the Bible, the privilege
+and blessing of it to nations, families, and persons; but he never
+entertained the least notion of the 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 very glad of it also for the present occasion,
+though she had one, and so had the youth, on board our ship among the
+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 something 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 did die on board that unhappy
+ship we met at sea; and how the whole ship’s company being reduced to
+the last extremity, the gentlewoman and her son, and this maid, were
+first hardly used as to provisions, and at last totally neglected and
+starved; that is to say, brought to the last extremity of hunger.
+
+One day being discoursing with her upon the extremities they suffered, I
+asked her if she could describe by what she felt what it was to starve,
+and how it appeared? She told me she believed she could, and she told
+her tale very distinctly thus:
+
+“First, Sir,” said she, “we had for some days fared exceeding hard, and
+suffered very great hunger, but now at last we were wholly without food
+of any kind except sugar, and a little wine, and a little water. The
+first day after I had received no food at all, I found myself, towards
+evening, first empty and sickish at my stomach, and nearer night
+mightily inclined to yawning, and sleepy; I lay down on a couch in the
+great cabin to sleep, and 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 my stomach sickish again, and 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 variety—first hungry, then
+sick again, with retchings to vomit. The second night, being obliged to
+go to bed again without any food more than a draught of fair water, and
+being asleep, I dreamed I was at Barbadoes, and that the market was
+mightily stocked with provisions, that I bought some for my mistress,
+and went and dined very heartily.
+
+“I thought my stomach was full after this, as it would have been after
+or at a good dinner; but when I waked, I was exceedingly sunk in my
+spirits to find myself in the extremity of famine; the last glass of
+wine we had I drank, and put sugar into 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 and confused
+inconsistent dreams, and rather dozing than sleeping, I awaked ravenous
+and furious with hunger; and I question, had not my understanding
+returned and conquered it, I say, I question whether, if I had been a
+mother, and had had a little child with me, its life would have been
+safe or no.
+
+“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, whether by the motion of
+the ship or some slip of my foot I know not, I fell down, and struck my
+face against the corner of a pallet-bed, in which my mistress lay, and
+with the 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 ran from me I came to myself, and the violence of the
+flame or the fever I was in abated, and so did the ravenous part of
+the hunger.
+
+“Then I grew sick, and retched to vomit, but could not, for I had
+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 myself soon after, and
+then had a most dreadful pain in my stomach, not to be described, not
+like the colic, but a gnawing eager pain for food, and towards 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 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 to 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 first when I awaked I fell into
+a violent passion of crying, and after that had a second fit of violent
+hunger, so that I got up ravenous, and in a most dreadful condition. Had
+my mistress been dead, so 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 the flesh of any creature appointed for food; and once or
+twice I was going to bite my own arm. At last I saw the basin in which
+was the blood had bled at my nose the day before; I ran to it, and
+swallowed it with such haste, and such a greedy appetite, as if I had
+wondered nobody had taken it before, and afraid it should be taken
+from me now.
+
+“Though after it was down the thoughts of it filled me with horror, yet
+it checked the fit of hunger, and I drank a draught of fair water, and
+was composed and refreshed for some hours, after it. This was the fourth
+day; and thus I held it till towards night, when, within the compass of
+three hours, I had all these several circumstances over again, one after
+another, viz. sick, sleepy, eagerly hungry, pain in the stomach, then
+ravenous again, then sick again, 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 colic and griping, wind instead of food
+having found its way into my bowels; and in this condition I lay till
+morning, when I was surprised a little 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, though she was able to give very little signs of life.
+
+“I had then such convulsions in my stomach for want of some sustenance,
+that I cannot describe them, with such frequent throes and pangs of
+appetite that nothing but the tortures of death can imitate; and this
+condition I was in when I heard the seamen above cry out ‘A sail! a
+sail!’ and halloo 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 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 a combustion; nor had we any conversation with the ship’s company
+for two days, they having told us they had not a mouthful of any thing
+to eat in the ship; and they told us afterwards they thought we had
+been dead.
+
+“It was this 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 exceeding 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; though I must own not so
+distinct and so feelingly as his maid, and the rather because it seems
+his mother fed him at the price of her own life: but the poor maid,
+though 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
+sooner than her mistress, who might be allowed to keep the last bits
+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 providentially met them, a few days more would have ended all
+their lives, unless they had prevented it by eating one another; and
+even that, 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 happened.—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 division among them, that I saw it plainly,
+had I set up the sloop, and left it among them, they would, upon very
+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 religious people, as I intended it
+to be; 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 they had enough to qualify them for a
+defensive war, against any that should invade them; but I was not to set
+them up for an offensive war, or to encourage them to go abroad to
+attack others, which, in the end, would only bring ruin and destruction
+upon themselves and all their undertakings: I reserved the sloop,
+therefore, and the guns, for their service another way, as I shall
+observe in its place.
+
+I have 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
+fifth day of May, having been five and twenty days among them; and, as
+they were all resolved to stay upon the island till I came to remove
+them, I promised to send some further relief from the Brasils, if I
+could possibly find an opportunity; and particularly I promised to send
+them some cattle; such as sheep, hogs, and cows; for 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 Brasils, in about
+twenty-two days; meeting nothing remarkable in our passage but this,
+that about three days after we sailed, being becalmed, and the current
+setting strong to the N.N.E. running, as it were, into a bay or gulf on
+the land side, we were driven something out of our course; and once or
+twice our men cried Land, to the westward; 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; but, 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 spoke a little hastily, calling
+the fellow a fool, or some such word: “Nay, Sir,” says he, “don’t be
+angry, for it is an army, and a fleet too; for I believe there are a
+thousand canoes, and you may see them paddle along, and they are coming
+towards us too apace, and full of men.”
+
+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, that 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 him not 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
+orders to come to an anchor, and furl all our sails. As for the savages,
+I told them they had nothing to fear from them 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 men in the boats might be ready,
+with sheet and buckets, to put out any fire these savages might
+endeavour to fix upon 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; my mate
+was much mistaken in his calculation of their number, I mean of a
+thousand canoes; the most we could make of them when they came up, being
+about 126; and a great many of them too; for 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 seemed to be struck with wonder and
+astonishment, as at a sight which they had, doubtless, 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 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.
+In a short time more they rowed a little farther out to sea, till they
+came directly broadside with us, and then rowed down straight 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. 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 nearest boat to us, turned their canoes from
+us, and stooping down, showed us their naked backs; 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 fell very
+near him; such unlucky marksmen they were!
+
+I was so annoyed at the loss of my old trusty servant and companion,
+that I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with small shot, and
+four with great, and gave them such a broadside as they had never heard
+in their lives before. They were not above half a cable’s 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 up their bare backs to us gave us
+no great offence; 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 only resolved to have fired
+four or five guns at them 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 one of them.
+
+I can neither tell how many we killed nor how many we wounded at this
+broadside, but sure such a fright and hurry never were seen among such a
+multitude; 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 with 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.
+
+Our 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 them; 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 the Brasils.
+
+We had a prisoner indeed, but the creature was so sullen, that he would
+neither eat nor 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 him 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 followed 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 would have been very glad to have
+gone back to the island, to have taken one of the rest from thence for
+my occasion, but it could not be; so we went on. We had one prisoner, as
+I have said; and it was a long while 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 from,
+but could make nothing of what he said; for his speech was so odd, all
+gutturals, and spoken in the throat, in such a hollow and odd manner,
+that we could never form a word from 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 occasion 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, there 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 wonder look.”—Where it is to be observed, that
+all those natives, as also those of Africa, when they learn English,
+they always add two _e_’s at the end of the words where we use one, and
+place the accent upon the last of them; as _makee, takee_, and the 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; poor honest Friday! We buried him with all 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: and so ended the life of
+the most grateful, faithful, honest, and most affectionate servant that
+ever man had.
+
+We now went away with a fair wind for Brasil, 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 the Cape St.
+Augustine, and in three days came to an anchor off the bay of All
+Saints, the old place of my deliverance, from whence came both my good
+and evil fate.
+
+Never did a ship come to this part that had less business than I had;
+and yet it was with great difficulty that we were admitted to hold the
+least correspondence on shore. Not my partner himself, who was alive,
+and made a great figure among them, not my two merchant trustees, nor
+the fame of my wonderful preservation in the island, could obtain me
+that favour; but my partner remembering that I had given five hundred
+moidores to the prior of the monastery of the Augustines, and three
+hundred and seventy-two to the poor, went to the monastery, and obliged
+the prior that then was, to go to the governor, and beg leave for me
+presently, 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 licence.
+
+They were so strict with us, as to landing any goods, that it was with
+extreme difficulty that 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.
+
+He was a very generous, broad-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 sweetmeats, worth above thirty moidores, including some
+tobacco, and three or four fine medals in 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 delivered him about the
+value of 100_l_. 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
+refreshments I intended to my plantation.
+
+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 instruction as
+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
+had sent them; and one of our seamen, that 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 in
+Maryland, and a buccaneer into the bargain.
+
+I encouraged the fellow by granting all he desired; and, as an addition,
+I gave him the savage which we had taken prisoner of war, to be his
+slave, and ordered the governor Spaniard to give him his share of
+everything 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 Brasil 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 very glad of such an
+opportunity to make his escape, with his wife and two daughters; and if
+I would let them go to the 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 household 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 assuredly be burnt alive if he does.”
+
+I granted this presently, and joined my Englishman with them; and we
+concealed the man, and his wife and daughters, on board our ship, till
+the sloop put out to go to sea; and then (having put all their goods on
+board the sloop 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 stock,
+indeed, was much alike, rich in tools, and in preparations, for a farm;
+but nothing to begin with, but 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 this sloop, three milch-cows and five calves, about twenty-two
+hogs, among them, three sows big with pig, two mares, and a stone-horse.
+
+For my Spaniards, according to my promise, I engaged three Portugal
+women to go; and recommended it to them to marry them, and use them
+kindly. I could have procured more women, but I remembered that the poor
+persecuted man had two daughters, and there were but five of the
+Spaniards that wanted; the rest had wives of their own, though in
+another country.
+
+All this cargo arrived safe, and, as you may easily suppose, 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, being sent back to the Brasils by this
+sloop; of which I shall take some notice in its place.
+
+I have now done with my 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 expect to read only of the follies of an
+old man, not warned by his own harms, much less by those of other men,
+to beware of the like; not cooled by almost forty years misery and
+disappointments; not satisfied with prosperity beyond expectation; not
+made cautious by affliction and distress beyond irritation.
+
+I had no more business to go to the East Indies, than a man at full
+liberty, and having committed no crime, has to go to the turnkey at
+Newgate, and desire him to lock him up among the prisoners there, and
+starve him. Had I taken a small vessel from England, and gone 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; took a patent from
+the government here, to have secured my property, in subjection only to
+that of England, which, to be sure, I might have obtained; had I carried
+over cannon and ammunition, servants, and people to plant, and, taking
+possession of the place, fortified and strengthened it in the name of
+England, and increased it with people, as I might easily have done; had
+I then settled myself there, and sent the ship back, loaded 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 staid there myself, I had, at least, acted like a man of common
+sense; but I was possessed with a wandering spirit, scorned all
+advantages, pleased myself with being the patron of these people I had
+placed there, and doing for them in a kind of haughty 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 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 no man; and the people under no
+discipline or government but my own; who, though I had an influence over
+them as 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 staid there, would have done well enough;
+but as I rambled from them, and came thither no more, the last letters I
+had from any of them, were by my partner’s means, who afterwards sent
+another sloop to the place; and who sent me word, though I had not the
+letter till five years after it was written, that they went on but
+poorly, were malecontent with their long stay there; that Will Atkins
+was dead; that five of the Spaniards were come away; and that though
+they had not been much molested by the savages, yet they had had some
+skirmishes with them; that they begged of him 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 I was gone a wild-goose chase indeed, and they who will have any
+more of me, must be content to follow me through 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 to 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.
+
+Let no wise man flatter himself with the strength of his own judgment,
+as if he was able to choose any particular station of life for himself.
+Man is a short-sighted creature, sees but a very little way before him;
+and as his passions are none of his best friends, so his particular
+affections are generally his worst counsellors.
+
+I say this with respect to the impetuous desire I had from a youth to
+wander into the world, and how evident it now was that this principle
+was preserved in me for my punishment. How it came on, the manner, the
+circumstance, and the conclusion of it, it is easy to give you
+historically, and with its utmost variety of particulars. But the secret
+ends of Divine Providence, in thus permitting us to be hurried down the
+stream of our own desires, are only to be understood of those who can
+listen to the voice of Providence, and draw religious consequences from
+God’s justice and their own mistakes.
+
+Be it had I business or no business, away I went. It is no time now to
+enlarge any farther 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 here, that my honest and truly pious clergyman left me
+here; a ship being ready to go to Lisbon, he 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 are best. Had I gone
+with him, I had never had so many things to be thankful for, and you had
+never heard of the Second Part of the Travels and Adventures of Robinson
+Crusoe; so I must leave here the fruitless exclaiming at myself, and go
+on with my voyage.
+
+From the Brasils we made directly away over the Atlantic sea to the Cape
+de Bonne Esperance, or, as we call it, the Cape of Good Hope; and had a
+tolerable good voyage, our course generally south-east; now and then a
+storm, and some contrary winds. But my disasters at sea were at an end;
+my future rubs and cross events were to befal me on shore; that it might
+appear the land was as well prepared to be our scourge as the sea, when
+Heaven, who directs the circumstances of things, pleases to appoint
+it to be so.
+
+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 certain 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 at all; my nephew the captain, and the supercargo,
+adjusting all those things between them as they thought fit.
+
+We made no stay at the Cape 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 war
+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 my account, or the reader, with descriptions of
+places, journals of our voyages, variations of the compass, latitudes,
+meridian distances, trade-winds, situation of ports, and the like; such
+as almost all the histories of long navigation are full of, and which
+make the reading tiresome enough, and are perfectly unprofitable to all
+that read, except only to those who are to go to those places
+themselves.
+
+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 and
+treacherous, and, in particular, very well armed with lances and bows,
+which they use with inconceivable dexterity, yet we fared very well with
+them awhile; they treated us very civilly; and for some trifles which we
+gave them, such as knives, scissors, &c. they brought us eleven good fat
+bullocks, middling in size, but very good in flesh, which we took in,
+partly for fresh provisions for our present spending, and the rest to
+salt for the ship’s use.
+
+We were obliged to stay here for some time after we had furnished
+ourselves with provisions; and I that 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; 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 the country not only of truce and friendship, but when it is
+accepted, the other side set up three poles or boughs also, 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 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 market
+for free converse, traffic, and commerce. When you go thither 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
+then 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 was very friendly and civil.
+They brought with them 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 that 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 lying at an anchor about a stone’s
+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 on
+board, under the cover of the branches of the trees, all night.
+
+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 firing 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 frighted 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 fusils we had on board, to land and assist our 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 men. Our men were but nine in all, and only five of
+them had fusils with them; the rest, indeed, had pistols and swords, 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 fain 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, or providence rather, in the boat.
+
+And yet had it been daylight, 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, and we could
+hear by the cries of some of them, that we 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 towards 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 nearer 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 the line
+fast to the boat, upon which we slipt our little cable, and leaving our
+anchor behind, they towed us out of the reach of the arrows, we all the
+while lying close behind the barricade we had made.
+
+As soon as we were got from between the ship and the shore, that she
+could lay her side to the shore, we ran along just by them, and we
+poured in a broadside among them, 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, 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, viz. that an old
+woman, who had come to sell us some milk, had brought it within our
+poles, with 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 that 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 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 been all destroyed.
+
+One of our men was killed with a lance that was thrown at him, just at
+the beginning of the attack, as he sallied out of the tent we 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; 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 the 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 he had done, and how the game stood on the
+Indian side. I was careful to do it in the dark, lest we should be
+attacked again; but I ought indeed to have been sure that 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 it without my knowledge
+or desire.
+
+We took twenty stout fellows with us as any in the ship, besides the
+supercargo and myself; and we landed two hours before midnight, at the
+same place where the Indians stood drawn up 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, or 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 companies,
+whereof the boatswain commanded one, and I the other. We neither could
+hear nor see any body stir when we landed; so we marched up, one body at
+a distance from the other, to the field of battle. At first we could see
+nothing, it being very dark; but by and by our boatswain, that led the
+first party, stumbled and fell over a dead body. This made them halt
+there awhile; for knowing by the circumstances that they were at the
+place where the Indians had stood, they waited for my coming up. Here
+we concluded to halt till the moon began to rise, which we knew would be
+in less than an hour, and then we could easily discern the havoc we had
+made among them. We told two-and-thirty 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 at
+the knowledge of, I was for going on board again; but the boatswain and
+his party often sent me word, that they were resolved to make a visit to
+the Indian town, where these dogs, as they called them, dwelt, and
+desired me to go along with them, and if they could find them, as they
+still fancied they should, they did not doubt, they said, getting a good
+booty, and it might be they might find Thomas 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 would have commanded them instantly on board,
+knowing it was not a hazard fit for us to run who had a ship and a
+ship’s 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 still refused positively, began to grumble, and say
+they were not under my command, and they would go. “Come, Jack,” says
+one of the men, “will you go with me? I will go for one.” Jack said he
+would; and another followed, and then another; and, in a word, they all
+left me but one, whom, with much difficulty too, I persuaded to stay; so
+the supercargo and I, with one man, went back to the boat, where, I
+told them, 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
+Thomas 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 consider 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 it to God and man. I said a great deal more
+to them on that head, 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; said they would be very
+cautious, and 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 as above; and though the attempt was desperate,
+and such as none but madmen would have gone about, yet, to give them
+their due, they went about it warily as well as boldly. They were
+gallantly armed, that is true; for they had every man a fusil or musket,
+a bayonet, and every man a pistol; some of them had broad cutlasses,
+some of them hangers, and the boatswain and two more had pole-axes;
+besides all which they had among them thirteen hand-grenadoes. 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 made devils of
+them all. When they came to the few Indian houses, which they thought
+had been the town, which were 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 might escape, it being in the
+night, though 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 those
+houses, 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 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 had nothing to do
+but to follow her; so they cut the cord, which was made of twisted
+flags, and the cow went on before them. In a word, the cow led 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 silent; as profoundly secure as sleep and a country
+that had never seen an enemy of that kind could make them. Upon this
+they called another council to consider what they had to do, and in a
+word they resolved to divide themselves into three bodies, and to 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 resolved to march silently first through the town, and see
+what dimensions it was of, and consider 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
+that were a little before the rest called out aloud, and told them they
+had found Thomas Jeffrys; they all ran up to the place; and so it was
+indeed, for there they found the poor fellow, hanged 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
+who came into their hands should have quarter; and to work they went
+immediately, and yet not so madly as by the rage and fury they were in
+might be expected. 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 or
+rushes, of which the country is full: so they presently made some
+wildfire, as we call it, by wetting a little powder in the palms 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 frighted
+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 boatswain 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 an
+hand-grenado, and threw it among them, which at first frighted 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 the
+bayonets in the muzzles of their pieces, and dispatched all who came
+that way. But there was another apartment in the house, where the
+prince, or king, or whatsoever he was, and several others, were; and
+they kept in till the house, which was by this time all of a light
+flame, fell in upon them, and they were smothered or burnt together.
+
+All this while they fired not a gun, because they would not waken 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 people out of those houses which were
+burning, or frighted them out of others, our people were ready at their
+doors to knock them on the head, still calling and hallooing to one
+another to remember Thomas Jeffrys.
+
+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 too, 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-arms. A thousand thoughts oppressed his mind concerning
+me and the supercargo, what should 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.
+
+He was surprised to see me and the supercargo in the boat with no more
+than two men, for one had been left to keep the boat; and though he was
+glad that we were well, yet he was in the same impatience with us to
+know what was doing, for the noise continued and the flame increased. I
+confess it was next to an impossibility for any men in the world to
+restrain their curiosity of knowing 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, and the danger of the
+voyage, the interest of the owners and merchants, &c. and told him I
+would go, and the two men, 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; he would go, he said, and he only wished he had left but ten men
+in the ship, for he could not think of having his men lost for want of
+help; he had rather, he said, lose the ship, the voyage, and his life,
+and all: and so away went he.
+
+Nor was I any more able to stay behind now than I was to persuade them
+not to go before; so, in short, the captain ordered two men to row back
+the pinnace, and fetch twelve men more from the ship, 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 first quarrel which brought this
+mischief on.
+
+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 were 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 never was at the
+sacking of a city, or at the taking of a town by storm; I have 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 Magdebourg, and
+cutting the throats of 22,000 of both sexes; but I never had an idea of
+the thing itself before, nor is it possible to describe it, or the
+horror which 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, these
+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
+that every one of them ought to be put to the worst of deaths: but this
+was not all; we saw the fire increased forward, and the cry went on just
+as the fire went on, so that we were in the utmost confusion. We
+advanced a little way farther, and beheld to our astonishment three
+women naked, crying in a most dreadful manner, and flying as if they had
+indeed had wings, and after them sixteen or seventeen men, natives, in
+the same terror and consternation, with three of our English butchers
+(for I can call them no better) 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 lamentations to us to save them, which we let
+them know we would do; where upon they kept all together in a huddle
+close behind us for protection. I left my men drawn up together, and
+charged them to hurt nobody, but if possible to get at some of our
+people, and see what devil it was possessed them, and what they intended
+to do; and in a word to command them off, assuring them that if they
+staid till daylight they would have a 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 burnt with trampling and
+running through the fire, others their hands burnt; one of the women had
+fallen down in the fire, and was almost burnt to death before she could
+get out again; two or three of the men had cuts in their backs and
+thighs, from our men pursuing, and another was shot through the body,
+and died while I was there.
+
+I would fain have learnt what the occasion of all this was, but I could
+not understand one word they said, though by signs I perceived that 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: I told them my resolution, and commanded them
+to follow me, when in the very moment came four of our men, with the
+boatswain at their head, running over the heaps of bodies they had
+killed, all covered with blood and dust, as if they wanted more people
+to massacre, when our men hallooed to them as loud as they could halloo,
+and with much ado one of them made them hear, so that 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 bearing
+to hear me, “Captain,” says he, “noble captain, I am glad you are come;
+we have not half done yet: villains! hell-hound dogs! I will kill as
+many of them as poor Tom has hairs upon his head. We have sworn to spare
+none of them; we will root out the very name 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 touched
+more 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 shewed me the poor fellow hanging upon a tree, with his throat cut.
+
+I confess I was urged then myself, and at another time should have been
+forward enough; but I thought they had carried their rage too far, and
+thought of 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 the men
+being overpowered; for, as to the people, he thought not one of them
+ought to live; for they had all glutted themselves 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 them, 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 the 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
+that time I got to the sea-side it was broad day: immediately I took the
+pinnace and went aboard, and sent her back to assist the men in what
+might happen.
+
+I observed that about the time I came to the boat-side 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
+forty men, who, as I said, stood at the few houses on the way; of whom
+they killed sixteen or seventeen, and set all those 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 some and some, not in two bodies,
+and in form, as they went out, but all in heaps, 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 people were amazed
+and surprised, and so frighted that I believe a 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 who made any considerable defence; 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
+had one of his hands very much burnt.
+
+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 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 such a cruel and barbarous 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 set sail, so we never heard any more of it. Our men
+differed in the account of the number they killed; some said one thing,
+some another; but according to the best of their accounts, put all
+together, they killed or destroyed about a 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 left him where they found him, only took him
+down from the tree where he was hanged by one hand.
+
+However just our men thought this action to be, I was against them in
+it, and I always after that time told them God would blast the voyage;
+for I looked upon the blood they shed that night to be murder in them:
+for though it is true that they killed Thomas Jeffrys, yet it was as
+true that Jeffrys was the aggressor, had broken the truce, and had
+violated or debauched a young woman of theirs, who came to our camp
+innocently, and on the faith of their 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 though the poor man had taken liberty with a
+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 that 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 among heathens and barbarians; but it is impossible to
+make mankind wise but at their own experience; and their experience
+seems to be always of most use to them when it is dearest bought.
+
+We were now bound to the Gulf of Persia, and from thence to the coast of
+Coromandel, only to touch at Surat; but the chief of the supercargo’s
+design lay at the Bay of Bengal, where if he missed of the business
+outward-bound he was to go up to China, and return to the coast as he
+came home.
+
+The first disaster that befel us was in the Gulf of Persia, where five
+of our men venturing on shore on the Arabian side of the Gulf were
+surrounded by the Arabs, 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 the thirteenth of St.
+Luke, ver. 4, where our Saviour intimates that those men on whom the
+tower of Siloam fell, were not sinners above all the Galileans; but that
+which indeed put me to silence in this case was, that none of these five
+men who were now lost were of the number of those who went on shore to
+the massacre of Madagascar (so I always called it, though our men could
+not bear the word _massacre_ with any patience:) and indeed this last
+circumstance, as I have said, put me to silence for the present.
+
+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
+continually brought that affair 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, or 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, and
+perhaps 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 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
+did confess I had all along opposed the massacre of Madagascar, for such
+I would always call it; and that I had on all occasions spoken my mind
+freely about it, though not more upon him than any of the rest; that as
+to my having no command in 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: as to what concern I had in the voyage, that
+was none of his business; I was a considerable owner of the ship, and in
+that claim I conceived I had a right to speak, even farther than I had
+yet done, and would not be accountable to him or any one else; and began
+to be a little warm with him: he made but little reply to me at that
+time, and I thought that affair had been over. We were at this time in
+the road to Bengal; and being 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 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 one may guess
+what a surprise I was in at so insolent a message; and I asked the man
+who bade him deliver that errand to me? He told me, the coxswain. I said
+no more to the fellow, but bid him let them know he had delivered his
+message, and that I had given him no answer to it.
+
+I immediately went and round out the supercargo, and told him the story,
+adding, what I presently foresaw, viz. that there would certainly 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, in a word, all the inferior officers, as soon as I was gone off in
+the boat, came up to the quarter-deck, and desired to speak with the
+captain; and there the boatswain making a long harangue, (for the fellow
+talked very well) 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 perform it 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 farther with him; and at that
+word All, he turned his face about towards the main-mast, which was, it
+seems, the signal agreed on between them, at which all the seamen being
+got together, they cried out, “One and All, One and All!”
+
+My nephew, the captain, was a man of spirit, and of great presence of
+mind; and though he was surprised, you may be sure, at the thing, yet he
+told them calmly he would consider of the matter, but that he could do
+nothing in it till he had spoken to me about it: he used some arguments
+with them, to shew 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 go all on shore unless he would engage to them not
+to suffer me to come 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 pirate Kid had done, who made the 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 would, if ever
+they came to England again it would cost them dear; that the ship was
+mine, and that he would 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 there, and invited the boatswain to go with him, and perhaps they
+might accommodate the matter with me.
+
+But they all rejected the proposal; and said, they would have nothing to
+do with me any more, neither on board nor on shore; and if I came on
+board, they would 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 coxswain.
+
+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, and nothing to help myself: in short, I had been in a worse
+case than when I was all alone in the island.
+
+But they had not come to that length, it seems, to my great
+satisfaction; 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 onshore; I only desired he
+would take care and send me all my necessary things on shore, and 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 with it. 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 the
+matter was over in a very few hours; the men returned to their duty, and
+I begun 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’s country to Surat, might go from thence
+to Bassora by sea, up the Gulf of Persia, and from thence might take the
+way of the caravans, over the deserts of Arabia, to Aleppo and
+Scanderoon, and from thence by sea again to Italy, and so overland into
+France; and this, put together, might be, at least, a full diameter of
+the globe; but, if it were to be measured, I suppose it would appear to
+be a great deal more.
+
+I had another way before me, which was to wait for some English ships,
+which were coming to Bengal, from Achin, on 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, so it would be difficult to
+go from hence without their licence, unless with great favour of the
+captains of the ships, or of the Company’s factors; and to both I was an
+utter stranger.
+
+Here I had the particular pleasure, speaking by contrarieties, to see
+the ship set sail without me; a treatment, 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 the 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 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, and to advantage too; and, as I
+originally intended, I bought here some very good diamonds, which, of
+all other things, was the most proper for me, in my circumstances,
+because I might always carry my whole estate about me.
+
+After a long stay here, and many proposals made for my return to
+England, but none falling to my mind, the English merchant, who lodged
+with me, and with whom I had contracted an intimate acquaintance, 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 aught
+I know, suit with yours also, when you shall have thoroughly
+considered it.
+
+“Here we are posted,” says he, “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 a thousand pounds to my thousand
+pounds, we will hire a ship here, the first we can get to our minds; you
+shall be captain, I’ll be merchant, and we will 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 vibrant: why should we be idle? There are no
+drones,” says he, “living 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
+expressed with so much good will, and in so friendly a manner. I will
+not say, but that I might, by my loose and unhinged circumstances, be
+the fitter to embrace a proposal for trade, and indeed for any thing
+else; or 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 mind; and
+when we 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 Dutch carpenter, and three
+Portuguese foremast-men: with these we found we could do well enough,
+having Indian seamen, such as they are, to make up.
+
+There are so many travellers who have written the history of their
+voyages and travels this way, that it would be but very little diversion
+to any body, to give a long account of the places we went to, and the
+people who inhabit there: those things I leave to others, and refer the
+reader to those journals and travels of Englishmen, many of which, I
+find, are published, and more promised every day. It is enough for me to
+tell you that we made the voyage to Achin, in the island of Sumatra,
+first; and from thence to Siam, where we exchanged some of our wares for
+opium, and for some arrack; the first a commodity which bears a great
+price among the Chinese, and which, at that time, was very much wanted
+there: in a word, we went up to Susham; made a very great voyage; were
+eight months out; and returned to Bengal: and I was very well satisfied
+with my adventure.
+
+I observe, that our people in England often admire how the officers,
+which the Company send into India, and the merchants which generally
+stay there, get such very good estates as they do, and sometimes come
+home worth sixty, seventy, and a 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 then be no wonder; and much less will it be so,
+when we consider, that at all those places and ports where the English
+ships come, there is so much, and such constant demand for the growth of
+all other countries, that there is a certain vent for the return, as
+well as a market abroad for the goods carried out.
+
+In short, we made a very good voyage, and I got so much money by the
+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 my fortune: but what
+was all this to a man on the wrong side of threescore, that was rich
+enough, and came abroad more in obedience to a restless desire of seeing
+the world, than a covetous desire of getting in it? And indeed I think
+it is with great justice that I now call it a restless desire, for it
+was so: when I was at home, I was restless to go abroad; and now 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 profits of the voyage to me were things of no
+great force to me, 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 I might call it, to the place from whence I
+came, as to a home; whereas my eye, 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 never
+was in before; and that part in particular which I had heard much of;
+and was resolved to see 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 upon my own, for I acknowledge his was most just, and the most
+suited to the end of a merchant’s life; who, when he is abroad upon
+adventures, 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 carrier’s horse, always to the same inn, backward and
+forward, provided he could, as he called it, find his account in it: on
+the other hand, mine, as old as I was, was the notion of a mad 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, viz. among the
+Spice Islands; and to bring home a load of cloves from the Manillas, or
+thereabouts; places where, indeed, the Dutch do trade, but the islands
+belong partly to the Spaniards; though we went not so far, but to some
+other, where they have not the whole power as they have at Batavia,
+Ceylon, &c. We were not long in preparing for this voyage; the chief
+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, had more pleasure in
+it, and more satisfaction to the mind, than 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 in about five
+months. We sold our spice, which was chiefly cloves, and some nutmegs,
+to the Persian merchants, who carried them away for the Gulf; and,
+making near five of one, we really got a great deal of money.
+
+My friend, when we made up this account, smiled at me: “Well now,” said
+he, with a sort of an 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 ignorace of the
+Pagans?”—“Why truly,” said I, “my friend, I think it is; and I begin to
+be a convert to the principles of merchandising. But I must tell you,”
+said I, “by the way, you do not know what I am doing; for if once I
+conquer my backwardness, and embark heartily, as old as I am, I shall
+harass you up and down the world till 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, and of about two hundred tons burden: the men, as they
+pretended, having been so sickly, that the captain had not men enough to
+go to sea with, he lay by at Bengal; and, as if having got money enough,
+or being willing, for other reasons, to go for Europe, he gave public
+notice, that 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 home 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, however, 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
+not having received their wages, but their share of the money, as we
+afterwards learnt, not one of them was to be found. We inquired much
+about them, and at length were told, that they were all gone together,
+by land, to Agra, the great city of the Mogul’s residence; and from
+thence were to travel to Surat, and so by sea to the Gulf of Persia.
+
+Nothing had so heartily troubled me a good while, as that I missed the
+opportunity of going with them; for such a ramble, I thought, and in
+such company as would both have guarded me and diverted me, would have
+suited mightily with my great design; and I should both have seen the
+world, and gone homewards 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 Malaccans, who had
+killed the captain and three of his men; and that after the captain was
+killed, these men, eleven in number, had resolved to run away with the
+ship, which they did; and had brought her in at the Bay of Bengal,
+leaving the mate and five men more on shore; of whom we shall
+hear farther.
+
+Well; let them come by the ship how they would, we came honestly by her,
+as we thought; though we did not, I confess, examine into things so
+exactly as we ought; for we never inquired any thing of the seamen, who,
+if we had examined, would certainly have faltered in their accounts,
+contradicted one another, and perhaps have contradicted themselves; or,
+one how or other, we should have seen reason to have suspected them: but
+the man shewed us a bill of sale for the ship, to one Emanuel
+Clostershoven, or some such name, (for I suppose it was all a forgery)
+and called himself by that name; and we could not contradict him; and
+being withal a little too unwary, or at least having no suspicion of the
+thing, we went through with our bargain.
+
+However, we picked up some English seamen here after this, and some
+Dutch; and we now resolved for a second voyage to the south-east, for
+cloves, &c. that is to say, among the Philippine and Malacca isles; and,
+in short, not to fill 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
+very good success; and was now the last year with my partner, going in
+the ship above-mentioned, on a voyage to China; but designing first to
+go to Siam, to buy rice.
+
+In this voyage, being by contrary winds obliged to beat up and down a
+great while in the Straits of Malacca, and among the islands, we were no
+sooner got 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 for 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. Thompson,
+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 gulf which goes
+up to Siam.
+
+While we were here, and going often on shore for refreshment, 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 up 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 looked stedfastly at him a good while, and he 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 me?”—“I am moved,” says he, “by
+the imminent danger you are in; and, for aught I see, you have no
+knowledge of it.”—“I know no danger I am in,” said I, “but that my ship
+is leaky, and I cannot find it out; but I propose 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,” says 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
+Company’s ships, or Dutch ships; I am no interloper; what can they have
+to say to me?”
+
+He looked like a man half angry, half pleased; and pausing awhile, but
+smiling, “Well, Sir,” says he, “if you think yourself secure, you must
+take your chance; I am sorry your fate should blind you against good
+advice; but assure yourself 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 into 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 me any kindness; but it is
+past my comprehension,” said I, “what they should have such a design
+upon me for; however, since you say there is no time to be lost, and
+that there is some villanous design in 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 reason 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,
+viz. that you were with this ship at Sumatra; that there your captain
+was murdered by the Malaccans, 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 shew but little law to pirates, if
+they get them in 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, but I am sure we
+came honestly and fairly by the ship; yet seeing such work is a-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 defence is to be out of the danger: if you have any regard to your
+life, and the lives of all your men, put out to sea without fail at
+high-water; and as you have a whole tide 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’ll 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 so willing to
+make me amends, because you may not be convinced of the truth of it: I
+will make an offer to you; I have nineteen 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
+life, 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 on the quarter-deck, and called to me with a great deal
+of joy, “O ho! O ho! we have stopped the leak!”—“Say you so?” said I;
+“thank God; but weigh the anchor then immediately.”—“Weigh!” says he;
+“what do you mean by that? What is the matter?” says he. “Ask no
+questions,” said I, “but all hands to work, and weigh without losing a
+minute.” He was surprised: but, however, he called the captain, and he
+immediately ordered the anchor to be got up; and though the tide was not
+quite done, yet a little land breeze blowing, we stood out to sea; then
+I called him into the cabin, and told him the story at large; and we
+called in the men, and they told us the rest of it: but as it took us up
+a great deal of time, so before we had done, a seaman comes to the cabin
+door, and calls out to us, that the captain made him tell us, we were
+chased. “Chased!” said I; “by whom, and by what?”—“By five sloops, or
+boats,” said the fellow, “full of men.”—“Very well,” said I; “then it
+is apparent there is something 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 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 next came to hand;
+and thus we made ready for fight; but all this while 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 these boats, which, by our glasses, we could see were English,
+had outsailed the rest, were near two leagues a head of them, and gained
+upon us considerably; so that we found they would come up with us: upon
+which we fired a gun without a shot, to intimate that they should bring
+to; and we put out a flag of truce, as a signal for parley; but they
+kept crowding after us, till they came within shot: upon this we took in
+our white flag, they having made no answer to it; hung out the 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 trumpet, which we
+had on board; so we called to them, and bade them keep off at
+their peril.
+
+It was all one, they crowded after us, and endeavoured to come under
+our stern, so to board us on our quarter: upon which, seeing they were
+resolute 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 them 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 still 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 afterwards see her take out the men: we
+called again to the foremost boat, and offered a truce to parley again,
+and to know what was her business 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 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
+fell in among the men, and we could easily see had done a great deal of
+mischief among them; but we, taking no notice of that, weared the ship
+again, and brought our quarter to bear upon them; and, firing three guns
+more, we found the boat was split almost to pieces; in particular, her
+rudder, and a piece of her stern, were shot quite away; so they handed
+their sail immediately, and were in great disorder; but, to complete
+their misfortune, 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 to come on board with them; because we saw the rest of the
+boats began to come up. Our men in the pinnace followed their orders,
+and took up three men; one of which was just drowning, 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 took care
+that we should change our course, and not let any one imagine 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 now at sea, we began to consult with the two seamen, and
+inquire first, what the meaning of all this should be? The Dutchman let
+us into the secret of it 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, whose name too he mentioned,
+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 made shift in the night to take in 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 had 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, which were gone a-cruising
+in her; and that they had already taken an English ship, and two Dutch
+ships, very richly laden.
+
+This latter part we found to concern us directly; and though we knew it
+to be false, yet, as my partner said very well, if we had fallen into
+their hands, and they had such a prepossession against us beforehand, it
+had been in vain for us to have defended ourselves, or to hope for any
+good quarters at their hands; 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 an account of ourselves, and could prove where we
+were when the ship put in, whom we bought her of, and the like; and,
+which was more than all the rest, if we were put to the necessity of
+bringing it before the proper judges, we should be sure to have some
+justice; and not 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
+Straits of Malacca; and that if the alarm was given, we should be sure
+to be waylaid 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 Tonquin, and so
+on to China; 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 inconvenience; 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 while upon our voyage, and we were but ill provided with
+victuals for so long a run; and, which was still worse, there was some
+danger 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
+last 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
+circumstances 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 mine 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 concerned at first, began to
+encourage me; and describing to me the several ports of the coast, told
+me, he would put in on the coast of Cochinchina, or the bay of Tonquin;
+intending to go afterwards to Macao, a town once in the possession or
+the Portuguese, and where still a great many European families resided,
+and particularly the missionary priests usually went thither, in order
+to their going forward to China.
+
+Hither we then resolved to go; and accordingly, though after a tedious
+and irregular course, and very much straitened for provisions, we came
+within sight of the coast very early in the morning; and upon reflection
+upon the past 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 overland 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 beset 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 limits northward, and by our boat we coasted north-east to the
+point of land which opens to 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 enemies. The people we were among were the
+most barbarous of all the inhabitants 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 one, that if any vessel had the
+misfortune 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 kindness this way, on the occasion following:
+
+I have observed above that our ship sprung 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 Siam; 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
+wondering down to the shore 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 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 lay so very 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 plunder 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 not 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 awhile 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 they all belonged to them, and away they came
+directly 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 immediately called to the men who worked upon the stages, 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 Cochinchinese 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 English 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 better than I could teach him; for he grappled the Pagan,
+and dragged him by main force out of their own boat into ours; where
+taking him by the two ears, he beat his head so against the boat’s
+gunnel, that the fellow died instantly in his hands; and in the mean
+time a Dutchman, who stood next, took up the musket, and with the
+but-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 themselves into the long-boat, where we had but five men
+to defend it. But one accident gave our men a complete victory, which
+deserved our laughter rather than any thing else, and that was this:—
+
+Our carpenter being prepared 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 used for that work; and the man that tended the carpenter
+had a great iron ladle in his hand, with which he supplied the men that
+were at work with that hot stuff: two of the enemy’s men entered the
+boat just where this fellow stood, being in the fore-sheets; he
+immediately sainted them with a ladleful of the stuff, boiling hot,
+which so burnt 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 burnt 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 was 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
+one 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 victory without any bloodshed, except of that man the
+fellow killed with his naked hands, 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 defence, 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 consideration 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 boat get out of
+the way, for he would let fly among them. I called back again to him,
+and bid him not offer to fire, for the carpenter 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 gave
+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 hogs 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 next day with
+rogues 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 meantime, lying at an anchor some
+distance from the shore, we were not so much concerned, being now in a
+lighting 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 we 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.
+
+When we were thus got to sea, we kept on N.E. as if we would go to the
+Manillas or the Philippine 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 22 degrees 20 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 testimony
+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 not.
+
+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: but 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 30 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, calicoes,
+raw silks, tea, wrought silks, &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 purchased all sorts of
+China goods as cheap as we could at Nanquin.
+
+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 that 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, “Seignior 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
+country.”—“Why,” said he, “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, Seignior,” said I, “it is
+true, I am a little unsettled in my resolution at this time, whither to
+go in particular; and 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.”
+
+“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 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 deserved 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.”
+
+“But,” said I to him, “you say the pirate is gone out of these seas;
+how can they meet with him then?”—“Why, that is true,” said he, “they
+do say so; but he was, as I tell you, in the bay of Siam, in the river
+Cambodia, and was discovered there by some Dutchmen who belonged to the
+ship, and who were left on shore when they ran 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 where-ever 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; hang 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
+I turned short upon him. “Well, Seignior,” 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 came; for be it known to you, Seignior, those captains of the
+English and Dutch ships are a parcel of rash, proud, insolent fellows,
+that neither know what belongs to justice, or how to behave themselves
+as the laws of God and nature direct; but being proud of their offices,
+and not understanding their power, they would get the murderers to
+punish robbers; would take upon them to insult men falsely accused, and
+determine them guilty without due inquiry; and perhaps I may live to
+call some of them to an account of 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 had 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 so 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 junk would serve me very well to go back again; and that he
+would procure me people both to buy one and sell the other.
+
+“Well, but, Seignior,” 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 innocent men into a terrible broil, and, perhaps, be 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 overpowered and murdered.”—“Why,” said the old man, “I’ll
+find out a way to prevent 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, “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 or, 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.
+
+My old pilot read this over and over 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,
+came to anchor at the south-west 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. 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 mission 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 proper 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 Japan came over thither to buy the Chinese merchandises.
+
+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 correspond with call 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.
+
+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, 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 way to our satisfaction, we would never
+set one foot on board that unhappy vessel again: and indeed I must
+acknowledge, that of all the circumstances of life that ever I had any
+experience of, nothing makes mankind so completely miserable as that of
+being in constant fear. Well does the Scripture say, “The fear of man
+brings a snare;” it is a life of death, and the mind is so entirely
+suppressed 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 here.
+
+Nor did it fail of its usual operations upon the fancy, by heightening
+every danger; representing the English and Dutch captains to be men
+incapable 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 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 shewing ourselves, and entering into
+such and such ports; even our very manner, the force we had, the number
+of men, the few arms, little ammunition, and short provisions; all these
+would have served to convince any man 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, Portuguese, 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 defence. We reflected that there was really so much apparent evidence
+before them, that they would scarce inquire after any more: as, first,
+that the ship was certainly 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 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
+partner 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 double fist against the side of the
+cabin I lay in, with such a force as wounded my hand most gievously,
+broke my knuckles, and cut and bruised the flesh, so that it not only
+waked 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 my head, and how the Dutch might, perhaps, torture us, as they did
+our countrymen there; and make some of our men, by extremity of torture,
+confess those crimes 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 all together.
+
+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 torturing us, but would be accountable for it when
+they came into their own country. 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 an 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, at 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 innocence 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: that
+although I was innocent as to men, I was far from being innocent as to
+my Maker; and I ought to look in, and examine what other crimes in my
+life were most obvious to me, and for which Providence might justly
+inflict this punishment as a retribution; and that I ought to submit to
+this, just as I would to a shipwreck, if it had pleased God to have
+brought such a disaster upon me.
+
+In its turn, natural courage would sometimes take its place; and then I
+would be talking myself up to vigorous resolution, 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 barbarities: 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 dreadful, 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 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.
+
+But by how much the greater weight the anxieties and perplexities of
+those things were to our thoughts while we were at sea, by so much the
+greater was our satisfaction when we saw ourselves on shore; and my
+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 shewing 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
+any 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 all a
+little guard, and we had a soldier with a kind of halbert, or half-pike,
+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 Japanners, I mean ships from Japan, with goods which they had bought
+in China, and were not gone away, having Japanese merchants on shore.
+
+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 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 Frenchman, whom they called Father Simon; he was a jolly
+well-conditioned man, very free in his conversation, not seeming so
+serious and grave as the other two did, one of whom was a 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,
+seemed 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 opportunity. We often ate and drank with those men;
+and though I must confess, the conversion, as they call it, of the
+Chinese to Christianity, is so far from the true conversion required to
+bring heathen people to the faith of Christ, that it 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 religious, whom we call missionaries, have a firm belief that
+these people should be saved, and that they are the instrument of it;
+and, on this account, they undergo 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 shew 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
+together 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 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
+being 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 consent. “Why, Father Simon,” says my partner, “why
+should you desire our company 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 Catholics 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 won’t be
+troublesome to you,” said he; “our religion does not divest us of good
+manners; besides,” said he, “we are all here like countrymen; and so we
+are, compared to the place we are in; and if you are Hugonots, and I a
+Catholic, we may be all Christians at last; at least,” said he, “we are
+all gentlemen, 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 the Brasils; 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 Christian zeal, strict piety, and
+sincere affection to religion, 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 of 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 entangled 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 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, 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, 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 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, 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 undertook 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; and 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 resolve not to go to sea in it again; 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
+licence to come on shore, which the Europeans in general have not lately
+obtained, paid him his freight very punctually, sent him to the
+Philippines, loaded him 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 licence to land there, and travel to Mexico;
+and to pass in any Spanish ship to Europe, with all his men.
+
+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 found means, 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.
+
+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, 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
+of the ship, the gunner being now made second mate and purser; the
+Dutchman I made boatswain: so 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
+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 journies 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 all exactly straight, and
+cross one another in direct lines, which gives the figure of it great
+advantage.
+
+But when I came to compare the miserable people of these countries with
+ours; 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.
+
+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 they are 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 are 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 it
+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 themselves.
+If they were to besiege a strong town in Flanders, or to fight a
+disciplined 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 before one embattled 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 30,000 German or English foot, and 10,000
+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 European 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-arms, 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 discipline in the field, exercise in their arms, skill to
+attack, nor temper to retreat. And therefore I must confess it seemed
+strange to me 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 my design, I say, in a word, were not its distance inconceivably
+great from Muscovy, and were not the Muscovite empire almost as rude,
+impotent, and ill-governed 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 formidable 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, when the latter was not one to six in number.
+As their strength and their grandeur, so their navigation, commerce, and
+husbandry, are 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 inquire into their knowledge, how
+short-sighted are the wisest of their students! They know nothing of the
+motion of the heavenly bodies; and 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-cluttering with all the drums and
+kettles in the country, to fright the monster away, just as we do to
+hive a swarm of bees.
+
+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 account of my own adventures, through a life of
+infinite 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 thirty degrees north 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 him, 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 mandarins, a kind of
+viceroy, 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 though 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 favour in him, but was, indeed, a great advantage
+to him, considering there were about thirty other people travelling 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 inexpressible, and is chiefly shewed 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 I, 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
+from the city of Nanquin, we had, first of all, the honour 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 scaramouch, or
+merry-andrew; being a dirty calico, with all the tawdry trappings of a
+fool’s coat, such as hanging sleeves, taffety, and cuts and slashes
+almost on every side: it covered a rich taffety vest, as greasy as a
+butcher, and which testified, that his honour 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
+slaves 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
+were given to understand, that the more we looked on him, 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 pain men’s pride puts them to, and how
+troublesome 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 honour 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 garlick 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 servants 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 this I observed, that there was not a horse in his retinue, but that
+our carriers’ pack-horses in England seem to me to look much better; but
+they were so covered with equipage, mantles, trappings, and such-like
+trumpery, that you cannot see whether they are fat or lean. In a word,
+we could scarce see any thing but their feet and their heads.
+
+I was now light-hearted, and all my trouble and perplexity that I had
+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 occasion 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
+my nephew the captain had given me to attend me as a servant, and who
+proved very trusty and diligent; and my 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, Seignior Inglese,” said he, “I have something to tell
+you, will make your heart glad.”—“My heart glad,” said I; “what can
+that be? I don’t 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 afterwards, 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.
+
+In short, he told us there was a great caravan of Muscovy and Polish
+merchants in the city, and that 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 alone. I confess I was surprised with this news: a secret joy
+spread itself over my whole soul, which I cannot describe, and never
+felt before or 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,” he said, “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
+Moscow, and so down the river of Wolga to Astracan.”—“Well, Seignior,”
+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 consult 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 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 Portuguese 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 on 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 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 would 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 in 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
+go 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, 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 he 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
+calicoes, 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.
+
+The company was very great, and, as near as I can remember, made between
+three and four hundred horses and camels, and upward of a hundred and
+twenty 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 about sixty of them who were merchants or
+inhabitants of Moscow, though of them some were Livonians; and to our
+particular satisfaction, five of them were Scots, who appeared also to
+be men of great experience in business, and very good substance.
+
+When we had travelled one day’s journey, the guides, who were five in
+number, 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 give 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 all on this side of the country is very populous, and is full
+of potters and earth makers; that is to say, people that tempered the
+earth for the China ware; and, as I was going along, our Portuguese
+pilot, who had always something or other to say to make us merry, came
+sneering to me, and told me, he would shew 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 one 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, holding 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 see 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 plastered 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 burnt. As to the
+inside, all the walls, instead of wainscot, were lined 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 exceeding fine
+indeed, with extraordinary variety of colours, 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, Leicestershire, &c. as hard as
+stone, and smooth, but not burnt 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 literally to be called so;
+and had 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 porcelain earth, and burnt 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 accounts 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 earthenware, 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 lied; 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 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 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: ’tis about
+four fathom high, and as many thick in some places.
+
+I stood still an hour, or thereabouts, 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, Seignior Inglese,”
+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, will keep out none but Tartars. I
+understand you, Seignior Inglese, I understand you,” said he, joking;
+“but Seignior Chinese understand you his own way.”
+
+“Well,” said I, “Seignior, do you think it would stand out an army of
+our country-people, with a good train of artillery; or our engineers,
+with two companies of miners? Would they not batter it down in ten
+days, that an army might enter in battalia, or blow it up in the air,
+foundation and all, that there should be no sign of it left?”—“Ay, ay,”
+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 how that the Chinese
+empire could be conquered 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 entered 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 way, and you are
+sure of sport when you begin the chase; for they appear generally by
+thirty or forty in a flock, and, like true sheep, 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 looked for another kind of prey, I know not; but as soon as they
+saw us, one of them 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 distance; but our work was over
+first, as it happened.
+
+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 them. They stood gazing at us,
+like a mere crowd, drawn up in no order, nor shewing 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 aim, 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 vigour 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 misfortune attending it,
+viz. that all our mutton that 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 frighted with the noise of our guns, that they fled,
+and never made any attempt upon us.
+
+We were all this while in the Chinese dominions, 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 part of
+the Great Karakathy, 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 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 were 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 assaulted 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 as 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’s 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 camels and horses feeding under a guard.
+
+I walked it on foot, with my old pilot in company, and a Chinese, being
+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 mortar or earth among it, like a park, with a little guard of
+Chinese soldiers at the doors. 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 about me 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 afterwards,
+and wondered, 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.
+
+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 into 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 wounds, 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.
+
+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
+either, 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 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, my
+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 minutes 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 ache, 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
+enemies 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, and 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, and he must pay for it.”
+
+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 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 had enough of that.
+
+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 Tartars in Karakathy, 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 attacked with cannon, would be
+to make those who understand it laugh at you.
+
+We wanted, as I have said, about two days journey of this city, when
+messengers 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.
+
+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 Chinese on our left, and three hundred more from 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 Tartars, if
+they had appeared; but the next day, when they did appear, it 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 any 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.
+
+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:
+“Seignior Inglese,” said he, “those 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; and accordingly fifty of us marched to the right wing, and
+fifty to the left, and the rest made a line of reserve; for so we
+marched, leaving the last two hundred men to make another body to
+themselves, and to guard the camels; only that, if need were, they
+should send a 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 the 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, wheeling
+off 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 indifferent for a battle with such a number.
+
+Two days after this we came to the city of Naum, or Naunm. We thanked
+the governor for his care for us, and collected to the value of one
+hundred crowns, or thereabouts, 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 the city 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 hither for its defence; for we had yet above
+two thousand miles to Muscovy, 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 13th of April we came to the
+frontiers of the Muscovite dominions. I think the first city, or town,
+or fortress, whatever 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 blessing it
+is to be brought into the world where the name of God, and of a
+Redeemer, 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!
+
+Now we came where, at least, a 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 Scotch merchant I mentioned above, with
+my first acknowledgment of this; and, taking him by the hand, I 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 west 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 I 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 choked 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 alone it belongs, dealing in nothing but cattle; so
+nobody that ever I heard or, has been curious enough either to go down
+to the mouth of it in boats, or to come up from 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 latitude; 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 northernmost nations of the Mogul Tartars, who, the
+Chinese say, were the first Tartars in the world; and who, as our
+geographers allege, are the Gog and Magog mentioned in sacred story.
+
+These rivers running all northward, as well as all the other rivers I am
+yet to speak of, made it evident that the northern ocean bounds the land
+also on that side; so that it does not seem 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 communication 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 journies, 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 are 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; though wherever we came at these towns and stations the garrisons
+and governor were Russians and professed 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 with in the country between Arguna, where
+we enter the Muscovite dominions, and a city of Tartars and Russians
+together, called Nertzinskay; in which 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 that can be made. It had a
+head certainly not so much as resembling any creature that the world
+ever saw; ears as big as goats’ horns, and as high; eyes as big as a
+crown-piece; and a nose like a crooked ram’s horn, and a mouth extended
+four-cornered, like that of 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 scarecrow 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 habits,
+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 displeased 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 sacrifices 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 himself; who, envying 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 been lamed 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 communicated my project to the Scots merchant, of
+Moscow, of whose courage I had had a 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 get but 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.
+
+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 will assure you,
+for they are desperate fellows, and that especially in defence 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, or 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
+dominion; and if you do this, it is ten to one but they will come by
+thousands to the governor of Nertzinskay, and complain, and demand
+satisfaction; and if he cannot give them satisfaction, it is ten to one
+but they revolt; and it will occasion a new war with all the Tartars in
+the country.”
+
+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 your good design; I have been a
+little concerned about it since; for I abhor the idol and idolatry as
+much as you can do.”—“Truly,” said I, “you have put it 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
+shall 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 burnt him, and all the arrows sticking in him, as a
+sacrifice to the idol.”—“And was this the same idol:” said I.—“Yes,”
+said he, “the very same.”—“Well,” said I, “I will tell you a story.” So
+I related the story of our men at Madagascar, and how they burnt and
+sacked the village there, and killed man, woman, and child, for their
+murdering 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 village.
+
+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 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 I live this night out.”
+
+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 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 defence; 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 secresy 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 to enterprise it as bold in executing, 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-vitæ, 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.To makee te great wonder look
+
+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 will tell you what we will do; we will try to make
+them prisoners, tie their hands, and make them stand and see their idol
+destroyed.”
+
+As it happened, we had twine or packthread enough about us, which we
+used to tie our fire-works 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 it, 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, 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 immediately 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 furze 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 supposed, 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 other, 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 gunpowder; 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 Scotsman remembered 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 the other
+Scotsman 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 ungagged their mouths, and made them stand up, and set them
+all before their monstrous idol, and then set fire to the whole.
+
+We stayed by it a quarter of an hour, or thereabouts, til 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 burnt into a mere block or log of wood; and then igniting 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 themselves into the fire, and
+burn themselves with the idol.” So we resolved to stay till the forage
+was burnt 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 Nertzinskay
+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 stronger.
+
+The Russian governor sent out messengers to appease them, and gave them
+all the good words imaginable. He 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,
+he should be exemplarily punished. They returned haughtily, That all the
+country reverenced the great Cham-Chi-Thaungu, who dwelt in the son,
+and no mortal would have dared to offer violence to his image, but some
+Christian miscreant; 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 straitly
+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, intimating
+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 meantime 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 days 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, 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 pursued; we had entered the desert, and had
+passed by a great lake, called Schanks 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 should 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 when 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 convenient 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 river, which ran all into
+the great river Udda. It was in a narrow strait, 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 them, 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 side 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 delivered to them, that had abused their priests, and burnt
+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 farther 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 peaceable merchants, travelling
+on our business; that we had done no harm to them, or to any one else;
+and 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 shewed 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 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 Nertzinskay; after this, he takes a great circuit 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 burnt their Cham-Chi-Thaungu
+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
+Seal 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 five
+days journey to the south; and 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
+accommodating 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 defence 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 or tree, or scarce a bush: we saw,
+indeed, abundance of the sable-hunters, as they called 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 no numbers of them
+together. I was curious to see the sable skins they catched; but I could
+never speak with any of them; for they durst not come near us; neither
+durst we straggle from our company to go near them.
+
+After we had passed this desert, 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,
+detachments 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 more 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 before; only as they were conquered by the Muscovites,
+and entirely reduced, they were not so dangerous; but for the rudeness
+of manners, idolatry, and polytheism, 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, or their clothes; and in the winter,
+when the ground is covered with snow, they live under ground, in houses
+like vaults, which have cavities or caves going from one to another.
+
+If the Tartars had their Cham-Chi-Thaungu for a whole village, or
+country, 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 that they do not understand, and they understand but very little;
+so that almost every element, every uncommon 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 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 Janezay, 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 ancient Siberia, which now makes a
+province only of the vast Muscovite empire, but is itself equal in
+bigness to the whole empire of Germany.
+
+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 the 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 Tonguese, or Tartar subjects, it should be
+done by sending clergymen among them, not soldiers; and they added, with
+more sincerity 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 ’tis a barbarous soil; ’tis only barren of people,
+and wants good management; 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 came to
+Tobolski, the capital of Siberia, where I continued some time on the
+following occasion:—
+
+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
+particular 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 particulars of, by which means the Russians
+travel more in the winter than they can in summer; because in these
+sledges they are able to run night and day: the snow being frozen, is
+one universal covering to nature, by which the hills, the vales, the
+rivers, the lakes, are 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: either I
+must go on as the caravan went, till I came to Jarislaw, and then go
+off west for Narva, and the gulf 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 at a little town on the Dwina,
+from whence I had but six days by water to Archangel, and from thence
+might be sure of shipping, either to England, Holland, or Hamburgh.
+
+Now to go any of these journies 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; likewise 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 extremity 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 provisions, 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 my clothes on my back, and never made any fire but without
+doors, for my necessity, in dressing my food, &c. Now I made me three
+good vests, 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 chimnies,
+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 heat 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 part of Europe, near the Frozen ocean, and within but a very
+few degrees of Nova Zembla.
+
+But this being the country where 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 Galilfken, 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
+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. He had been telling me abundance of fine things, of the
+greatness, the magnificence, and 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, or 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.
+
+After amusing them with these riddles in government for awhile, I opened
+the case, and told them the story at large of my living in the island,
+and 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 changed 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 he
+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
+himself, 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
+assistance from the world; that air to breathe in, food to sustain life,
+clothes for warmth, and liberty for exercise, in order to health,
+completed, in his opinion, all that the world could do for us: and
+though the greatness, the authority, the riches, and the pleasures,
+which some enjoyed in the world, and which he had enjoyed his share of,
+had 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 banishment, 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 go back, no not though my master, the
+czar, should call me, and offer to reinstate me in all my former
+grandeur; I say, I would no more go back to it, than I believe my 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 grime of human affairs.”
+
+He spake this with so much warmth in his temper, so much earnestness and
+motion of his spirits, which were apparent in his countenance, that it
+was evident it was the true sense of his soul; and indeed there was no
+room to doubt his sincerity.
+
+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 exorbitant desires, and has the absolute dominion over
+himself, and 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 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 the state of banishment, except these two:
+first, the enjoyment of my relations; and secondly, a little warmer
+climate. But I protest 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 say, 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
+conveniencies 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.”
+
+“Ay,” 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 I should be visited with sickness and distempers.
+However, to put the question out of dispute; you see our manner; we are
+in this place five persons of rank; we live perfectly retired; as suited
+to a state of banishment; we have something 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. They 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 to
+ourselves: so that objection is out of doors.”
+
+I have no room to give a full account of the most agreeable conversation
+I had with this truly great man; in all which he shewed, 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 abroad
+without being wrapt in furs, and 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, as we reckoned, for three months, not above five hours
+a day, or six at most; only that the snow lying on the ground
+continually, and the weather being 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
+ourselves) 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 buffaloes, 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 vitæ instead of brandy; and, for a
+treat, mead instead of wine; which, however, they have excellent good.
+The hunters, who ventured abroad all weathers, frequently brought us in
+fresh venison, very fat and good; and sometimes bear’s 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 at least tolerable; so other travellers began to prepare sledges
+to carry them over the snow, and to get things ready to be going; but my
+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 at the beginning of August, it would be as soon
+as any ships would be ready to go away; and therefore, I say, I made no
+haste 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.
+
+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 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 entreated upon that subject with the
+person I have mentioned, who answered me thus: “Consider, first,” said
+he, “the place where we are; and, secondly, the condition we are in;
+especially,” said he, “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 ocean, where ship never
+sailed, and boat never swam; neither, if we had both, could we know
+whither to go with them. Every other way,” said he, “we have above a
+thousand miles to pass through the czar’s own dominions, and by ways
+utterly impassable, 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, or 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; however, it came into my thoughts, that I might certainly be
+made an instrument to procure the escape of this excellent person, and
+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, might easily pass uninterrupted to
+Archangel, where I could immediately secure him on board an English or
+Dutch ship, and carry him off safe along with me; and as to his
+subsistence, and other particulars, that should be my care, till he
+should better supply himself.
+
+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 unhappy are we!
+unguided creatures as we are, that even our greatest acts of friendship
+are made snares to us, and we are made 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 maintained 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
+favour 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 man, and I 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 good 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, “but that, instead of a summons from Heaven, it may 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 greatness; there I am not sure, but
+that all the seeds of pride, ambition, avarice, and luxury, which I know
+remain in my 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 possession 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 now I 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 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 door of the room,
+and I was going to open the door; but he had opened it, and come 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 come 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 did 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 profession to him of my
+having no end in it, but a sincere desire to serve him. He 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 thereabouts; but
+were far short of the value 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 fine
+stamp upon it, of the Japan coinage, which I found he took for the
+rarity of it, but would not take any more; and 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
+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. He told me, it was only his son, who,
+though I had not seen, 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 shew 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 apartment,
+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 that are very rich; I say, I had bought
+them in that city for exchange for some of the goods brought from China;
+in particular, for the cloves and nutmegs, of which I sold the greatest
+part here; and the rest afterwards at Archangel, for a much better price
+than I could have done at Louden; and my partner, who was sensible of
+the profit, and whose business, more particularly than mine, was
+merchandise, was mightily pleased with our stay, on account of the
+traffic we made here.
+
+It was in 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 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, Soloy Kamaskoy, and
+several others; because the Muscovite garrisons, which are kept there,
+are very curious and strict in their observation 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 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 parts, is the boundary between Europe and Asia; and the first city
+on the European side was called Soloy Kamaskoy, which is as much as to
+say, the great city on the river Kama; and here we thought to have seen
+some evident alteration in the people, their manners, their habit, their
+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; 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 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 relics 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 banks of the Oby, had 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 bows 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
+horses, 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 being drawn
+up thus, we halted, and sent out the Siberian servant who attended his
+lord, to see who they were: his 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 hordes; and that there must be more of
+them on the great desert, though he never heard that ever any of them
+were seen so far north before.
+
+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 should 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 other side, a 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 very
+large, and stood pretty thick; so that as soon as we got in, we saw
+ourselves perfectly safe from the enemy, unless they alighted and
+attacked us on foot.
+
+But to make this more difficult, our Portuguese, with indefatigable
+application, 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
+perceiving they made any offer to stir; when about two hours before
+night, they came down 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 came in 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 bid them keep off; but, as if they
+knew nothing of what we said, they came on with a double fury directly
+to the wood-side, not imagining we were so barricaded, 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 them 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, (or Providence directed our shot so sure) 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 apiece 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 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
+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 but little, you may be sure; but spent the most part of the
+night in strengthening our situation, and barricading 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 discouraged 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, at 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 shewed itself, was for fighting
+to the last also; and my old pilot was of the opinion 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 their booty; and we did not know but by
+the morning they might still be a greater number; so I began to inquire
+of those people we had brought from Tobolski, if there were 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 towards the river Petraz, by which he
+made no doubt but we might get away, and the Tartars never the wiser;
+but he said, his lord had told him he would not return, but would rather
+choose to fight. I told him, he 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 shewed 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
+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
+loaded, 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 Kirmazinskoy, 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
+populous, called Ozomya. There we heard, that several troops or herds of
+Kalmucks 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 hither, 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, we were there very happily near the end of
+our 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 Hamburgher come in above
+a month sooner than any of the English ships; when after some
+consideration, that the city of Hamburgh 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 the thirteenth of
+September. 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 my share amounted to 3475_l_. 17_s_. 3_d_.
+notwithstanding so many losses we had sustained, and charges we had been
+at; only remembering that I had included, in this, about 600_l_. worth
+of diamonds, which I had purchased at Bengal.
+
+Here the young lord took his leave of us, and went up to the Elbe, in
+order to go to the court of Vienna, where he resolved to seek
+protection, and where he could correspond with those of his father’s
+friends who were left alive. He did not part without all the testimonies
+he could give 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 Hamburgh, I came from
+thence over land to the Hague, where I embarked in the packet, and
+arrived in London the tenth of January 1705, having been gone from
+England ten years and nine months.
+
+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 learnt sufficiently to know the value of
+retirement, and the blessing of ending our days in peace.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12623 ***