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Robinson Crusoe
By Daniel Defoe
CHAPTER III—WRECKED ON A DESERT ISLAND
After this stop, we made on to the southward continually for ten or
twelve days, living very sparingly on our provisions, which began to
abate very much, and going no oftener to the shore than we were obliged
to for fresh water. My design in this was to make the river Gambia or
Senegal, that is to say anywhere about the Cape de Verde, 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 to Brazil, or to the East Indies, made this
cape, or those islands; and, in a word, I put the whole of my fortune
upon this single point, either that I must meet with some ship or must
perish.
When I had pursued this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said,
I began to see that the land was inhabited; and in two or three places,
as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we
could also perceive they were quite black and naked. I was once inclined
to have gone on shore to them; but Xury was my better counsellor, and
said to me, “No go, no go.” However, I hauled in nearer the shore that I
might talk to them, and I found they ran along the shore by me a good
way. I observed they had no weapons in their hand, except one, who had a
long slender stick, which Xury said was a lance, and that they could
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 dried flesh and some corn,
such as is the produce of their country; but we neither knew what the one
or the other was; however, we were willing to accept it, but how to come
at it was our next dispute, for I would not venture 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 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 bade Xury load both the
others. As soon as he came fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot him
directly in the head; immediately he sank down into the water, but rose
instantly, and plunged up and down, as if he were struggling for life,
and so indeed he was; he immediately made to the shore; but between the
wound, which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling of the water, he
died just before he reached the shore.
It is impossible to express the astonishment of these poor creatures at
the noise and fire of my gun: some of them were even ready to die for
fear, and fell down as dead with the very terror; but when they saw the
creature dead, and sunk in the water, and that I made signs to them to
come to the shore, they took heart and came, 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 haul, 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 wished to eat 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, pointing out that 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 provisions, which, though I did not understand,
yet I accepted. I then made signs to them for some water, and held out
one of my jars to them, turning it bottom upward, to show 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 supposed, in the sun, this they set
down to me, as before, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and filled
them all three. The women were as 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 Verde, and those
the islands called, from thence, Cape de Verde Islands. However, they
were at a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had best to
do; for if I should be taken with a fresh of wind, I might neither reach
one or other.
In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped into the cabin and sat
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, but I knew we were far enough out of their reach. I
jumped out of the cabin, and immediately saw, not only the ship, but 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 make, I found I should not be able to come in
their way, but that they would be gone by before I could make any signal
to them: but after I had crowded to the utmost, and began to despair,
they, it seems, saw by the help of their glasses that it was some
European boat, which they supposed must belong to some ship that was
lost; so they shortened sail to let me come up. I was encouraged with
this, and as I had my patron’s 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 Scotch 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; they then bade me come on board, and very kindly took me in, and
all my goods.
It was an inexpressible joy to me, which any one will believe, that I was
thus delivered, as I esteemed it, from such a miserable and almost
hopeless condition as I was in; and I immediately offered all I had to
the captain of the ship, as a return for my deliverance; but he
generously told me he would take nothing from me, but that all I had
should be delivered safe to me when I came to the Brazils. “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 Brazils,
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,” says he: “Seignior Inglese” (Mr. Englishman), “I
will carry you thither in charity, and those things will help to buy your
subsistence there, and your passage home again.”
As he was charitable in this proposal, so he was just in the performance
to a tittle; for he ordered the *** that none should touch anything
that I had: then he took everything into his own possession, and gave me
back an exact inventory of them, that I might have them, even to 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 his 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 hand to pay me eighty
pieces of eight for it at Brazil; and when it came there, if any one
offered to give more, he would make it up. He offered me also sixty
pieces of eight more for my boy Xury, which I was loth to take; not that
I was unwilling to let the captain have him, but I was very loth 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 Brazils, and I 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 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 everything I had in the ship to be punctually delivered to me;
and what I was willing to sell he bought of me, such as the case of
bottles, two of my guns, and a piece of the lump of beeswax—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 Brazils.
I had not been long here before I was recommended to the house of a good
honest man like himself, who had an _ingenio_, as they call it (that is,
a plantation and a sugar-house). I lived with him some time, and
acquainted myself by that means with the manner of planting and making of
sugar; and seeing how well the planters lived, and how they got rich
suddenly, I resolved, if I could get a licence to settle there, I would
turn planter among them: resolving in the meantime 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 letter of naturalisation, I purchased as much
land that was uncured as my money would reach, and formed a plan for my
plantation and settlement; such a one as might be 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 my neighbour, because his plantation lay next to mine, and we went on
very sociably together. My stock was but low, as well as his; and we
rather planted for food than anything 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 hail no remedy but to go on: I had got into an employment quite remote
to my genius, and directly contrary to the life I delighted in, and for
which I forsook my 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 stayed 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 a distance as never to hear from any part of the
world that had the least knowledge of me.
In this manner I used to look upon my condition with the utmost regret.
I had nobody to converse with, but now and then this neighbour; no work
to be done, but by the labour of my hands; and I used to say, I lived
just like a man cast away upon some desolate island, that 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 lading
and preparing for his voyage, nearly three months—when telling him what
little stock I had left behind me in London, he gave me this friendly and
sincere advice:—“Seignior Inglese,” says he (for so he always called me),
“if you will give me letters, and a procuration 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 Portuguese
captain at sea, the humanity of his behaviour, and what condition I was
now in, with all other necessary directions for my supply; and when this
honest captain came to Lisbon, he found means, by some of the English
merchants there, to send over, not the order only, but a full account of
my story to a merchant in 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 written for, sent them directly to him at Lisbon,
and he brought them all safe to me to the Brazils; among which, without
my direction (for I was too young in my business to think of them), he
had taken care to have all sorts of tools, ironwork, 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 the joy of it; and my stood 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; for my goods being all English manufacture, such as
cloths, 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 might say I had more than four times the value of my first cargo,
and was now infinitely beyond my poor neighbour—I mean in the advancement
of my plantation; for the first thing I did, I bought me a *** 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 it was 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 hundredweight,
were well cured, and laid by against the return of the fleet from Lisbon:
and now increasing in business and 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
of; 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 once 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 the just degrees to the particulars of this part of my
story. You may suppose, that having now lived almost four years in the
Brazils, and beginning to thrive and prosper very well upon my
plantation, I had not only learned the language, but had contracted
acquaintance and friendship among my fellow-planters, as well as among
the merchants at St. Salvador, which was our port; and that, in my
discourses among them, I had frequently given them an account of my two
voyages to the coast of Guinea: the manner of trading with the negroes
there, and how easy it was to purchase upon the coast for trifles—such as
beads, toys, knives, scissors, hatchets, bits of glass, and the like—not
only gold-dust, Guinea grains, elephants’ teeth, &c., but negroes, for
the service of the Brazils, in great numbers.
They listened always very attentively to my discourses on these heads,
but especially to that part which related to the buying of 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 assientos, or permission of the kings of
Spain and Portugal, and engrossed in the public stock: so that few
negroes were bought, and these excessively dear.
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 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 that 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 a plantation of his own to look
after, which was in a fair way of coming to be very considerable, and
with a good stock upon it; but for me, that was thus entered and
established, and had nothing to do but to 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’
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 engaged 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 to 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 September 1659,
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 interests.
Our ship was about one hundred and twenty tons burden, carried 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 other
trifles, especially little looking-glasses, knives, scissors, 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 we came about ten or twelve degrees of northern latitude, which, it
seems, was the manner of course in those days. We had very good weather,
only excessively hot, all the way upon our own coast, till we came to the
height of Cape St. Augustino; from whence, keeping further off at sea, we
lost sight of land, and steered as if we were bound for the isle Fernando
de Noronha, holding our course N.E. 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 seven degrees twenty-two minutes
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 in 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 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 eleven
degrees north latitude, but that he was twenty-two degrees of longitude
difference west from Cape St. Augustino; so that he found he was upon the
coast of Guiana, or the north part of Brazil, beyond the river Amazon,
toward that of the river Orinoco, 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 Brazil.
I was positively against that; and looking over the charts of the
sea-coast 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
twelve degrees eighteen minutes, a second storm came upon us, which
carried us away with the same impetuosity westward, and drove us so out
of the 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,
than 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.
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 into pieces, unless the winds, by a kind of miracle,
should turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking upon one
another, and expecting death every moment, and every man, accordingly,
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 time to debate, for we fancied
that 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 laid hold of the boat, and with
the help of the rest of the men 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 ran dreadfully high upon the shore, and might
be well 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 anything 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 near the shore she would be dashed in 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 find 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 like 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 bade us expect the _coup de grâce_. 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 no time 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 sank
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 mainland 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 feet
deep in its own body, and I could feel myself carried with a mighty force
and swiftness towards the shore—a very great way; but I held my breath,
and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my might. I was ready
to burst with holding my breath, when, as I felt myself rising up, so, to
my immediate 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 waters went from me, and then took to my heels and ran with what
strength I had further 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 forward as before,
the shore being very flat.
The last time of these two had well-nigh been fatal to me, for the sea
having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me,
against a piece of rock, and that with such force, that it left me
senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my own deliverance; for the blow
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my
body; and had 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 nearer land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and then fetched
another run, which brought me so near the shore that the next wave,
though it went over me, yet did not so swallow me up as to carry me away;
and the next run I took, I got to the mainland, where, to my great
comfort, I clambered up the cliffs 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
the custom, 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, wrapped up in a 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 eye to the stranded vessel, when, the breach and froth of the
sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far of; 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 anything 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 provisions;
and this threw me into such 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, as 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
into my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up into
it, endeavoured to place myself so 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 more refreshed with it than, I think, I ever
was on such an occasion.
CHAPTER IV—FIRST WEEKS ON THE ISLAND
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 at first mentioned, where I had been so
bruised by the wave 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 entirety destitute
of all comfort and company as I now was. This forced tears to 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
rope, which I wondered I did not see at first, hung down by the
fore-chains so low, as that with great difficulty I got hold of it, and
by the help of that rope I 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, that her stern lay lifted up upon the bank, and her head low,
almost to the water. By this means all her quarter was free, and all
that was in that part was dry; for you may be sure my first work was to
search, and to see what was spoiled and what was free. And, first, I
found that all the ship’s provisions were dry and untouched by the water,
and being very well disposed to eat, I went to the bread room and filled
my pockets with biscuit, 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 dram, 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 I flung as many of them
overboard as I could manage for their weight, tying every one with a
rope, that they might not drive away. When this was done I went down the
ship’s side, and pulling them to me, I tied four of them 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 a 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 the 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 got three of the ***’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, about five or six gallons of
rack. These I stowed by themselves, there being no need to put them into
the chest, nor any room for them. While I was doing this, I found the
tide begin to flow, though very calm; and I had the mortification to see
my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on the 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 set
me on rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough, but took no more
than I wanted for present use, for I had others 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 shipload of gold
would have been at that time. I got it down to my raft, 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, nor rudder; and the least capful of wind would have overset
all my navigation.
I had three encouragements—1st, a smooth, calm sea; 2ndly, the tide
rising, and setting in to the shore; 3rdly, 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; 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 broken my heart; for, knowing nothing of the
coast, my raft ran aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not being
aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo had
slipped off towards the end that was afloat, and to 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, I stood in that manner near half-an-hour,
in which time the rising of the water brought me a little more upon a
level; and a little after, the water still-rising, my raft floated again,
and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel, and then
driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of a little
river, with land on both sides, and a strong current of 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
ships 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
that, reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her directly in. But
here I had like to have dipped all my cargo into the sea again; for that
shore lying pretty steep—that is to say sloping—there was no place to
land, but where one end of my float, if it ran on shore, would lie so
high, and the other sink lower, as before, that it would endanger 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 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 a horn of powder; and thus
armed, I travelled for discovery up to the top of that hill, where, after
I had with great labour and difficulty got to the top, I saw my fate, 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, than from all parts of the wood there arose an innumerable number
of fowls, of many sorts, making a confused screaming and crying, and
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
hawk, its colour and beak resembling it, but it had no talons or claws
more than common. Its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing.
Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to work
to bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that day. What
to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest, for I
was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some wild beast
might devour me, though, as I afterwards found, there was really no need
for those fears.
However, as well as I could, I barricaded myself round with the chest and
boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of 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 had got
everything 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 my chequered shirt, a pair of linen
drawers, and a pair of pumps on my feet.
I got on board the ship as before, and prepared a second raft; and,
having had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy, nor
loaded it so hard, but yet I brought away several things very useful to
me; as first, in the carpenters 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, another fowling-piece, with some small quantity of powder
more; a large bagful 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, a 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 apprehension, 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 at it, and ate it, and looked (as if
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
everything 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 on end without; and spreading one of
the beds upon the ground, laying my two pistols just at my head, and my
gun at length by me, I went to bed for the first time, and slept very
quietly all night, for I was very weary and heavy; for the night before I
had slept little, and had laboured very hard all day to fetch all those
things from the ship, and to get them on shore.
I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that ever was laid up, I
believe, for one man: but I was not satisfied still, for while the ship
sat upright in that posture, I thought I ought to get everything 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 canvas, 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 canvas only.
But that which comforted me more still, was, that last of all, after I
had made five or six such voyages as these, and thought I had nothing
more to expect from the ship that was worth my meddling with—I say, after
all this, I found a great hogshead of bread, three large runlets of rum,
or spirits, a box of sugar, and a barrel of fine flour; this was
surprising to me, because I had given over expecting any more provisions,
except what was spoiled by the water. I soon emptied the hogshead of the
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. Cutting
the great cable into pieces, such as I could move, I got two cables and a
hawser on shore, with all the ironwork I could get; and having cut down
the spritsail-yard, and the mizzen-yard, and everything I could, to make
a large raft, I loaded it with all these 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 a 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 the 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 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 scissors, 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 Brazil, some pieces of
eight, some gold, and 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
the ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap; I have no manner
of use for thee—e’en remain where thou art, and go to the bottom as a
creature whose life is not worth saying.” However, upon second thoughts
I took it away; and wrapping all this in a piece of canvas, I began to
think of making another raft; but while I was preparing this, I found the
sky overcast, 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 offshore; 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 across the channel, which lay between the
ship and the sands, and even that with difficulty enough, partly with the
weight of the things I had about me, and partly the roughness of the
water; for the wind rose very hastily, and before it was quite high water
it blew a storm.
But I had got home to my little tent, where I lay, with all my wealth
about me, very secure. It blew very hard all 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 the satisfactory reflection that I
had lost no time, nor abated any diligence, to get everything 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 anything 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 fit for my settlement, because it
was upon a low, moorish ground, near the sea, and I believed it would not
be wholesome, and more particularly because there was no fresh water near
it; so I resolved to find a more healthy and more convenient spot of
ground.
I consulted several things in my situation, which I found would he proper
for me: 1st, health and fresh water, I just now mentioned; 2ndly, shelter
from the heat of the sun; 3rdly, 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
one side of the 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 a hundred yards broad, and about
twice as long, and lay like a green before my door; and, at the end of
it, descended irregularly every way down into the low ground by the
seaside. It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill; so that it 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 above five feet 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 feet and a half high, like a spur to a post; and
this fence was so strong, that neither man nor 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 afterwards, 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 a large tent, which to preserve me from the
rains that in one part of the year are very violent there, I made
double—one smaller tent within, and one larger tent above it; and covered
the uppermost with a large tarpaulin, which I had saved among the sails.
And now I lay no more for a while in the bed which I had brought on
shore, but in a hammock, which was indeed a very good one, and belonged
to the mate of the ship.
Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and everything 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, so that it raised the
ground within about a foot and a half; and thus I made me a cave, just
behind my tent, which served me like a cellar to my house.
It cost me much labour and many days before all these things were brought
to perfection; and therefore I must go back to some other things which
took up some of my thoughts. At the same time it happened, after I had
laid my scheme for the setting up my tent, and making the cave, that a
storm of rain falling from a thick, dark cloud, a sudden flash of
lightning 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 the thought which darted into my mind as swift as
the lightning itself—Oh, my powder! My very heart sank within me when I
thought that, at one blast, all my powder might be destroyed; on which,
not my defence only, but the providing my food, as I thought, entirely
depended. I was nothing near so anxious about my own danger, though, had
the powder took fire, I should never have 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 the 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
anything 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 valleys,
though they were upon the rocks, they would run away, as in a terrible
fright; but if they were feeding in the valleys, and I was upon the
rocks, they took no notice of me; from whence I concluded that, by the
position of their optics, their sight was so directed downward that they
did not readily see objects that were above them; so afterwards I took
this method—I always climbed the rocks first, to get above them, and then
had frequently a fair mark.
The first shot I made among these creatures, I killed a she-goat, which
had a little kid by her, which she gave suck to, which grieved me
heartily; for 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, and also how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I made, I
shall give a full account of in its place; but I must now 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 seaside, I was very pensive upon the subject of my present
condition, when reason, as it were, expostulated with me the other way,
thus: “Well, you are in a desolate condition, it is true; but, pray
remember, where are the rest of you? Did not you come, eleven of you in
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 attends them.
Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my
subsistence, and what would have been my case if it had not happened
(which was a hundred thousand to one) that the ship floated from the
place where she first struck, and was driven so near to the shore that I
had time to get all these things out of her; what would have been my
case, if I had been forced 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, aloud (though to
myself), “what should I have done without a gun, without ammunition,
without any tools to make anything, or to work with, without clothes,
bedding, a tent, or any manner of covering?” and that now I had all these
to 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 would 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 and 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 lightened and
thundered, as I observed just now.
And now being about to enter into a melancholy relation of a scene of
silent life, such, perhaps, as was never heard of 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 over my head; for I reckoned myself, by
observation, to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two 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; but to prevent this, I cut
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—“I came on
shore here on the 30th 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 at
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 its 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 would not do. As I observed before, I
found pens, ink, and paper, and I husbanded them to the utmost; and I
shall show that while my ink lasted, I kept things very exact, but after
that was gone I could not, for I could not make any ink by any means that
I could devise.
And this put me in mind that I wanted many things notwithstanding all
that I had amassed together; and of these, ink was one; as also a spade,
pickaxe, and shovel, to dig or remove the earth; needles, pins, and
thread; as for linen, I soon learned to want that without much
difficulty.
This want of tools made every work I did go on heavily; and it was near a
whole year before I had entirely finished my little pale, or surrounded
my 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, made driving those posts or piles very laborious and tedious
work. But what need I have been concerned at the tediousness of anything
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 circumstances 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 likely to
have but few heirs—as to deliver my thoughts from daily poring over 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 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 not drowned, desolate island, void of all hope as all my ship’s company were.
of recovery. I am singled out and separated, But I am singled
out, too, from as it were, from all the world, all the ship’s
crew, to be spared to be miserable. from death; and He that
miraculously saved me from death can deliver me from this
condition.
I am divided from mankind—a But I am not starved, and
solitaire; one banished from perishing on a barren place,
human society. affording no sustenance. I have no clothes to cover me. But I am in
a hot climate, where, if I had clothes, I could hardly
wear them. I am without any defence, or But I am cast
on an island where means to resist any violence of I see no wild
beasts to hurt me, man or beast. as I saw on the coast of Africa;
and what if I had been shipwrecked there?
I have no soul to speak to or But God wonderfully sent the ship
relieve me. in near enough to the shore, that I have got out as 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 arrange 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 feet thick on the outside; and after some time (I think
it was a year and a half) I raised rafters from it, leaning to the rock,
and thatched or covered it with boughs of trees, and such things as I
could get, to keep out the rain; which I found at some times of the year
very violent.
I have already 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 was a back way to my tent and to my storehouse, but gave
me room to store 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 origin of the mathematics, so by stating and squaring
everything 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 brought it to be 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
ironwork on; and, in a word, to separate everything at large into 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 had everything so ready at my hand, that it was a
great pleasure to me to see all my goods in such order, and especially to
find my stock of all necessaries so great.
And now it was that I began to keep a journal of every day’s employment;
for, indeed, at first I was in too much hurry, and not only hurry as to
labour, but in too much discomposure of mind; and my journal would have
been full of many dull things; for example, I must have said thus:
“30_th_.—After I had got to shore, and escaped drowning, instead of being
thankful to God for my deliverance, having first vomited, with the great
quantity of salt water which had got 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 staff 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 these
particulars over again) as long as it lasted; for having no more ink, I
was forced to leave it off.
End of Chapter IV �