In Voritate Salus
Barth." Jeffery.
Hubbard
Imag. Voy.
PR
3403
AI
17908
V.Z
THE
LIFE AND ADVENTURES
O F
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
12.11.
Friday's meeting with his Fatherin
Published as the Lot alver Tone 1190 la 130m Lara
THE
LIFE AND ADVENTURES
O F
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
OF YORK, MARINER:
WHO LIVED EIGHT AND TWENTY YEARS ALONE IN AN
UNINHABITED ISLAND, ON THE COAST OF AMERICA,
NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT RIVER OROONOQUE.
WITH
AN ACCOUNT OF HIS TRAVELS
ROUND THREE PARTS OF THE GLOBE.
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
ENRICHED WITH ELEGANT PLATES DESCRIPTIVE OF THE
SUBJECT.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR W. LANE, LEADENHALL-STREET.
M DCC XC.
Regent L. L. Huttande
14-1924
THE
LIFE AND ADVENTURES
OF
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
T
HAT homely proverb, uſed on fo many occafions
in England, viz. That what is bred in the bone
will not go out of the fleſh, was never more verified than
in the ftory of my LIFE.-Any one would think, that
after thirty-five years affliction, and a variety of un-
happy circumstances, which few men, if ever any, 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 ex-
perience of every state of middle life, and to know which
was moſt adapted to make a man completely happy;
fay, after all this, any one would have thought, that the
native propenfity to rambling, which I gave an account
of in my firſt ſetting out into the world, to have been fo
predominant in my thoughts, fhould be worn out, the
volatile part be fully evaporated, or at leaſt condenſed,
and I might at fixty-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 adven-
tures was taken away in me; for I had no fortune to
make, I had nothing to feek.-If I had gained ten thou-
A 3
fand
ADVENTURES
OF
fand pounds, I had been no richer; for I had already.
fufficient for me, and for thoſe I had to leave it to; and.
that I had was vifibly increafing; for having no great
family, I could not ſpend the income of what I had,
unleſs I would ſet up for an expenfive way of living,
fuch as a great family, fervants, equipage, gaiety, and
the like, which were things I had no notion of, or incli-
nation to; fo that I had nothing indeed to do, but to fit.
ftill, and fully enjoy what I had got, and fee it increaſe
daily upon my hands.
Yet all theſe things had no effect upon me, or at leaſt
not enough to refift the ftrong inclination I had to go
abroad again, which hung about me like a chronical dif
temper; particularly the defire of ſeeing my new plan-
tation in the iſland, and the colony left there, run 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 fo fteadily
and ſtrongly upon it, that I talked of it in my ſleep;
in fhort, nothing could remove it out of my mind.lt
even broke fo violently into all my difcourfes, that it
made my converfation tireſome; for I could talk of no-
thing elfe; all my difcourfe ran into it, even to im-
pertinence; and I faw it my felf.
I have often heard perfons of good judgment fay, that
all the ftir 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 fuch thing as a fpirit appearing, or a
ghoft walking, and the like: That people's poring affec-
tionately upon the paſt converfation of their deceas'd
friends, fo realizes it to them, that they are capable of
fancying, upon fome extraordinary circumftances, that
they fee them, talk to them, and are anſwered by them 4:3
when, in truth, there is nothing but fhadow 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 fuch things as real apparitions, fpectres,
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, fick minds, and
wandering fancies. But this I know, that my imagina-
tion
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
7
tion worked me up to ſuch a height, and brought me into
fuch 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; I faw my old Spaniard,
Friday's father, and the reprobate failors, whom I left
upon the iſland.-Nay, I fancied I talked with them, and
looked at them ſo ſteadily, tho' 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 fleep, I had the villainy of
the three pirate failors fo lively related to me by the
firft 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
the yhad laid up, on purpoſe to diſtreſs and ſtarve them;
things that I had never heard of, and yet they were all
of them true in fact; and it was fo warm in my ima-
gination, and fo realized to me, that to the hour I
faw them, I could not be perfuaded but that it was, or
would be true; alfo how I refented it, when the Spa-
niards 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 all this fhall
be feen in its place; for however I came to form fuch
things in my dream, and what fecret converſe of ſpirits
injected it, yet there was, I fay, very much of it true.
I own that this dream had nothing in it literally and
fpecifically true; but the general part was fo true, the
bafe and villainous 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 fimilitude
of the fact; and as I would afterwards have puniſhed
them ſeverely, fo if I had hanged them all, I had been
much in the right, and ſhould have been juftified both
by the laws of God and man.
But to return to my ftory: in this kind of temper
I had lived fome years; I had no enjoyment of my
life, no pleaſant hours, no agreeable diverfion, but
what had fomething or other of this in it; fo that my
wife, who faw my mind fo wholly bent upon it, told
me very ſeriouſly one night, that the believed there was
fome fecret powerful impulfe of Providence upon me,
which
A 4
ADVENTURES OF
which had determined me to go thither again; and that
the found nothing hindered my going, but my being en-
gaged to a wife and children. She told me, that it was
true, he could not think of parting with me; but as the
was affured, that if he was dead, it would be the firſt
thing I would do; fo, as it feemed to her, that the thing
was determined above, fhe would not be the only ob-
ftruction ; for, if I thought fit, and refolved to go
Here the found me very intent upon her words, and that
I looked very earnestly at her; fo that it a little difor-
dered her, and ſhe ſtopped. I aſked her why ſhe did not
go on, and fay out what the was going to fay. But I per-
ceived her heart was too full, and fome tears flood in
her eyes. Speak out, my dear, fays I; are you willing
I ſhould go? No, fays the, very affectionately, I am far
from willing; but if you are refolved to go, fays ſhe,
rather than I will be the only hindrance, I will go with
you; for though I think it a prepofterous thing for one
of your years, and in your condition, yet if it muſt be,
faid ſhe again, weeping, I won't leave you; for if it be
of heaven, you muſt do it, there is no refifting it-And
if heaven makes it your duty to go, he will alfo make
it mine to go with you, or otherwife difpofe of me, that
I may not obftruct it.
This affectionate behaviour of my wife, brought me
a little out of the vapours, and I began to confider what
I was doing-I corrected my wandering fancy, and be-
gan to argue with myſelf fedately, what buſineſs I had,
after three ſcore years, and after fuch a life of tedious
ſufferings and difafters, and clofed in fo happy and eaſy
a manner, I fay, what bufinefs 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 confidered my new engage-
ments-that I had a wife, one child born, and my wife
then great with child of another; and that I had all the
world could give me, and had no need to feek hazards
for gain-that I was declining in years, and ought to
think rather of leaving what I had gained, than of feek-
ing to increaſe it; that as to what my wife had ſaid, of
its being an impulfe from heaven, and that it ſhould
be my duty to go, I had no notion of that; fo after.
many
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
many of theſe cogitations, I ftruggled with the power
of my imagination, reafoned myfelf out of it, as I believe
people may always do in like cafes, if they will; and, in
a word, I conquered it: compofed myſelf with fuch
argu-
ments as occurred to my thoughts, and which my prefent
condition furniſhed me plentifully with; and particular-
ly, as the moſt effectual method, I refolved to divert my-
felf with other things, and to engage in fome buſineſs
that might effectually tie me up from any more excur-
fions of this kind; for I found the thing returned 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 refolved 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 county, I was
removed from converfing among fhips, failors, and
things relating to the remote parts of the world.
In a word, I went down to my farm, fettled my fa-
mily, bought me ploughs, harrows, a cart, waggon,
horfes, cows, fheep; and, fetting ſeriouſly to work,
became in one half year a mere country gentleman;
my thoughts were entirely taken up in managing my
fervants, cultivating the ground, inclofing, planting,
&c. and I lived, as I thought, the moft agreeable life
that nature was capable of directing, or that a man
always bred to misfortunes, was capable of being re-
treated 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 pleafed; what I planted was for myfelf';
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 that
middle ftate of life, which my father fo earnestly re
commended to me: a kind of heavenly life, fomething
like what is deſcribed by the poet, upon the fubject of a
country life.
A 5
Free
10
A‍DVENTURES OP
Free from vices, free from care,
Age has no pains, and youth no fnare.
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 confequence, upon a deep relapfe into
the wandering difpofition, which, as I may fay, being
born in my very blood, foon recovered its hold of me,
and, like the returns of a violent diftemper, came on
with an irreſiſtible force upon me; fo that nothing could
make any more impreffion upon me. This blow was
the lofs 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 fex by the flattery of a funeral
fermon. She was, in a few words, the ftay of all my.
affairs, the centre of all my enterpriſes; the engine,
that by her prudence reduced me to that happy compafs
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 inftructions, a friend's counfel, or all my own
reafoning powers could do. I was happy in liſtening to
her tears, and in being moved by her intreaties, and to
the laſt degree defolate and diflocated in the world by
the lofs of her..
>
When ſhe was gone, the world looked aukwardly
round me; I was as much a ſtranger in it, in my
thoughts, as I was in the Brafils, when I firſt went on
fhore there; and as much alone, except as to the affift
ance of ſervants, as I was in my iſland. I knew neither
what to do, or what not to do. I faw the world bufy
round me, one part labouring for bread, and the other
fquandering it in vile excefles, or empty pleaſures;
equally miferable, becauſe the end they propoſed ſtill
fled from them; for the men of pleaſure every day fur-
feited of their vice, and heaped up work for forrow
and repentance; and the men of labour ſpent thei
ftrength in daily ftrugglings for bread, to maintain the
vital ſtrength they laboured with; fo living in a daily
A
cir-
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
circulation of forrow, 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 occafion
of daily bread.
This put me in mind of the life I lived in my king-
dom, the iſland; where I ſuffered no more corn to grow,
becauſe I did not want it; and bred no more goats, be-
cauſe I had no more uſe for them: where the money
lay in the drawer till it grew mildewed, and had ſcarce
the favor to be looked upon in 20 years.
All theſe things, had I improved them as I ought to
have done, and as reafon and religion had dictated to
me, would have taught me to fearch further than human
enjoyments for a full felicity, and that there was ſome-
thing which certainly was the reafon and end of life,
fuperior to all theſe things, which was either to be poſ- -
feffed, or at leaſt hoped for on this fide the grave.
But my fage counſellor was gone; I was like a fhip
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 poffeffed me, were nothing to me,
had no reliſh, and were like mufic to one that has no ear,
or food to one that has no tafte: in a word, I refolved
to leave off houſekeeping, let my farm, and return to
London; and in a few months after I did fo...
When I came to London, I was ſtill as uneafy as be-
fore; I had no reliſh to the place, no employment in it,
nothing to do but to faunter 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 reft
of his kind whether, he be dead or alive. This alfo was
the thing, which of all circumftances. of life was the
moft my: averfion, who had been all my days uſed to an
active life; and I would often fay. to myſelf, a ſtate of
idleneſs is the very dregs of life; and indeed I thought I
was much more fuitably employed, when I was 26 days
making a deal board..
It was now the beginning of the year 1603, when
my nephew, whom, as I have obferved before, I had
A.6
brought:
12
ADVENTURES OF
+
brought up to the ſea, and had made him commander of
a fhip, was come home from a fhort voyage to Bilboa,
being the firſt he had made; he came to me, and told
me, that fome merchants of his acquaintance had been
propofing to him to go a voyage for them to the Eaft-
Indies and to China, as private traders: And now, uncle,
fays, he, if you will go to fea with me, I'll engage to land,
you upon your old habitation in the iſland, for we are to
touch at the Brafils.
Nothing can be a greater demonſtration of a future
ſtate, and of the exiſtence of an inviſible world, than
the concurrence of fecond caufes 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 diftemper of
wandering was returned upon me, and I knew nothing of
what he had in his thoughts to fay; when that very
morning before he came to me, I had, in a great deal of
confufion of thought, and revolving every part of my
circumſtances in my mind, come to this reſolution, viz.
that I would go to Liſbon, and confult with my old fea-
captain, and fo, if it was rational and practicable, I
would go and ſee the iſland again, and ſee what was be-
come of my people there. I had pleafed myſelf alſo with
the thoughts of peopling the place, and carrying inha-
bitants from hence, getting a patent for the poffeffion,
and I know not what; when in the middle of all this, in
comes my nephew, as I have faid, with his project of
carrying me thither, in his way to the East-Indies.
I pauſed a while at his words, and looking fteadily at
him, What devil, ſaid I, ſent you on this unlucky er-
rand? My nephew ſtartled, as if he had been frighted
at firft; but perceiving I was not much difpleated with
the propoſal, he recovered himſelf: I hope it may not be
an unlucky propofal, fir, fays he; I dare fay 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 fo exactly with my tem-
per, that is to ſay, with the prepoffeffion I was under,
and of which I have faid fo much, that I told him in
few words, if he agreed with the merchants, I would
go
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
rs
go with him: but I told him, I would not promife to go
any farther than my own island. Why, Sir, fays he, you
don't want to be left there again, I hope? Why, faid I,
can you not take me up again in your return? He told
me it would not be poffible to do fo; that the merchants
would never allow him to come that way with a loaden
ſhip of ſuch value, it being a month's fail out of his way,
and might be three or four: Beſides, Sir, if I ſhould mif-
carry, faid 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 floop on
board the ſhip, which, being taken in pieces, and
ſhipped on board the fhip, might, by the help of fome
carpenters, whom we agreed to carry with us, be fet up
again in the iſland, and finiſhed, fit to go to fea in a few
days.
I was not long refolving; for indeed the importuni-
ties of my nephew, joined in fo effectually with my in-.
clination, that nothing could oppofe me; on the other
hand, my wife being dead, I had nobody that concern-
ed themfelves fo much for me, as to perfuade me one.
way or other, except my ancient good friend the wi-
dow, who earnestly ftruggled with me to confider my
years, my eaſy circumftances, and the needleſs hazard
of a long voyage; and, above all, my young children :
but it was all to no purpoſe, I had an irrefiſtible defire
to go the voyage; and I told her, I thought there was
fomething fo uncommon in the impreffions I had upon
my mind for the voyage, that it would be a kind of
refifting Providence, if I fhould attempt to ſtay at home;
after which fhe ceafed her expoftulations, and joined
with me, not only in making provifion for my voyage,
but alfo in fettling my family-affairs in my abfence, and
providing for the education of my children.
*
In order to this, I made my will, and fettled the
eitate I had in fuch a manner for my children, and
placed it in fuch hands, that I was perfectly eafy and
atisfied they would have juſtice done them, whatever
might befal me; and for their education, I left is
wholly to my widow, with a fufficient maintenance to
berfelf for her care; all which the richly deferved: for
no
14:
OF
ADVENTURES
no mother could have taken more care in their educa-
tion, or underſtood it better; and as the lived till I came
home, I alſo lived to thank her for it.
My nephew was ready to fail about the beginning
of January, 1694-5, and I, with my man Friday, went
on board in the Downs the 8th, having, beſides that
floop which I mentioned above, a very confiderable
cargo of all kinds of neceffary things for my colony,
which if I did not find in good condition, I refolved to
leave fo.
Firſt, I carried with me fome fervants, whom I
purpoſed to place there, as inhabitants, or at leaſt, to
fet on work there upon my own account while I ftaid,
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 me-
chanic, for he was dextrous at making wheels, and
hand-mills to grind corn, was a good turner, and a
good pot-maker; he alfo made any thing that was proper
to make of earth, or wood; in a word, we called him
our jack of all trades.
With theſe I carried a taylor, who had offered himſelf
to go paſſenger to the East Indies with my nephew, but
afterwards confented to ſtay on our new plantation, and
proved a moſt neceffary handy fellow as could be defired,
in many other bufineffes befides that of his trade; for as
I obferved formerly, neceffity arms us for all employ-
ments.
My cargo, as near as I can recollect, for I have not
kept an account of particulars, confifted of a fafficient
quantity of linen, and fome thin Engliſh ſtuffs for clothing.
the Spaniards that I expected to find there, and enough
of them, as by my calculation might comfortably fupply
them for ſeven years; if I remember right, the materials
which I carried for cloathing them, with gloves, hats,
fhoes, ſtockings, and all fuch things as they could
want for wearing, amounted to above 200l. including
fome beds, bedding, and houfhold ſtuff, particularly.
kitchen utenfils, with pots, kettles, pewter, braſs, &c.
beſides near 100l. more in iron-work, nails, tools
of .
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
35
of every kind, ſtaples, hooks, hinges, and every necef-
fary thing I could think of.
Í carried alſo a hundred ſpare arms, mufquets and
fufils, befides fome piftols, a confiderable quantity of
thot of all fizes, 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 car-
ried an hundred barrels of powder, befides (words, and
cutlaffes, and the iron part of fome pikes and halberts,
fo that, in fhort, we had a large magazine of all forts
of ſtores; and I made my nephew carry two ſmall.
quarter-deck guns more than he wanted for his fhip, to
leave behind, if there was occafion, that when they
came there, we might build a fort, and man it againſt
all forts of enemies; and indeed at first I thought there
would be need enough of it all, and much more, if we
hoped to maintain our poffeffion of the iſland, as fhall be
ſeen in the courfe of the ftory.
I had not fuch bad luck in this voyage, as I had
been used to meet with, and therefore ſhall have the leſs
occafion to interrupt the reader, who perhaps may be
impatient to hear how matters went with my colony;
yet fome odd accidents, croſs-winds, and bad weather
happened, on this first fetting out, which made the voyage.
longer than I expected it at firſt; and I, who had never
made but one voyage, viz. my firft voyage to Guinea,
in which I might be faid to come back again, as the
voyage was at first defigned, began to think the fame ill
fate ftill attended me; and that I was born to be never
contented with my own fhore, and yet to be always un-.-
fortunate at fea.
Contrary winds firft put us to the northward, and
we were obliged to put in at Galway, in Ireland, where
we lay windbound two and thirty days; but we had this
fatisfaction with the difafter, that provifions were here
exceeding cheap, and in the utmoft plenty; fo that while
we lay here, we never touched the fhip's ftores, but rather
added to them; here alfo I took feveral hogs, and two
cows with their calves, which I refolved, if I had a good
paffage, to put afhore in my iſland, but we found occafion
to diſpoſe otherwiſe of them.
We
16
ADVENTURÉS OF
We ſet out the 5th of February from Ireland, and had
a very fair 'gale of wind, for fome days; as I remem-
ber, it might be about the 20th of February, in the even-
ing late, when the mate, having the watch, came into
the round houſe, and told us he faw a flash of fire, and
heard a gun fired; and while he was telling us of it, a
boy came in, and told as the boatfwain 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
faw a very great light, and found that there was fome
very terrible fire at a diſtance; immediately we had re-
courſe to our reckonings, in which we all agreed, that
there could be no land that way, in which the fire
fhewed itſelf, no, not for 500 leagues, for it appeared
at W.N.W. Upon this we concluded it muſt be fome
ſhip on fire at fea; 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 fa-
tisfied we ſhould diſcover it, becauſe the farther we failed
the greater the light appeared, though the weather being
haze, we could not perceive any thing but the light
for a while in about half an hour's failing, 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 fea.
I was
moft fenfibly touched with this diſaſter, though not at all
acquainted with the perfons engaged in it. I prefently
recollected my former circumftances, in what condition
I was in when taken up by the Portugueſe captain; and
how much more deplorable the circumstances of the poor
creatures belonging to the fhip must be, if they had no
other fhip in company with them; upon this I im-
mediately ordered that five guns fhould be fired, one
foon after another, that, if poffibie, we might give notice
to them, that there was help for them at hand, and that
they might endeavour to fave themſelves in their boat;
for though we could fee the flame in the fhip, yet they,
it being night, could ſee nothing of us.
We lay by fome time upon this, only driving as the
burning fhip drove, waiting for day-light; when on a
ſudden, to our great terror, though we had reaſon
to expect it, the hip blew up in the air, and imme-
diately,
ROBINSON CRUS O E.
17
diately funk! This was terrible, and indeed an afflicting
fight, for the fake of the poor men, who, I concluded,
muſt be either all deſtroyed, in the fhip, or be in the ut-
moft diftreſs in their boats in the middle of the ocean,
which at prefent, by reafon it was dark, I could not
fee; however, to direct them as well as I could, I cauſed
lights to be hung out in all the parts of the fhip where
we could, and which we had lanthorns for,. and kept
firing guns all the night long, letting them know by
this, that there was a fhip not far off.
About eight o'clock in the morning, we difcovered
the ship's boats, by the help of our peripective-glaffes;
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 faw our
ſhip, and did the utmoſt to make us fee them.
We immediately ſpread our ancient, to let them know
we faw them; and hung a waft out, as a fignal for them
to come on board, and then made more fail, ftanding
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 fixty-four men, women and children
for there were a great many paffengers.
;
Upon the whole, we found it was a French merchant
fhip of 300 tons, homeward bound from Quebec, in
the river of Canada. The mafter gave us a long ac-
count of the diftrefs of his fhip, how the fire began in the
fteerage by the negligence of the fteerfman; but, on his
crying out for help, was, as every body thought, entirely
put out: but they foon found that fome fparks of the
firſt fire had gotten into fome part of the ship, fo difficult
to come at, that they could not effectually quench it; and
afterwards getting in between the timbers, and withia
the cieling of the fhip, 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 fhallop, befides a
fmall fkiff, which was of no great fervice to them,
other than to get fome fresh water and provifions into
her
28
OF
ADVENTURES
her, after they had fecured 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 faid well, that they were eſcaped from the fire,
and had a poffibility that fome fhip might happen to
be at fea, and might take them in. They had fails,
oars, and a compaſs, and were preparing to make the
beft 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 provifions and water, as, with ſparing it
ſo as to be next door to ſtarving, might ſupport them
about 12 days, in which, if they had no bad weather,
and no contrary winds, the captain faid, he hoped he
might get to the banks of Newfoundland, and might
perhaps take fome fish to fuftain them till they might go
on fhore. But there were fo many chances against
them in all theſe cafes; fuch as ftorms 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 confultations, every one being
hopelets, 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 caufed to be fired at firſt
feeing the light; this revived their hearts, and gave
them the notice, which, as above, I defigned it fhould,
viz. that there was a ſhip at hand for their help.
It was upon the hearing theſe guns, that they took
down their mafts and fails, and the found coming from
the windward, they refolved to lie by till morning.
Some time after this, hearing no more guns, they fired
three mufquets, one a confiderable while after another;
but theſe, the wind being contrary, we never heard.
Some time after that again, they were ftill more
agreeably ſurpriſed with feeing our lights, and hear-
ing the guns, which, as I have faid, I caufed to
be fired all the rest of the night; this fet them to
work with their oars to keep their boats a-head, at
leaſt that we might the fooner come up with them;
and
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
19
and at last, to their inexpreffible joy, they found we faw
them.
It is impoffible for me to exprefs the feveral geftures,
the ſtrange ecftacies, the variety of poftures, which thefe
poor delivered people run into, to exprefs the joy of their
fouls, at fo unexpected a deliverance; grief and fear are
eaſily deſcribed; fighs, tears, groans, and a very few mo-
tions of head and hands, making up the fum of its variety:
but an excess of joy, a furpriſe of joy, has a thouſand
extravagancies in it; there were fome in tears, fome
raging and tearing themſelves, as if they had been in the
greatest agonies of forrow; fome ſtark raving and down-
right lunatic; ſome ran about the fhip ftamping with
their feet, others wringing their hands; fome were
dancing, feveral finging, fome laughing, more crying,
many quite dumb, not able to ſpeak a word, others fick
and vomiting, feveral fwooning, and ready to faint, and
a few were croffing themſelves and giving God thanks.
I would not wrong them neither; there might be many
that were thankful afterward; but the paffion was too
ſtrong for them at firft, and they were not able to maſter
it; they were thrown into ecftacies and a kind of frenzy,
and ſo there were but a very few who were compofed and
ferious in their joy.
Perhaps alfo the cafe may have fome addition to it,
from the particular circumſtance of the nation they be-
longed to; I mean the French, whofe temper is allowed
to be more volatile, more paffionate, and more ſprightly,
and their ſpirits more fluid than of other nations. I
am not philofopher enough to determine the cauſe, but
nothing I had ever ſeen before came up to it: the ec-
ftacies poor Friday, my truſty favage, 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 fhore
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 obfervable, that theſe extravagancies did
not fhew themſelves in that different manner I have
mentioned, in different perfons only; but all the va-
riety would appear in a fhort fucceffion of moments,
in
TO
ADVENTURES OF
in one and the fame perfon. A man that we faw this
minute dumb, and, as it were, ſtupid and confounded,
ſhould the next minute be dancing and hallooing like
an antick, and the next moment tearing his hair, or
pulling his cloaths to pieces, and ftamping them under
his feet like a madman; a few minutes after that, we
ſhould have him all in tears, then fick, then fwooning;
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 furgeon 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 ftrangeſt.
was, that the oldeft man was the worft.
As ſoon as he fet his foot on board our ſhip, and
faw himſelf ſafe, he dropped down ſtone dead, to all
appearance; not the leaft fign of life could be perceived
in him; our furgeon immediately applied proper reme-
dies to recover him, and was the only man in the fhip
that believed he was not dead; and at length he opened
a vein in his arm, having firſt chafed and rubbed the
part, fo as to warm it as much as poffible; upon this the
blood, which only dropped at firft, flowed fomething
freely; in three minutes after the man opened his eyes,
and about a quarter of an hour after that he fpoke;
grew better, and, in a little time quite well; after the
blood was ſtopped, he walked about, told us he was per-
fectly well, took a dram of cordial which the furgeon
gave him, and was, what we called, come to himſelf.
About a quarter of an hour after this, they came run-
ning into the cabin to the furgeon, who was bleeding a
French woman that had fainted, and told him, the
prieſt was gone ſtark mad. It ſeems he had began to
revolve the change of his circumftances in his mind,
and this put him into an ecstacy of joy; his fpirits
whirled about fafter than the veffels 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 furgeon would not bleed him again in that
condition, but gave him fomething to doze and put
him to fleep, which, after fome time, operated upon
him
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
21
him, and he waked next morning perteâly compoſed
and well.
The younger prieſt behaved himſelf with great com-
mand of his paffion, and was really an example of a
ſerious well governed mind; at his firſt coming on board
the fhip, he threw himſelf flat on his face, proftrating
himſelf in thankfulneſs for his deliverance, in which I
unhappily and unfeaſonably diſturbed him, really think-
ing he had been in a ſwoon; but he spake 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
alfo.
I was heartily forry that I diſturbed him, and not only
left him, but kept others from interrupting him alfo;
he continued in that poſture about three minutes, or
a little more, after I left him; then came to me, as he
faid 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 fo many miferable
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 reafon and humanity dic-
tated to all men, and that we had as much reafon as he
to give thanks to God, who had bleſſed us fo far as to
make us the inftruments of his mercy to ſo many of his
creatures.
After this, the young prieſt applied himſelf to his coun-
try-folks, laboured to compofe them; perfuaded, in-
treated, argued, reaſoned with them, and did his utmoſt
to keep them within the exerciſe of their reaſon; and
with fome he had fuccefs, 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 thofe into whoſe hands it may fall,
in the guiding themſelves in all the extravagancies of
their paffions; for if an exceſs of joy can carry men
out to fuch a length beyond the reach of their reaſon,
what will not the extravagancies of anger, rage, and
a provoked mind, carry us to? And indeed, here I faw
reaſon for keeping an exceeding ftrict watch over our paf-
fions
*22
OF
ADVENTURES
fions of every kind, as well thofe of joy and fatisfaction,
as thoſe of ſorrow and anger.
We were fomething difordered by theſe extravagancies
among our new guests for the first day; but when they
had been refreſhed, lodgings provided for them as well as
our ſhip would allow, and they had flept heartily, as
moſt of them did, being fatigued and frightened, they
were quite another fort of people the next day.
Nothing of good manners, or civil acknowledgments
for the kindnels fhewn them was wanting; the French,
tis known, are naturally apt enough to excecd that way.
The captain, and one of the pricfts, came to me the
next day, and, defiring to ſpeak with me and my ne-
phew, the commander, began to confult with us what
ſhould be done with them; and firft they told us, that, as
we had faved their lives, fo all they had was little
enough for a return to us for the kindneſs received. The
captain faid, they had faved fome money, and fome
things of value in their boats, catched haftily out of the
flames; and if we would accept it, they were ordered to
make an offer of it all to us; they only defired to be ſet
on ſhore ſomewhere in our way, where, if poffible, they
might get a paffage to France.
My nephew was for accepting their money at first
word, and to confider what to do with them afterwards;
but I over ruled him in that part, for I knew what it
was to be ſet on fhore in a ſtrange country; and if the
Portugal captain, that took me up at fea, had ferved me
fo, and took all I had for my deliverance, I muſt have
ſtarved, or have been as much a flave at the Brafils, as I
had been at Barbary, the being fold 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 diftrefs, it was true, but that it was
our duty to do fo, as we were fellow-creatures, and as
we would deſire to be fo 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 cafe, and they in ours;
But that we took them up to ſerve them not to plunder
them;
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
23
them; and that it would be a moft barbarous thing, to
take that little from them which they had faved out of
the fire, and then ſet them on fhore, and leave them.;
that this would be firſt to ſave them from death, and
then kill them ourſelves; fave 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 fhore, I told them indeed, that was an exceed-
ing great difficulty to us, for that the ſhip was bound to the
Eaft-Indies, and though we were driven out of our
courſe to the weltward a very great way, which perhaps
was directed by heaven on purpoſe for their deliverance,
yet it was impoffible 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 Brafil; and all I knew he could do for them was, to
put ourſelves in the way of meeting with other fhips
homeward-bound from the Weſt-Indies, and get them
paffage, if poffible, to England or France.
The first part of the propofal was fo generous and
kind, they could not but be very thankful for it; but
they were in a great confternation, eſpecially the paf-
fengers, at the notion of being carried away to the Eaſt-
Indies; they then intreated me, that ſeeing I was driven
fo far to the weftward before 1 met with them, I would
at leaſt keep on the fame courſe to the banks of New-
foundland, where it was poffible I might meet with fome
ſhip or floop that they might hire to carry them back to
Canada, from whence they came.
I thought this was but a reaſonable requeft on their
part; and therefore I inclined to agree to it; for indeed
I confidered, 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 whole voy-
age by devouring all our provifions; fo I thought it no
breach of charter-party, but what an unforeſeen acci-
dent made abfolutely neceffary 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 fuch a diftreffed
condition; and the nature of the thing as well re-
fpecting
24
OF
ADVENTURES
ſpecting ourſelves, as the poor people, obliged us to fee
them on fhore fomewhere or other, for their deliver-
ance; fol confented that we would carry them to New-
foundland, if wind and weather would permit; and, if
not, that I would carry them to Martinico in the Weft-
Indies.
The wind continued freſh eafterly, 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
feveral opportunities of fending them to France; for
we met feveral fhips bound to Europe, whereof two
were French, from St. Chriſtopher's; but they had been
fo long beating up against the wind, that they durſt take
in no paflengers for fear of wanting provifions for the
voyage, as well for themſelves as for thoſe they ſhould
take in; fo we were obliged to go on. It was about a
week after this, that we made the Banks of Newfound-
land, where, to ſhorten my ſtory, we put all our French
people on board a bark, which they hired at fea there,
to put them on fhore, and afterwards to carry them to
France, if they could get provifion to victual them felves
with when, I fay, all the French went on thore, I
fhould remember, that the young prieſt I ſpoke of,
hearing we were bound to the Eaft Indies, defired to
go the voyage with us, and to be fet on ſhore on the
coaft of Coromandel: I readily agreed to that, for I
wonderfully liked the man, and had very good reafon,
as will appear afterwards; alfo four of the feamen
entered themfelves in our fhip, and proved very uſeful
fellows.
:
From hence we directed our courfe for the Weft-
Indies, fteering away S. and S. by E. for about 20 days
together, fometimes little or no wind at all, when we
met with another fubject 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, 1694-5, when we efpied
a fail, our courſe S. E. and by S. We foon perceived
it was a large veffel, and that the bore up to us; but
could not at firft know what to make of her, till, atter
coming a little nearer, we found fhe had loft her main-
top-maft fore-maft, and bowfprit; and prefently fhe
fires
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
fires a gun as a fignal of diftrefs; the weather was pretty
good, wind at N. N. W. a freſh gale, and we foon came
to ſpeak with her.
We found her a flip of Briſtol, bound home from
Barbadoes, but had been blown out of the road at Bar-
badoes, a few days before the was ready to fail, by a
terrible hurricane, while the captain and chief mate
were both gone on fhore; ſo that befide the terror of the
ftorm, they were but in an indifferent cafe for good
artifts to bring the fhip home: they had been already
nine weeks at fea, and had met with another terrible
ftorm after the hurricane was over, which had blown
them quite out of their knowledge to the westward,
and in which they loft their mafts, as above; they told
us, they expected to have feen the Bahama Iflands, but
were then driven away again to the fouth-east, by a
ftrong gale of wind at N. N. W. the fame that blew
now, and having no fails to work the fhip with, but a
main-courfe, and a kind of fquare fail upon a jury fore-
maft, which they had fet up, they could not lie near the
wind, but were endeavouring to ftand away for the
Canaries.
But that which was worst of all, was, that they were
almoſt ſtarved for want of provifions, befides the fatigues
they had undergone: their bread and flesh was quite
gone, they had not an ounce left in the fhip, 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
bar el of flour left; they had fugar enough; fome
fuccades or fweetmeats they had at firft, but they were
devoured, and they had ſeven caſks of rum.
There was a youth and his mother, and a maid-ſer-
vant, on board, who were going paffengers, and think-
ing the fhip was ready to fail, unhappily came on board
the evening before the hurricane began: and, having ne
provifions of their own left, they were in a more de-
plorable condition than the reft; for the feamen, being
reduced to fuch an extreme neceffity them.elves, had no
compaffion, we may be fure. for the poor paffengers;
and they were indeed in a condition that their miſery is
very hard to defcribe.
VOL. II.
B
I had
26
ADVENTURES OF
1
1
I had perhaps, not known this part, if my curiofity
had not led me, the weather being fair, and the wind
abated, to go on board the fhip: the fecond mate, who
upon this occafion commanded the fhip, had been on
board our fhip: and he told me indeed, that they had
three paffengers in the great cabin, that they were in a
deplorable condition; nay, fays he, I believe they are
dead, for I have heard nothing of them for above two
days and I was afraid to enquire after them, faid he,
for I had nothing to relieve them with.
We immediately applied ourselves to give them what
relief we could fpare; and indeed I had fo far over-ruled
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 fupplied ourſelves;
but there was no neceffity 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 fix men with him in his
boat;
but theſe poor wretches looked like ſkeletons, and
were fo weak, they could hardly fit to their oars: the
miate himſelf was very ill, and half ſtarved; for he de-
clared he had referved nothing from the men, and went
fhare and ſhare alike with them in every bit they eat.
I cautioned him to eat fparingly, but fet meat before
him immediately, and he had not eaten three mouthfuls
before he began to be fick, and out of order; fo he ſtopt
awhile, and our Surgeon mixed him up fomething with
fome broth, which he faid would be to him both food
and phyfick; and after he had taken it, he grew better:
in the mean time, I forgot not the men; I order'd
victuals to be given them, and the poor creatures rather
devoured than eat it; they were fo exceeding hungry,
that they were in a manner ravenous, and had no com-
mand of themſelves; and two of them eat with ſo much
greedinefs, that they were in danger of their lives the
next morning.
The fight of thefe peoples diftrefs was very moving
to me, and brought to mind what I had a terrible prof-
pect of at my first coming on fhore in my ifland, where
I had not the leaſt mouthful of food, or any hopes of
procuring it; befides the hourly apprehenfion I had
of
ROBINSON CRUSO E.
27
of being made the food of other creatures. But all the
while the mate was thus relating to me the miſerable
condition of the fhip'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
fon, and the maid fervant, whom he had heard nothing
of for two or three days; and whom he ſeemed to con-
fefs they had wholly neglected, their own extremities
being fo 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 deſk 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 fack of bread,
and four orfive pieces of beef to boil. Our furgeon charged
the men to caufe the meat to be boiled while they ſtayed,
and to keep guard in the cook-room, to prevent the mens
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 otherwife have killed themſelves with that very
food that was given them on purpoſe to fave their lives.
At the fame time, I ordered the mate to go into the
great cabin, and fee in what condition the poor paffen-
gers were in, and if they were alive, to comfort them and
give them what refreſhment was proper; and the furgeon
gave him a large pitcher with fome of the prepared broth
which he had given the mate that was on board, and
which he did not queftion would reftore them gradually.
I was not ſatisfied with this; but, as I faid above,
having a great mind to fee the ſcene of mifery, which Ĺ
knew the Thip itlelf would prefent me with, in a more
lively manner than I could have it by report, I took the
captain of the fhip, as we now called him, with me, and
went myſelf a little after in their boat.
1 found the poor men on board almoft in a tumult
to get the victuals out of the boiler beforeit was ready:
but my mate obſerved his order, and kept a good
guard at the cook-room door; and the man he
B 2
placed
28
ADVENTURES O F
placed there, after ufing all poffible perfuafion to have
patience, kept them off by force: however, he cauſed
fome biſcuit cakes to be dipped in the pot, and ſoftened
them with the liquor of the meat, which they call
brewis, and gave them every one one, to ſtay their
ftomachs, and told them it was for their own fafety 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 fome threats alfo of giving them no
more, I believe they would have broke into the cook-
room by force, and tore the meat out of the furnace ;
for words indeed are of a very fmall force to an hungry
belly: however we pacified them, and fed them gradu-
ally 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 mifery of the poop paffengers in the cabin was
of another nature, and far beyond the reft; for as, firſt,
the fhip's company had fo little for themfelves, it was
but too true, that they had at firft kept them very low,
and at laſt totally neglected them; fo that for fix or
feven days, it might be faid, they had really had no
food at all, and for feveral days before, very little.
The poor mother, who, as the first mate reported, was
a woman of good fenfe, and good breeding, had fpared
all fhe could get fo affectionately for her fon, that at laſt
the entirely funk unde. it: and when the mate of our
fhip went in, fhe fat upon the floor or deck, with her
back up againſt the fides, between two chairs, which
were lafhed faft, and her head funk in between her ſhoul-
ders, like a corpfe, though not quite dead. My mate
faid all he could to revive and encourage her, and with
a fpoon put fame broth into her mouth; the opened her
lips, and lifted up one hand, but could not ſpeak; yet
The understood what he faid, and made figns to him, in-
timating, that it was too late for her; but pointed to
her child, as if ſhe would have faid, they fhould take
care of him.
However the mate, who was exceedingly moved with
the fight, endeavoured to get fome of the broth into her
mouth; and, as he faid, got two or three fpoonfuls down,
though
ROBINSON CRUSOE..
29
though I queſtion whether he could be fure of it or not:
but it was too late, and fhe died the fame night.
The youth, who was preferved at the price of his moft
affectionate mother's life, was not fo 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 ftrength than his mother, the mate got
fomething down his throat, and he began fenfibly to re-
vive, though by giving him fome time after, but two or
three fpoonfuls extraordinary, he was very fick, and
brought it up again..
But the next care was the poor maid; the lay all along
upon the deck hard by her miſtreſs, and juſt like one that
had fallen down with an apoplexy, and ftruggled for
life; her limbs were diſtorted, one of her hands was
claſped round the frame of one chair, and the griped it
fo hard, that we could not eafily make her let it go; her
other arm lay over her head, and her feet lay both to-
gether, fet fat againft the frame of the cabin-table; in
fhort, the lay juſt like one in the laſt agonies of death;
an! yet
yet ſhe was alive too.
The poor creature was not only flarved with hunger,
and terrified with the thoughts of death, but, as the men
told us afterwards, was broken-hearted for her miſtrefs,
whom the faw 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 furgeon, 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 fenfes, for
-fhe was little leſs than diftracted for a confiderable time
after; as fhall appear prefently.
Whoever ſhall read theſe memorandums, muſt be de-
fired to confider, that vifits at fea are not like a jour-
ney into the country, where fometimes people ftay a
week or a fortnight at a place. Our bufinefs was to
relieve this diftreffed fhip's crew, but not he By for
them; and though they were willing to fteer the fame
courſe with us for fome days, yet we could carry no
fail to keep pace with a fhip that had no mafts; how-
ever, as their captain begged of us to help him to fet up
B 3.
a main-
30
ADVENTURES OF
a main top-maft, and a kind of top-maft to his jury-
fore-maft, 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 hogfheads of bifcuit, and a proportion of
peas, flour, and what other things we could fpare; and
taking three cafks of fugar and fome rum, and ſome
pieces of eight of them for fatisfaction, we left them,
taking on board with us, at their own earneſt reqneſt,
the youth, and the maid, and all their goods
The young lad was about ſeventeen years of age, a
pretty, well bred, modeft, and fenfible youth; greatly
dejected with the lofs of his mother, and as it feems,
had loft his father but a few months before at Bar-
badoes. He begged of the furgeon to fpeak to me, to
take him out of the fhip; for he faid, the cruel fellows
had murdered his mother, and indeed ſo they had, that
is to fay, paffively; for they might have fpared a fmall
fuftenance to the poor helpless widow, that might have
preferved her life, though it had been just to keep her
alive. But hunger knows no friend, no relation, no juf-
tice, no right; and therefore is remorfelefs, and capable
of no compaffion.
The furgeon 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 circumstances almoft, as we
found them in; that is to fay, ftarving in the world.
He faid he matered 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 faved his life, and
he was fure would not hurt him; and as for the maid, he
was fure, if the came to herſelf, fhe would be very thank-
ful for it, let us carry them whither we would. The fur-
geon reprefented the cafe ſo affectionately to me, that I
yielded, and we took them both on board with all their
goods, except eleven hogfheads of fugar, which could
not be removed, or come at; and as the youth had a
bill of lading for them, I made his commander fign a
writing, obliging him to go, as foon as he came to Brif-
tol, to one Mr. Rogers, a merchant there, to whom the
youth faid he was related, and to deliver a letter which
I wrote to him, and all the goods he had belonging to the
deceafed
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
3r
deceaſed widow; which I fuppofe was not done; for L
could never learn, that the fhip came to Bristol; bur
was, as is moft probable, loft at fea, being in fo difabled.
a condition, and fo far from any land, that I am of opi-.
nion, the firſt ſtorm ſhe met with afterwards, fhe might
founder in the fea; for fhe 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, tho' at
firſt the winds had been contrary. I fhall trouble no-
body with the little incidents of winds, weather, cur-
rents, &c. on the reft of our voya e; but ſhortening
my story for the fake of what is to follow, fhall obferve
that I came to my old habitation, the ifland, on the 10th
of April, 1695. It was with no fmall difficulty that I
found the place: for as I came to it, and went from it
before, on the ſouth and eaſt fide of the iſland, as com-
ing from the Brazils, fo 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 faw it, or
know whether I faw it or no.
We beat about a great while, and went on fhore on
feveral iflands in the mouth of the great riverOroonoque
but none for my purpofe; only this I learned by my
coafting the fhore, that I was under one great miſtake
before, viz. that the continent which I thought I faw,
from the iſland I lived in, was really no continent, but
a long ifland, or rather a ridge of iflands reaching from,
one to the other fide of the extended mouth of that.
great river; and that the favages who came to my ifland,
were not properly thofe which we call Caribees, but
iflanders, and other Barbarians of the fame kind, who
inhabited fomething nearer to our fide than the reſt.
In ſhort, I visited feveral of the iflands to no purpoſe;
fome I found were inhabited, and fome were not. On
one of them I found fome Spaniards, and thought they
had lived there; but, ſpeaking with them, found they
had a floop lay in a fmall creek hard by, and that they
came thither to make falt, and catch fome pearl-muſcles
if they could; but they belonged to the ile de Trini-
dad, which lay farther north, in the latitude of 10 and
11 degrees.
B 4
Thus
32
ADVENTURES OF
Thus coafting from one ifland to another, fometimes.
with the fhip, fometimes with the Frenchman's fhallop,
which we had found a convenient boat, and therefore
kept her with their very good will, at length I came fair
on the fouth-fide of my ifland, and I prefently knew the
very countenance of the place; fo I brought the fhip
fafe to an anchor, broadfide with the little creek where
was my old habitation.
As foon as I faw 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, Oyes, 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 fea, to
fwim afhere to the place.
Well, Friday, faid I, do you think we ſhall find any
body here or no? And what do you think, fhall we fee
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 fee the tears run
down his face very plentifully. What is the matter Fri-
day, faid I? Are you troubled becauſe you may ſee your
father? No, no, fays he, fhaking his head, no fee him
more, no ever more fee again. Why fo, faid I Friday?
How do you know that? Ŏ no, O no, fays Friday, he
long ago die; long ago he much old man. Well, well
faid I, Friday, you don't know: bat fhall we fee any one
elfe then: the fellow, it feems, had better eyes than I,
and he points juſt to the hill above my old houſe; and
tho' we lay half a league off, he cries out Me fee! me
fée! 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 fuppofe, becauſe I could
not hit the place; for the fellow was right, as I found
upon enquiry the next day, and there were five or fix
men altogether ſtood to look at the fhip, not knowing
what to think of us.
As foon as Friday had told me he faw 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 ſmoak rife
from the fide of the creek; ſo I immediately ordered
a boat
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
33
*
a boat out, taking Friday with me; and, hanging out a
white flag, or a flag of trace, I went directly on fhore;
taking with me the young frier I mentioned, to whom I
had told the whole ftory of my living there, and the
manner of it, and every particular, both of myfelf, and
thofe that I left there, and who was on that account
extremely defirous to go with me. We had befides about
fixteen men very well armed, if we had found any new
gueft there which we did not know of; but we had no
need of weapons.
As we went on fhore 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 faved, and whom I knew by his face perfectly well;
as to his habit, I fhall defcribe it afterwards. I ordered
no body to go on fhore at first but myſelf, but there was
no keeping Friday in the boat, for the affectionate crea-
ture had fpyed his father at a diftance, a good way off of
the Spaniards, where indeed I faw nothing of him, and
if they had not let him go on fhore, he would have
jumped into the fea. He was no fooner on ſhore, but
he flew away to his father like an arrow out of a bow.
It would have made any man fhed tears, in ſpite of the
firmeft refolution, to have feen the first tranſports of this
poor fellow's joy, when he came to his father; how he
embraced him, kiffed him, ftroaked his face, took him up
in his arms, fet him down upon a tree, and lay down by
him; then ſtood and looked at him, as any one would
look at a ftrange picture, for a quarter of an hour toge-
ther; then lay down upon the ground, and ſtroaked his
legs, and kiffed 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 fee how the next
day his paffion ran out another way: in the morning he
walked along the fhore, to and again, with his father
feveral 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 to the boat
either a lump of fugar, or a dram, a bifcuit, or fome
thing or other that was good. In the afternoon his fro-
lics run another wav, for then he would fet the old
man down upon the ground, and dance about him, and
B 5
made
34
ADVENTURES OF
made a thouſand antic podures and geftures; 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
fhort, if the fame filial affection was to be found in chrif-
tians to their parents, in our parts of the world, one
would be tempted to fay, there hardly would have been
any need of the fifth commandment.
But this is a digreffion; 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 faid, I knew very well, was he who e
life I faved; he came towards the boat, attended by one
more, carrying a flag of truce alfo; and he did not only
not know me at firft, but he had no thoughts no notion,
of its being me that was come, till I spoke to him: Seig-
nior, ſaid I in Portugueſe, do you not know me? At which
he fpoke not a word; but giving his mufquet to the man
that was with him, threw his arms abroad, and ſaying
fomething in Spaniſh, that I did not perfectly hear, came
forward, and embraced me, telling me he was inexcufable,
not to know that face again, that he had once feen, as of
an angel from heaven, fent to fave his life: he ſaid a-
bundance of very handſome things, as a well-bred Spa-
niard 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 poffeffion of my own.
houſe again, and where I fhould fee there had been but
mean improvements; fo 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 fo many trees,
and placed them in fuch a poſture, ſo thick and cloſe to
one another, in ten years time they were grown fo big,
that, in short, the place was inacceffible, except by fuch
windings and blind ways, as they themſelves only who
made them could find.
I aſked them, what put them upon all theſe fortifica-
tions? He told me, I would fay there was need enough
of it, when they had given an account how they had
paffed their time fince their arriving in the iſland, eſpe-
cially after they had the misfortune to find, that I was
+
gone:
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
331
gone: he told me he could not have but ſome fatisfac-.
tion in my good fortune, when he heard that I was gone-
in a good fhip, and to my fatisfaction; and that he had
oftentimes a itrong perfuafion, that one time or other he
fhould fee me again: but nothing that ever befel him
in his life, he faid, was fo furcrifing and afflicting to him:
at first, as the diſappointment he was under when he
came back to the ifland, and found I was not there.
As to the three Barbarians (fo he called them) that
were lef: behind, and of whom he faid he had a long
ſtory to tell me; the Spaniards all thought themfelves
much better among the favages, only that their number
was fo fmall. And, fays he, had they been ſtrong
enough, we had been all long ago in purgatory; and
with that he croffed himſelf upon the breaft. But, Sir,
fays he, I hope you will not be diſpleaſed, when 1 fhall
tell you how, forced by neceffity, we were obliged, for our
own preſervation, to diſarm them, and making them our
fubjects, who would not be content with being moderately
our mafters, but would be our murderers. I anſwered, I
was heartily afraid of it when I left them there; and no-
thing troubled me at my parting from the island, but that
they were not come back, that I might have put them in
poffeffion of every thing firft, and left the other in a ftate
of fubjection, as they deíerved: but if they had reduced
them to it, I was very glad, and fhould 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 mifchief.
While I was faying this, came the man whom he had
fent back, and with him eleven men more: in the
drefs they were in, it was impoffible to gueſs what na-
tion they were of; but he made all clear both to them
and to me. Firſt he turned to me, and pointing to them,
faid, Thefe, Sir, are fome of the gentlemen who owe
their lives to you; and then turning to them, and point--
ing to me, he let them know who I was; upon which
they all came up one by one, not as if they had been:
failors, and ordinary fellows, and I the like, but really,
as if they had been ambaffadors or noblemen, and I
a monarch, or a great conqueror: their behaviour was
to the laſt degree obliging and courteous, and yet
B.6
mixed
36
ADVENTURES OF
mixed with a manly, majeſtic gravity, which very well
became them; and, in fhort, they had fo much more
manners than I, that I fcarce knew how to receive their
civilities, much lefs how to return them in kind.
The hiftory of their coming to, and conduct in the
ifland, after my going away, is fo remarkable, and has
fo 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 fhall no longer trouble the story with a relation in
the first perfon, which will put me to the expence of
ten thouſand ſaid I's, and faid he's, and he told me's
and I told him's, and the like; but I fhall 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 converfing with them, and with the
place.
In order to do this fuccinctly, and as intelligibly as I
can, I must go back to the circumftance in which I left
the iſland, and which the perfons were in, of whom I
am to ſpeak. At firft it is neceffary to repeat, that I had
fent away Friday's father and the Spaniards, the two
whofe lives I had refcued from the favages; I fay, I
had fent 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 fave them
from the like calamity that he had been in; and in or-
der to fuccour them for the prefent, and that, if poffible
we might together find fome way for our deliverance af-
terward.
When I fent 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 fhore 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 ftrangers left on the fpot, poffeffed of
all that I had left behind me, which would otherwiſe
have been their own.
The
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
37
"
The first thing, however which I enquired into,
that I might begin where I left off, was of their own
part: and I defired he would give me a particular ac
count of his voyage back to his countrymen with the
boat, when I fent him to fetch them over. He told
me there was little variety in that part; for nothing re-
markable happened to them on the way, they having
very calm weather, and a ſmooth fea; for his coun
trymen, it could not be doubted, he ſaid, but that they
were overjoyed to fee him: (it feems he was the prin-
cipal man among them, the captain of the veffel they
had been fhipwrecked in, having been dead fome time:)
They were, he ſaid, the more furpriſed to ſee him, be-
cauſe they knew that he was fallen into the hands of
favages, who, they were fatisfied, 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 aftoniſhment, they
faid, was ſomething like that of Jofeph's brethren,
when he told them who he was, and told them the
ſtory of his exaltation in Pharaoh's court: but when
he fhewed them the arms, the powder, the ball, and
the provifions that he brought them for their journey
or voyage, they were reftored to themfelves, took a
juft fhare of the joy of their deliverance, and imme-
diately prepared to come away with him.
ร
Their first bufinefs was to get canoes; and in this
they were obliged not to stick to much upon the honeſt
part of it, but to trefpafs upon their friendly favages,
and to borrow two large canoes or periagua's on pre-
tence of going out a fifhing, or for pleaſure.
In theſe they came away the next morning; it ſeems
they wanted no time to get themfelves ready, for they
had no baggage, neither clothes, or provifions, 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 occafion offered
for my efcape, as I mentioned in my other part, and
to get off from the iſland; leaving three of the most
impudent, hardened, ungoverned difagreeable villains
behind
38
OF
ADVENTURES
behind me, that any man could defire to meet with, to
the poor Spaniards great grief and diſappointment,
you may be lure.
The only just thing the rogues did, was, that when
the Spaniards came on fhore, they gave my letter to
them, and gave them pro ions, 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, con-
taining 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 refufe to accommodate the
Spaniards with any thing else, for they agreed very well
for fome time, they gave them an equal admiffion into
the houſe, or cave, and they began to live very fociably;:
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, fhoot parrots, and catch
tortoiſes, and when they came home at night, the Spa--
niards provided their fuppers for them.
:
The Spaniards would have been ſatisfied with this,
would the other but have let them alone; which, how-
ever, 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,
infolence that can be imagined, without reafon, without
provocation, contrary to nature, and indeed, to com-
mon fenſe; 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, Ir
muſt ſupply a defect in my former relation; and this
was, that I forgot to fet down among the reft, that,
juſt as we were weighing the anchor to fet fail, there
hap.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
39***
}
happened a little quarrel on board our fhip, which I was
afraid once would turn to a ſecond mutiny; nor was it
appeaſed, till the captain, roufing up his courage, and
taking us all to his affiftance, parted them by force,
and making two of the most refractory fellows prifon-
ers, he laid them in irons; and as they had been active
in the former diſorders, and let fall fome ugly danger-
ous 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 fhip.
This, it feems, though the captain did not intend to
do it, frighted fome other men in the fhip; and fome
of them had put it in the heads of the reft, that the cap-
tain only gave them good words for the prefent, till they
fhould come to fome English port; and that then they
fhould 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 defired, that Ỉ, who ſtill.
paſſed for a great man among them, fhould go down
with the mate, and fatisfy the men, and tell them, that
they might be affured, if they behaved well the reſt of
the voyage, all they had done for the time paft, ſhould
be pardoned. So I went, and after paffing 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
releafed and forgiven.
But this mutiny had brought us to an anchor for that
night, the wind alfo falling calm; next morning we
found, that our two men who had been laid in irons,
had ſtole each of them a mufket, and fome other wea-
pons; what powder or ſhot they had, we knew not;
and had taken the fhip's pinnace, which was not yet
haled up, and run away with her to their companions
in roguery on fhore.
As foon as we found this, I ordered the long-boat on
fhore, with twelve men and the mate, and away they
went to ſeek the rogues; but they could neither find
them, nor any of the reft; for they all fled into the woods,
when they faw the boat coming on fhore. The mate
was once refolved, in juſtice to their roguery, to have
deftroyed their plantations, burnt all their houthold-ſtuff
and furniture, and left them to ſhift without it; but
having
40
OF
ADVENTURES
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 fo much wickeder than thefe,
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 perfuaded
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 per-
fuaded the three Engliſh brutes to have taken in their
two countrymen again, that, as they faid, they might
be all one family; but they would not hear of it: fo
the two poor fellows lived by themſelves, and finding
nothing but induíry and application would make them
live comfortable, they pitched their tents on the north
fhore of the ifland, but a little more to the weft, to be
out of the danger of the favages, 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 ftores in; and the
Spaniards having given them fome corn for feed, and
efpecially fome of the peas which I had left them, they
dug and planted, and inclofed, after the pattern I had
fet 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 firft,
having had but a little time, yet it was enough to re-
lieve them, and find them with bread and other eatables;
and one of the fellows, being the cook's mate of the
fhip, was very ready at making foup, puddings, and
fuch other preparations, as the rice, and the milk, and
fuch little fleſh as they got, furniſhed him to do.
They were going on in a little thriving pofture, 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 go-
vernor, meaning me, had given them poffeffion of it,
and nobody elſe had any right to it; and damn them
they
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
41
they fhould build no houfes upon their ground, unleſs
they would pay them rent for them.
The two men thought they had jeſted at first; and
afked them to come and fit down, and fee 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 leafe, and bid them go fetch a ſcrivener to
draw the writings. One of the three, damning and raging,
told them, they should fee they were not in a jeft; and go-
ing to a little place at a diſtance, where the honeft men
had made a fire to dreſs their victuals, he takes a fire-
brand, and clafps it to the outfide of their hut, and very
fairly fet 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 fome difficulty too.
+
The fellow was in fuch a rage at the honef 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, feeing the danger they
were both in, ran in after him, and immediately they
came both out with their mufquets; and the man that
was firſt ſtruck at with the pole, knocked the fellow
down, who began the quarrel, with the ſtock of their
mufquet, and that before the other two could come to
help him; and then ſeeing the reſt come at them, they
food together, and prefenting the other ends of their
pieces to them, bade them ftand off..
The other had firearms with them too; but one of
the two honeft men, bolder than his comrade, and made
defperate 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, feeing him re-
folute, it brought them to a parley, and they confented
to take their wounded man with them, and be gone;
and indeed, it feems the fellow was wounded fufficient-
ly with the blow; however, they were much in the
wrong,
42
ADVENTURES OF
wrong, fince they had the advantage, that they did not
difarin them effectually, as they might have done, and
have gone immediately to the Spaniards, and given them-
an account how the rogues had treated them; for the
three villains ftudied nothing but revenge, and every
day gave them ſome intimation that they did fo.
But not to croud this part with an account of the lef-
fer part of their rogueries, fuch as treading down their
corn, fhooting three young kids, and a fhe-goat, which
the poor man 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 fuch a deſperation,
that they refolved to fight them all three the first time
they had a fair opportunity. In order to this they re-
folved to go to the caftle, 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 fhould ftand by to fee 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.
4
It happened that the day before, two of the Spaniards,.
having been in the woods, had feen one of the two
Engliſhmen, whom, for diſtinction, I call the honeſt men,
and he had made a fad complaint to the Spaniards, of
the barbarous ufage they had met with from their three
countrymen, and how they had ruined their plantation.,
and destroyed their corn, that they had laboured fo hard
to bring forward, and killed the milch-goat, and their
three kids, which was all they had provided for their
fuftenance; and that if he and his friends, meaning
the Spaniards, did not affift them again, they ſhould be
ftarved. When the Spaniards came home at night, and
they were all at fupper, he took the freedom to reprove
the three Engliſhmen, though in gentle and mannerly
terms, and aſked them, how they could be fo cruel,
they being harmleſs inoffenfive fellows, and that they
were putting themſelves in a way to fubfift by their la
bour, and that it had cost them a great deal of pains to
bring things to fuch perfection as they had.
*
One;
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
43
One of the Englishmen returned very brifkly, What
had they to do there? That they came on fhore without
leave, and that they ſhould not plant or build upon the
ifland; it was none of their ground. Why, fays the
Spaniard, very calmly, Seignior Inglefe, they must not
ftarve. The Englishman replied, like a true ruff-hewn
tarpaulin, they might ſtarve and be damn'd, they ſhould
not plant, nor build in that place. But what muſt they
do then, Seignior, fays 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 fervants. The Engliſhmen
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 fwore by his Maker, that he
would go and burn all their new huts; they ſhould
build none upon their land.
Why, Seignior, fays the Spaniard, by the fame rule
we muſt be your fervants too. Ay, fays 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 in-
tervals of his fpeech. The Spaniard only fmiled at
that, and made him no anſwer. However, this little diſ-
courſe had heated them; and ſtarting up, one fays 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
fhall 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 fome
infolent things among themſelves, of what they would
do to the Spaniards too, when opportunity offered; but
the Spaniards, it feems, did not fo perfectly understand
them as to know all the particulars; only, that, in ge-
neral, they threatened them hard for taking the two
Engliſhmen's part.
Whither they went or how they beſtowed their time
that evening, the Spaniards faid, they did not know;
but it ſeem they wandered about the country, part of
the night; and then lying down in the place which I
ufed to call my bower, they were weary, and overdept
them-
44
OF
ADVENTURES
themſelves. The cafe was this: They had refolved to
ftay till midnight, and fo take the poor men when they
were aſleep; and they acknowledged it afterwards, in-
tending to fet 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 feldom fleeps very found, it
was very ſtrange they would not have been kept waking.
However, as the two men had alfo a defign upon
them, as I have faid, tho' 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, be-
fore 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 mufed awhile to think
what ſhould be the occafion of their being gone abroad
fo foon, and fuggefled prefently, that the Spaniards had
given them notice of it; and with that they fhook
hands, and ſwore to one another, that they would be
revenged of the Spaniards. As foon as they had made
this bloody bargain, they fell to work with the poor
mens habitation; they did not fet fire indeed to any
thing, but they pulled down both their houſes, and pul-
led them fo limb from limb, that they left not the leaſt
ſtick ſtanding, or ſcarce any fign on the ground where
they ftood; they tore all their little collected houfhold-
ſtuff in pieces, and threw every thing about in ſuch a
manner, that the poor men found, afterwards, fome 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
incloſure they had made to fecure their cattle and their
corn; and, in a word, facked 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 where ever they had been
tho' they were but two to three: fo that, had they met
there certainly would have been bloodshed among them;
for they were all very ftout, refolute fellows, to give
them their due.
But Providence took more care to keep them aſun-
der,
Ansell dei.
ROBINSON CRUSOE'S
Inhabitants dispute & sFight,
Barlor foulp
Biblished as the Act di vocks, Sine 10.3790, by 11 "Sone. Sendenhall Hver.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
45
,"
der, 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
vo went back to find them, the three were come to the
old habitation again; we fhall fee their different con-
duct preſently. When the three came back, like furious
creatures, flufhed 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 fcoff and bravado; and one of them ftepping up to
one of the Spaniards, as if they had been a couple of
boys at play, takes hold of his hat, as it was upon his
head, and giving it a twirl about, fleering in his face,
fays he to him, And you, Seignior Jack Spaniard, ſhall
have the fame fauce, if you do not mend your manners.
The Spaniard, who, though quite a civil man, was as
brave as a man could defire to be, and withal a ſtrong
well made man, looked fteadily at him for a good
while; and then, having no weapon in his hand, ſtept
gravely up to him, and with one blow of his fift, knock-
ed him down, as an ox is felled with a pole-ax, at which
one of the rogues infolent as the firft, fired his piftol at
the Spaniard immediately; he miffed 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 fome heat,
for before he acted all in a perfect calm; but now re-
folving to go through with his work, he ftooped and
took the fellow's mufquet whom he had knocked down,
and was just going to fhoct the man who had fired at
him; when the rest of the Spaniards, being in the cave,
came out, and calling him not to ſhoot, they ſtepped in,
fecured the other two, and took their arms from them.
When they were thus difarmed, 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, confidering 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
46
ADVENTURES OF
no harm; and if they would live peaceably they would
be very willing to affiſt and affociate with them, as they
did before; but that they could not think of giving them
their arms again, while they appeared fo refolved to do
miſchief with them to their own countrymen, and had
even threatened them all to make them their fervants.
The rogues were now more capable to hear reafon
than to act reaſon; but being refuſed their arms, they
went raving away, and raging like madmen, threaten-
ing what they would do, though they had no fire arms:
but the Spaniards, defpifing 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 beafts, 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, fwear-
ing and raging like furies of hell. As foon as they
were gone, came back the two men in paffion and rage
enough alſo, though of another kind; for, having been
at their plantation, and finding it all demoliſhed and de-
ſtroyed, as above, it will eafily be fuppofed they had
provocation enough; they could ſcarce have room to
tell their tale, the Spaniards were fo eager to tell them
theirs; and it was strange enough to find, that three
men ſhould thus bully nineteen, and receive no puniſh-
ment at all.
The Spaniards indeed defpifed them, and efpecially
having thus difarmed, made light of their threat-
enings: but the two Engliſhmen refolved to have their
remedy againſt them, what pains foever it coft to find
them out.
But the Spaniards interpofed here too, and told them,
that they were already difarmed: they could not confent,
that they (the two) fhould purſue them with fire-arms,
and perhaps kill them: but, faid the grave Spaniard,
who was their governor, we will endeavour to make,
them do you juftice, if you will leave it to us; for, as
there is no doubt but they will come to us again when
their paffion is over, being not able to fubfift without
our affiſtance, we promife you to make no peace with
them, without having a full fatisfaction for you; and
upon
ROBINSON CRUSO E.
47
upon this condition we hope you will promife to ufe no
violence with them, other than in your defence.
疲
​The two Engliſhmen yielded to this very aukwardly,
and with great reluctance; but the Spaniards proteſted
they did it only to keep them from bloodſhed, and to
make all eafy at laſt; for, fald they, we are not fo
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 confent, and waited for the iſſue of the thing,
living for fome days with the Spaniards; for their own
habitation was deſtroyed.
In about five days after the three vagrants, tired
with wandering, and almoſt ſtarved with hunger, hav-
ing chiefly lived on turtles eggs all that while, came
back to the grove and finding my Spaniard who, as
I have faid, was the governor, and two more with him,
walking by the fide of the creek; they came up in a
very fubmiffive humble manner, and begged to be re-
ceived again into the family. The Spaniards ufed them
civilly, but told them, they had acted fo unnaturally by
their countrymen, and ſo very groſsly by them (the
Spaniards) that they could not come to any conclu-
fion with ut conſulting the two Engliſhmen, and the
reft; but, however, they would go to them, and diſ-
courſe about it, and they fhould know in half an hour.
It may be gueſſed, that they were very hard put to it;
for it feems, as they were to wait this half hour for an
anſwer, they begged he would ſend them out ſome bread
in the mean time; which he did, and ſent them at the
fame time a large piece of goat's flefh, and a broiled
parrot; which they eat very heartily, for they were
hungry enough.
After half an hour's confultation they were called in,
and a long debate had about them, their two country-
men charging them with the ruin of all their labour,
and a defign 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,
fo they now obliged the three to go and rebuild their
fellows two huts, one to be of the fame dimenfions,
and
48
ADVENTURES OF
and the other larger than they were before; alfo to fence
their ground again, where they had pulled up the fences,
plant trees in the room of thofe pulled up, dig up the
land again for planting corn, where they had ſpoiled it;
and, in a word, to restore every thing in the fame ſtate
as they found it, as near as they could; for entirely it could
not be, the feaſon for the corn, and the growth of the
trees and hedges, not being poffible to be recovered.
Well, they all fubmitted to this; and as they had
plenty of provifions given them all the while, they
grew very orderly, and the whole fociety began to live
pleaſantly and agreeably together again; only that theſe
three fellows could never be perfuaded to work; I mean
not for themſelves, except now and then a little, juſt as
they pleaſed; however, the Spaniards told them plainly,
that if they would but live fociably and friendly together,
and ſtudy in the whole the good of the 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 Spa-
niards gave them their arms again, and gave them liber-
ty to go abroad with them as before.
It was not above a week after they had thefe arms,
and went abroad, but the ungrateful creatures began to
be as infolent and troubleſome as before ; but however,
an accident happened prefently upon this, which en-
dangered the ſafety of them all; they were obliged to
lay by all private refentments, and look to the prefer-
vation of their lives.
+
It happened one night, that the Spaniard governor,
as I call him, that is to ſay, the Spaniard whofe life I
had faved, who was now the captain, or leader, or
governor of the reft, found himſelf very uneafy in the
night, and could by no means get any fleep: he was
perfectly well in body, as he told me the ftory, only
found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon
men fighting, and killing one another, but was broad
awake, and could not by any means get any fleep; in
fhort, he lay a great while; but growing more and more
uneafy, he reſolved to rife: as they lay, being fo many
of them, upon goat-ſkins, laid thick upon fuch couches
and pads as they made for themſelves, and not in ham-
mocks
ROBINSON CRUSO E.
49
mocks and ſhip-beds, as I did, who was but one ; fo
they had little to do, when they were willing to riſe,but
to get up upon their feet, and perhaps put on a coat,
fuch as it was, and their pumps, and they were ready for
going any way that their thoughts guided them.
Being thus gotten up, he looked out; but, being dark,
he could fee little or nothing; and befides, the trees
which I had planted, as in my former account is deſcrib-
ed, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his
fight, ſo that he could only look up, and fee that it was
a clear ftar-light night; and, hearing no noife, he re-
turned and laid him down again; but it was all one, he
could not fleep, nor could he compofe himſelf to any
thing like reft, but his thoughts were to the laft degree
uneaſy, and yet he knew not for what.
Having made fome noife with rifing and walking
about, going out and coming in, another of them waked,
and, calling, aſked who it was that was up? The go-
vernor told him, how it had been with him: Say you
fo? fays the other Spaniard; fuch things are not to be
flighted, I affure you; there is certainly fome mifchief
working, fays he, near us; and prefently he asked him,
Where are the Engliſhmen? They are all in their huts,
fays he, fafe enough. It feems, the Spaniards had kept
poffeffion of the main apartment, and had made a place,
where the three Engliflimen, fince their laſt mutiny, al-
ways quartered by themſelves, and could not come at the
reft. Well, fays the Spaniard, there is fomething in it,
I am perfuaded from my own experience; I am fatisfied
our fpirits embodied have converfe with, and receive in-
telligence from, the fpirits unembodied, and inhabiting
the invifible world; and this friendly notice is given for
our advantage, if we know how to make uſe of it.
Come, fays 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 ftory to the purpoſe, that fhall convince you of
juſtice of my propofing it.
my
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, ufed none of
cautions to go up by the ladder, and then pulling it
up after them, to go up a fecond ſtage to the top, but
VOL. II.
C
were
ADVENTURES OF
were going round through the grove unconcerned and
unwary, when they were furpriſed with feeing 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 favages land-
ing on the iſland, it was my conftant care to prevent
them making the leaſt diſcovery of there being any in-
habitant upon the place; and when by any neceffity
they came to know it, they felt it fo effectually, that
they that got away, were fcarce able to give any ac-
count of it, for we difappeared as foon as poffible, nor
did ever any that had feen me, efcape to tell any one
elfe, except it were the three favages in our laſt en-
counter, who jumped into the boat, of whom I mention-
ed, that I was afraid they ſhould go home, and bring
more help.
Whether it was the confequence of the efcape of
thoſe men, that fo great a number came now together;
or whether they came ignorantly, and by accident, on
their ufual bloody errand, the Spaniards could not it
feems 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 favages
have ſeen, that there were any inhabitants in the place;
but to have fallen upon them fo 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 prefence of mind was wanting to them,
which was the ruin of their tranquility for a great
while.
We need not doubt, but that the governor, and the
man with him, ſurpriſed with this fight; ran back imme-
diately, 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 impoffible to per-
fuade them to ftay clofe within where they were, but
that they muſt all run out to fee how things ſtood
While it was dark indeed, they were well enough,
and they had opportunity enough for fome hours, to
view them by the light of three fires, they had made
at fome distance from one another; what they were
doing,
ROBINSON CRUSOE;
Sx
doing they knew not, and what to do themſelves they
knew not; for, firft, the enemy were too many; and,
fecondly, they did not keep together, but were divided
into feveral parties, and were on fhore in ſeveral places.
The Spaniards were in no fmall confternation at this
fight and as they found, that the fellows ran straggling
all over the ſhore, they made no doubt, but, firſt or laſt,
fome of them would chop in upon their habitation, er
upon ſome other place, where they would fee the tokens
of inhabitants; and they were in great perplexity alſo
for fear of their flock of goats, which would have been
little lefs than ftarving them, if they ſhould have been
deſtroyed; fo the first thing they refolved 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 feen the favages altogether in one
body, and at a distance from their conoes, they reſolv-
ed, if there had been and hundred of them, to have at-
tacked them; but that could not be obtained, for,
they were fome of them two miles off from the other,
and, as it appeared afterwards, were of two different
nations.
After having mufed a great while on the courſe they
fhould take, and beaten their brains in confidering their
prefent circumftances; they refolved at laft, while it
was dark, to fend the old favage (Friday's father) out,
as a ſpy, to learn, if poffible, fomething concerning
them, as what they came for, and what they intended
to do, and the like; the old man readily undertook
it, and, ftripping himself, quite naked, as moſt of
the favages 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 feveral nations, who had war
with one another, and had had a great battle in their
own country, and that both fides having had feveral
prifoners taken in the fight, they were by mere chance
landed in the fame ifland, for the devouring their
priſoners, and making merry; but their coming fo by
@hance to the fame place, had fpoiled all their mirth;
C 2
that
52
ADVENTURES OF
that they were in a great rage at one another, and were
fo near, that he believed they would fight again, as ſoon
as day-light began to appear; but he did not perceive,
that they had no notion of any body's being on the
land but themfelves. He had hardly made an end of
telling the ftory, when they could perceive, by the un-
ufual noife they made, that the two little armies were
engaged in a bloody fight.
Friday's father uſed all the arguments he could to
perfuade our people to lie clofe, and not be feen; he
told them, their fafety confifted in it, and that they had
nothing to do but to lie ftill, and the favages would kill
one another to their hands, and the rest would go away;
and it was fo to a tittle. But it was impoffible to pre-
vail, especially upon the Engliſhmen; their curiofity
was fo importunate upon their prudentials, that they
must run out and fee the battle: however, they uſed
fome caution, viz. they did not go openly, juft by their
own dwelling, but went farther into the woods, and
placed themfelves to advantage, where they might fe-
curely fee them manage the fight, and, as they thought
not to be ſeen by them; but, it feems, the favages did
fee them, as we fhall find hereafter.
The battle was very fierce, and if I might believe
the Engliſhmen, one of them faid, he could perceive,
that ſome of them were men of great bravery, of invin-
cible fpirits, and of great policy in guiding the fight.
The battle, they faid, held two hours, before they
could guefs which party would be beaten; but then
that party which was neareſt our people's habitation,
began to appear weakest, and after fome time more,
fome of them began to fly; and this put our men again
into a great confternation, left any of thofe that fled
fhould run into the grove, before their dwelling, for
Thelter, and thereby involuntarily diſcover the place;
and that by confequence the purfuers fhould do the
like in fearch for them. Upon this they refolved, that
they would ſtand armed within the wall, and whoever
came into the grove, they ſhould fally out over the
wall, and kill them; fo that, if poffible, not one ſhould
return to give an account of it; they ordered alſo, that
it fhould be done with their fwords, or by knocking
them
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
53
army
them down with the ſtock of the mufquet, not by ſhoot-
ing them, for fear of raifing an alarm by the noiſe.
As they expected, it fell out; three of the routed
fled for life, and croffing the creek, ran directly
into the place, not in the leaſt knowing whither they
went, but running as into a thick wood for fhelter; the
ſcout they kept to look abroad, gave notice of this
within, with this addition, to our men's great fatif-
faction, viz. That the conquerors had not purſued
them, or feen which way they were gone. Upon this, the
Spaniard governor, a man of humanity, would not
fuffer them to kill the three fugitives; but, fending three
men out by the top of the hill, ordered them to go round,
and come in behind them, furprize and take them pri-
foners, which was done; the refidue of the conquered.
people fled to their canoes, and got off to fea: the vic-
tors retired, and made no purfuit, or very little; but,
drawing themfelves into a body together, gave two great
fcreaming fhouts, which they fuppofed were by way
of triumph, and fo the fight ended; and the fame day,.
about three o'clock in the afternoon, they alfo marched
to their canoes, and thus the Spaniards had their iſland
again free to themſelves, their fright was over, and they´
faw no favages in feveral 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 fpot; fome
were killed with great long arrows, feveral of which
were found ſticking in their bodies; but moſt of them
were killed with their great wooden fwords, fixteen or
feventeen of which they found in the field of battle,
and as many bows, with a great many arrows; theſe
fwords were great unweildy 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 fay, 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 inexpreffible 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.
C 3.
This
54
ADVENTURES OF
This deliverance tamed our Engliſhmen for a great
while; the fight had filled them with horror, and the
confequence appeared terrible to the laft degree, eſpeci-
ally upon fuppofing that fome time or other they fhould
fall into the hands of thofe creatures; who would not
only kill them as enemies, but kill them for food, as we
kill our cattle. And they profeffed to me, that the
thoughts of being eaten up like beef or mutton, though
it was fuppofed it was not to be till they were dead, had
fomething in it ſo horrible, that it naufeated their very
ftomachs, made them fick when they thought of it, and
filled their minds with unufual terror, that they were
not themfelves for fome weeks after.
This, as I faid, 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
bufinefs of the whole fociety well enough; planted,
fowed, reaped, and began to be all naturalized to the
country; but fome time after this, they fell all into
fuch fimple meafvres a_ain as brought them into a great
deal of trouble.
They had taken three prifoners, as 1 had obferved;
and there three being lufty flout young fellows, they
made them fervants, and taught them to work for them,
and, as flaves they did well enough; but they did not
take their meaſures with them as I did by my man Fri-
day, viz. to begin with them upon the principle of hav-
ing faved their lives, and then inftructed them in the ra-
tional principles of life, much lefs of religion, civilizing
and reducing them by kind ufage, and affectionate ar-
guings; but, as they gave them their food every day,
fo 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 affift 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 faid above, had
effectually reconciled them) they began to confider their
general circumftances; and the first thing that came
under their confideration was, whether feeing the
favages particularly haunted that fide of the inland,
and
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
55
and that there were more remote and retired parts of it
equally adapted to their way of living, and manifeftly to
their advantage, they ſhould not rather remove their ha-
bitation, and plant in fome more proper place for their
ſafety, and eſpecially for the fecurity of their cattle and
corn.
Upon this, after long debate, it was conceived, that
they ſhould not remove their habitation; becauſe that
fome time or other they thought they might hear from
their governor again, meaning me: and if I ſhould ſend
any one to feek them, I would be fure to direct them on
that fide, where, if they ſhould find the place demoliſhed,
they would conclude the ſavages had killed us all, and
we were gone, and fo our ſupply would go away toò.
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 fecond thoughts, they al-
tered one part of that refolution too, and refolved only
to remove part of their cattle thither, and plant part of
their corn there; and fo, if one part was destroyed, the
other might be faved: and one piece of prudence they
uſed, which it was very well they did, viz. That they
never trufted theſe three favages, 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 neceffity, as a fafe retreat; and thither they car-
ried alſo the two barrels of powder, which I had left
them at my coming away.
But, however, they refolved not to change their ha-
bitation; yet they agreed, that as I had carefully co-
vered it firft with a wall or fortification, and then with
a grove of trees; fo, feeing their fafety confifted en-
tirely in their being concealed, of which they were now
fully convinced; they fet to work to cover and conceal
the place yet more effectually than before: to this pur-
pofe, as I had planted trees (or rather thruſt in ſtakes,
which in time all grew to be trees) for fome good
diſtance before the entrance into my apartment, they
went on in the fame manner, and filled up the rest of
that whole ſpace of ground, from the trees I had fet,
C4
quite
55
OF
ADVENTURES
quite down to the fide of the creek, where, as I faid, I
landed my floats, and even in the very ouze where
the tide йowed, not fo much as leaving any place to
land, or any fign that there had been any landing
thereabouts; thefe ftakes alfo, being of a wood very
forward to grow, as I have noted formerly, they took
care to have generally very much larger and taller than
thoſe which I had planted, and placed them fo very thick
and cloſe, that when they had been three or four years
grown, there was no piercing with the eye any confide-
rable 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 fo thick, that, in a word, it ſtood like a pali-
fado a quarter of a mile thick, and it was next to im-
poffible 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.
fo
But this was not all; for they did the fame 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 fo
much as for themſelves to come out, but by the ladder
placed up to the fide 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 affiſt it, could come at
them.
This was excellently well contrived; nor was it leſs
than what they afterwards found occafion for; which
ferved to convince me, that as human prudence has au-
thority of providence to juſtify it, ſo it has, doubtleſs,
the direction of providence to fet it to work; and, would
we liſten carefully to the voice of it, I am fully perfuaded
we might prevent many of the difafters which our lives
are now by our own negligence fubjected to. But this
by the way.
I return to the ftory: They lived two years after this
in perfect retirement, and had no more vifits from the
favages; they had indeed, an alarm given them one
morning, which put them in a great confternation ;
for, fome of the Spaniards being out early one
morning on the weft fide, or rather end of the ifland,
which,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
57
which, by the way, was that end where I never went, for
fear of being difcovered, they were furprized with feeing
above twenty canoes of Indians just coming on fhore.
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 obfervation: but they had the good luck
to be miſtaken; for wherever the favages went, they
did not land at that time on the iſland, but purſued
fome other defign.
And now they had another broil with the three Eng-
liſhmen; one of which, a moft turbulent fellow, being in
a rage at one of the three flaves, which I mentioned
they had taken, becauſe the fellow had not done fome-
thing right which he bid him do, and feemed a little un-
tractable in his fhewing him, drew a hatchet out of a
frog-belt, in which he wore it by his fide, and fell upon
the poor favage, not to correct him, but to kill him.
One of the Spaniards, who was by, feeing him give the
fellow a barbarous cut with the hatchet, which he aimed
at his head, but ftruck into his fhoulder, fo that he
thought he had cut the poor creature's arm off, ran
to him, and intreating him not to murder the poor man,
clapt in between him and the favage, to prevent the
miſchief..
The fellow, being enraged the more at this, ftruck
at the Spaniard with his hatchet, and ſwore he would
ſerve him as he intended to ſerve the favage; which the
Spaniard perceiving, avoided the blow, and with a
fhovel, which he had in his hand (for they were work
ing in the field about the corn-land) knocked the brute
down: Another of the Engliſhmen, running at the
fame 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 rufty cutlaffes, with which he made
at the laft Spaniards, and wounded them both: This fray
fet the whole family in an uproar, and more help coming
in, they took the three Englishmen prifoners. The next
question was, what fhould be done with them? They had
C-5
been
58
OF
ADVENTURES
been ſo often mutinous, and were fo furious, fo defperate,
and fo 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 inan ;
fo that, in fhort, it was not fafe to live with them.
The Spaniard who was governor, told them in fo many
words, that if they had been his own countrymen, he
would have hanged them all; for all laws, and all gover-
nors, were to preferve fociety; and thoſe who were dan-
gerous to the fociety, 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 pre-
fervation and deliverance, he would uſe them with all
poffible 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 defired it might not be left to them; for, fays he,
I am fure we ought to fentence 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 fleep.
When the Spanish governor heard this, he calls to
Will Atkins: How, Seignior Atkins, fays he, Will you
murder us all? What have you to ſay to that? That
hardened villain was ſo far from denying it, that he
faid it was true, and G-d-mn him they would do
it ftill before they had done with them. Well, but
Seignior Atkins, faid the Spaniard, What have we
done to you, that you would kill us? And what would
you get by killing us? And what muſt we do to pre-
vent your killing us? Muft we kill you, or will you kill
us? Why will you put us to the neceffity of this, Seignior
Atkins? fays the Spaniard very calmly, and fmiling.
Seignior Atkins was in fuch a rage at the Spaniard's
making a jeft of it, that, had he not been held by thres
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 hair-brained carriage obliged them to confider fe-
rioufly what was to be done. The two Englishmen and the
Spaniard, who faved the poor favage, were of the opinion,
Tha
ROBINSON
-59
CRUSOE.
That they fhould hang one of the three for an example
to the reft; and that particularly it ſhould be he that
had twice attempted to commit murder with his hatchet,
and indeed there was fome reaſon to believe he had done
it, for the poor favage 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 faid; No, it was an
Englishman that had faved all their lives, and he would
never confent to put an Engliſhman to death, though he
had murdered half of them; nay, he faid, if he had
been killed himſelf by an Engliſhman, and had time left
to fpeak, it ſhould be, that they ſhould pardon him.
This was fo pofitively infifted on by the governor Spa-
niard that there was no gainfaying it; and, as merciful
councils are moſt apt to prevail, where they are ſo ear-
neftly preſſed, ſo they all came into it; but then it was
to be confidered, what fhould be done to keep them from
the miſchief they defigned; for all agreed, governor and
all, that means were to be uſed for preferving the fo-
ciety from danger: After a long debate it was agreed,
firſt. That they fhould be difarmed, and not permitted
to have either gun, or powder, or fhot, or fword, or any
weapon, and fhould be turned out of the fociety, 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 fhould be
forbid to come within a certain diftance of the place
where the reft dwelt; and that if they offered to com-
mit any diforder, fo as to fpoil, burn, kill or deſtroy any
of the corn,planting, buildings, fences, or cattle belong-
ing to the fociety, that they fhould die without mercy,
and would fhoot them wherever they could find them.
1
✔
The governor, a man of great humanity, muſing up-
on the fentence, confidered a little upon it; and, turn-
ing to the two honeft Englishman, faid, hold; you muſt
reflect, that it will be long ere they can raiſe corn and
cattle of their own, and they must not ftarve; we muſt.
therefore allow them provifions. So he cauſed to be ad-
ded, That they ſhould have a proportion of corn given
them to last them eight months, and for feed to fow, by
which time they might be fuppofed to raiſe ſome of their
C6
own;.
ADVENTURES OF
own; that they fhould have fix milch-goats, four he-
goats, and fix kids given them, as well for prefent fub-
fiftence, as for a ſtore; and that they ſhould have tools
given them for their work in the field; fuch as, fix
hatchets, an axe, a faw; and the like: But they ſhould
have none of theſe tools or provifions, unleſs they would
fwear folemnly, that they would not hurt or injure any of
the Spaniards with them, or of their fellow Engliſhmen.
Thus they difmiffed them the fociety, and turned
them out to flift for themſelves. They went away
fullen and refractory, as neither contented to go away,
or to ſtay; but, as there was no remedy, they went pre-
tending to go and chufe a place where they fhould fet-
tle themſelves, to plant, and live by themſelves; and
fome provifions were given, but no weapons.
About four or five days after, they came again for
fome victuals, and gave the governor an account where
they had pitched their tents, and marked ourſelves out
an habitation or plantation; it was a very convenient
place indeed, on the remoteft part of the iſland, N. E.
much about the place where I providentially landed in
my firſt voyage, when I was driven out to fea, the Lord
alone knows whither, in my fooliſh attempt to ſurround
the iſland.
Here they built themſelves two handfome huts, and
contrived them in a manner like my first habitation,
being cloſe under the fide of a hill, having fome trees
growing already to the three fides of it: fo that by
planting others, it would be very eafily covered from
the fight, unleſs narrowly ſearched for; they defired
fome dry goat-ſkins for beds and covering, which were
given them; and upon their giving their words, that
they would not diſturb the reft, nor injure any of their
plantations, they gave them hatchets, and what other
tools they could fpare; fome peafe, barley, and rice,
for fowing, and, in a word, any thing they wanted,
but arms and ammunition.
They lived in this feparate condition about fix months,
and had got in their first harveft, though the quantity
was but ſmall, the parcel of land they had planted be-
ing 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 fuch
things,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
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, fo they came and begged
the Spaniards to help them, which they very readily did;
and in four days worked a great hole in the fide of the
hill for them, big enough to fecure their corn, and
other things from the rain; but it was but a poor place
at beft, compared to mine; and eſpecially as mine was
then; for the Spaniards had greatly enlarged it, and
made feveral new apartments in it.
About three quarters of a year after this feparation,
a new frolick took theſe rogues, which, together with
the former villainy they had committed, brought mif-
chief enough upon them, and had very near been the
ruin of the whole colony; the three new affociates
began, it ſeems, to be weary of the laborious life they
led, and that without hope of bettering their circum-
ſtances; and a whim took them, that they would make
a voyage to the Continent, from whence the favages
came, and would try if they could not feize upon fome
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 fo prepofterous, if they had gone
no farther; but they did nothing, and propofed nothing
but had either mifchief in the defign, 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 vifible curſe to purfue vifible crimes, how fhall we re-
concile the events of things with divine juſtice? It was
certainly an apparent vengeance on their crime of mu-
tiny and piracy, that brought them to the ſtate they
were in; and, as they fhewed not the leaſt remorſe for
the crime, but added new villainies to it, fuch as, par-
ticularly, that piece of monftrous cruelty of wounding
a poor flave, becauſe he did not, or perhaps could not
underſtand to do what he was directed; and to wound
him in fuch a manner, as no question, made him a
cripple all his life; and in a place where no furgeon
or medicine could be had for his cure; and, what was
ftill worſe, the murderous intent; or, to do juſtice to
the
62
OF
ADVENTURES
the crime, the intentional murder, for fuch to be fure
it was, as was afterwards the formed defign they all
laid, to murder the Spaniards in cold blood, and in their
fleep.
But I leave obferving, and return to the flory: The
three fellows came down to the Spaniards one morning,
and, in very humble terms defired to be admitted to
ſpeak with them: the Spaniards very readily heard
what they had to fay, which was this: that they were
tired of living in the manner they did; that they were
not handy enough to make the neceffaries they wanted;
and that, having no help, they found they fhould 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 feek their
fortune, and fo deliver them from the trouble of fup-
plying them with any other proviſions.
The Spaniards were glad enough to be rid of them,
but yet very honeftly reprefented to them the certain
deftruction they were running into; told them, they had
fuffered fuch 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
confider of it.
:
The men replied audacioufly, they fhould be ſtarved
if they ſtaid here, for they could not work, and would
not work and they could but be ſtarved abroad; and
and if they were murdered, there was an end of them,
they had no wives or children to cry after them ; and,
in fhort, infifted importunately upon their demand, de-
claring that they would go, whether they would give
them any arms or no.
The Spaniards told them, with great kindneſs, that
if they were refolved to go, they ſhould not go like naked
men, and be in no condition to defend themselves; and
that though they could ill fpare their fire arms, having
not enough for themſelves, yet they would let them have
two mufquets, a piftol, and a cutlace, and each man a
hatchet, which they thought fufficient for them.
In a word, they accepted the offer; and having baked
them bread enough to ferve them a month, and given
them as much goat's fleſh as they could eat while it was
fweet
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
63
fweet, and a great baſket-full of dried grapes, a pot full
of freſh water, and a young kid alive to kill, they bold-
ly fet 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 15 or 20 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
fail of four large goat-ſkins dried, which they had fewed
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
quiet and comfortably they lived, now thofe 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 22 days ab-
fence, one of the Engliſhmen being abroad upon his
planting-work, fees three ftrange men coming towards
him at a diſtance, two of them with guns upon their
fhoulders.
Away runs the Engliſhman, as if he was bewitched,
and became frighted and amazed to the governor Spa-
niard, and tells them they were all undone, for there
were ſtrangers landed upon the iſland, he could not tell
who the Spaniard paufing a while, fays to him, how
do you mean, you cannot tell who? They are favages
to be fure. No, no, fays the Engliſhmen, they are men
in cloathes, with arms: Nay then, fays the Spaniard,
why are you concerned? If they are not favages, they
must be friends; for there is no Chriftian nation upon
earth, but will do us good rather than harm.
While they were debating thus, came the three Eng-
liſhmen, and, ſtanding without the wood, which was
new planted, hallooed to them; they preſently knew
their voices, and fo 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
enquiring where they had been, and what they had been
doing?
64
ADVENTURES OF
doing? They gave them a full account of their voyage,
in a few words, viz. That they reached the land in two
days, or fomething lefs; but, finding the people alarmed
at their coming, and preparing with bows and arrows to
fight them, they durft not go on fhore, but failed on to
the northward 6 or 7 hours, till they came to a great:
opening, by which they perceived that the land they
faw from our island was not the main, but an ifland;
that entering that opening of the fea, they faw another
ifland on the right hand north, and feveral more weft;
and, being refolved to land fomewhere, they put over to
one of the iſlands which lay weft, and went boldly on
fhore; that they found the people were courteous and
friendly to them, and they gave them feveral roots, and
fome dried fish, and appeared very fociable; and the
women, as well as the men, were very forward to ſupply
them with any thing they could get for them to eat, and
brought it to them a great way upon their heads.
They continued here four days, and enquired, as
well as they could of them by figns, 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 figns to them, uſed to eat
men; but as for themſelves, they faid that they never
eat men or women, except only fuch as they took in the
wars; and then they owned, that they made a great
feaſt, and eat their prifoners.
TheEnglishmen enquired, 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 200 priſoners now, which he had taken
in his war; and they were feeding them to make them
fat for the next feaft. The Englishmen feemed mighty ›
defirous to fee thofe prifoners; but the others miſtaking
them, thought they were defirous to have fome of
them, to carry away for their own eating. So they
beckoned to them, pointing to the fetting of the fun,
and then to the rifing; which was to fignify, that the
next morning, at fun rifing, they would bring fome
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,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
65
voyage, juſt as we would bring fo many cows and oxen
down to a fea-port town, to victual a fhip.
As brutiſh and barbarous as theſe fellows were at home,
their ſtomachs turned at this fight, and they did not know
what to do; to refuſe the priſoners, would have been the
higheſt affront to the favage gentry that offered them ;
and what to do with them they knew not; however,
upon fome debate, they refolved to accept of them; and,
in return, they gave the favages that brought them one
of their hatchets, an old key, a knife, and fix 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 foon as
they had them, or elſe they that gave them this noble
prefent, 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 reſpects
and thanks that could well paſs between people, where
on one fide, they underſtood not one word they could
fay, they put off with their boat, and came back to-
wards the firſt iſland, where, when they arrived, they
fet eight of their prifoners at liberty, there being too
many of them for their occafion.
In their voyage they endeavoured to have ſome com-
munication with their priſoners, but it was impoffible
to make them underſtand any thing; nothing they could
fay to them, or give them, or do for them, but was look-
ed 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 fame
thing; then they concluded it was for fear they ſhould
fink in fleſh, and ſo not be fat enough to kill: if they
looked at one of them more particularly, the party pre-
fently concluded, it was to fee whether he or ſhe was fat-
teft and fittest to kill firft; nay, after they had brought
them
66
ADVENTURES OF
them quite over, and began to uſe them kindly, and
treat them well, ftill they expected every day to make
a dinner or fupper for their new mafters.
When the three wanderers had given this unaccount-
able hiſtory or journal of their voyage, the Spaniard
afked them, where their new family was. And being
told that they had brought them on fhore, and put them
into one of their huts, and were come to beg fome
victuals for them; they (the Spaniards) and the other
two Engliſhmen, that is to fay, the whole colony refol-
ved to go all down to the place, and ſee them, and did
fo, and Friday's father with them.
When they came into the hut, there they fat all bound;
for when they had brought them on fhore, they bound
their hands, that they might not take the boat and
make their eſcape; there, I fay, they fat, all of them
ſtark-naked: first, there were three men, lufty comely
fellows, well fhaped, ftrait and fair limbs, about 30 or
35 years of age, and five women, whereof two might
be from 30 to 40, two more not above 24 or 25% and the
fifth, a tall comely maiden, about 16 or 17: the wo-
men were well favoured agreeable perfons, both in ſhape
and features, only tawny; and two of them, had they
been perfect white, would have paſſed for handſome wo-
men, even in London itſelf, having very pleaſant agreea-
ble countenances, and of a very modeft behaviour, eſpe-
cially when they came afterwards to be cloathed, and
dreffed as they called it, tho' that drefs was very indif-
ferent, it muſt be confeſſed; of which hereafter.
The fight, you may be fure, was fomething uncouth
to our Spaniards, who were (to give them a juſt cha-
racter) men of the beſt behaviour, of the moſt calm, ſe-
date tempers, and perfect good humour that ever I met
with; and in particular, of the most modefty, as will
prefently appear: I fay, the fight was very uncouth, to
fee three naked men, and five naked women, all toge-
ther 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 caufe the old Indian,
Friday's
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
67
Friday's father, to go in, and ſee first if he knew any of
them; and then, if he underſtood any of their fpeech :
as foon 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 faid, or a fign he could
make, except one of the women.
However, this was enough to anſwer the end, which
was to fatisfy them, that the men into whofe hands they
were fallen were Chriftians, that they abhorred eating of
inen or women, and that they might be fure they would
not be killed; as foon as they were affured of this, they
diſcovered ſuch a joy, and by ſuch aukward and ſeveral
ways, as is hard to deſcribe; for it ſeems they were of
feveral nations.
The woman, who was their interpreter, was bid, in
the next place, to aſk them if they were willing to be
fervants, and to work for the men who had brought
them away, to fave 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 prefently be attended with ſome
inconveniency, and might occaſion ſome ſtrife, and per-
haps blood, aſked the three men, what they intended to
do with theſe women, and how they intended to uſe
them, whether as fervants, or as women. One of the
Engliſhmen anſwered very boldly and readily, that they
would uſe them as both. To which the governor faid,
I am not going to reftrain you from it; you are your own
maſters as to that: but this I think is but juſt, for avoid-
ing diforders and quarrels among you, and I deſire it
of you for that reafon only, viz. that you will all en-
gage, that if any of you take any of thefe women, as
a woman, or wife, he fhall take but one; and that
having taken one, none elſe ſhould touch her; for tho'
we cannot marry any of you, yet it is but reaſonable,
that while you ftay here, the woman any of you takes,
ſhould be maintained by the man that takes her, and
fhould be his wife; I mean, fays he, while he continues
here; and that none elfe fhould have any thing to do
with her. All this appeared ſo juſt, that every one agreed
to it without any difficulty.
Then
68
ADVENTURES OF
Then the Engliſhmen aſked the Spaniards, if they de
figned to take any of them? But every one anſwered,
no: fome of them faid they had wives in Spain, and
the others did not like women that were not Chriſtians;
and altogether declared, that they would not touch one
of them; which was an inftance of fuch 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 fay, a temporary wife; and fo they
fet up a new form of living; for the Spaniards and Fri-
day's father lived in my old habitation, which they had
enlarged exceedingly within; the three fervants, which
they had taken in the late battle of the favages, lived
with them; and theſe carried on the main part of the
colony, ſupplying all the rest with food, and affifting
them in any thing as they could, or as they found necef-
fity required.
A
But the wonder of this story was, how five fuch re-
fractory ill-matched fellows ſhould agree about theſe
women, and that two of them ſhould not pitch upon the
fame woman, eſpecially feeing two or three of them were
without compariſon, more agreeable than the others :
but they took a good way enough to prevent quarrel-
ling among themſelves; for they fet 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
chufe first.
He that drew to chuſe firſt, went away by himſelf to
the hut where the poor naked creatures were, and fetch-
ed out her he choſe; and it was worth obferving, that he
that choſe firſt, took her that was reckoned the homelieſt,
and the oldeſt of the five, which made mirth enough
among the reft; and even the Spaniards laughed at it;
but the fellow confidered better than any of them, that
it was application and buſineſs that they were to expect
affiftance in, as much as any thing elſe; and the proved
the beſt wife in the parcel.
When the poor women ſaw themſelves fet 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: ac-
cordingly, when the Engliſh failor came in and fetched
out
+
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
69
rout one of them, the reft fet up a moft lamentable cry,
and hung about her, and took their leave of her with
fuch agonies and fuch affection, as would have grieved
the hardeſt heart in the world; nor was it poffible for
the Engliſhmen to fatisfy them that they were not to be
immediately murdered. till they fetched the old man,
Friday's father, who inftantly let them know, that the
five men who had fetch'd them out one by one, had
chofen 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
crouded with their tools, houshold-ſtuff and proviſions:
The three wicked ones had pitched fartheft off, and the
two honeft ones nearer, but both on the north fhore of
the iſland, fo that they continued feparate as before:
and thus my ifland was peopled in three places, and, as
I might fay, three towns were began to be planted.
Th
And here it is very well worth obſerving, that as it of-
ten happens in the world (what the wife ends of God's
providences are in fuch a difpofition of things, I cannot
fay) the two honeft fellows had the two worſt wives:
and the three reprobates, that were fcarce worth hang-
ing, that were fit for nothing, and neither ſeemed born
to do themſelves good, or any one elfe, had three cle-
ver, diligent, careful, and ingenious wives; not that
the two first were ill wives as to their temper or hu-
mour; for all the five were moſt willing, quiet, paffive
and fubjected creatures, rather like flaves than wives;
but my meaning is, they were not alike capable, inge-
nious, 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 dif
grace of a flothful, negligent, idle temper on the other,
that when I came to the place, and viewed the feveral
improvements, planting, and management of the feve-
ral little colonies; the two men had fo far outgone 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,
70
ADVENTURES OF
rule, nature dictated, and that it was to no purpoſe to fow
more corn than they wanted; but the difference of the
cultivation, of the planting, of the fences, and indeed
every thing elſe, was eafy to be ſeen at firſt view.
The two men had innumerable young trees planted
about their huts, that when you came to the place, no-
thing was to be feen but a wood; and though they had
their plantation quite demoliſhed, once by their own
countrymen, and once by the enemy, as fhall be fhewn
in its place; yet they had reſtored all again, and every
thing was flouriſhing and thriving about them; they had
grapes planted in order, any managed like a vineyard,
though they had themſelves never feen 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 alfo 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 inceffant
labour of their hands, and where, when the miſchief
which followed happened, they fecured 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 faid, grew fo eafily, made a grove impaffa-
ble, except in one place, where they climbed up to get
over the outfide part; and then went in by ways of their
own leaving.
1
As to the three reprobates, as 1 juftly call them, tho'
they were much civilized by their new fettlement, com-
pared to what they were before, and were not fo quar-
relfome, having not the fame opportunity, yet one of
the certain companions of a profligate mind never left
them, and that was their idleness; it is truc, they
planted corn, and made fences; but Solomon's words
were never better verefied than in them; Iwent by the
vineyard of the flothful, and it w overgrown with
thorn;' for when the Spaniards came to view their crop,
they could not fee it in fome 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
prefent, but it was only fhutting the ftable-door after the
fteed was ſtolen ; whereas, when they looked on the
colony
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
colony of the other two, there was the very face of in-
duſtry 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 So-
lomon'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 other, more utenfils and neceffaries
within doors, and yet more pleaſure and diverfion too.
It is true, the wives of the three were very handy and
cleanly within doors; and, having learned the Engliſh
ways of dreffing and cooking from one of the other En-
gliſhmen, who, as I faid, was a cook's mate on board
the ſhip, they dreſſed their huſband's victuals very nice-
ly; whereas the other could not be brought to under-
ſtand it; but then the hufband, who, as I faid, 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 flothful lived hard
and beggarly; and fo 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 fhore five or fix
canoes of Indians, or favages, call them which you
pleafe; and there is no room to doubt that they came
upon the old errand of feeding upon their flaves; but
that part was now fo familiar to the Spaniards, and to
our men too, that they did not concern themſelves about
it, as I did; but, having been made fenfible by their
experience, that their only bufinefs was to lie concealed,
and that, if they were not ſeen by any of the favages,
they would go off again quietly, when their bufinefs was
done, having as yet not the leaft notion of there being
any inhabitants in the ifland; I fay, having been made
fenfible of this, they had nothing to no but to give no-
tice to all the three plantations to keep within doors,
and not to fhew themfelves; only placing a ſcout in a
pror
72
ADVENTURES OF
proper place, to give notice when the boats went off to
fea again.
This was, without doubt, very right; but a diſaſter
ſpoiled all theſe meaſures, and made it known among
the favages, that there were inhabitants there; which
was, in the end, the defolation of almoſt the whole co-
lony. After the canoes with the favages were gone off,
the Spaniards peeped abroad again, and fome of them,
had the curiofity to go to the place where they had been,
to ſee what they had been doing. Here, to their great
furprize, they found three favages left behind, and ly-
ing faft afleep upon the ground; it was fuppofed, they
had either been fo gorged with their inhuman feaſt, that
like beaſts, they were afleep, 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 furprized at this fight,
and perfectly at a lofs what to do; the Spaniard governor
as it happened, was with them, and his advice was afk-
ed, but he profeffed he knew not what to do; as for
flaves 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 fhedding in-
nocent blood; for, as to them, the poor creatures had
done no wrong, invaded none of their property; and
they thought they had no juft quarrel with them, to
take away their lives.
And here I muſt, in juſtice to theſe Spaniards, obferve,
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 fo univerfally modeft, temperate, virtuous,
fo very good-humoured, and fo courteous, as theſe
Spaniards; and, as to cruelty, they had nothing of it
in their very nature; no inhumanity, no barbarity, no
outrageous paffions, and yet all of them men of great
courage and fpirit.
Their temper and calmnefs had appeared in their
bearing the unfufferable ufage of the three Engliſhmen,
and their juftice and humanity appeared now in the
cafe of the favages, as above: after fome confultation
they
ROBINSON CRUS O E.
73
they refolved upon this, that they would lie ftill awhile
longer, till, if poffible, theſe three men might be gone;
but then the governor Spaniard recollected, that the
three favages had no boar; and that, if they were left
to rove about the iſland, they would certainly diſcover
that there were inhabitants in it, and fo they ſhould be
undone that way.
Upon this they went back again, and there lay the
fellows faft aileep ftill: fo they refolved to awaken
them, and take them prifoners, and they did fo: the
poor fellows were ftrangely frighted when they were
feized 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 foon made eafy as to that,
and away they carried them.
It was very happy to 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; fuch 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 neg-
ligence 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 reafon to believe he got home again
foon after, in ſome other boats or canoes of favages,
who came on fhore three or four weeks afterwards, and
who, carrying on their revels as ufual, went off again in
two days time: this thought terrified them exceedingly;
for they concluded, and that not without good cauſe in-
deed, that if this fellow got fafe home among his com
rades, he would certainly give them an account that there
were people in the iſland, as alfo how weak and few they
were; for this favage, 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 feen
or heard the fire of any of their guns, much leſs had they
fhewn him any other of their retired places, fuch as the
VOL. II.
D
Cave
74
ADVENTURES OF
cave in the valley, or the new retreat which the twe
Englishmen had made, and the like.
The firft teftimony they had, that this fellow had
given intelligence of them was, that about two months
`after this, fix canoes of favages, with about feven or
eight, or ten men in a canoe, came rowing along the
north-fide of the ifland, where they never used to
come before, and landed about an hour after fun rife,
at a convenient place, about a mile from the habitation
of the two Engliſhmen, where this efcaped man had
been kept: as the Spaniard governor faid, had they
been all there, the damage would not have been fo
much, for not a man of thein would have efcaped: but
the cafe differed now very much; for two men to fifty
were too much odds: the two men had the happinets
to diſcover them about a league off, fo that it was above
an hour before they landed; and as they landed about
a mile from their huts, it was fome time before they
could come at them. Now having great reafon to be-
lieve that they were betrayed, the first thing they did,
was to bind the flaves which were left, and caufe 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 a-
way with them, to their retired place in the woods, which
I have ſpoken of above, and there to bind the two fel-
lows hand and foot till they heard farther.
In the next place, feeing the favages were all come
on fhore, and that they bent their courfe directly that
way, they opened the fences where their milch-goats
were kept, and drove them all out, leaving their goats
to ftraggle into the wood, whither they pleafed, that
the favages 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 two poor frighted men had fecured their
wives and goods, they fent the other flave 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 defire fpeedy
help; and in the mean time they took their arms,
and
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
75
and what ammunition they had, and retreated toward
the place in the wood, where their wives were fent
keeping at a diſtance; yet ſo that they might fee, if
poffible, which way the favages took.
They had not gone far, but that, from a rifing
ground, they could fee the little army of their enemies
come on directly to their habitation, and in a moment
more could fee all their huts and houfhold-ſtuff flaming
up together, to their great grief and mortification; for
they had a very great lofs; and to them irretriveable,
at leaſt for ſome time. They kept their ſtation for
awhile, till they found the favages, like wi'd beafts,
fpread themſelves all over the place, rummaging every
way, and every place they could think of, in fearch for
prey; and, in particular, for the people, of whom it
plainly appeared they had intelligence.
The two Englishmen feeing this, thinking themſelves
not fecure where they ftood, becauſe, as it was likely
fome of the wild people might come that way, fo they
might come too many together, thought it proper to
make another retreat about half a mile farther, believe-
ing, as it afterwards happened, that the farther they
ftrolled, 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 vaftly large; and
in this tree they both took their ſtanding, refolving to
fee what might offer.
They had not ſtood there long,but two of the favages
appeared running directly that way, as ifthey had already
notice where they stood, and were coming up to attack
them; and a little way further they efpied three more
coming after them, and five morebeyond them, all coming
the fame way; befides which, they faw feven 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 pofture, or fly: but after
a very fhort debate with themſelves, they confidered, that
if the favages ranged the country thus, before help came,
they might, perhaps, find out their retreat in the woods,
and then all would be loft; fo they refolved to ftand them
D 2
there
76
OF
ADVENTURES
there; and if there were too many to deal with, then they
would get to the top of the tree, from whence they doubt-
ed not to defend themfelves, fire excepted, as long as
their ammunition lafted, tho' all the favages that were
landed, which were near fifty, were to attack them.
Having refolv'd upon this, they next confidered whether
they fhould fire at the two firft, or wait for the three, and fo
take the middle party; by which the two and the five that
followed would befeparated; at length they refolved to let
the two firſt paſs by, unleſs they ſhould ſpy them in the
tree, and come to attack them. The two firſt favages alfo
confirmed them in this refolution, 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 fo ftrait towards them, they re-
folved to take them in a line as they came; and as they
refolved 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 fure aim, without being
feen, waiting till they were within about thirty yards of
the tree, ſo that he could not mifs.
While they were thus waiting, and the favages came
on, they plainly faw, that one of the three was the run-
away favage that had eſcaped from them, and they both
knew him diftinctly, and refolved that, if poffible, he
fhould not eſcape, though they fhould both fire; fo the
other ſtood ready with his piece, that if he did not drop
at the firſt ſhot, he fhould be fure to have a ſecond.
But the firſt was too good a markſman to miſs his aim :
for, the favages kept near one another, a little behind
in a line; in a word, he fired, and hit two of them di-
rectly the foremoſt was killed outright, being fhot in
the head; the fecond, which was the run-away Indian,
was ſhot thro' the body, and fell, but was not quite dead;
and the third had a little feratch in the ſhoulder, perhaps
by the fame ball that went through the body of the fe-
cond; and, being dreadfully frighted, though not much
hurt, fat down upon the ground, fcreaming and yelling
in a hideous manner.
The
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
77
•
The five that were behind, more frighted with the
noife than fenfible of their danger, ftood ftill at firſt ;
for the woods made the found a thouſand times bigger
than it really was; the echoes rattling from one fide to
another, and the fowls rifing from all parts, fereaming
and making, every fort, a feveral kind of noiſe, ac-
cording to their kind, juft as it was when I fired the
first gun that, perhaps, was ever ſhot off in that place
fince it was an island.
:
T
However, all being filent again, and they not know-
ing what the matter was, came on unconcerned, till
they came to that place where their companions lay,
in a condition miferable enough and here the poor
ignorant creatures, not fenfible that they were within
reach of the fame miſchief, ſtood all of a huddle over
the wounded man, talking, and, as may be fuppofed,
enquiring of him how he came to be hurt; and who,
'tis very rational to believe, told them that a flaſh of fire
firſt, and immediately after that, thunder from their
gods, had killed thofe two, and wounded him. this,
I fay, is rational; for nothing is more certain than that,
as they faw no man near them, fo they had never heard
a gun in all their lives, or ſo much as heard of a gun;
neither knew they any thing of killing or wounding at a
diſtance, with fire and bullets; if they had, one might
reaſonably believe, that they would not have ſtood fo
unconcerned, in viewing the fate of their fellows, with-
out fome apprehenfion of their own.
Our two men, though, as they confeffed to me, it
grieved them to be obliged to kill fo many poor crea-
tures, who at the fame time had no notion of their
danger; yet, having them all thus in their power, and
the first having loaded his piece again, reſolved to let
fly both together among them; and fingling out by
agreement which to aim at, they fhot together, and
killed, or very much wounded, four of them; the fifth,
frighted even to death, though not hurt, fell with the
reft; fo that our men, feeing them all fall together,
thought they had killed them all.
The belief that the favages were all killed, made
our two men come boldly out from the tree before
they had charged their guns again; which was a wrong
D 3
ſtep;
78
ADVENTURES OF
ftep; and they were under fome furpriſe, when they
came to the place, and found no less than four of the
men 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 mu quets; and firft, they made fure
of the run-away favage, that had been the cauſe of all
the mifchief; and of another that was hurt in his 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 moan to them by
geftures and figns, for his life; but could not ſay one
word to them that they could underſtand.
However,they fignified tohim tofit down at the foot of
a tree thereby; and one of the Engliſhmen, with a piece
of rope twine, which he had by great chance in his
pocket, tied his feet faſt together, and his hands behind
him, and there they left him; and, with what ſpeed they
could, made after the other two which were gone before
fearing they, or any more of them, ſhould find the way
to their covered place in the woods, where their wives,
and the few goods they had left lay: they came once
in fight of the two men, but it was at a great diſtance;
however, they had the fatisfaction to ſee them croſs over
a valley, towards the fea, 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 prifoner, who, as they fuppof-
ed, 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; fo they refolved to
go away to the place where their wives were, to ſee if
all was well there; and to make them eafy, who were in
fright enough to be fure; for though the favages were
their own country-folks, yet they were most terribly a-
fraid of them, and perhaps the more, for the knowledge
they had of them.
When they came thither, they found the favages had
been in the wood, and very near the place, but had not
found it; for indeed, it was inacceffible, by the trees
ſtanding
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
79
ſtanding fo thick, as before, unleſs the perfons feeking it
had been directed by thofe that knew it, which thefe 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 feven of the Spaniards coming
to their affiſtance; 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 their, in cafe the favages fhould have
roved over to that fide of the country; but they did
not ſpread fo far: with the ſeven Spaniards came one of
the favages, who, as I faid, were their prifoners for-
merly, and with them alſo came the favage whom the
Englishmen had left bound hand and foot at the tree:
for it feems they came that way, faw the flaughter of
the feven 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 ran away.
The prifoners began now to be a burden to them; and
they were fo afraid of their efcaping, that they thought
they were under an abfolute neceffity to kill them for
their own prefervation: however, the Spaniard governor
would not conſent to it; but ordered, that they fhould be
fent 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
fo encouraged, that they could not fatisfy themſelves.
to ftay any longer there; but taking five of the Spaniards
and themfelves, with four mufquets and a piftol among
them, and two ftout quarter ftaves, away they went in
queft of the favages; and firſt, they came to the tree
where the inen lay that had been killed; but it was
eafy to fee, that fome more of the favages 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 firft rifing
ground, where they had ftood and feen their camp deſtroy-
ed, and where they had the mortification ftill to fee fome
of the fmoke; but neither could they here fee any of the
D4
favages:
80
ADVENTURES OF
favages: they then refolved, though with all poffible
caution, to go forward towards their ruined plantation :
but a little before they came thither, coming in fight of
the fea fhore, they faw plainly all the favages embarked
again in their canoes, in order to be gone.
They feemed forry at first that there was no way
to come at them, to give them a parting blow: but
upon the whole, were very well fatisfied to be rid of
them.
The poor Engliſhmen being now twice ruined, and
all their improvements deftroyed, the reſt all agreed to
come and help them to rebuild, and to affift them with
needful fupplies. Their three countrymen, who were
not yet noted for having the least inclination to do any
good, yet, as foon as they heard of it (for they, living
remote caftward, knew nothing of the matter till all
was over) came and offered their help and affiftance,
and did very friendly work for feveral days, to reſtore
their habitations, and make neceffaries for them; and
thus in a little time they were fet upon their legs
again.
About two days after this, they had the farther fa-
tisfaction of feeing three of the favages canoes come
driving on fhore, 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 fea, and
had overſet ſome of them; for it blew very hard the
night after they went off.
However, as fome might mifcarry, fo on the other
Kand, enough of them efcaped to inform the reft, as
well of what they had done, as of what happened to
them; and to whet them on to another enterpriſe of
the fame nature, which they, it ſeems, refolved to at-
tempt, with fufficient force to carry all before them;
for, except what the first man had told them of inha-
bitants, they could fay little to it of their own know-
ledge; for they never faw one man, and the fellow be-
ing killed that had affirmed it, they had no other wit-
neſs to confirm it to them.
It was five or fix months after this, before they heard
any more of the favages, in which time our men
were in hopes they had not forgot their former bad
luck,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
luck, or had given over the hopes of better; when, on
a fudden, they were invaded with a moft formidable
fleet, of no less than twenty-eight canoes full of favages
armed with bows and arrows, great clubs, wooden
fwords, and fuch like engines of war; and they brought
fuch numbers with them, that, in fhort, it put all our
people into the utmoſt confternation.
As they came on fhore in the evening, and at the
caftermoft fide of the ifland, our men had that night
to confult and confider what to do ; and, in the first place,
knowing that their being entirely concealed was their
only fafety before, and would much more be fo now,
while the number of their enemies was fo great, they
therefore refolved, 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 fuppofed the
favages would go directly thither, as foon as it was day,
to play the old game over again, tho' 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 fhort, left as little.
appearance of inhabitants any where as poífible; and
the next morning early they poſted therafelves with all
their force, at the plantation of the two men, waiting
for their coming. As they gueffed, fo it happened;
theſe new invaders, leaving their canoes at the eaſt-end
of the flan, came ranging along the ſhore directly to-
wards the plac, 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 ac-
count, it ſeems, ftood thus: Firft, 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 flaves who lived with the Spaniards.
29
D5
To
$2
ADVENTURES OF
мод
11 Muſquets
5 Piſtols
To arm theſe they had.
3 Fowling-pieces
5 Mufquets, or fowling pieces, which were taken
by me from the mutinous feamen whom I reduced,
2 Swords
3 Old halberts
29
1
To their flaves they did not give either mufquet or fu
fil, but they had every one an halbert, or a long ſtaff,
like a quarter ftaff, with a great fpike of iron faftened
into each end of it, and by his fide a hatchet; alfo 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 Spa-
niards had taken from the favages, when the first action
happened, which I have ſpoken of, where the Indians
foughtwith one another, and thewomen had hatchets too.
The Spaniard governor, whom I have deſcribed ſo of
ten, commanded the whole; and William Atkins, who,
tho' a dreadful fellow for wickedness, was a moft daring
bold fellow, commanded under him. The favages came
forward like lions, and our men, which was the worſt
of their fate, had no advantage in their fituation; only
that Will Atkins, who now proved a moft ufeful fellow,
with fix men, was planted juft behind a ſmall thicket of
buſhes, as an advanced guard, with orders to let the firſt
of them pa's by, and then fire into the middle of them;
and, as foon as he had fired, to make his retreat, as
nimbly as he could, round a part of the wood, and fo
come in behind the Spaniards where they food, having
a thicket of trees all before them.
When the favages came on, they ran ftraggling about
every way in heaps, out of all manner of order; and
Will Atkins let about fifty of them pafs by him; then
feeing the reft come in a very thick throng, he orders
three of his men to fire, having loaded their mufquets
with
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
83
with fix or ſeven bullets a-piece, about as big as large
piſtol-bullets. How many they killed or wounded, they
knew not; but the confternation and furprize was inex
preffible among the favages, who were frighted to the
laft degree, to hear fuch a dreadful noife, and fee their
men killed, and others hurt, but fee 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 mnute, the first three, being loaded
again, gave them a third volley.
1
Had William Atkins and his men retired immediately,
as foon 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 fhot continually, the favages had been effectually
routed; for the terror that was among them came princi-
pally from this, viz. That they were killed by the Gods
with thunder and lightning, and could fee nobody that
hurt them; but William Atkins, ftaying to load again,
diſcovered the cheat; fome of the favages, who were at
a diſtance, ſpying them, came upon them behind; and
tho' Atkins and his men fired at them alfo, 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 flaves
who came with the women; this flave was a moft gal-
lant fellow, and fought moft defperately, killing five of
them with his own hand, having no weapon but one of
the armed ſtaves, and an hatchet,
Our men being thus hard laid at, Atkins wounded,
and two other men killed, retreated to a rifing ground.
in the wood; and the Spaniards, after firing three vol-
lies upon them, retreated alfo, for their number was ſo
great, and they were fo defperate, that tho' above fifty
of them were killed, and more than fo many wounded,
yet they came on in the teeth of our men, fearleſs of
danger, and fhot their arrows like a cloud; and it was
obferved, that their wounded men, who were not quite
difabled, 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
favages
*D 6
84
ADVENTURES OF
favages, 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 fwords, like
true ſavages: but, finding our men were gone, they did
not ſeem to purſue them, but drew themſelves up in a
kind of a ring, which is, it ſeems, their custom`; and
fhouted twice, in token of their victory after which,
they had the mortificatton to ſee ſeveral of their wound-
ed men fall, dying with the mere lofs of blood,
The Spaniard governor having drawn his little body
up together upon a rifing ground, Atkins, though he
was wounded, would have had him marched, and char-
ged them again all together at once; but the Spaniard.
replied, Seignior Atkins, you fee how their wounded men
fight; let them alone till morning; all thefe wounded
men will be ſtiff and fore with their wounds, and faint
with the loſs of blood, and fo we fhall have the fewer
to engage.
The advice was good; but Will Atkins replied mer-
rily, That's true, Seignior, and fo fhall I too; and that's
the reaſon I would go on, while I am warm. Well,
Seignior Atkins, fays the Spaniard, you have behaved
gallantly, and done your part, we will fight for you, if
you cannot come on; but I think it beft to ſtay till
morning; fo they waited.
But as it was a clear moon light night, and they
found the favages in great diſorder about their dead and
wounded men, and a great hurry and noife among them
where they lay, they afterwards refolved 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 whofe quarter it was where the fight be-
gan, led them round, between the woods and the fea-
fide, weftward, and turning fhort fouth, they came fo
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 mi-
nute more eight others fired after them; pouring in
their ſmall ſhot in fuch 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
85
The Spaniards charged again, with the utmoft expediti-
on, and then divided themſelves into 3 bodies and refolved
to fail in among them all together: they had in each body
8 perfons; that is to fay 24, whereof were 22 men, and
the z women, who, by the way, fought defperately.
They divided the fire-arms equally in each party,
and fo of the halberts and ſtaves. They would have
had the woinen keep back; but they faid, they were
refolved 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, fhouting
and hallooing as loud as they could; the favages ftood
all together, but were in the ut.noft confufion, hearing
the noiſe of our men fhouting from three quarters toge-
ther; they would have fought if they had feen us; and
as ſoon as we came near enough to be feen, fome ar-
rows were ſhot, and poor old Friday was wounded, tho'
not dangerouſly. But our men gave them no time; but,
running up to them, fired among them three ways, and
then fell in with the but-ends of their mufquets, their
fwords, armed ftaves, and hatchets; and laid about
them fo well, that, in a word, they fet up a difinal
ſcreaming and howling, flying to fave their lives which
way foever they could.
Our men were tired with the execution; and killed,
or mortally wounded, in the two fights, about 180 of
them; the reft, being frighted out of their wits, fcoured
thro' 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 altogether to the fea-fide, where they landed,
and where their canoes lay. But their difafter was not
at an end yet; for it blew a terrible ftorm of wind that
evening from the fea-ward; fo that it was impoffible
for them to put off; nay, the ftorm continuing all night,
when the tide came up, their canoes were moſt of them
driven by the furge of the ſea ſo high upon the fhore,
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, tho' glad of their victory, yet got little reft
that night; but having refreſhed themselves as well as
they
-36
OF
ADVENTURES
they could, they refolved to march to that part of the
ifland where the favages were fled, and ſee what poſture
they were in. This neceffarily 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 reco-
vering life; a fight difagreeable enough to generous
minds; for a truly great man, tho' obliged by the law of
battle to deſtroy his enemy, takes no delight in his mifery.
However, there was no need to give any order in this
cafe; for their own favages who were their fervants,
diſpatched thoſe poor creatures with their hatchets.
At length they came in view of the place where the
more miferable remains of the favages army lay, where
there appeared about 1co ftill; their pofture was gene-
rally fitting upon the ground, with their knees up to-
wards their mouth, and the head put between the
hands, leaning down upon the knees.
When our men came within two mufquet-fhot of
them, the Spaniard governor ordered two mufquets 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 ftill in heart to fight, or were
fo heartily beaten, as to be difpirited and difcouraged,
and fo he might manage accordingly.
This ftratagem took; for, as foon as the favages heard
the first gun, and faw the flaſh of the ſecond, they
ftarted up upon their feet in the greateft confternation
imaginable; and, as our men advanced fwiftly towards
them, they all ran fcreaming and yawling away, with a
kind of an howling noife, which our men did not un-
derſtand, 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 fea: but they
did not then confider, that this might probably have been
the occafion of their coming again in fuch multitudes as
not to be refifted; or, at leaft, to come fo many and fo
often, as would quite defolate the iſland, and ſtarve them:
Will Atkins therefore, who, notwithſtanding his wound,
kept always with them, proved the beſt counſellor in this
cafe: his advice was, to take the advantage that offer-
ed, and clap in between them and their boats; and
Lo
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
87
fo deprive them of the capacity of ever returning any
more to plague the iſland.
They confulted long about this, and fome 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 beaſt, be afraid to ſtir about
their buſineſs, and have their plantation continually
rifled, all their tame goats deftroyed, and in fhort, be
reduced to a life of continual diſtreſs.
Will Atkins told them, they had better have to do with
100 men, than with 100 nations; that as they muſt de-
stroy their boats, ſo they muſt deſtroy the men, or be all
of them deſtroyed themfelves. In a word, he fhewed them
the neeeffity of it fo plainly, that they all came into it;
fo they went to work immediately with the boats, and,
getting fome dry wood together from a dead tree, they
tried to fet fome of them on fire; but they were fo wet,
that they would fcarce burn. However, the fire fo burned
the upper part, that it foon made them unfit for ſwim-
ming in the fea as boats. When the Indians faw what
they were about, fome 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 langnage, which none of the others
understood any thing of; but as they made pitiful gef
tures, and ſtrange noifes, it was eaſy to underſtand they
begged to have their boats fpared, and that they would
be gone, and never come thither again.
But our men were now fatisfied, that they had no way
to preferve themſelves, or to fave their colony, but ef-
fectually 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
ftory, the colony was undone: fo that, letting them
know that they ſhould not have any mercy, they fell to
work with their canoes, and deftroyed them every one,
that the ſtorm had not destroyed before; at the fight of
which the favages raiſed a hideous cry in the woods,
which our people heard plain enough; after which they
ran about the iſland like diftracted men; fo that, in a
word, our men did not really know at firſt what to do
with them.
Nor
$8
ADVENTURES OF
Nor did the Spaniards, with all their prudence, confi-
der, that while they made thofe people thus defperate,
they ought to have kept good guard at the fame time.
upon their plantations; for tho' it is true they had driven
away their cattle, and the Indians did not find their
main retreat, I mean my old caftle 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 juft then almoſt ripe; and
did our men an inestimable damage, tho' to themſelves,
not one farthing's worth of fervice.
Tho' our men were able to fight them upon all oc-
cafions, 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 fingle, fo
our men durit not go about fingle, for fear of being fur-
rounded with their numbers: the beſt was, they had no
weapons; for tho' 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 diftrefs they were reduced to was
great, and indeed deplorable, but at the fame time our
men were alſo brought to very hard circumſtances by
them; for tho' their retreats were preferved, yet their
proviſion was deftroyed, 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 ftock of
cattle they had in the valley by the cave, and fome
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
ftruck him on the fide of his head, juft under the tem-
ples, ſo that he never spoke more; and it was very re-
markable, that this was the fame barbarous fellow who
cut the poor ſavage flave with his hatchet, and who
afterwards intended to have murdered the Spaniards.
I looked upon their caſe to have been worfe 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
89
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 faw what
their circumſtances were, was, that they would, if pof-
fible, drive them up to the farther part of the ifland,
fouth-caſt, that if any more favages come on fhore, they
might not find one another; then, that they would daily
hunt and harraſs them, and kill as many of them as they
could come at, till they had reduced their number; and
if they could at laſt tame them, and bring them to any
thing, they would give them corn, and teach them how
to plant and live upon their daily labour.
In order to this, they followed them, and fo 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 fo dreadfully frighted
they were, that they kept out of fight farther and far-
ther, till at last our men following them, and every day
almoſt killing and wounding fome of them, they kept up
in the woods and hollow places fo much, that it reduced
them to the utmoſt mifery 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 re-
lent, 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
propofed, if poffible, to take one of them alive, and
bring him to underſtand what they meant, fo far as to be
able to it as interpreter, and to go among them, and
fee if they might be brought to fome conditions, that
might be depended upon to fave their lives, and to do
us no ſpoil.
It was fome time before any of them could be taken;
but, being weak and half-ftarved, one of them was at laſt
furpriſed and made a prifoner; he was fullen at firft, and
would neither eat nor drink; but finding himſelf kindly
ufed, 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 fave their lives,
but
go
ADVENTURES OF
but would give them a part of the ifland to live in, pro-
vided they would give fatisfaction, that they fhould keep
in their own bounds, and not come beyond them, to in-
jure or prejudice others; and that they fhould have corn
given them, to plant and make it grow for their bread,
and fome bread given them for their prefent fubfiftence;"
and old Friday bade the fellow go and talk with the reſt
of his countrymen, and fee what they faid to it, affur-
ing them, that if they did not agree immediately, they
fhould all be destroyed.
The poor wretches thoroughly humbled, and reduced
in number to about thirty-feven, cloſed with the pro-
pofal at the first offer, and begged to have fome food
given them; upon which twelve Spaniards and two Eng-
liſhmen, well armed, and three Indian flaves, and old
Friday, marched to the place where they were, the 3
Indian flaves carried them a large quantity of bread,
and fome rice boiled up to cakes, and dried in the fun,
and three live goats; and they were ordered to go to
the fide of an hill, where they fat down, eat 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 foon would have been a
nation: they were confined to a neck of land, fur-
rounded 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 half broad, and three or four miles in length.
Our men taught them to make wooden ſpades, fuch as
I made for myſelf; and gave among them 12 hatchets,
and
3 or 4 knives; and there they lived the moſt ſub-
jected innocent creatures that were ever heard of.
After this, the colony enjoyed a perfect tranquility,
with respect to the favages, till I came to re-vifit them,
which was in about two years; not but that now and
then fome canoes of favages came on fhore for their
triumphal
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
g1
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 enquiry 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 leaft, that was
worth notice. The Indians, or favages, were wonder-
fully civilized by them, andthey frequently went among
them; but forbid, on pain of death, any of the Indians
coming to them, becauſe they would not have their fet-
tlement betrayed again.
One thing was very remarkable, viz. that they taught
the favages to make wicker-work, or baſkets; but they
foon out-did their mafters; for they made abundance of
moft ingenious things in wicker-work; particularly, all
forts of baſkets, fieves, bird cages, cupboards, &c. as
alfo chairs to fit on, ftools, beds, couches, and abun-
dance 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, fciffars, fpades
fhovels, pick-axes, and all things of that kind which
they could want.
With the help of theſe tools they were fo very han-
dy, that they came, at laft, to build up their huts, or
houfes, very handfomely; 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 forts of vermin; and our men were ſo taken
with it, that they got the wild favages to come and do
the like for them: ſo that when I come 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 induftrious, neceffary, and
fober fellow, he had made himſelf fuch a tent of baf-
ket-work, as I believe was never feen; it was 120 paces
round on the outfide, as I meaſured by my ſteps; the
walls were as clofe-worked as a basket, in pannels or
£quares, thirty-two in number, and very ſtrong, ſtand-
ing
ADVENTURES OF
ing about 7 feet high in the middle was another not
above 22 paces round, but built ftronger, being eight-
fquare in its form, and in the eight corners ftood eight
very strong pofts, round the top of which he laid ftrong
pieces, joined together with wooden pins, from which he
raifed a pyramid before the roof of eight rafters, very
handfome, I affure you, and joined together very well,
though he had no nails, and only a few iron fpikes,
which he had made himſelf too, out of the old iron that
I had left there; and, indeed, this fellow fhewed abun-
dance of ingenuity in feveral 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 char-
coal for his work, and he formed out of one of the iron
crows a midling good anvil to hammer upon; in this
manner he made many things, but eſpecially hooks, fta-
ples and ſpikes, bolts and hinges. But to return to the
houfe; after he pitched the roof of his innermoft tent,
he worked it up between the rafters with baſket-work,
ſo firm, and thatched that over again fo ingeniouſly
with rice ftraw, and over that a large leaf of a tree,
which covered the top, that his houfe was as dry as if
it had been tiled or flated. Indeed, he owned that the
favages made the baſket-work for him.
The outer circuit was covered, as a lean-to, all
round this inner apartment, and long rafters lay from
the 32 angles to the top poits of the inner houſe, being
about twenty-feet diftant; 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 fame
wicker work, but much fairer, and divided it into fix
apartments, for that he had fix rooms on a floor, and
out of every one of theſe there was a door; firft, into
the entry or coming into the main tent, and another
door into the ſpace or walk that was round it; fo that
this walk was alſo divided into fix equal parts, which
ſerved not only for a retreat, but to ſtore up any necef-
faries which the family had occafion for. Theſe fix fpaces
not taking up the whole circumference, what other
apartments the outer circle had, were thus ordered:
as foon as you were in at the door of the outer circle,
you
ROBINSON
CRUSOE
Viewing Will. Atkins's Basket House.
Pub & ; as the let directs June 10.1790 by William Lane Leadenhall Sivret-
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
93
you had a ſhort paffage ftrait before you to the door of
the inner houſe; but on either fide was a wicker parti-
tion, and a door in it, by which you went, firſt, into
a large room or ſtore-houſe, 20 feet wide, and about
30 feet long, and through that into another not quite fo
long fo that in the outer circle were ten handſome
rooms, fix 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 thro' one another,
two on either hand of the paffage, that led through the
outer door to the inner tent.
:
Such a picce of baſket-work, I believe, was never feen
in the world; nor an houſe or tent ſo neatly contrived,
much leſs ſo built in this great bee-hive lived the three
families, that is to fay, Will Atkins, and his companion;
the third was killed, but his wife remained with three
children; for fhe was, it ſeems, big with child when he
died; and the other two were not at all backward to
give the widow her full fhare of every thing, I mean,
as to their corn, milk, grapes, &c. and when they killed
a kid, or found a turtle on the fhore, : fo that they all
lived well enough, though it was true, they were not fo
induſtrious as the other two, as has been obferved 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 feamen, viz. ſwearing by his name:
nor were their poor ignorant favage wives much the
better for having been married to Chriftians, as we muſt
call them; for as they knew very little of God them-
felves, fo 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 fay
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 fpeak English too, from their firft learning to fpeak,
though they at firſt ſpoke it in a very broken manner,
like
94
ADVENTURES OF
like their mothers. There were none of thofe children
above fix years old when I came thither; for it was not
much above ſeven years that they had fetched theſe five
favage ladies, over, but they had all been pretty fruitful,
for they had all children, more or lefs: I think the
cook's mate's wife was big of her fixth child; and the
mothers were all a good tort of well governed, quiet,
laborious women, modeſt and decent, helpful to one an-
other, mighty obfervant and ſubject to their maſters, I
cannot call them hufbands; and wanted nothing but to
be well inftructed in the Chriftian religion, and to be
legally married; both which were happily brought
about afterwards by my means, or, at leaſt, by the con-
fequence of my coming among them.
Having thus given an account of the colony in gene-
ral, and pretty much of my five runagade Engliſhmen, I
muſt ſay ſomething of the Spaniards, who were the main
body of the family; and in whoſe ſtory there are ſome
incidents alfo remarkable enough.
I had a great many diſcourſes with them about their
circumſtances, when they were among the favages; they
told me readily, that they had no inftances to give of
their application or ingenuity in that country; that they
were a poor miferable dejected handful of people; that
if means had been put into their hands, they had yet fo
abandoned themſelves to deſpair, and fo funk under the
weight of their misfortunes, that they thought of nothing
but ſtarving: one of them, a grave and very fenfible
man, told me, he was convinced they were in the wrong;
that it was not the part of wiſe men to give up them-
ſelves 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 infignificant paffion in the world; for
that it regarded only things paſt, which were generally
impoffible to be recalled or to be remedied, but had no
view to things to come, and had no fhare in any thing
that looked like deliverance, but rather added to the
affliction than propofed a remedy: and upon this, he
repeated a Spaniſh proverb; which, tho' 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
95
In trouble to be troubled,
Is to have your trouble doubled.
He ran on then in remarks upon all the little im-
provements I had made in my folitude; my unwearied
application, as he called it, and how I had made a con-
dition, which, in its circumftance, was at firft much
worſe than theirs, a thouſand times more happy than
theirs was, even now, when they were altogether: he
told me, it was remarkable, that Englishmen had a
greater preſence of mind, in their diftrefs, than any
people that ever he met with; that their unhappy na-
tion, and the Portugueſe, were the worst men in the
world to struggle with misfortunes; for that their first
ſtep in danger, after common efforts are over, was al-
ways to defpair, lie down under it and die, without rouf-
ing their thoughts up to proper remedies for eſcape.
I told him, their cafe and mine differed exceedingly;
that they were caft upon the ſhore without neceffaries,
without fupply of food, or of prefent fuftenance, till
they could provide it that it is true, I had this dif-
advantage and diſcomfort, that I was alone; but then
the fupplies I had providentially thrown into my hands,
by the unexpected driving of the fhip on fhore, was
fuch a help as would have encouraged any creature in
the world to have applied himſelf as I had done:
Seignior, fays the Spaniard, had we poor Spaniards
been in your cafe, we fhould never have gotten half
thoſe things out of the fhip as you did: nay, fays he,
we fhould never have found means to have gotten a
raft to carry them, or to have gotten a raft on fhore
without boat or fail; and how much lefs fhould we
have done, faid he, if any of us had been alone! Well,
I defired him to abate his compliment, and go on with
the hiftory of their coming on fhore, where they land-
ed: he told me, they unhappily landed at a place
where there were people without provifions; whereas,
had they had the common fenfe to have put off to fea
again, and gone to another ifland a little farther, they
had found provifions, though without people; there
being an iſland that way, as they had been told, where
*
there
96
ADVENTURES OF
there were provifions, though no people; that is to fay,
that theSpaniards of Trinidad had frequently been there,
and filled the ifland with goats and hogs at ſeveral
times; where they have bred in fuch multitudes, and
where turtle and fea fowls where in fuch plenty, that
they could have been in no want of flesh, though they
had found no bread; whereas here they were only fuf-
tained with a few roots and herbs, which they under-
ſtood not, and which had no ſubſtance in them, and
which the inhabitants gave them ſparingly enough, and
who could treat them no better, unleſs they would turn
canibals, and eat men's flesh, which was the great dainty
of the country.
They gave me an account how many ways they ftrove
to civilize the favages 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 affiftance and fupport,
fhould attempt to fet up for inftructors of thoſe that gave
them bread; intimating, it feems, that none ſhould fet
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 fometimes they were many days
without any food at all; the iſland they were upon being
inhabited by a fort of favages that lived more indolent,
and, for that reaſon, were lefs fupplied with the necef
faries of life, than they had reaſon to believe others
ere in the fame part of the world; and yet they found
that theſe favages were lefs ravenous and voracious,
than thoſe who had better ſupplies of food.
*
Alfo they added, that they could not but fee with
what demonſtrations of wiſdom and goodneſs, the go-
verning Providence of God directs the event of things
in the world; which, they faid, appeared in their cir-
cumſtances; for if, preffed by the hardships they were
under, and the barrennefs of the country where they
were, they had fearched 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 favages,
whom they lived among, expected them to go out with
them
ROBINSON
97
CRUSOE.
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 yet in a condition, that they could not in
reafon deny to go out with their landlords to their wars;
when they came in the field of battle, they were in a
worfe condition than the favages themſelves; for they
neither had bows nor arrows, nor could they uſe thoſe
the ſavages gave them; ſo that they could do nothing
but fland ftill, 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 fharpened fticks put into the
muzzles of their mufkets: but that for all this they
were fometimes furrounded 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 fkins of wild beafts, whofe names they
knew not; and theſe covered them from the arrows of
the favages; that, notwithstanding thefe, they were
fometimes in great danger, and were once five of them
knocked down together, with the clubs of the favages,
which was the time when one of them was taken pri-
foner; 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 willing-
ly have all ventured their lives to have reſcued him.
They told me, that when they were fo knocked down,
the rest of their company refcued them, and flood 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, ftanding clofe
together in a line, through a body of above a thouſand
favages, beating down all that came in their way, got
the victory over their enemies, but to their great forrow,
becauſe it was with the lofs of their friend; whom the
other party finding him alive, carried off with fome
others, as I gave an account in my former.
E
VOL. II.
They
68
OF
ADVENTURES
They defcribed moſt affectionately, how they were
furpriſed with joy at the return of their friend and
companion in mifery, who they thought had been de-
voured by wild beafts of the worſt kind, viz. by wild
men; and, yet how more and more they were furpriſed
with the account he gave them of his errand, and that
there was a Chriftian 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 fight
of the relief I fent them, and at the appearance of
loaves of bread, things they had not feen fince their
coming to that miferable place; how often they croffed
it, and bleſſed it as bread fent from heaven; and what
a reviving cordial it was to their ſpirits to tafte it; as alſo
of the other things I had fent for their fupply. And,
after all, they would have told me fomething of the
joy they were in, at the fight 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
impoffible to exprefs it by words; for their exceffive
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 paffion, fuitable to the fenfe that was upon them;
that, in fome it worked one way, and in fome another;
and that ſome of them, through a furpriſe of joy, would
burſt out into tears; others be half-mad, and others im-
mediately faint. This difcourfe extremely affected me,
and called to my mind Friday's extacy, when he met
his father, and the poor people's extacy, when I took
them up at fea, after their fhip was on fire; the mate of
the fhip's joy, when he found himfelf 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 fenfible of the relation of theſe
poor men, and more affected with it.
Having thus given a view of the ftate 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
99
troubled no more with the favages; or that, if they
were, they would be able to cut them off, if they were
twice as many as before; fo 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, fo it would not be juft to carry off fome,
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 neceffary; as well for their con-
venience, as their defence; and that I had fuch par-
ticular perfons with me, as well to increaſe and recruit
their number, as by the particular neceffary employ-
ments which they were bred to, being artificers, to
affift them in thofe things, in which, at prefent, they
were to feek.
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 animofities that had been among them,
and could ſhake hands with one another, and engage in
a ftrict friendſhip, and union of intereft, fo that there
might be no more miſunderſtandings or jealoufies.
William Atkins, with abundance of frankneſs and
good humour faid, They had met with afflictions
enough to make them all fober, and enemies enough
to make them all friends: That, for his part, he would
live and die with them; and was fo far from defigning
any thing against the Spaniards, that, he owned, they
had done nothing to him but what his own bad hu-
mour made neceffary, and what he would have done,
and, perhaps, much worſe, in their cafe; and that he
would aſk them pardon, if I defired it, for the fooliſh
and brutish things he had done to them; and was very
willing and defirous of living in terms of entire friend-
ſhip 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.
E 2
The
100
ADVENTURES OF
The Spaniards faid, they had, indeed, at firft, dif-
armed and excluded William Atkins, and his two coun-
trymen, for their ill conduct, as they had let me know:
and they appealed to me for the neceffity they were
under to do fo; but that William Atkins had behaved
himſelf ſo bravely in the great fight they had with the
favages, and on feveral occafions fince, and had fewed
himſelf ſo faithful to, and concerned for the general in-
tereſt of them all, that they had forgotten all that was
paft; and thought he merited as much to be trufted with
arms, and fupplied with neceflaries, as any of them;
and that they had teftified their fatisfaction in him, by
commiting the command to him, next to the governor
himſelf and as they had an entire confidence in him,
and all his countrymen, fo they acknowledged, they
had merited that confidence, by all the methods that
honeſt men could merit to be valued and trufted: and
they moſt heartily embraced the occafion of giving me
this affurance, that they would never have any intereſt
ſeparate from one another.
Upon theſe frank and open declarations of friend-
fhip, we appointed the next day to dine all together;
and indeed, we made a fplendid feaft: I cauſed the
fhip's cook, and his mate to come on fhore, and dreſs
our dinner; and the old cook's mate we had on ſhore,
affifted. We brought on fhore fix pieces of good beef,
and four pieces of pork, out of the fhip's provifion,
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 or the Englishmen had tafted for many
years; and which it may be ſuppoſed, they were ex-
ceeding glad of.
The Spaniards added to our feaſt five whole kids,
which the cooks roaſted; and three of them were fent
covered up cloſe on board our ſhip to the feamen, that
they might feast on freſh meat from on fhore, as we did
with their falt meat from on board.
After this feaft, at which we were very innocently
merry, I brought out my cargo of goods, wherein, that
there might be no difpute about dividing, I fhewed them
there was fufficient for them all; and defired, that they
might
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
ΤΟΥ
might all take an equal quantity of the goods that were
for wearing; that is to fay, equal when made up. As
firſt, I diſtributed linen fufficient to make every one of
them four ſhirts; and, at the Spaniard's requeſt, after-
wards made them up fix; theſe were exceedingly comfort-
able to them, having been what, as I may lay, they had
long fince 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 fitteft for t'w heat of the ſeafon, cool
and loofe; and ordered that whenever they decayed,
they ſhould make more, as they thought fit: The like
for pumps, fhoes, ſtockings and hats, &c.
I cannot expreſs what pleaſure, what fatisfaction, fat
upon the countenances of all theſe poor men, when they
faw 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 fo re-
mote a part of the world, it would make them forget
that they were left in a defolate place: and they all
voluntarily engaged to me, not to leave the place with-
out my confent.
Then I prefented to them the people I had brought
with me; particularly the taylor, the fmith, and the
two carpenters, all of them moſt neceffary people; but,
above all, my general artificer, than whom they could
not name any thing that was more needful to them; and
the taylor, to fhew his concern for them, went to work
immediately, and, with my leave, made them every
one a fhirt the first thing he did; and, which was ftill
more, he taught the women not only how to few and
ſtitch, and uſe the needle, but made them affift to make
the ſhirts for their huſbands, and for all the reft.
As for the carpenters, I fcarce need mention how uſe-
ful they were, for they took in pieces all my clumfy un-
handy things, and made them clever convenient tables,
ftools, bedfteads, cupboards, lockers, fhelves, and every
thing they wanted of that kind.
But, to let them fee how nature made artificers at firft,
I carried the carpenters to fee Williami Atkins's baſket-
houſe, as I called it; and they both owned, they never
faw an inſtance of fuch natural ingenuity before; nor
E 3
any
102
ADVENTURES OF
any thing fo regular, and fo handily built, at leaft of
its kind and one of them, when he faw it, after mu-
fing a good while, turning about to me, am fure, fays.
he, that man has no need of us; you need do nothing
but give him tools.
Then I brought them out all my ftore of tools, and
gave every man a digging-fpade, a ſhovel, and a rake,
for we had no harrows, or ploughs; and, to every ſe-
parate 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 fupplied, without grudging,
out of the general ftores that I left behind.
Nails, ftaples, hinges, hammers, chiffels, knives,
fciffars, and all forts of tools, and i:on-work, they had
without tale, as they required; for no man would care
to take more than he wanted; and he muft be a fool
that would waſte or fpoil them, on any account what-
foever: And, for the uſe of the fmith, I left two tons
of unwrought iron for a ſupply.
My magazine of powder and arms, which I brought
them, was fuch, even to profufion, that they could not
but rejoice at them; for now they could march as I uſed
to do, with a mufket upon each fhoulder, if there was
occafion; and were able to fight 100 favages, if they
had but fome little advantages of fituation; which allo
they could not mifs of, if they had occafion.
Í carried on fhore with me the young man whofe mo.
ther was ftarved to death, and the maid alfo; fhe was a
fober, well educated, religious young woman, and be-
haved ſo inoffenfively, 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, feeing things fo well or-
dered, and in fo fine a way of thriving upon my iſland,
and confidering that they had neither buſineſs or ac-
quaintance in the Eaft Indies, or reaſon for taking ſo
long a voyage; I fay, confidering all this, both of them
came to me, and defired I would give them leave to re-
main 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
103
houſes fet up, furrounded with a baſket work, pallifadoed
like Atkins's,and adjoining to his plantation; their tents
were contrived ſo, that they had each of them a room
apart to lodge in, and a middle tent, like a great flore-
houſe, to lay all their goods in, and to eat and drink in.
And now the other two Englishmen removed their habi-
tation to the fame place; and ſo the iſland was divided
into three colonies, and no more, viz. the Spaniards with
old Friday, and the firft fervants, at my old habitation
under the hill, which was, in a word, the capital city,
and where they had fo enlarged and extended their works,
as well under, as on the outfide of the hill, that they
lived, tho' perfectly concealed, yet full at large. Never
was their fuch a little city in a wood, and fo hid, I be-
lieve, in any part of the world: For, I verily believe,
1000 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 food fo thick, and ſo cloſe, and grew fo.faft matted
into one another, that nothing but cutting them down
firft, 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 fide of the creek; and it was
afterwards above 20ɔ 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 fide.
The other colony was that of Will. Atkins's, where
there were four families of Engliſhmen, I mean thoſe I
had left there, with their wives and children; three
favages, that were flaves; 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 alfo,
before we went away: There were alſo the two carpen-
ters and the taylor, who I brought with me for them:
alſo the ſmith, who was a very neceffary man to them,
efpecially as the gunſmith, to take care of their arms;
and my other man whom I called Jack of all trades
E
E 4.
who
194
ADVENTURES OF
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.
it
And now I fpeak of marrying, it brings me naturally
to fay fomething of the French ecclefiaftic, that I had
brought with me out of the fhip's crew, whom I took
at fea. It is true, this man was a Roman, and perhaps,
may give offence to fome hereafter, if I leave any thing
extraordinary upon record, of a man, whom, before I
begin, I muft (to fet him out in juft colours) reprefent in
terms very much to his difadvantage, in the account of
Proteftants; as firft, that he was a Papift; fecondly, a
Popiſh Priest; and thirdly a French Popith Prieſt.
But juftice demands of me to give him a due cha-
racter; and I muft fay, he was a grave, fober, pious,
and moſt religious perfon; exact in his life, extenſive
in his charity, and exemplary in almost every thing he
did: What, then, can any one fay, againſt my being
very fenfible of the value of fuch a man, notwithſtand-
ing his profeffion? Though it may be my opinion,
perhaps, as well as the opinion of others, who fhall 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 converſa-
tion And he first began with me about religion, in
the moſt obliging manner imaginable.
:
may
Sir, fays he, you have not only, under God (and, at
that, he croſſed his breaft) faved my life, but you have
admitted me to go this voyage in your fhip, and, by
your obliging civility, have taken me into your family,
giving me an opportunity of free converfation: Now,
Sir, fays he, you fee by my habit, what my profeffion
is; and I gueſs by your nation, what your's is: I
think it is my duty, and, doubtless, it is fo, to uſe my
utmoſt endeavours, on all occafions, to bring all the
fouls that I can to the knowledge of the truth, and to
embrace the Catholic doctrine; but, as I am here under
your permiffion, and in your family, I am bound in
juſtice to your kindneſs, as well as in decency and good
manners,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
105
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 fo modeft, that I could
not but acknowledge it; that it was true, we were
iuch people as they call heretics; but, that he was
not the firft Catholic that I had converfed with, with-
out 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 opi-
nion from us; and if we did not converfe without any
diſlike on either fide, upon that ſcore, it would be his
fault, not ours.
He replied, that he thought our converfation might
be eaſily ſeparated from difputes; that it was not his
bufinefs to cap principles with every man he diſcourſed
with; and that he rather defired 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
fubjects, 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 fuch thing.
He told me farther, that he would not ceafe to do all
that became him in his office, as a prie?, as well as a
private Chriftian, to procure the good of the fhip, and
the fafety 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 occafions. In this manner we converfed; and,
as he was of a maſt obliging gentleman-like behaviour,
fo he was, if I may be allowed to ſay fo, a man of good
ienfe, and, as I believe, of great learning.-
He gave me a moft 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 particu-
larly this was very remarkable; viz. that during the
voyage he was now engaged in, he had the misfortune
to be five times fhipped and unfhipped, and never to go
E 5
10
106
ADVENTURES OF
to the place whither any of the fhips he was in, were at
firft defigned: 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 fhip received fome damage,by running
aground in the mouth of the river Tagus, and was ob-
liged to unload her cargo there: That finding a Portu-
guefe fhip there bound to the Madeiras, and ready to fail,
and fuppofing he ſhould eaſily meet with a veffel there,
bound to Martinico, he went on board, in order to fail to
the Madeiras; but the Mafter of the Portugueſe ſhip
being but an indifferent mariner, had been out in his
reckoning, and they drove to Fial; where, however, he
happened to find a very good market for his cargo,
which was corn; and therefore refolved not to go to the
Madeiras, but to load falt 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, to 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 provifions, he thought he
fhou'd have an opportunity to complete his first defign:
But when he came to Quebec, the mafter 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 fea, and then ſhipped them
with us for the East Indies, as I have already faid..
Thus he had been diſappointed in five voyages, all, as
I may call it, in one voyage, befides what I fhall have
occafion to mention farther of the fame perfon.
But I fhall not make digreffions into other mens
ftories, 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 ledged among us all the while
we were upon the iſland; and it happened to be juſt
when I was going to vifit the Englishmen's colony, at.
the fartheſt part of the iſland; I lay, he came to me,
and told me, with a very grave countenance, that he
had, for two or three days, defired an opportunity of
ſome diſcourſe with me, which, he hoped, would not
be difpleafing to me, becauſe he thought it might, in
fome
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
107
fome meaſure, correfpond with my general defign
which was the profperity of my new colony; and,
perhaps, might put it, at leaft, more than he yet
thought it was, in the way of God's bleffing.
I looked a little furpriſed at the laſt part of his dif-
courſe; and turning a little thort, how, Sir, faid I, can
it be ſaid, that we are not in the way of God's bleffing,
after fuch viſible affiſtances, and wonderful deliver-
ances, as we have feen here, and of which I have given
you a large account?
If you had pleaſed, Sir, faid he, (with a world of
modefty, and yet with great readiness) to have heard
me, you would have found no room to have been diſ-
pleaſed, much leſs to think ſo hard of me, that I ſhould
fuggeft, that you have not had wonderful aſſiſtances and
deliverances: And, I hope, on your behalf, that you
are in the way of God's bleffing, and your deſign is ex-
ceeding good and will profper. But, Sir, faid he, tho'
it were more fo, than is even poffible to you, yet there
may be fome among you, that are not equally right in
their actions: And you know, that in the ftory of
Ifrael, one Achan, in the camp, removed God's blef-
fing from them, and turned his hand fo againſt them,
that thirty-fix of them, though not concerned in the
crime, where the objects of divine vengeance, and
bore the weight of that punishment.
I was fenfibly touched with this difcourfe, and told
him, his inference was fo juft, and the whole defign
feemed fo fincere, and was really fo religious in its own
nature, that I was very forry I had interrupted him ;
and begged him to go on: And, in the mean time,
becauſe it ſeemed, that what we had both to fay, might
take up ſome time, I told him, I was going to the Eng-
lifhman's plantation: and aſked him to go with mẽ. and
we might difcourfe 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 defired to ſpeak
to me about: So we walked on, and I preffed him to
be free and plain with me, in what he had to ſay.
Why then, Sir, fays he, be pleafed to give me leave
to lay down a few propofitions, as the foundation of
what I have to ſay, that we may not differ in the ge-
E 6
neral
108
ADVENTURES OF
neral principles, tho' we may be of ſome differing opi-
nions in the practice of particulars. Firft, Sir, though we
differ in fome of the doctrinal articles of religion, and
it is very unhappy that it is fo, eſpecially in the cafe
before us, as I ſhall ſhew afterwards; yet, there are ſome
general principles in which we both agree; viz. Firft,
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 exprefsly forbidden: and let our
different religions be what they will, this general prin-
ciple is readily owned by us all: That the bleſſing
of God does not ordinarily follow a prefumptuous fin-
ning 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 proteftants, what-
´ever my opinion may be of fuch, that diſcharges me
from being concerned for their fouls, and from endea-
vouring, if it lies before me, that they ſhould live in as
little diftance from, and enmity with, their Maker as
poffible; eſpecially, if you give me leave to meddle fo
far in your circuit.
I could not yet imagine what he aimed at, and told
him, I granted all he faid, and thanked him, that
he would fo far concern himſelf for us; and begged he
would explain the particulars, of what he had obferved,
that, like Joshua (to take his own parable) I might put
away the accurſed thing from us.
Why, then, Sir, fays he, I will take the liberty you
give me; and there are three things, which, if I am
right, muft ftand in the way of God's bleffing upon
your endeavours here, and which I fhould rejoice, for
your fake, and their own, to fee removed. And, Sir,
fays he, I promiſe myſelf, that you will fully agree with
me in them all, as foon as I name them; eſpecially, be-
cauſe I ſhall convince you, that every one of them may,
with great eaſe, and very much to your fatisfaction, be
remedied.
He gave me no leave to put in any more civilities,
but went on. Firft, Sir, fays he, you have here four
Engliſhmen,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
109
Engliſhmen, who have fetched women from among the
favages, and have taken them as their wives, and have
had many children by them all, and yet are not married
to them after any ftated legal manner, as the laws of
God and man require; and therefore are, yet, in the
fenſe of both, no less than adulterers, and living in adul-
tery. To this, Sir, fays he, I know you will object,
that there was no clergyman, or prieft of any kind, or
of any profeffion, to perform the ceremony; nor any
pen and ink, or paper, to write down a contract of mar-
riage, and have it figned between them. And I know
alfo, 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 chuſe
them out by confent, and keep feparately to them;
which, by the way, is nothing of a marriage, no agree-
ment with the women as wives, but only an agreement
among themſelves, to keep them from quarreliing.
But, Sir, the effence of the facrament of matrimony
(fo he called it, being a Roman) confifts not only in the
mutual confent 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; oblig-
ing the man to abstain from all other women, to engage
in no other contract while theſe ſubſiſt; andon all occa-
fions, as ability allows, to provide honeftly for them,
and their children; and to oblige the women to the fame,
or like conditions, muta. is mutandıs, on their fide.
Now, Sir, fays he, theſe men may, when they pleaſe,
or when occafion prefents, abandon theſe women, dif-
own their children, leave them to periſh, and take other
women, and marry them whift thefe are living. And
here he added, with ſome warmth, How, Sir, is Gød
honoured in this unlawful liberty? And how fhall a
bleſſing fucceed your endeavours in this place, however
good in themſelves, and however fincere in your defign,
while theſe men, who at preſent are your ſubjects, under
your abfolute government and dominion, are allowed by
you to live in open adultery?
I confefs, I was ſtruck at the thing itſelf, but much
more with the convincing arguments he fupported it
with;
110
OF
ADVENTURES
with; for it was certainly true, that though they had no
clergyman on the ſpot, yet a formal contract on both
fides, made before witneffes, and confirmed by any
token, which they had all agreed to be bound by, tho'
it had been but the breaking a ftick between them, en-
gaging the men to own thefe women for their wives upon
ali occafions, and never to abandon them or their chil-
dren, and the women to the fame with their huſbands,
had been an effectual lawful marriage in the fight 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 fo many years with them
now, that if it was an adultery, it was paft remedy;
they could do notning in it now.
Sir, fays he, afking your pardo for fuch freedom,
you are right in this; that it being done in your ab-
fence, you could not be charged with that part of the
crime. But I befeech you, flatter not yourſelf, that you
are not therefore under an obligation to do your utter-
moſt now to put an end to it: how can you think, but
that, let the time paſt lie on whom it will, all the guilt.
for the future, will lie entirely upon you; Becauſe it is
certainly in your power now to put an end to it; and in
nobody's power but your's.
I was ſo dull ſtill, that I did not take him right; but
I imagined, that, by putting an end to it, he meant,.
that I should part them, and not fuffer them to live toge-
ther any longer and I faid to him, I could not do that.
by any means, for that it would put the whole iſland in
confufion. He feemed furpriſed that I fhould fo far-
miſtake him. No, Sir, fays 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, tho' it will be
as effectual, even by your own laws; fo your way may
be as well before God, and as valid among men; I
mean, by a written contract, figned by both man and
woman, and by all the witneffes prefent; which all the
laws of Europe would decree to be valid.
I was amazed to ſee ſo much true piety, and ſo much
fincerity of zeal, beſides the unuſual impartiality in his,
diſcourſe,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
rrr
diſcourſe, as to his own party or church and fuch a true
warmth for the preſerving people that he had no know-
ledge of, or relation to: I fay, for preferving them from
tranfgreffing the laws of God; the like of which I had,
indeed, not met with any where. But recollecting what
he had faid, of marring them by a written contract,
which I knew would ftand too: I returned it back upon
him, and told him, I granted all that he had faid to be
juft, 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 preffed him to tell me, what was the fecond
complaint which he had to make; acknowledging, that
I was very much his debtor for the firft; and thanked
him heartily for it. He told ine, he would uſe the ſame
freedom and plainnefs in the fecond; and hoped I
would take it as well: and this was, that, notwith-
ftanding thefe English fubjects 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 peceived, women
of tolerable underſtanding, and capable of inftruction;
yet they had not to this hour taught them any thing of
the Chriſtian religion; no, not fo 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 wor-
ſhipping they knew not who, was falſe and abſurd.
This, he faid, was an unaccountable neglect, and
what God would certainly call them to an account for;
and, perhaps, at laft take the work out of their hands.
He ſpoke this very affectionately and warmly. I am per-
fuaded, fays he, had thoſe men lived in the favage coun-
try, whence their wives came, the favages 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 fee, has taken with them, to teach them the
knowledge of the true God. Now, Sir, faid he, tho' I
do
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ADVENTURES OF
do not acknowledge your religion, or you mine, yet we
fhould be all glad to fee the devil's fervants, and the
fubjects of his kingdom, taught to know the general
principles of the Chriftian religion; that they might, at
leaft, hear of God, and of a Redeemer, and of the Re-
furrection, and of a future ftate, things which we all
believe; they had, at leaſt, been fo much nearer coming
into the bofom of the true church, than they are now in
the public profeffion of idolatry, and devil-worſhip.
I could hold no longer; I took him in my arms, and
embraced him with an excess of paffion: how far, faid
I to him, have I been from underſtanding the moſt eſ-
ſential part of a Chriſtian, viz. to love the intereſt of
the Chriſtian church, and the good of other men's fouls.
I ſcarce have known what belongs to being a Chriftian.
O Sir, do not ſay ſo, replied he; this thing is not your
fault. No! faia 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? faid I; you fee I am going away. Will you give
me leave, faid he, to talk with theſe poor men about it?
Yes, with all my heart, faid I, and will oblige them to
give heed to what you fay too.
As to that, faid he, we
muſt leave them to the mercy of Chrift; but it is our bu-
fineſs to affiſt them, encourage them, and inſtruct them;
and if you will give me leave, and God his bleffing, I
do not doubt but the poor ignorant fouls fhall be
brought home into the great circle of chriſtianity, if not
into the particular faith that we all embrace; and that
even while you ftay 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 fhall mention alio
again in its place.
I now preffed him for the third article in which we
were to blame: Why really, fays he, it is of the fame
nature, and I will proceed (asking your leave) with the
fame plainneſs as before: it is about your poor favages
yonder, who are (as I may fay) your conquered ſubjects.
It is a maxim, Sir, that is, or ought to be, received
among all Chriftians, of what church, or pretended
church foever; viz. that Christian knowledge ought to
be propagated by all poſſible means, and on all poffible
occafions.
ROBINSON
113
CRUSOE.
occafions. It is on this principle that our church fends
miffionaries into Perfia, India, and China; and that our
clergy, even of the fuperior fort, willingly engage in
the most hazardous voyages, and the most dangerous
refidence, among murderers and barbarians, to teach
them the knowledge of the true God, and to bring them
over to embrace the Chriftian faith. Now, Sir, you
have an opportunity here, to have fix or feven and
thirty poor favages brought over from idolatry to the
knowledge of God, their Maker and Redeemer, that
I wonder how you can paſs ſuch an occafion of doing
good; which is really worth the expence of a man's
whole life.
I was now ftruck 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 foever: As for me, I had not to much
as entertained a thought of this in my heart before;
and, I believe, fhould not have thought of it; for I
looked upon theſe ſavages as flaves, and people, whom,
had we any work for them to do, we would have uſed
as fuch, or would have been glad to have tranfported
them to any other part of the world; for our buſineſs
was to get rid of them; and we would all have been fa-
tisfied, if they had been ſent to any country, fo they had
never feen their own. But to the cafe: I fay I was
confounded at his diſcourſe, and knew not what anſwer
to make. He looked earneftly at me, feeing me in
ſome diſorder: Sir, ſaid he, I ſhall be very ſorry, if what
I have ſaid gives you any offence. No, no, faid I, I am
offended with nobody but myfelf; but I am perfectly
confounded, not only to think, that I fhould never take
any notice of this before, but with reflecting what no-
tice I am able to take of it now. You know, Sir, faid I,
what circumftances I am in; I am bound to the Eaft-
Indies, in a fhip freighted by merchants, and to whom
it would be an infufferable piece of injuftice to detain
their ſhip here, the men lying all this while at victuals
and wages upon the owner's account: it is true, I
agreed to be allowed twelve days here; and if I ſtay
more, I must pay 31. fterling per diem demurrage; nor
can I ſtay upon demurrage above eight days more; and
*
I have
114
ADVENTURES OF
I have been here thirteen days already; fo that I am
perfectly unable to engage in this work, unleſs I would
Tuffer myſelf to be left behind here again; in which caſe,
if this fingle fhip fhould mifcarry in any part of her
voyage, I ſhould be juft in the fame condition that I
was left in here at firft; and from which I have been
fo wonderfully delivered.
He owned the cafe was very hard upon me as to my
voyage; but laid it home upon my confcience, whether
the blefling of faving feven and thirty fouls, was not
worth my venturing all I had in the world for? I was
not ſo fenfible of that as he was; and I returned upon
him thus: Whý, Sir, it is a valuable thing indeed, to
be an inſtrument, in God's hand, to convert feven and
thirty heathens to the knowledge of Chrift; but as you
are an ecclefiaftic, and are given over to that work, ſo
that it ſeems naturally to fall into the way of your pro-
feffion; how is it then, that you do not rather offer your-
ſelf to undertake it, than preſs me to do it?
Upon this he faced about, juſt before me, as he walk-
ed along, and putting me to a full ftop, made me a
very low bow: I moft heartily thank God, and you, Sir,
fays he, for giving me fo evident a call to fo bleffed a
work; and if you think yourfelf diſcharged from it,
and defire me to undertake it, I will moſt readily do it,
and think it a happy reward for all the hazards and
difficulties of fuch a broken diſappointed voyage as I
have met with, that I have dropt at laſt into ſo glorious
a work.
*
}
I diſcovered a kind of rapture in his face, while he
fpoke this to me; his eyes iparkled like fire, his face
glowed, and his colour came and went, as if he had
been falling into fits: in a word, he was fired with the
joy of being embarked in fuch a work. I paused a con-
fiderable while, before I could tell what to ſay to him;
for I was really furprised to find a man of ſuch fince-
rity and zeal, and carried out in his zeal beyond the
ordinary rate of men, not out of his profeffion only, but
even of any profeffion whatſoever: but, after I had con-
fidered it a while, I aſked him ſeriouſly; if he was in
earneſt, and that he would venture on the fingle confi-
deration of an attempt on thoſe poor people, to be locked
up
ROBINSON
115
CRUSOE.
up in an unplanted iſland, for, perhaps, his life; and,
at laft, might not know whether he ſhould be able to do
them any good, or not.
He turned fhort upon me, and aſked me, what I called
à venture: pray, Sir, faid he, what do you think I con-
fented to go in your fhip to the Eaft-Indies for? Nay,
faid I, that I know not, unleſs it was to preach to the
Indians. Doubtless it was, faid 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 fave fo many fouls, than my life is,
or the life of twenty more of the fame profeffion? Yes,
Sir, fays he, I would give Chrift and the bleffed Virgin
thanks all my days, if I could be made the leaſt happy
inftrument of faving the fouls of thefe poor men, though
I was never to fet my foot off this ifland, or fee my na-
tive country any more: but, fince you will honour me,
fays 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, fays he, befides. 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
affiſt me; for, without fome help, I cannot ſpeak to
them, or they to me.
I was fenfibly 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 fincerely affectionate
to the laft degree; and I had refolved to do ſomething
confiderable for him, if he outlived me, as it was pro-
bable he would: then I knew, that as I had bred Friday
up to be a proteftant, it would quite confound him, to
bring him to embrace another profeffion; and he would
never, while his eyes were open, believe that his old
maſter was an heretic, and would be damned; and this
might in the end ruin the poor fellow's principles, and
fo turn him back again to his original idolatry.
+
However, a fudden thought relieved me in this
ftrait, 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
น
116
ADVENTURES OF
#
value than his life, ought to me to be of much more
value than the keeping or parting with a fervant. But,
on the other hand, I was perfuaded that Friday would
by no means confent to part with me; and then to
force him to it, without his confent, would be a mani-
feft injustice; becaufe I had promifed I would never
put him away; and he had promifed and engaged
to me, that he would never leave me, unleſs I put him
away.
He feemed very much concerned at it; for he had no
rational access to theſe poor people. feeing he did not
underſtand one word of their language, nor they one
word of his. To remove this difficulty, I told him
Friday's father had learned Spaniſh, which I found he
alfo underflood; and he fhould ferve him for an inter-
preter; fo he was much better fatis fied, and nothing
could perfuade him but he would ftay 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 fent for them all
together; and after ſome accounts given them of what
I had done for them, viz. what neceffary things I had
provided for them, and how they were diſtributed ;
which they were fenfible of, and very thankful for į I
began to talk to them of the ſcandalous life they led,
and gave them a full account of the notice the clergy-
man had already taken of it; and arguing how un-
chriſtian and irreligious a life it was, I firſt aſked them
if they were married men or batchelors? They foon ex-
plained their condition to me, and fhewed me that two
of them were widowers, and the other three were fingle
men or batchelors. 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 to be lawfully married 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 ftood with them, they were as
legally
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
117
legally married as if they had been married by a parfon,
and with all the formalities in the world.
I told them, that no doubt they were married in
the fight of God, and were bound in confcience to
keep them as their wives; but that the laws of men
being otherwiſe, they might pretend they were not mar-
ried, and ſo deſert the poor women and children here-
after; and that their wives being poor defolate wo-
men, friendlefs and moneylefs, would have no way to
help themselves: I therefore told them, that unleſs I
was affured of their honeft 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 fome affurances that they
would marry the women, 1 could not think it was con-
venient they ſhould continue together as man and wife ;
for that it was both fcandalous to men and offenfive to
God, who they could not think would bleſs them, if they
went on thus.
All this paffed as I expected; and they told me,
eſpecially Will Atkins, who ſeemed now to ſpeak for the
reft, 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 fe 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 fincere, I would have him
married the next morning, and bade him confider of
it, and talk with the reft: He faid, as for himſelf, hẹ
need not confider of it at all; for he was very ready to
do
118
OF
ADVENTURES
do it, and was glad I had a minifter with me; and he
believed they would be ail willing alfo. 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 papift or a proteftant, which was in-
deed what I was afraid of; but 1 fay they never en-
quired about it. So we parted. I went back to my
clergyman, and Will. Atkins went in to talk with his
companions. I defired the French gentleman not to
fay any thing to them till the bufinefs was thoroughly
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 confidering what I had
faid; that they were very glad to hear I had a clergy-
man in my company; and they were very willing to
give me the fatisfaction I defired, and to be formally
married as foon as I pleaſed; for they were far from
defiring to part from their wives; and that they meant
nothing but what was very honeft, when they choſe
them;
fo I appointed them to meet me the next morn-
ing; 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 fcandal, but also to
oblige them, that they ſhould not forfake them, what-
ever might happen.
The women were eafily made fenfible of the mean-
ing of the thing, and were very well fatisfied with it,
as, indeed, they had reafon to be; fo they failed not
to attend all together, at my apartment, the next morn-
ing, where I brought out my clergyman, and though
he had not on a minifter's gown after the manner
of England, or the habit of a prieft, after the manner
of France; yet having a black veft, fomething like a
caffóck, with a faſh round it, he did not look very un-
like a miniſter; and as for his language, I was his in-
terpreter.
But the ſeriouſneſs of his behaviour to them, and
the fcruples he made of marrying the women, becauſe
they were not baptized, and profeffed Chriftians, gave
them an exceeding reverence for his perfon; and
}
there
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
119
there was no need after that to enquire whether he was
a clergyman or no.
Indeed I was afraid his ſcruple would have been car-
ried ſo far, as that he would not have married them at
all; nay, notwithſtanding all I was able ſay to him,
he refifted me, though modeftly, yet very ſteadily; and
at laſt refuſed abiolutely to marry them, unleſs he had
firft talked with the men, and the women too: and
though at firſt I was a little backward to it, yet at laft I
agreed to it with a good will, perceiving the fincerity of
his defign.
When he came to them, he let them know, that I had
acquainted him with their circumftances, and with the
prefent defign; that he was very willing to perform
that part of his function, and marry them, as I had
defired; but that before he could do it he muſt take the
liberty to talk with them. He told them, that in the
fight of all different men, and in the ſenſe of the laws
of ſociety, they had lived all this while in an open adul-
tery; and that it was true, that nothing but the con-
fenting to marry, or effectually feparating 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 profeffed Chriſtian, to a
favage, an idolater, and a heathen, one that is not bap-
tized; and yet that he did not fee that there was time
left for it, to endeavour to perfuade the women to be
baptized, or to profefs the name of Chrift, 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
Chriftians themſelves; that they had but little know-
ledge of God, or his ways, and therefore he could not
expect that they had faid much to their wives on that
head yet; but that unless they would promife him to
uſe their endeavours with their wives, to perfuade them
to become Chriſtians, and would, as well as they could,
inftruct them in the knowledge and belief of God that
made them, and to worship Jefus Chrift that redeemed
them, he could not marry them; for he would have
no hand in joining Chriftians with ſavages; nor was
it
120
ADVENTURES OF
conſiſtent with the principles of the Chriftian re-
ligion; and was indeed expreísly 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 fometimes adding fome-
thing of my own, to convince them how juft it was,
and how I was of his mind; and I always very faith-
fully diftinguished between what I faid from myself,
and what were the clergyman's words. They told
me, it was very true what the gentleman had faid,
that they were but very indifferent Chriftians them-
felves, and that they had never talked to their wives
about religion. Lord, Sir, fays Will. Atkins, how fhould
we teach them religion? Why, we know nothing our.
ſeives; and befides, Sir, faid he, fhould we go to talk
to them of God and Jefus Chrift, and heaven and hell,
'twould but make them laugh at us, and afk us what
we believe ourſelves? And if we ſhould tell them, we
believe all the things that we fpeak of to them, fuch
as of good people going to heaven, and wicked people
to the devil, they would afk us, where we intended to
go ourſelves, who believe all this, and yet are fuch
wicked fellows, as indeed we are? Why, Sir, faid Will,
'tis enough to give them a furfeit of religion at firſt
hearing. Folks must have fome religion themſelves
before they pretend to teach other people.
Atkins, faid I to him, though I am afraid what you fay
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 fpeak; that there
is a great Being that made all things, and that can de
ſtroy all that he has made ; that he rewards the good,
and puniſhes the bad; that we are to be judged by him
at laft, for all we do here: you are not fo 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.
Will.
That's true, Sir, faid 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE
Not true, faid I, what do you mean by that? Why
Sir, faid he, fhe will tell me it cannot be true, that this
God (I fhall tell her of) can be juft, or can puniſh, or
reward, fince I am not puniſhed, and fent to the devil,
that have been ſuch a wicked creature as ſhe knows I
have been, even to her, and to every body elfe, and
that I ſhould be fuffered 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, faid I, I am afraid thou ſpeakeſt
too much truth; and with that I let the clergyman know
what Atkins had faid; for he was impatient to know
O! faid the prieſt, tell him there is one thing will
make him the best minifter 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 fo much the better qualified to inftruct his
wife; he will then be able to tell her, that there is
not only a God, and that he is the juft rewarder of good
and evil; but that he is a merciful being, and, with in-
finite goodness and long-fuffering, forbears to puniſh
thoſe that offend; waiting to be gracious, and willing
not the death of a finner, but rather that he ſhould re-
turn and live; that he often ſuffers wicked men to go
on a long time, and even referves damnation to the gene-
ral day of retribution; that it is a clear evidence of God,
and of a future ftate, that righteous men receive not
their reward or wicked men their punishment, till they
come into another world; and this will lead him to teach
his wife the doctrine of the refurrection, 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 ferious
all the while, and who, we could eafily perceive, was
more than ordinarily affected with it; when being eager,
and hardly fuffering me to make an end; I knew all
this, maſter, fays 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 had never heard of a God, or a future ftate, or any
thing about it, and to talk of my repenting, alas (and
VOL. II.
F
with
122
ADVENTURES OF
with that he fetched a deep figh; and I could ſee that
tears ſtood in his eyes) 'tis pat all that with me. Part
it! Atkins, faid I, What doſt thou mean by that? I
know well enough what I mean, Sir, fays he;
I mean
'tis too late; and that is too true.
I told my clergyman, word for word, what he faid;
the poor zealous prieft (I must call him fo; for be his
opin on what it will, he had certainly a moft fingular
affection for the good of other mens fouls; 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
alfo; but, recovering himſelf, he ſaid to me, Aſk him
but one queftion, Is he eafy, that it is too late, or is he
troubled, and wiſhes it were not fo? I put the queſtion
fairly to Atkins; and he anſwered with a great deal of
paffion, How could any man be eafy in a condition that
certainly muft end in eternal deftruction? That he was
far from being eafy; but that, on the contrary, he be-
lieved it would one time or other ruin him.
What do you mean by that? faid I. Why, he faid,
he believed he ſhould, one time or other, cut his own
throat to put an end to the terror of it.
The clergyman fhook his head, with great concern
in his face, when I told him all this; but, turning quick
to me upon it, faid, if that be his cafe, you may affure
him it is not too late; Chrift will give him repentance
but pray, fays he, explain this to him, That as no man
is faved but by Chrift, and the merit of his paffion, pro-
curing divine mercy for him, how can it be too late for
any man to receive mercy? Does he think he is able
to fin 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 Chrift's fervants are commanded to preach
mercy at all times, in the name of Jefus Chrift, to all
thofe that fincerely repent; fo that 'tis never too late to
répent.
I told Atkins all this, and he heard me with great
Carneftneſs; but it feemed as if he turned off the dif-
ourſe to the reft; for he ſaid to me, he would go and
have fome talk with his wife; fo he went out awhile
and
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
X23
and we walked to the reft. I perceived they were all ftu-
pidly 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 to do their
endeavour to perſuade them to turn chriftians.
The clergyman ſmiled upon me, when I reported what
anfwer they gave, but faid nothing a good while; but,
at laft, fhaking his head, We that are Chrift's fervants,
fays he, can go no further than to exhort and inſtruct ;
and when men comply, fubmit to the reproof, and pro-
mife what we afk, 'tis all we can do; we are bound to
accept their good words; but, believe me, Sir, faid he,
whatever you may have known of the life of that man
you call William Atkins, I believe he is the only fincere
convert among them; I take that man to be a true peni-
tent; I won't deſpair of the reft; but that man is per-
fectly ftruck 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 fometimes the beſt way of teaching our-
felves. I knew a man, added he, who, having nothing
but a fummary notion of religion himſelf, and being
wicked and profligate, to the laft degree, in his life,
made a thorough reformation in himſelf, and being
to convert a Jew; and if that poor Atkins begins but
once to talk ſeriouſly of Jefus Chrift to his wife, my life
for it, he talks himſelf into a thorough convert, make-
himſelf a penitent; and who knows what may follow?
Upon this difcourfe however, and their promifing, as
above, to endeavour to perfuade 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 a while, was curious to
know where Atkins was gone; and, turning to me, fays
he, I intreat you, Sir, let us walk out of your laby
rinth here, and look: I dare fay we fhall find this poor
man fomewhere or other, talking feriouſly with his
wife, and teaching her already fomething of religion.
1 began to be of the fame mind; fo we went out toge.
ther; and I carried him a way which none knew but
F 2
myfelf,
4
ADVENTURES OF
myfelf, an 1 where the trees were fo thick fet, as that
it was not eafy to fee through the thicket of leaves,
and far harder to fee in, than to fee out; when coming
to the edge of the wood, I faw Atkins, and his tawny
favage wife, fitting under the fhade of a bufh, very
eager in difcourfe; I ftopped thort, till my clergyman
came up to me; and then, having fhewed him where
they were, we ſtood and locked very fteadily at them a
good while.
We obferved him very earnest with her, pointing up to
the fun, 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, fays my clergy-
man, you fee 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, faid I:
immediately we perceived Will Atkins ftart upon his
feet, fall down upon his knees, and lift up both his
hands: we ſuppoſe he ſaid ſomething, but we could not
hear him: it was too far for that: he did not continue
kneeling half a minute, but comes and fits down again
by his wife, and talks to her again. We perceived then
the woman very attentive, but whether ſhe ſaid ang
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
myfelf; but it was a great affliction to us both, that we
were not near enough to hear any thing that paſſed be-
tween them.
Well, however, we could come no nearer, for fear
of diſturbing them: fo we refolved to fee an end of
this peace of ſtill converfation; and it ſpoke loud enough
to us, without the help of voice: he fat down again, as
I have faid, cloſe by her, and talked again earneſtly to
her: and two or three times we could fee 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
feveral of theſe things, we faw him on a fudden jump up
again, and lend her his hand to help her up, when
immediately, leading her by the hand a step or two,
they
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
12.5
they both kneeled down together, and continued, fo
about two minutes.
My friend could bear it no longer, but cries out aloud,
St. Paul, St. Paul ! behold he prayeth : I was afraid At-
kins would hear him; therefore I intreated him to with-
hold himſelf a while, that we might fee an end of the
ſcene, which to me, I muſt confeſs, was the moſt affect-
ing, and yet the moſt agreeable, that ever I faw in my
life. Well, he ftrove with himſelf, and contained him-
ſelf for a while, but was in fuch raptures of joy to think
that the poor heathen woman was become a chriftian,
that he was not able to contain himſelf: he wept ſeveral
times then throwing up his hands, and croffing his
breaſt, faid over feveral things ejaculatory, and by way
of giving God thanks for fo miraculous a teftimony of
the fuccefs of our endeavours: fome he fpoke foftly,
and I could not well hear; others audibly, fome in La-
tin, fome 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 compofe himfelf, and
let us more narrowly and fully obſerve what was before
which he did for a time, and the fcene was not ended
there yet; for, after the poor man and his wife were
rifen again from their knees, we obferved he food talk-
ing fill eagerly to her; and we obferved by her mo-.
tion that ſhe was greatly affected with what he ſaid, by
her frequent lifting up her hand, laying her hand to
her breaft, and fuch other poſtures, as ufually exprefs
the greateſt ſeriouſneſs and attention: this continued
about half a quarter of an hour, and then they walked
away too: fo that we could fee no more of them in that.
fituation.
D
I took this interval to talk with my clergyman: and
firſt, I told him, I was glad to fee the particulars we
had both been witneſſes to that though I was hard
enough of belief in fuch cafes, yet that I began to
think it was all very fincere here, both in the man and
his wife, however ignorant they both might be: and I.
hoped fuch a beginning would have yet a more happy
end: and who knows, faid I, but thefe two may in
time, by inftruction and example. work upon fome.
of the others? Some of them! ſaid he, turning quick.
E 3
upon
726
ADVENTURES OF
upomme, ay, upon all of them; depen dupon it, if thoſe
two favages (for he has been but little better, as you
relate it) ſhould embrace Jefus Chrift, they will never
leave till they work upon all the reft: 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 moft chriftian principle to
think fo, and a teftimony of a true zeal, as well as a
generous heart in him. But, my friend, faid I, will you
give me liberty to ſtart one difficulty here? I cannot tell
how to object the least thing againſt that affectionate con-
cern, which you fhew for the turning the poor people
from their paganiſm to the chriftian 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 falvation; fo that you
eftcem theſe but heretics ſtill; and for no other reaſons
as effectually loft 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. Bene-
dict, and I embrace all the principles of the Roman
faith: but yet, if you will believe me, and this I do not
ipeak in compliment to you, or in respect to my circum-
ſtances, and your civilities: I fay, nevertheless, I do
not look upon you, who call yourſelves reformed, with~
out ſome charity: I dare not fay, though I know it is
our opinion in general: yet, I dare not fay, that you
cannot be faved, will by no means limit the mercy of
Chriſt, ſo far as to think that he cannot receive you into,
the bofom of his church, in a manner, to us, imper-
ceivable, and which it is impoffible for us to know:
and I hope you have the fame charity for us: I pray
daily for your being all reftored to Chrift's church, by
whatſoever methods he, who is all wife, is pleated to
direct. In the mean time, fure, you will allow it to
confiſt with me, as a Roman, to diftinguiſh far between
a proteftant and a pagan: between one that calls on
Jefus Chrift, though in a way which I do not think is
according to the true faith and a favage, a barbarian,
that knows no God, no Chrift, no redeemer at all:
and if you are not within the pale of the catholic
church
KOBINSON CRUSOE.
827
church, we hope you are nearer being restored to it, than
thofe that know nothing at all of God, or his church :
I rejoice therefore, when I fee this poor man, who, you
fay, has been a profligate, and almoft a murderer, kneel
down and pray to Jefus Chrift, as we fuppofe he did,
though not fully enlightened; believing that God, from
whom every fuch work proceeds, will fenfibly 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 inftruct the ignorant favage his
wife, I can never believe that he ſhall be caſt away him-
felf and have I not reafon then to rejoice, the nearer
any are brought to the knowledge of Chrift, though they
may not be brought quite home into the boſom of the
catholic church, juft at the time when I may defire it ;
leaving it to the goodneſs of Chrift to perfect his work
in his own time, and his own way! Certainly I would
rejoice, if all the favages in America were brought, like
this poor woman, to pray to God, though they were to
be all proteftants at firſt, rather than they ſhould continue
pagans and heathens; firmly believing that he who had
beſtowed that first light upon them, would farther illu-
minate them with a beam of his heavenly grace, and
bring them into the pale of his church when he ſhould
fee good.
I was aſtoniſhed at the fincerity and temper of this
truly pious papiſt, as much as I was oppreffed by the
power of his reaſoning; and it prefently occurred to my
thoughts, that if fuch a temper was univerfal, we might
be all catholic chriftians whatever church, or particular
profeffion we joined to, or joined in; that a ſpirit of
charity would foon work us all up into, right principles;
and, in a word, as he thought that the like charity would
make us all catholics, fo I told him, I believed, had all
the members of his church the like moderation they
would foon be all proteftants: 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, faid I, I with all the
clergy of the Roman church were bleffed with fuch mo.
deration, and an equal fhare of your charity; I am en-
tirely of your opinion; but 1 muft tell you, that if you
F 4
Shoul
328
ADVENTURES OF
fhould preach ſuch doctrine in Spain or Italy, they would
put you into the inquifition.
It may be fo, faid he, I know not what they might do
in Spain or Italy; but I will not fay they would be the
better chriſtians for that ſeverity; for I am fure there is
no herefy in too much charity.
Well, as Will Atkins and his wife were gone, our
bufinefs there was over; ſo we went back our own
way; and when we came back, we found them waiting
to be called in. Obferving this, I asked my clergyman
if we fhould difcover to him that we had feen him un-
der the buſh, or no; and it was his opinion we ſhould
not; but that we ſhould talk to him firft, and hear what
he would fay to us; fo we called him in alone, no-
body being in the place but ourselves; and I begun with
him thus:
Will Atkins, faid I, prithee what education had you?
What was your father ?
W. A. A better man than ever I ſhall be. Sir, my
father was a clergyman.
R. C. What education did he give you?
W. A. He would have taught me well, Sir; but I de-
fpifed all education, inftruction, or correction, like a
beaft as I was.
R. C. It is true, Solomon fays, He that defpifeth re-
proof is brutish.
W. A. Ay, Sir, I was brutiſh indeed; I murdered
my father; for God's fake, Sir, talk no more about
that, Sir; I murdered my poor father.
Prieft. Ha! a murderer!*
Here the prieſt ſtarted (for I interpreted every
word as he ſpoke it) and looked pale: It feems
he believed that Will had really killed his own
father.
R. C. No, no, Sir, I do not underſtand him fo; 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 moft ungrateful unnatural re-
turn
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
39
turn for the moſt tender affectionate treatment that ever..
father gave, or child could receive.
R. Č. Well, I did not aſk you about your father, to
extort this confeffion; I pray God give you repentance
for it, and forgive you that, and all your other fins ;
but I aſked you, becauſe I fee that though you have not
much learning, yet you are not. fo ignorant as fome aře,.
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 confeffion
hat I make about my father, confcience does; and
whenever we come to look back upon our lives, the
fins again our indulgent parents are certainly the firit.
that touch us; the wounds they make lie deepeſt; and
the weight they leave will lie heaviest upon the mind of
all the fins we can commit.
R. C. You talk too feelingly and fenfible for me At-
kins; I cannot bear it.
W. A. You bear it, mafter; I dare fay you know
nothing of it.
R. C. Yes, Atkins, every fhore, every hill, nay, I'
may fay, every tree in this ifland is witnefs to the an-
guifh of my foul, for my ingratitude, and bafe ufage of
a good tender father; a father much like your's, by
your defcription, and I murdered my father as well as-
you, Will Atkins; but think, for all that, my repen-
tance is fhort of your's too* by a great deal.
* I would have faid more, if I could have reſtrained
my paffions; but I thought this pcer man's repen-
tance was ſo much fincerer than mine, that I was
going to leave off the difcourfe, and retire; for I
was ſurpriſed with what he fald; and thought that
inftead of my going about to teach and inftruct
him, the man was made a teacher and inftructör to
me, in a moft furprifing and unexpected manner.
I laid all this before the young clergyman, who was
greatly affected with it, and ſaid to me, Did I not fay,
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
5 F-
chriſtians.
130
ADVENTURES OF
chriſtians of all in the iſland. But, having a little com-
pofed myſelf, I renewed my difcourfe with Will Atkins.
But, Will, faid I, How comes the fenſe of this matter
to touch you juſt now?
W. A. Sir, you have fet me about a work that has
#ruck a dart through my very foul; I have been talking
about God and religion to my wife, in order, as you
directed me, to make a chriftian of her; and fhe has
preached ſuch a fermon to me as I fhall 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, confcience has flung them back upon you.
W. A. Ay, Sir, with fuch a force as it is not to be
refifted.
R. C. Pray, Will, let us know what paffed between
you and your wife, for I know fomething of it al-
ready.
W. A. Sir, it is impoffible 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 faid what the will, and
though I cannot give you an account of it, this I can
tell you of it that I refolve to amend and reform my
life.
R. C. But tell us fome of it. How did you begin,
Will? For this has been an extraordinary cafe that is
certain, fhe has preached a fermon, indeed, if he has
wrought this upon you.
W. A. Why, I firft told her the nature of our laws
about marriage, and what the reafons were that men
and women were obliged to enter into fuch compact,
as it was neither in the power of one or other to break,
that otherwiſe order and juftice 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 fettled by a
legal deſcent.
R. C. You talk like a civilian, Will. Could you make
her underſtand what you meant by inheritance and fami-
lies? They know no fuch thing among the favages, but
marry any how, without any regard to relation, con-
fanguinity, or family, brother and fifter, nay, as I
have
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
131
have been told, even the father and daughter, and the
fon and the mother.
W. A. I believe, Sir, you are miſinformed, and my
wife affures me of the contrary, and that they abhor it,
perhaps, for any further relations, the may not be fo
exact as we are; but he 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 faid fhe 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 afked
her, if fhe would be married to me our way? She
afked 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, juft 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 fhew you who God
is; God is in heaven, and make the heaven and the
earth, the fea, 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 expreffion of God not
making her country.
Wife. No laugh: Why laugh me? This no ting to
laught.
He was justly reproved by his wife; for fhe was
more ferious than he at firſt..
W. A. That's true indeed; I will not laugh any more,
my dear.
Wife. Why you fay, 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
F. 6
true
132
ADVENTURES OF
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 you de country,
you no, know him? No fay O to him? No good ting
for him? That no impoffible!
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 fo? Why he no makee
you good live?
W. A. It is all our own fault?
Wife. But you fay me, he is great, much great, have
much great power; can make kill when he will; why
he no makee kill when you no ferve him? No fay O to
him? No be good mans ?
W. A. That is true; he might ftrike 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 think, believe
he be fuch one, great much power, ſtrong; no makee
kill you, though you makee him much angry.
W. A. What! wil! my wicked life hinder you from
believing in God! What a dreadful creature am I! And
what a fad truth is it that the horrid lives of chriftians
hinders the converfion of heathens.
Wife. How me tink you have great much God * up
there, and yet no do well, no do good ting? Can he tell?
Sure he no tell what you do.
* She points up to heaven.
W. A.
ROBINSON CRUSOE:
133
W. A. Yes, yes, he knows and fees all things: he
hears us fpeak, fees what we do, knows what we think,
though we do not ſpeak.
Wife. What! he no hear you fwear, curfe, fpeak
the great damn?
W. A.
Wife.
Arong?
Yes, yes, he hears it all.
Where be then the muchee great power
W. A. He is merciful: that is all we can fay for it ;
and this proves him to be the true God: he is God, and
not man and therefore we are not confumed*.
*Here Will Atkins told us, he was ftruck with horror,
to think how he could tell his wife fo clearly, that
God fees, and hears, and knows the fecret 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.
W. A.
Merciful! what you call dat?
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 fome-
times, to fhew his juftice and vengeance, he lets fly his
anger to deſtroy finners, and make examples: many are
cut off in their fins.
Wife. But no makee kill you yet: then he tell you,
may be, that he no makee you kill, fo you make de bar-
gain with him, you do bad ting, he no be angry at you,
when he be angry at other mans?
W. A. No, indeed, my fins are all prefumptions
upon his goodnefs: and he would be infinitely juft, if he
deſtroyed me, as he has done other men.
Wife. Well, and yet no kill, no makee you dead?
What you fay 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.
134
ADVENTURES OF
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 faid his heart funk within him, to
hear a poor untaught creature defire 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 believe: nay, that already
ſhe could not believe in God, becauſe he that was fo
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 fay to you now ::
he know me wiſh to know him: how fhall 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 fuch an agony at her defiring.
him to make her know God, and her wishing to
know him, that, he faid, he fell down on his knees,
before her, and prayed to God to enlighten her
mind with the faving knowledge of Jefus Chrift,
and to pardon his fins, and accept of his being the
unworthy inftrument of inftructing her in the prin-
ciples of religion; after which he fat 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.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
135
Wife. What you put down the knee for? What you
hold up the hand for? What you fay? Who you ſpeak
to? What is that?
W. A. My dear, I bow my knees in token of my
fubmiffion to him that made me: I faid O to him, as
you call it, and as you fay, your old men do to their
idol Benamuckee; that is, I
that is, I pray to him.
Wife. What you fay 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 promifed
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 lofs 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 fome good men in former
days, even from heaven, by plain words and God
has infpired good men, by his fpirit: and they have
written all his laws down in a bock.
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
inexpreffible 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 fame rule that we know him to be God.
Wife. What rule, what way you know?
W. A.
136
ADVENTURES OF
W. A. Becaufe 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 confe-
quences.
Wife. That me would underſtand, that me fain fee:
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
fay O to him, as you go to do just now he makee me.
good, if I wish be good; he fpare me, no makee kill
me, when I no be good; all this you fay he do; yes,
he be great God; me take, think, believe, him be
great God; me fay O to him too, with you, my dear.
Here the poor man faid he could forbear no longer ;
but, raising her up, made her kneel by him: and he
prayed to God aloud to inftruct her in the knowledge
of himſelf, by his fpirit: and that by fome good provi-
dence, if poffible, fhe might fome time or other come.
to have a bible, that fhe might read the word of God,.
and be taught by him to know him.
This was the time that we faw him lift her up by
the hand, and ſaw him kneel down by her, as above.
A
They had feveral other difcourfes, it feems, after
this, too long to fet down here and particularly fhe
made him promift, that fince he confeffed his own
life had been a wicked abominable courfe of provoca-
tion againſt God, that he would reform it, and not make
God angry any more, left he ſhould make him dead,
as fhe called it, and then fhe fhould be left alone, and.
never be taught to know this God better, and left he
fhould be miferable, as he had 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 furprifed with it but under the
greateſt affliction imaginable, that he could not talk to
her: that he could not ſpeak Engliſh to make her under-
ſtand him and as the ſpoke but very broken Engliſh
:
he
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
137
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 explain-
ed himſelf: viz. That fhe ought to be baptized.
I agreed with him in that part readily, and was for
going about it prefently: No, no: hold, fir, ſaid he,
though I would have her baptifed by all means, yet I
muſt obſerve, that Will Atkins, her huſband, has, in-
deed, brought her in a wonderful manner to be willing
to embrace a religious life: and has given her juft ideas
of the being of a God, of his power, juſtice, and mercy :
yet 1 defire to know of him, if he has faid any thing
to her of Jefus Chrift, and of the falvation of finners:
of the nature of faith in him, and the redemption by
him of the holy fpirit, the refurrection, the laft judg-
ment, and a future ftate.
I called Will Atkins again, and aſked him: but the
poor fellow fell immediately into tears, and told us,
he had faid fomething to her of all thoſe things, but
that he was himſelf fo wicked a creature, and his own
confcience fo reproached him with his horrid ungodly
life, that he trembled at the apprehenfions, that her
knowledge of him fhould leffen the attention fhe fhould
give to thofe things, and make her rather contemn reli-
gion, than receive it: but he was affured, he ſaid, that
her mind was fo difpcfed to receive due impreffions of
all thoſe things, that if I would but difcourfe with her,
ſhe would make it appear to my fatisfaction, that my la-
bour would not be loft upon her.
Accordingly I called her in, and placing myſelf as
interpreter between my religious prieft and the woman,
I intreated him to begin with her but fure fuch a fer-
mon was never preached by a popiſh prieſt in theſe
latter ages of the world: and, as I told him, I thought
he had all the zeal, all the knowledge, all the fince-
rity of a Chriftian, without the errors of a Roman Ca-
tholic: and that I took him to be fuch a clergyman as the
Roman bishops were, before the church of Rome affum-
ed fpiritual fovereignty over the conſciences of men.
In a word, he brought the poor woman to embrace
the knowledge of Chrift, and of redemption by him,
not
838
ADVENTURES OF
not with wonder and aftoniſhment only, as fhe did the
firſt notions of a God, but with joy and faith, with an
affection, and a furprifing degree of underſtanding, ſcarce
to be imagined, much lefs 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 fome caution,
that the man might not perceive he was of the Roman
church, if poffible, becauſe of other ill confequences
which might attend a difference among us in that very
religion which we were inftructing the other in. He
told me, that as he had no confecrated chapel, nor pro-
per things for the office, I fhomd fee he would do it in a
manner, that I fhould not know by it, that he was a Ro-
man Catholic myfelf, if I had not kuown it before : and
fo he did, for faying only fome words over to himſelf in
Latin, which I could not underſtand, he poured a whole
diſh full of water upon the woman's head, pronouncing
in French very loud, Mary; which was the name her
huſband defired 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 Ghoft; fo that none could know any
thing by it, what religion he was of: he gave the bene-
diction afterwards in Latin; but either Will Atkins did
not know but it was French, or elſe did not take notice
of it at that time.
As foon as this was over, he married them; and after
the marriage was over, he turned himfelf to Will
Atkins, and in a very affectionate manner exhorted him,
not only to perfevere in that good difpofition he was in,
but to fupport the convictions that were upon him, by
a refolution to reform his life; told him, it was in
vain to ſay he repented, if he did not forfake his crimes;
reprefented to him, how God had honoured him with
being the inftrument of bringing his wife to the know-
ledge of the Chriftian religion; and that he fhould be
careful he did not diſhonour the grace of God; and
that, if he did, he would fee the Heathen a better Chrif
tian than himſelf; the favage converted, and the inftru-
ment caſt away.
He ſaid a great many good things to them both, and
then recommended them, in a few words, to God's
Toodness
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
139
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 paffed in my whole life.
But my clergyman had not done yet; his thoughts
hung continually upon the converfion of the 37 favages;
and fain he would have ſtaid upon the iſland to have
undertaken it; but I convinced him, Firſt, that his un-
dertaking was impracticable in itſelf; and 2dly, that
perhaps, I could put it into a way of being done, in his
abfence, to his fatisfaction; of which by and by.
Having thus brought the affair of the iſland to a nar-
row compafs, I was preparing to go on board the ſhip,
when the young man, whom I had taken out of the
famifhed fhip's company, came to me, and told me, he
underſtood I had a clergyman with me; and that I had
caufed the Englishmen to be married to the favages,
whom they called wives; that he had a match too,
which he defired might be finished before I went, be-
tween two Chriftians; which, he hoped, would not be
difagreeable to me.
I knew this must be the young woman who was his
mother's fervant, for there was no other Chriſtian wo-
man on the iſland; fo I began to perfuade him not to do
any thing of that kind rafhly, or because he found him-
felf in this folitary circumftance: I reprefented, that he
had fome confiderable fubftance in world, and good
friends, as I underſtood by himſelf, and by his maid
alfo; that the maid was not only poor, and a fervant,
but was unequal to him, fhe being 26 or 27 years old ;
and he not above 17 or 18, that he might, very pro-
bably, with my affiftance, 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 diflike of that circumſtance
might be diſadvantageous to both. I was going to fay
more, but he interrupted me, fmilihg, and told me,
with a great deal of modefty, that I miftook in my
gueffes, that he had nothing of that kind in his thoughts
his prefent circumftances being melancholy and difcon-
folate enough, and he was very glad to hear, that I had
thoughts of putting them in a way to fee their own
country
140
ADVENTURES OF
country again, and that nothing ſhould have fet hint
upon ſtaying there, but that the voyage I was going was
fo exceeding long and hazardous, and would carry him
quite out of the reach of all his friends, that he had
nothing to defire of me, but that I would ſettle him in
fome little property in the iſland where he was, give
him a fervant or two, and fome few neceffaries, and
he would fettle himfelf 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
fome 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 circuftances 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 difcourfe was very prettily delivered, confidering
his youth, and was the more agreeable to me, becaufe
he told me pofitively the match was not for himſelf.
I gave him all poffible affurances, that if I lived to
come fafe to England, I would deliver his letters, and
do his buſineſs effectually, and that he might depend I
would never forget the circumftances I left him in, but
ftill 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 Sufan.
I was moſt agreeably furpriſed when he named the
match, for, indeed, I had thought it very fuitable.
The character of that man I have given already; and
as for the maid, fhe was a very honeft, modeft, fober,
and religious young woman, had a very good share of
fenfe, was agreeable enough in her perfon, fpoke very
handſomely, and to the purpofe; always with decency
and good manners, and not backward to ſpeak when
any thing required it, or impertinently forward to fpeak
when it was not her bufinefs; very handy and houfe-
wifely in any thing that was before her: an excellent
manager, and fit indeed to have been governefs to the
whole iflard; fhe 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
141
The match being propoſed in this manner, we mar-
ried them them the fame day, and, as I was father at the
altar, as I may ſay, and gave her away, ſo I
away, fo I gave her
a portion, for I appointed her and her huſband a hand-
fome large space of ground for their plantation, and,
indeed, this match, and the propoſal the young gentle-
man made to me, to give him a fmall property in the
iſland, put me upon parcelling it out among them, that
they might not quarrel afterwards about their fituation.
This fharing out the land to them I left to Will At-
kins, 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
pofitively in fuch a cafe, I verily believe, was a true,
fincere penitent.
He divided things fo juftly, and fo much to every
one's fatisfaction, that they only defired one general
writing under my hand for the whole; which I caufed
to be drawn up, and figned and fealed to them, ſetting
out the bounds and fituation of every man's planta-
tion, and teſtifying, that I gave them thereby, feveral-
ly, a right to the whole poffeffion and inheritance of
the refpective plantations of farms, with their improve-
ments, to them and their heirs; referving all the reft 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 fame writing.
As to government and laws among them, I told
them, I was not capable of giving them better rules
than they were able to give themfelves: only made
them promife me, to live in love and good neighbour-
hood with one another: And ſo I prepared to leave
them.
+
One thing I muft not omit: and that is, that being
now fettled in a kind of common wealth among them-
felves, 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 fometimes, they had no
ner of bufinefs or property to manage. I propofed there
man-
fore
142
ADVENTURES OF
fore to the governor Spaniard, that he ſhould go to them
with Friday's father and propofe to them to remove,
and either plant for themſelves, or take them into their
feveral families as fervants, to be maintained for their
labour, but without being abfolute flaves, for I would
not admit them to make them flaves by force, by any
means, becauſe they had their liberty given by capitu-
lation, and, as it were articles of furrender, which they
ought not to break.
They most willingly embraced the propoſal, and came
all very cheerfully along with him, fo we allotted them
land, and plantations, which three or four accepted of,
but all the rest chofe to be employed as fervant in the
feveral families we had fettled, and thus my colony was
in a manner ſettled, as follows: the Spaniards poffeffed
my original habitation, which was the capital city, and
extended their plantation all along the fide of the brook,
which made the creek that I have fo 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 fouthward, and fouth-west, towards the
back part of the Spaniards, and every plantation had a
great addition of land to take in, if they found occafion,
ſo that they need not joftle one another for want of
room.
All the weft end of the island was left uninhabited,
that if any of the favages 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 afhore,
and went away again: for I never heard that the plant-
ers 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 favages might, perhaps, be fet on foot in his ab-
fence, to his fatisfaction: and I told him, that now I
thought it was put in a fair way for the favages being
thus divided among the Chriftians, 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
cffect.
2
He
ROBINSON CRUSOE
143
He agreed preſently in that, if, faid he, they will do
their part; but how, fays he, how 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 beft; ſo we divided it; he
to fpeak to the Spaniards who where all papifts; and I
to the English who were all proteftants; and we recom-
mended it earnestly to them, and made them promife,
that they would never make any diftinction of papist
or proteftant, in their exhorting the favages to turn
Chriftians, but teach them the general knowledge of
the true God, and of their Saviour Jefus Chriſt: and
they likewife promiſed us, that they would never have
any differences or difputes, one with another, about
religion.
When I came to Will Atkin's houſe, (I may call it ſo,
for ſuch a houſe, or fuch a piece of baſket-work, I be-
lieve was not ſtanding in the world again !)I fay, when
I came thither, I found the young woman I have men-
tioned above, and Will Atkins's wife, were become
intimates, and this prudent, religious, young woman,
had perfected the work Will Atkin's had begun : and
though it was not above four days after what I have
related, yet the new-baptized favage woman was made
fuch a Chriftian, as I have ſeldom heard of any like
her, in all my obſervation, or converfation 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
fhewed myſelf lefs confidering for them, than my good
friend the widow was for me, when the fent me the
cargo of 100l. from Liſbon, where the packed up three
bibles and a prayer-book. However, the good woman's
charity had a greater extent than ever the imagined,
for they were referved for the comfort and inſtruction
of thoſe that made much better ufe 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 houfe, I found
the young woman, and Atkins's baptized wife, had
been difcourfing of religion together; for William At-
kins
144
ADVENTURES OF
kins told it me, with a great deal of joy) I aſked, if
they were together now? and he faid, yes: fo I went
into the house, and he with me, and we found them
together very earneſt in difcourfe: O, fir, fays William
Atkins, when God has finners to reconcile to himſelf,
and aliens to bring home, he never wants a meſſen-
ger: My wife has got a new inftructor: I knew I
was unworthy, as I was uncapable of that work: that
young woman has been fent hither from heaven: ſhe
is enough to convert a whole ifland of favages. The
young woman bluſhed, and roſe up to go away, but I
defired her to fit ftill: I told her the had a good work
upon her hands, and I hoped God would blefs 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,
faid I to Atkins, I have brought you an affiftant, that,
perhaps, you had not before. The man was fo con-
founded, that he was not able to ſpeak for fome time ;
but, recovering himſelf, he takes it with both his hands,
and, turning to his wife: here, my dear, fays he, did
not I tell you, our God, though he lives above, could
hear what we faid? Here is the book I prayed for,
when you and I kneeled down under the bufh: now
God has heard us and ſent it. When he had faid thus,
the man fell into fuch tranſports of a paffionate 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 furprifed, and was like to have
run into a miſtake, that none of us were aware of:
for the firmly believed God had fent the book upon her
huſband's petition: It is true, that providentially it
was fo, and might be taken fo in a conſequent ſenſe:
but I believed it would have been no difficult matter, at
that time, to have perfuaded the poor woman to have
believed, that an exprefs meffenger came from heaven,
on purpoſe to bring that individual book: but it was
too ſerious a matter, to fuffer any delufion to take
place: So I turned to the young woman, and told
her, we did not defire to impofe upon the new con-
vert,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
145
vert, in her firft, and more ignorant underſtanding of
things; and begged her to explain to her, that God
may be very properly faid to anfwer our petitions, when
in the courfe of his Providence, fuch things are, in a
particular manner, brought to pafs, as we petitioned for ;
but we do not expect returns from heaven, in a mira-
culous and particular manner; and that it is our mercy
it is not fo.
This the young woman did afterwards effectually; fo
that there was, I affure you, no prieſtcraft ufed here; and
I ſhould have thought it one of the most unjuſtifiable
frauds in the world, to have had it fo; but the ſurpriſe
of joy upon Will Atkins, is really not to be expreſſed;
and there, we may be fure, was no delufion: fure 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 prin-
ciple; and though he had been a moft profligate creature,
deſperate, headstrong, outrageous, furious, and wicked,
to a great degree; yet this man is a flanding rule to us all
for the well inftructing children; viz.
that parents
fhould never give over to teach and inftruct, or ever
defpair of the fuccefs of their endeavours, let the chil-
dren be ever ſo obftinate, refractory, or, to appearance,
infenfible of inftruction; for, if ever God in his Provi-
dence touches the confciences of fuch, the force of their
education returns upon them, and the early inſtruction
of parents is not loft, though it may have been many
years laid afleep; but, fome 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 Chriftian knowledge.
He found he had ſome to do with now more ignorant
than himſelf and that the leaft part of the inftruction 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 infift much upon the inexpreffible value
of the bible; the privilege and bleffing of it to nations,
families, and perfons; but he never entertained the
leaft notion of the worth of it till now; when, being
VOL. II.
G
to
146
ADVENTURES OF
to talk to heathens, favages, and barbarians, he wanted
the help of the written oracle for his affiſtance.
The young woman was very glad of it alſo, for the
preſent occafion, though fhe had one: and fo had the
youth on board our fhip, among the goods, which were
not yet brought on ſhore. And now, having fid fo
many things of this young woman, I cannot omit telling
one ftory more of her and myſelf, which has fomething
in it very informing and remarkable.
I have related to what extremity the poor young wo-
man was reduced; how her miſtreſs was ftarved to death
and did die, on board that unhappy fhip we met at fea ;
and how the whole fhip's company being reduced to the
laft extremity, the gentlewoman, and her fon, and this
maid, were firſt hardly uſed, as to provifions; and, at
laſt, totally neglected and ſtarved, that is to ſay, brought
to the laſt extremity of hunger.
One day, being difcourfing with her upon the extre-
mities they fuffered, I aſked her, if fhe could defcribe,
by what the felt, what it was to ftarve, and how it ap-
peared? She told me, fhe believed fhe could; and the
told her tale very diftinctly thus:
Firſt, Sir, faid fhe, we had for fome days fared ex-
ceeding hard, and fuffered very great hunger; but now,
at laft, we were wholly without food of any kind, ex-
cept fugar, and a little wine, and a little water. The
firſt day after I had received no food at all, I found my-
felf, towards evening, firft empty and fickiſh at my fto-
mach; and nearer night, mightily inclined to yawning
and fleepy; I laid down on a couch, in the great cabin,
to fleep; and flept 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 myfelf emp-
ty, and my ftomach fickiſh again, and laid down again;
but could not fleep at all, being very faint and ill; and
thus I continued all the fecond day, with a ftrange va-
riety, firft hungry, then fick again, with reachings to
vomit; the fecond night, being obliged to go to bed
again, without any food more than a draught of fair
water, and being afleep, I dreamed I was at Barba-
does, and that the market was mightily ftocked with
provifions;
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
147
provifions; that I bought fome for my miftrefs, and
went and dined very heartily.
I thought my ftomach was full after this, as it would
have been after, or at, a good dinner; but when I wak-
ed, I was exceedingly funk in my fpirits to find myſelf
in the extremity of famine: the laft glaſs of wine we had,
I drank, and put fugar into it, becauſe of its having
fome fpirit to fupply nourishment; but there being no
fubftance in the ftomach for the digefting office to work
upon, I found the only effect of the wine was, to raiſe
diſagreable fumes from the ftomach into the head; and I
lay, as they told me, ftupid and fenfelefs, as one drunk,
for fome time.
The third day in the morning, after a night of ftrange
and confuſed inconfiftant dreams, and rather dozing than
fleeping, I awaked, ravenous and furious with hunger;
and 1 queſtion, had not my underſtanding returned, and
conquered it, I fay, I question whether, if I had been a
mother, and had a little child with me, its life would
have been fafe, or no.
This lafted 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 fhip, or ſome flip of my foot, I
know not; I fell down, and ftruck my face againſt the
corner of a pallet bed, in which my miſtreſs lay; and
with the blow the blood gufhed out of my nofe; and
the cabin boy bringing me a little baſon, I fat down, and
bled into it a great deal; and as the blood ran from me,
I came to myfelf: and the violence of the flame, or the
fever I was in, abated, and fo did the ravenous part of
the hunger.
Then I grew fick, and reached to vomit, but could
not; for I had nothing in my ſtomach to bring up; after
I had bled fome time, I fwooned, and they all believ-
ed I was dead; but I came to myſelf foon after, and
then had a moſt dreadful pain in my ſtomach, not to be
deſcribed, not like the cholic, but a gnawing eager pain
for food; and, towards night, it went off with a kind
of earneſt wiſhing or longing for food; fomething
G2
like
"148
ADVENTURES OF
fomething like, as I fuppofe, the longing of a woman
with child. I took another draught of water, with ſu-
gar in it, but my ſtomach loathe the ſugar, and brought
it all up again; then I took a draught of water, with-
out fugar, and that ſtayed with me; and laid me down
upon the bed, praying moft heartily, that it would pleaſe
God to take me away; and compofing my mind in hopes
of it, I flumbered awhile; and then waking, thought my
felf dying, being light with vapours from an empty fto-
mach, I recommended my foul to God, and earneſtly
wiſhed that ſomebody would throw me into the fea.
All this while my miſtreſs lay by me, juft, as I
thought expiring; but bore it with much more patience
than I, and gave the laſt bit of bread fhe had to her
child, my young mailer, who would not have taken it,
but the obliged him to eat it; and, I believe, it faved
his life.
Towards the morning, I flept again; and firft, when I
awaked, I fell into a violent paffion of crying; and
after that, had a ſecond fit of violent hunger, fo that I
got up ravenous, and in a moft dreadful condition: had
my miſt eſs been dead, as much as I loved her, I am
certain, I ſhould have eaten a piece of her fleſh with as
much reliſh, and as unconcerned, as ever I did the fleſh
of any creature appointed for food; and once, or twice,
I was going to bite my own arm. At laft, I faw the
baſon, in which was the blood I had bled at my nofe
the day before; I ran to it, and ſwallowed it with fuch
hafte, and fuch 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, ye it checked the fit of hunger; and
I drank a draught of fair water, and was compofed and
refreſhed for fome 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 thefe feveral cir-
cumſtances over again, one after another; viz. fick,
fleepy, cagerly, hungry, pain in the ftomack, then ra-
venous again, then fick again, then lunatic, then crying,
then ravenous again, and to every quarter of an hour;
and my frength waited exceedingly. At night I laid
me
ROBINSON CRUSOE:
149
me down, having, no comfort, but in the hope that I
fhould die before morning.
All this night I had no fleep, but the hunger was now
turned into difeafe; and I had a terrible cholic and
griping; wind, inſtead of food, having found its way
into the bowels; and in this condition I lay till morn-
ing, when I was ſurpriſed a little with the cries and la-
mentations of my young maſter, who called out to me,
that his mother was dead. I lifted myſelf up a little,
for I had not ftrength to rife, but found fhe was not
dead, though ſhe was able to give very little figns of life.
I had then fuch convulfions in my ftomach, for want
of fome ſuſtenance, that I cannot deſcribe them, with
fuch frequent throes and pangs of appetite, that no-
thing but the tortures of death can imitate: and this
condition I was in, when I heard the feaman above cry
out, A fail, a fail, and halloo and jump about as if they
were diſtracted.
I was not able to get off from the bed, and my miſ
trefs much lefs; and my mafter was fo fick, that I
thought he had been expiring; fo we could not open
the cabin door, or get any account what it was that cc-
cafioned fuch a combuftion; nor had we any converfa-
tion with the fhip's company for two days, they having
told us they had not a mouthful of any thing to eat in
the fhip; and they told us afterwards, they thought we
had been dead.
It was this dreadful condition we were in, when you
were fent to fave our lives: and how you found us,
Sir, you know as well as I, and better too.
This was her own relation, and is fuch a diftinct aç-
count of starving to death, as I confefs, 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 fo feelingly, as his
maid; and the rather, becauſe, it feems, his mother
fed him at the price of her own life: but the poor
maid, though her conftitution being ftronger than that
of her miſtreſs, who was in years, and a weakly woman
too, fhe might ſtruggle harder with it: I fay, the poor
maid might be fuppofed to feel the extremity fomething
G 3
fooner
150
ADVENTURES OF
A
fooner than her miſtreſs, who might be allowed to keep
the laſt bits fomething longer than the parted with any to
relieve the maid. No queftion, as the cafe is here relat-
ed, if our ſhip, or fome other, had not fo providenti-
ally 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
ferved them but a little while, they being 500 leagues
from any land or any poffibility of relief, other than
in the miraculous manner it happened; but this is by
the way. I return to my difpofition of things among
the people.
And firft, it is to be obſerved here, that, for many
reaſons, I did not think fit to let them know any thing
of the floop I had framed, and which I thought of fetting
up an ng them: for I found, at leaſt at my firſt coming,
fuch feeds of divifion among them, that I faw it plainly,
had I fet up the floop, and left it among them, they
would, upon very light difguft, have feparated, and
gone away from one another; er perhaps, have turned
pirates, and fo made the iſland a den of thieves, inſtead
of a plantation of fober and religious people, as I intend-
ed it to be; nor did I leave the two pieces of brass can-
non that I had on board, or the two quarter deck guns,
that my nephew took extraordinary, for the fame rea-
fon: I thought they had enough to qualify them for a
defenfive war againſt any that ſhould invade them; but
I was not to fet them up for an offenſive war, or to en-
courage them to go abroad to attack others, which in
the end, would only bring ruin and deftruction upon them-
felves and all their undertakings; I referved the floop,
therefore, and the guns, for their fervice another way,
as I ſhall obſervé in its place.
I have now done with the iſland: I left them all in
good circumftances, and in a flouriſhing condition, and
went on board my ſhip again the 5th day of May, hav-
ing 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 fend fome further relief
from the Brafils, if I could poffibly find an opportunity
and particularly, I promiſed to fend them fome cattle:
fuch as fheep, hogs, and cows; for, as to the two
COWS,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
151
cows and calves, which I brought from England, we had
been obliged, by the length of our voyage, to kill them
at fea, for want of hay to feed them.
The next day, giving them a falute of five guns at
parting, we fet fail, and arrived at the bay of All Saints,
in the Brafils, in about 22 days: meeting nothing re-
markable in our paffage, but this, that about three days
after we failed, being becalmed, and the current fetting
ftrong to the N. N. E. running, as it were, into a bay
or gulph, on the land fide, we were driven fomething
out of our courſe; and once or twice our men cried, land
to the weftward: but whether it was the continent or
iflands, we could not tell by any means:
But the third day, towards evening, the fea fmooth,
and the weather calm, we ſaw the fea, as it were, co-
vered towards the land, with fomething very black,
not being able to diſcover what it was: but, after fome
time, our chief mate going up the main fhrouds 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 fpoke a little haftily, calling the fel-
low a fool, or fome fuch word: Nay, Sir, fays he,
don't be angry, for it is an army, and a fleet too: for
I believe there are a thoufand cances, and you may
fee
them paddle along, and they are coming towards us too,
apace, and full of men.
I was a little furpriſed then, indeed, and fo was my
nephew the captain: for he had heard fuch terrible fto-
ries of them in the ifland, and having never been in
thoſe ſeas before, that he could not tell what to think of
it, but faid two or three times, we ſhall all be devour-
ed. I muſt confefs, confidering we were becalmed, and
the current ſet ſtrong towards the fhore, I liked it the
worſe: however, I bade him not be afraid, but bring
the ſhip to an anchor, as foon as we came ſo near as fo
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 fails. As for the favages, I told them, they
had nothing to fear from them but fire: and therefore
they ſhould get their boats out, and faften them, one
cloſe by the head, and the other, by the ftern, and man
G 4
them
152
ADVENTURES OF
them both well, and wait, the iffue in that posture:
this I did, that the men in the boats might be ready,
with fheet and buckets, to put out any fire theſe fa-
vages might endeavour to fix upon the outside of the
ſhip.
In this pofture we lay by for them, and in a little
while they came up with us, but never was ſuch a hor-
id fight feen by Chriftians: my mate was much mif-
taken in his calculation of their number, I mean of a
thouſand canoes; the moft we could make of them
when they came up, being about 126; and a great many
of them too; for fome of them had 16 or 17 men in
them, fome more, and the leaft fix or fuven.
When they came nearer to us, they feemed to be
ftruck with wonder and aitoniſhment, as at a fight which
they had, doubtleſs, never ſeen before; nor could they,
at firit, as we afterwards underſtood, know what to make
of us. They came boldly up however, very near to us,
and feemed 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 defigning it: for five or fix of their
large canoes came fo near our long-boat, that our men
ckoned with their hands to them to keep back ;
which they underſtood very well, and went back : but
at their retreat about 500 arrows came on board us
from those boats; and one of our men in the long boat
was very much wounded.
A
;
However, I called to them not to fire by any means
but we handed down fome deal boards into the boat,
and the carpenter preſently fet up a kind of a fence,
like wafte boards, to cover them from the arrows of the
favages, if they should fhoot again.
+
About half an hour afterwards they came all up in a
body aftern of us, and pretty near, fo near that we could
eafily difcern what they were, though we could not tell
their defign. Leafily found they were fome of my old
friends, the fame fort of favages that 1 had been uſed
to engage with; and in a little time more they rowed
fomewhat farther out to fea, till they came directly
broadfide with us, and then rowed down ſtrait upon us,
till they came ſo near, that they could hear us ſpeak;
upon
ROBINSON CRUSO E·
upon this I ordered all my men to keep clofe, left they
fhould fhoot any more arrows, and make all our guns
ready; but, being fo near as to be within hearing, I
made Friday go out upon the deck, and call out aloud
to them in his language, to know what they meant;
which accordingly he did: whether they underſtood
him or not, that I knew not; but, as foon as he had
called to them, fix of them, who were in the foremost,
or nigheft boat to us, turned their canoes from us; and,
ſtooping down, fhewed us their naked backſides; juft
as if, in English, (faving your prefence) they had bid us
kifs ; whether this was a defiance or challenge,
we know not; or whether it was done in mere con-
tempt, or a fignal to the reft; but immediately Friday
cried out, They were going to fhoot; and unhappily
for him (poor fellow) they let fly about 300 of their ar-
rows; and to my inexpreffible grief, killed poor Fri-
day, no other man being in their fight. The poor fel-
low was ſhot with no lefs than three arrows, and about
three more fell very nigh him; fuch unlucky markſmen
they were.
I was ſo enraged with the lofs of my old ſervant, the
companion of all my forrows and folitudes, that I
immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with fmall
fhot, and four with great; and gave them fuch a broad-
fide as they had never had in their lives before to be
fure.
They were not above half a cable's length off when
we fired; and our gunners took their aim fo well that
three or four of their canoes were overfet, as we had rea-
fon to believe, by one fhot only.
The ill manners of turning up their bare backfides
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 fo by them,
or not; therefore in return, I had only refolved to have
fired four or five guns with powder only, which I knew
would fright them fufficiently: 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 fo
entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed, fo well de-
ferved it; I not only had been juftified before God and
G5
men
154
ADVENTURES OF
man, but would have been very glad, if I could to have
overſet every canoe there, and drowned every one of
them.
I can neither tell how many we killed, or how many
we wounded, at this broadfide; but fure fuch a fright
and hurry never was feen among fuch a multitude:
there were 13 or 14 of their canoes fplit, and overſet,
in all; and the men all fet a fwimming; the reſt,
frighted out of their wits, fcoured away as faſt as they
could, taking but little care to fave thoſe whoſe boats
were ſplit or ſpoiled with our fhot: fo I fuppofe that
there were many of them loft; 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 fhort, we never knew any
thing how it went with them : for they fled fo faft, that,
in three hours, or thereabouts, we could not ſee above
three or four ftraggling canoes; nor did we ever ſee the
reſt any more: for a breeze of wind fpringing up the
fame evening, we weighed and fet fail for the Brafils:
We had a priſoner indeed, but the creature was ſo
fullen, that he would neither eat or fpeak: 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
tofs him into the fea again, and fo leave him where they
found him, if he would not ſpeak: nor would that do,
but they really did throw him into fea, and came away
from him and then he followed them, for he fwam
like a cork, and called to them in his tongue, tho' they
knew not one word of what he faid. However, at laft
they took him in again, and then he began to be more
tractable : nor did I ever defign they ſhould drown him.
We were now under fail again: but I was the moſt
diſconfolate 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 reft from thence
for my occafion, but it could not be; fo we went on:
we had one priſoner, as I have faid, and it was a long
while before we could make him underſtand any thing;
but, in time, our men taught him fome English, and he
began
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
155
began to be a little tractable: afterwards we enquired
what country he came from, but could make nothing
of what he faid; for his fpeech was fo odd, all guttu-
rals, and ſpoken in the throat, in fuch an 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 other-
wife; nor could we perceive that they had any occafion
either for teeth, tongue, lips, or palate; but form-
ed their words juft as a hunting-horn forms a tune,
with an open throat: he told us however, fome time
after, when we had taught him to ſpeak a
English, little that they were going, with their kings,
to fight a great battle. When he faid kings, we aſked
him how many kings? He ſaid, there were five na-
tion, (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 ob-
ſerved, 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 ufe 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 lait he
did.
I
And now I name the poor fellow once more,
must take my laſt leave of him; poor honeſt Friday!
We buried him with all decency and folemnity poffi-
ble, by putting him into a coffin, and throwing him
into the fea; and I caufed them to fire eleven guns for
him and ſo ended the life of the moſt grateful, faith-
ful, honeft, and moſt affectionate fervant that ever man
had.
We now went away with a fair wind for Brafil,
and, and in about twelve days time, we made land in the
latitude of five degrees fouth of the line, being the
north eaftermoſt land of all that part of America. We
kept on S. by E. in fight of the fhore, four days,
when we made the Cape St. Auguftine, and in three days
came to an anchor off the bay of All Saints, the old
G6
place
156
ADVENTURES QPFM
place of my deliverance, from whence came both my
good and evil fate.
Never did a ſhip come to this part that had leſs buſi-
nefs than I had; and yet it was with great difficulty that
we were admitted to hold the leaft correfpondence on
ſhore: not my partner himſelf, who was alive, and made
a great figure among them; not my two merchant truf-
tees, nor the fame of my wonderful preſervation in the
ifland, could obtain me that favour: but my partner,
remembering that I had given five hundred moidores to
the prior of the monaftry of the Auguftines, and three
hundred and feventy-two to the poor, went to the mo-
naftry, and obliged the prior that then was, to go to the
governor, and beg leave for me prefently, with the cap-
tain, and one more, befides eight feamen, to come on
fhore, and no more; and this upon condition abfolutely
capitulated for, that we fhould not offer to land any
goods out of the ſhip, or to carry any perfon away with-
out licence.
They were fo ftrict with us, as to landing any goods,
that it was with extreme difficulty that I got on fhore
three bales of English goods, fuch as fine broad cloths,
ſtuffs, and fame linen, which I had bought for a preſent
to my partner.
He was a very generous broad-hearted man, though
(like me) he came from little at firft; and though he
knew not that I had the leaft defign of giving him any
thing, he sent me on board a prefent of fresh provifions,
wine, and fweetmeats, worth about thirty moidores, in-
cluding fome tobacco, and three or four fine medals
in gold. But I was even with him in my preſent,
which, as I have faid, confifted of fine broad cloth,
Engliſh ftuffs, lace and find Hollands. Alfo I deli-
vered him about the value of 100l. fterling, in the
fame goods, for other ufes; and I obliged him to fet
up the floop which I had brought with me from Eng-
land, as I have ſaid, for the uſe of my colony, in or-
der to fend the refreſhments I intended to my planta-
tion.
Accordingly he pot hands, and finiſhed the floop in
a very few days, for fhe was already framed, and I gave
the maſter of her fuch inftructions as he could not mifs
the
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
#57
추
​the place; nor did he miſs it, as I had an account from
my partner afterwards. I got him foon loaded with the
fmall cargo
I had fent them; and one of our feamen,
that had been on ſhore with me there, offered to go with
the floop, and fettle there, upon my letter to the go-
vernor Spaniard, to allot him a fufficient quantity of
land for a plantation; and giving him fome clothes,
and tools for his planting work, which, he faid, he un-
derſtood, having been an old planter in Maryland, and a
buccaneer into the bargain.
I encouraged the fellow by granting all he defired;
and, as an addition, I gave him the favage which we
had taken priſoner of war, to be his flave, and ordered
the governor Spaniard to give him his ſhare of every
thing he wanted with the reft.
When we came to fit this man out, my old partner
told me, there was a certain very honeſt fellow, a Bra-
fil planter of his acquaintance, who had fallen into the
diſpleaſure of the church; I know not what the mat-
ter is with him, fays he; but, on my conſcience, I
think he is an heretic in his heart; and he has been
obliged to conceal himſelf for fear of the inquifition;
that he would be very glad of fuch 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 be-
gin with; for the officers of the inquifition had feized
all his effects and eftate, and he had nothing left but a
little houſehold ſtuff, and two flaves; and, adds he,
though I hate his principles, yet I would not have him
fall into their hands, for he will affuredly 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 one fhip, till the floop
put out to go to fea; and then (having put all their
goods on board the loop fome time before) we put
them on board the floop, after ſhe was got out of the
bay.
Our feaman was mightily pleafed with this new
partner; and their ſtock, indeed, was much alike rich
in tools, in preparations, for a farm; but nothing to
begin;
158
ADVENTURES OF
begin with, but as above. However, they carried over
with them (which was worth all the reft) fome materials
for planting fugar canes, with fome plants of canes;
which he, I mean the Portugal man, underſtood very
well.
Among the rest of the fupplies fent my tenants in
the iſland, I fent them, by this floop, three milch
cows, and five calves, about twenty-two hogs among
them, three fows big with pig, two mares and a ſtone-
horfe.
For my Spaniards, according to my promife, I engaged
three Portugal women to go; and recommended it to
them to mtrry them, and uſe them kindly. I could have
procured more women, but I remembered, that the poor
perfecuted men had two daughters, and there were but
five of the Spaniards that wanted; the reft had wives of
their own, though in another country.
All this cargo arrived ſafe, and, as you may eafily
fuppofe, very welcome to my old inhabitants, who were
now (with this addition) between fixty and feventy
people, befides 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
fent back to the Brafils by this floop, of which I ſhall
take fome notice in its place.
I have now done with my iſland, and all manner of
diſcourſe about it; and whoever reads the reft 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
lefs by thoſe of other men, to beware of the like; not
cooled by almoſt forty years mifery and diſappointments;
not fatisfied with profperity beyond expectation; not
made cautions by affliction and diftrefs beyond imita-
tion.
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 defire him
to lock him up among the prifoners there, and ftarve
him. Had I taken a fmall veffel from England and
went directly to the iſland; had I loaded her; as I did
the other veſſel, with all the neceffaries for the planta-
tion,
ROBINSON CRUSOE
159
tion, and for my people, took a patent from the govern-
ment here, to have fecured my property, in fubjection
only to that of England, which, to be fure, I might have
obtained; had I carried over cannon and ammunition,
fervants, and people to plant, and, taking poffeffion of
the place, fortified and flrengthened it in the name of
England, and encreaſed it with people, as I might eafily
have done; had I then fettled myſelf there, and fent the
fhip back, loaded with good rice, as I might all have
done in fix months time, and ordered my friends to
have fitted her out again for our ſupply; had I done
this, and ſtayed there myſelf, I had, at leaſt, acted like a
man of common ſenſe; but I was poffeffed with a want
dering 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 fo much as pretended to plant in
the name of any government or nation, or to acknow-
ledge any prince, or to call my people fubjects, 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 difcipline or govern-
ment 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 vo-
luntary confent moved them to comply: yet even this,
had I ftayed there, would have done well enough; but
as I rambled from them, and came thither no more, the
laft letters I had from any of them, were by my part-
ner's means, who afterwards fent another floop 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 Spa-
niards were come away; and that though they had not
been much moleſted by the favages, yet they had fome,
fkirmishes 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 fee their own country again be-
fore they died.
But
160
ADVENTURES OF
But I was gone a wild gooſe chafe indeed; and they
who will have any more of me, muſt be content to
follow me through a new variety of follies, hard-
ſhips, and wild adventures; wherein the juftice of
Providence may be duly obferved, and we may fee
how eafily heaven can gorge us with our own defires,
make the ſtrongeſt of our wishes to be our affliction,
and punifh us moft feverely with thofe very things
which we think it would be our utmoſt happineſs to be
allowed in.
Let no wife man flatter himſelf with the ftrength of
his own judgment, as if he was able to chuſe any parti-
cular ſtation of life for himſelf. Man is a fhort-fighted
creature, fees but a very little way before him; and as
his paffions are none of his beſt friends, fo his particular
affections are generally his worft counſellors.
►
I fay this, with refpect to the impetuous defire I had
from a youth, to wander into the world; and how evi-
dent it now was, that this principle was preferved in me
for my puniſhment. How it came on, the manner, the
circumftance, and the conclufion of it, it is eaſy to give
you hiſtorically, and with its utmoft variety of particu-
lars. But the ſecret ends of Divine Providence, in thus
permitting us to be hurried down the ſtream of our own
defires, are only to be underſtood of thoſe who can liſten
to the voice of Providence, and draw religicus confe-
quences from God's juftice, and their own miſtakes.
Be it, had I bufinefs, or no bufinefs, away I went :
it is no time now to enlarge any farther upon the rea-
fon or abfurdity of my own conduct : but to come to
the hiſtory, I was embarked for the voyage, and the
voyage I went.
Í ſhall only add here, that my honeft and truly pious
clergyman left me here: a fhip being ready to go to
Liſbon, he aſked me leave to go thither; being ftill, as
he obferved, bound never to finish any voyage he be-
gan; how happy had it been for me, if I had gone with
him.
But it was too late now: all things heaven appoints
are beft; had I gone with him, I had never had ſo many
things to be thankful for, and you had never heard of the
fecond part of the travels and adventures of Robinſon
Crufoe:
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
161
Crüfoe; fo I muft leave here the fruitlefs exclaiming at,
myſelf, and go on with my voyage.
From the Brafils we made directly away over the At
lantic fea, to the Cape de Bonne Efperance, or, as we
call it, the Cape of Good Hope; and had a tolerable
good voyage, our courfe generally fouth-eaft: now and
then a ftorm, and fome contrary winds. But my dif
afters at ſea were at the 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 ſcourage, as the
fea; when heaven, who directs the circumftences of
things, pleaſes to appoint it to be fo.
Our fhip was on a trading voyage, and had a ſuper-
cargo on board, who was to direct all her motions, after
fhe arrived at the Cape: only being limited to certain
number of days, for ftay, by charter-party, at the
feveral ports ſhe was to go to; this was none of my bu
finefs, neither did I meddle with it at all; my nephew
the captain, and the fupercargo, adjufting all thoſe things
between them as they thought fit.
We made no ſtay at the Cape, longer than was need-
ful to take in freſh water, but made the beſt of our way
for the coaſt of Coromande 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 fome apprehen-
fions of them; but they went their own way, and wẹ
heard no more of them.
I fhall not peſter my account, or the reader, with
defcriptions of places, journals of our voyages, varia-
tions of the compaſs, latitudes, meridian diftances, trade-
winds, fituation of ports, and the like; fuch as almoſt all
the hiftories of long navigation are full of, and which
make the reading tirefome 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 paffing
from one to another. We touched first at the iſland of
Madagaſcar : where, tho' the people are fierce and treach-
erous, and in particular, very well armed with lances and
bows, which they ufe with inconceivable dexterity, yet
we
162
ADVENTURES OF
we fared very well with them awhile; they treated us
very civilly; and for fome trifles which we gave them,
fuch as knives, fciffars, &c. they brought us 11 good fat
bullocks, middling in fize, but very good in fleſh; which
we took in, partly for freſh provifions for our preſent
ſpending, and the reſt to ſalt for the fhip's uſe.
We were obliged to ſtay here for fome time, after we
had furniſhed ourſelves with provifions; and I, that
was always too curious to look into every nook of the
world wherever I came, was for going on fhore as often
as I could. It was on the eaſt fide 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 diftance: as we had tra-
ded freely with them, and had been kindly uſed, we
thought ourſelves in no danger; but when we faw the
people, we cut three bows out of a tree, and ftuck
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 fide fet up three
poles, or bows, alfo; which is a fignal 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 pat your three poles
or boughs toward you; fo that you are perfectly fecure
within the three poles; and all the space between your
poles and theirs, is allowed like a market, for free con-
verſe, traffick, and commerce. When you go thither,,
you must not carry your weapons with you; and if they
come into that space, they ftick 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 fhore,
that a greater number of their people came down
than uſual, but was all very friendly and civil. They
brought with them feveral kinds of provifions, for
which we fatisfied them with fuch toys as we had;
their women alſo brought us milk and roots, and ſe-
veral things very acceptable to us, and all was quiet;
and
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
163
and we made us a little tent, or hut, of fome boughs of
trees, and lay on the ſhore all that night.
I know not what was the occafion, but I was not fo
well fatisfied to lie on ſhore as the rel; and the boat fy-
ing at an anchor, about a ftone's caft from the land,
with two men in her to take care of her, I made one of
them come on shore; and getting fome boughs of trees
to cover us alſo in the boat, I fpread the fail on the bot-
tom 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 fake, to bring the boat in, and come and help
them, for they were all like to be murdered; at the fame
time I heard the firing of five mufquets, 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
roufing immediately from fleep with the noiſe, I
cauſed the boat to be thruſt in, and refolved, with
three fufils we had on board, to land, and affift our
men.
We got the boat foon to the fhore: but our men
were in too much hafte: 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 fufils with them: the reft, in-
deed, had piſtols and fwords, but they were of fmall ufe
to them.
We took up feven 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 flood in
the boat to take our men in, we were in as much
danger as they were in on fhore: for they poured their
arrows in upon us fo thick, that we were fain to barri-
cade the fide of the boat up with the benches, and two
or three looſe boards, which, to our great fatisfaction,
we had, by mere accident, or providence rather, in the
boat.
And
164
ADVENTURES OF
=
And yet, had it been day-light, they are, it feems,
ſuch exact markſmen, that if they could have feen but
the leaft part of any of us, they would have been fure
of us: we had, by the light of the moon, a little fight
of them, as they ffood pelting us from the fhore with
darts and arrows; and, having got ready our fire-arms,
we gave them a volley; and we could hear by the cries
of fome of them, that we had wounded feveral; how-
ever, they flood thus in battle-array on the fhore till
break of day, which we fuppofe was, that they might
fee the better to take their aim at us.
In this condition we lay, and could not tell how to
weigh our anchor, or fet up our fail, becauſe we muſt
needs ſtand up in the boat, and they were as fure to hit
us, as we were to hit a bird in a tree with ſmall ſhot ;
we made fignals of diftrefs to the fhip, which, though
fhe rode a league off, yet my nephew the captain,
hearing our firing, and, by glaffes, perceiving the poſ-
ture we lay in, and that we fired towards the fhore,
pretty well underſtood us; and weighing anchor with
all fpeed, he ftood as near the fhore as he durft with
the ſhip, and then fent another boat, with ten hands
in her, to affiſt us, but we called to them not to come
too near, telling them what conaition we were in; how-
ever, 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, fo that
they could not perfectly fee him, ſwam on board us,
and made the line faft to the boat; upon which we
flipt 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 barricad~
made
ITIA
had
As foon as we were got from between the flip and
the ſhore, that he could lay her fide to the fhore, we
ran along just by them, and we poured in a broadfide among
them, loaded with pieces of iron and lead, ſmall bullets,
and ſuch ſtuff, befides the great ſhot, which made a ter-
rible havock among them.
When we were got on board, and out of danger, we
had time to examine into the occafion of this fray:
and, indeed. our fupercargo, who had been often in
thofe
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
165
thole parts, put me upon it; for he ſaid, he was fare
the inhabitants would not have touched us, after we
had made a truce, if we had not done fomething to pro-
voke them to it; at length it came out, viz. that an
old woman, who had come to fell us fome milk, had
brought it within our poles, with a young woman with
her, who alfo brought fome roots or herbs; and while
the old woman, whether the was mother to the young
woman or no, they could not tell) was felling us
the milk, one of our men offered fome rudenefs to the
wench that was with her at which the old woman made
a great noife. However, the feaman would not quit
his prize, but carried her out of the old woman's fight,
among the trees, it being almoft dark: the old woman
went away without her, and, as we fuppofe, made an
outcry among the people the 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 de-
ſtroyed.
:
:
Öne of our men was killed with a lance that was.
thrown at him, juft at the beginning of the attack, as.
he fallied out of the tent we had made: the reft came.
off free, all but the fellow who was the occafion of all
the miſchief, who paid dear enough for his black mif-
trefs, for we could not hear what became of him a
great while we lay upon the fhore two days after,
though the wind preſented, and made fignals for him
made our boat fail up fhore, and down-fhore, ſeveral
leagues, but in vain fo we were obliged to give him
over: and if he alone had fuffered for it, the lofs had
been the leſs.
I could not fatisfy myſelf, however, without ventur-
ing 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 milchief we had done, and how the game
ftood on the Indian fide: I was careful to do it in the.
dark, left we ſhould be attacked again: but I ought
indeed, to have been fure, that the men I went with,
had been under my command, before I engaged in a
thing fo hazardous and mifchievous, as I was brought
into it without my knowledge or deure.
We
166
ADVENTURES OF
We took twenty ftout fellows with us as any in the
hip, befides the fupercargo and myfelf; and we landed
two hours before midnight, at the fame place where
the Indians flood drawn up the evening before; I landed
here, becauſe my defign, as I have faid, was chiefly to
fee if they had quitted the field, and if they had left
any marks behind them, or of the mifchief 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 com-
manded one, and I the other: We neither could hear
nor fee any body ftir when we landed; fo we marched
up, one body at a distance from the other, to the
field of battle: At first we could fee nothing, it being
very dark; but by and by, our boatswain, that led the
firft party, ſtumbled and fell over a dead body: This
made them halt there awhile, for knowing by the cir-
cumſtances, that they were at the place where the In-
dians 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 lefs than an hour ; and then
we would eaſily diſcern the havock we had made a-
them: We told two and thirty bodies upon
mong
ground, whereof two were not quite dead. Some had
an arm, and fome a leg, fhot off; and one his head :
thoſe that were wounded, we fuppofed they had car-
ried away.
the
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 fent me word, that they were refolved to make a
vifit to the Indian town, where theſe dogs, as they
called them, dwelt; and defired me to go along with
them; and if they could find them, as they ftill fancied
they ſhould, they did not doubt, they faid, getting a
good booty; and it might be, they might find Thomas
Jeffrys there; that was the man's name we had loft.
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 inftantly on board, knowing it
was
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
167
was not a hazard fit for us to run, who had a ſhip,
and a fhip's loading in our charge, and a voyage to
make, which depended very much upon the lives of
the men; but as they fent me word they were re-
folved to go, and only afked me and my company to
go along with them, I pofitively refufed it, and rofe
up (for I was fitting 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 ftill refufed pofitively, began
to grumble, and fay they were not under my command,
and they would go. Come, Jack, fays one of the men,
will you go with me? I will go for one. Jack faid he
would; and another followed, and then another; and,
in a word, they all left me but one, whom, with much
difficulty too, I perfuaded to ſtay; fo the Supercargo
and 1, with one man, went back to the boat, where,
I told them, we would ftay for them, and take care to
take in as many of them as fhould 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 feamen, the'yd warrant it they
would come off again; and they would take care, &c.
So away they went. I entreated them to confider the
ſhip, and the voyage; that their lives were not their
own; and that they were intrufted with the voyage,
in fome meaſure; that if they mifcarried, the fhip
might be loft for the want of their help; and that they
could not anſwer it to God and man.
Í faid a great
deal more to them on that head, but I might as well
have talked to the main-maft of the fhip; they were
mad upon their journey; only they gave me good
words, and begged I would not be angry; faid, they
would be very cautious, and they did not doubt but
they would be back again in about an hour at fartheft ;
for the Indian town, they faid, 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 fuch, 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
2
gallantly
168
ADVENTURES OF
gallantly armed, that is true: for they had every man a
fufil or mufquet, a bayonet, and every man a piſtol
fome of them had broad cutlaces, fome of them hangers :
and the boatfwain, and two more, had pole-axes: be-
fides all which they had among them 13 hand-grena-
does. Bolder fellows, and better provided, never went
about any
wicked work in the world.
•
When they went out, their chief defign 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
confulted therefore what to do, and were fometime be-
fore they could refolve: for if they fell upon theſe, they
muft cut all their throats: and it was ten to one but fome
of them might efcape, 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 thofe untouched (for the people were
all aſleep) they could not tell which way to look for the
town.
However, the laft was the beft advice: ſo they re-
folved 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 con-
cluded would be a good guide to them: for they ſaid
the co. certain y belonged to the town before them,
or the town behind them; and if they untied her,
they ſhould fee which way fhe went: if the went back,
they had nothing to ſay to her; but, if ſhe went for-
ward, they had nothing to do but to follow her: fo
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, confifted of above zoo houſes, or huts: and
in ſome of theſe, they found ſeveral families living
together.
Here
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
169
Here they found all filent; as profoundly fecure, as fleep
and a country that had never ſeen an enemy of that kind,
could make them: upon this they called another council,
to confider what they had to do; and in a word they re-
folved to divide themſelves into three bodies, and to fet
three houſes on fire in three parts of the town: and as
the men came out, and to ſeize them and bind them
if any refifted, they need not to be aſked what to do then;
and fo to ſearch the rest of the houſes for plunder; but
refolved to march filently firft through the town, and
ſee what dimenſions it was of, and confider if they might
venture upon it, or no.
They did do, and defperately refolved 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 Tho. Jeffrys, they all ran up to the place, and fo
it was indeed, for there they found the poor fellow hang-
ed up naked by one arm, and his throat cut: there was
an Indian houfe juft by the tree, where they found fix-
teen or ſeventen 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 fight 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 fhould have quarter; and to work they
went immediately; and yet not fo madly as by the rage
and fury they were in might be expected. Their firft
care was to get fomething that would foon take fire;
but after a little fearch, they found that would be to no
purpoſe, for moft of the houfes were low, and thatched
with flags or ruſhes, of which the country is full; fo
they prefently made fome wild fire, as we call it, by wet-
ting a little powder in the palms of their hands; and, in
a quarter of an hour, they fet the town on fire in four
or five places; and particularly that houfe where the
Indians were not gone to bed. As foon as the fire began
to blaze, the poor frighted creatures began to rufh cut
to fave their lives; but met with their fate in the at-
VOL. II.
H
tempt,
1,70
ADVENTURES OF
!
tempt, and eſpecially at the door, where they drove
them back, the boatfwain himſelf killing one or two
with his pole-ax; 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 burit, made fuch havock
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 preffed to the door,
which the boatſwain and two more kept with the bayo-
nets in the muzzles of their pieces, and difpatched 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 fmothered, or burnt
together.
All this while they fired not a gun, becauſe they would
not waken the people failer than they could mafter
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 fo raging, all the houfes be-
ing made of light combuftible ftuff, that they could
hardly bear the ſtreet between them; and their buſineſs
was to follow the fire for the furer execution: as faft as
the fire either forced the people out of thoſe houſes which
were burning, or frighted them out of others, our peo-
ple were ready at their doors to knock them on the head,
ftill calling and hallooing to one another to remember
Tho. Jeffrys.
While this was doing, I must confefs I was very un-
eafy, and eſpecially, when I faw the flames of the town,
which, it being night, feemed to be just by me.
My nephew, the captain, who was rouſed by his men
too, feeing fuch a fire, was very uneafy, not knowing
what the matter was, or what danger I was in; efpeci-
ally hearing the guns too: for by this time they began
to uſe their fire arms: a thouſand thoughts oppreffed
his mind concerning me and the ſupercargo, what ſhould
become of us and at last though he could ill fpare any
more men, yet, not knowing what exigence we might
be
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
171
be in, he takes another boat, and with thirteen men
and himſelf comes on fhore to me.
He was ſurpriſed to ſee me and the fupercargo.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 fame impatience with us to
know what was doing; for the noiſe, continued, and the
flame increaſed: I confefs it was next to an impoffibility
for any men in the world to reftrain their curiofity of
knowing what had happened, or their concern for the
fafety 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 fafety
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 fhip; for he could
not think of having his men loft for want of help he
had rather he faid lofe the fhip, 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 perfuade them not to go before; fo, in ſhort, the
captain ordered two men to row back the pinnance, and
fetch twelve men more from the fhip, leaving the long-
boat at an anchor; and that when they came back, fix
men ſhould keep the two boats, and fix more come after
us; ſo that he left only fixteen men in the ſhip; for the
whole fhip's company confifted of 65 men, whereof two
were loſt in the firſt quarrel which brought this miſchief
on.
Being now on the march, you may be fure 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
furprifing to us before, the cries of the poor people
were now quite of another nature, and filled us with
horror. I must confefs I never was at the facking of
a city, or at the taking of a town by ſtorm; I have
H 2
heard
172
ADVENTURES OF
heard of Oliver Cromwell taking Drogheda in Ireland,
and killing man, woman, and child; and I had read of
Count Tilly facking of the city of Magdeburg, and
cutting the throats of 22,000 of both fexes; but I never
had an idea, of the thing itſelf before; nor is it poffible
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 confumed; and juft 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 fhort, theſe
were fuch inftances of rage altogether barbarous, and
of a fury fomething beyond what was human, that we
thought it impoffible 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 faw the fire increaſed forward, and
the cry went on just as the fire went on, ſo that we were
in the utmoſt confufion. We advanced a little way far-
ther; 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, fixteen
or ſeventeen men, natives, in the fame terror and conſter-
nation, 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 fhot fell down in our fight,; when
the reft faw us, believing us to be their enemies, and
tha: we would murder them, as well as thofe that pur-
fued them, they fet up a moft dreadful fhriek, efpecially
the women, and two of them fell down as if already
dead with the fright.
My very foul fhrunk within me, and my blood ran
chillin my veins when I faw this; and I believe, had
the three English failors that pursued them come on,
I had made our men kill them all However, we took
fome ways to let the poor flying creatures know that
we
ROBINSON CRUSOT
173
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 fave them which we
let them know we would do; whereupon 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 poffible, to get at fome of our
people, and fee what devil it was poffeffed them, and
what they intended to do; and, in a word, to com-
mand them off; affuring them, that if they ftayed till
day-light, they would have a hundred thouſand men
about their ears: I fay I left them, and went among
thofe flying people, taking only two of our men with
me; and there was, indeed, a piteous fpectacle among
them; fome 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 purfuing, and
another was ſhot through the body, and died while I
was there.
I would fain have learned what the occafion of all
this was, but I could not underſtand one word they ſaid:
though by figns I perceived that fome of them knew
not what was the occafion themſelves. I was fo terri-
fied in my thoughts at this outrageous attempt, that I
could not ſtay there, but went back to my own men ;
I told them my refolution, and commanded them to
follow me, when in the very moment came four of our
men, with the boatfwain at their head, running over the
heaps of bodies they had killed, all covered with blood
and duft, as if they wanted more people to maſſacre;
when our men hallooed to them as loud as they could
halloo; and, with much ado, cne of them made them
hear; fo that they knew who we were, and came up to
us.
As foon as the boatfwain faw us, he fet up a halloo
like a fhout of triumph, for having, as he thought,
more help come; and without bearing to hear me, cap-
tain, fays he, noble captain, I am glad you are come;
we have not half done yet; villains! hell hound dog. !
H 3
I will
174
ADVENTURES OF
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 laft, raiſing my voice that I might filence him a
ittle Barbarous dog! faid I, what are you doing?
I won't have one creature touched more, upon pain of
death. I charge you, upon your life, to ftop your
hands, and ftand ftill here, or you are a dead man this
minute.
Why, Sir, fays he, do you know what you do, or
what they have done? If you want a reafon for what
we have done, come hither; and with that he fhewed
me the poor fellow hanging upon a tree with his throat
cut.
C
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 fons Simeon and Levi, Curfed be
their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for
was cruel.' But I had now a new task upon my hands;
for when the men I carried with me faw the fight, as I
had done, I had as much to do to reſtrain them, as I
ſhould have had with the others; nay, my nephew him-
felf 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 act one
of them ought to live; for they had all glutted them-
felves 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 boatfwain and his
crew, to complete their bloody work; and I, feeing it
quit out of my power to reſtrain them, came away pen-
five and fad : for I could not bear the fight, much leſs the
horrible noiſe and cries of the noor wretches that fell
into their hands.
گل
I got nobody to come back with me but the fuper-
cargo and two men, and with theſe I walked back to
the boats. It was a very great piece of folly in me, I
confefs, to venture back, as it were alone; for, as it
began now to be almoſt day, and the alarm had run
ver
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
175
over the country, there ſtood about forty men armed
with lances and bows at the little place where the twelve
or thirteen houſes ftood mentioned before; but by ac-
cident I miffed the place, and came directly to the fea-
fide; and by that time I got to the fea-fide it was broad
day; immediately I took the pinnace, and went aboard,
and fent her back to aflift the men in what might
happen.
;
I obferved that about the time I came to the boat-
fide, 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 mens fire arms, and faw a great ſmoke
this, as I underſtood afterwards, was our men falling.
upon the forty men, who, as I faid, ſtood at the few
houfes on the way; of whom they killed 16 or 17, and
fet all thofe houfes on fire, but did not meddle with the
women or children.
By that time the men got to the fhore again with the
pinnance, our men began to appear; they came drop-
ping in, fome and fome; not in two bodies, and in form,
as they went out, but all in heaps, fraggling here and
there in fuch a manner, that a finall force of refolute
men might have cut them all off.
But the dread of them was upon the whole country;
the people were amazed, and furpriſed, and fo frighted,
that I believe, an hundred of them would have fled at
the fight of but five of our men. Nor in all this terrible
a lion was there a man who made any confiderable de-
fence; they were ſo ſurpriſed between the terror of the
fire, and the fudden 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 ftrained his foot, and another had one
of his hands very much burnt.
A
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 fo out of his duty, as
commander of the fhip, and having the charge of the
voyage upon him, as in his prompting, rather than cool-
ing, the rage of his men, in fo bloody and cruel an en-
terpriſe;
H4
176
ADVENTURES OF
terpriſe my nephew anſwered me very refpe&fully:
but told me that when he faw the body of the poor fea-
man, whom they had murdered in fuch a cruel and
barbarous manner, he was not mafter of himſelf, neither
could be govern his paffion; he owned, he fhould not
have done fo: 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 reft of the men, they were not ſub-
ject to me at all: and they knew it well enough: fo they
took no notice of my diflike.
The next day we fet fail: fo we never heard any
more of it. Our men differed in the account of the
number they killed: fome faid one thing, fome another:
but, according to the beft of their accounts put all to-
gether, they killed, or deftroyed, about 150 people,
women, and children, and left not a houſe itanding in
the town.
As for the poor fellow Thomas Jeffrys, as he was
quite dead, for his throat was fo cut that his head was half
off, it would do him no fervice to bring him away: fo
they left him where they found him, only took him
down from the tree where he was hanged by one hand.
However juſt cur men thought this action to be, I was
againſt them in it: and I always, after that time, told
them God would blaft the voyage: for I looked upon
the blood they fhed 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 aggreffor, had
broken the truce, and had violated or debauched a
young woman of theirs, who came to our camp innocent-
ly, and on the faith of their capitulation.
The boatswain defended this quarrel when we were
afterwards on board. He faid, 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 fhot at us, and killed one of our
men w.hout any juft provocation: fo that, as we were
in a capacity to fight them, we might alſo be in a ca-
pacity to do oyrfelves juftice upon them in an extraordi-
nary manner that though the poor man had taken li-
berty with a wench, he ought not to have been murder-
ed, and that in ſuch a villainous manner : and that they did
nothing
ROBINSON CRUSOE:
177
nothing but what was juft, and that the laws of God al-
lowed to be done to murderers.
One would think this ſhould have been enough to
have warned us againſt going on fhore among heathens
and barbarians; but it is impoffible to make mankind.
wife, but at their own experience; and their experience
feems to be always of moſt uſe to them, when it is
deareſt bought,
We were now bound to the Gulph of Perfia, and from
thence to the coaſt of Coromandel, only to touch at Su-
rat but the chief of the fupercargo's defign lay at the
bay of Bengal, where, if he miffed of the buſineſs out-
ward-bound, he was to go up to China, and return to
the coast as he came home.
The firſt difafter that befel us was in the Gulph of
Perfia, where five of our men, venturing on ſhore on
the Arabian fide of the Gulph, were furrounded by the
Arabs, and either all killed, or carried away into fla-
very; 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 cafe; but the boatſwain very warmly
told me, he thought I went farther in my cenfures than
I could fhew any warrant for in fcripture, and referred
to the thirteenth of St. Luke, ver. 4. where our Saviour
intimates, that thoſe men, on whom the Tower of Si-
loam fell, were not finners above all the Galileans; but
that which, indeed, put me to filence in this caſe, was,
that none of theſe five men, who were now loft, were of
the number of thoſe who went on ſhore to the maſſacre
of Madagaſcar (fo I always called it, though our men
could not bear the word maffacre with any patience);
and, indeed, this laft circumftance, as I have faid, put
me to filence for the preſent.
But my frequent preaching to them on this fubject
had worfe confequences then I expected; and the boat-
fwain, 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 particu-
lar that as I was but a paffenger, and had no com-
H5
mand
178
ADVENTURES O
mand in the ſhip, or concern in the voyage, they were
not obliged to bear it; that they did not know but I
might have fome ill defign in my head,' and, perhaps,
call them to an account for it, when they came to Eng-
land; 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 fail with me among
them.
I heard him patiently enough till he had done, and
then told him, that I did confefs I had all along op-
poſed the maffacre of Madagaſcar, for ſuch I would al-
ways call it; and that I had on all occafions ſpoken
my mind freely about it, though not more upon him
than any of the reft, that as to my having no command
in the ſhip, that was true, nor did I exercife any au-
thority, 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
bufinefs; I was a confiderable owner of the fhip, and
in that claim I conceived I had a right to ſpeak, even
farther than I had yet done, and would not be account-
able 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 fee the place, I went on fhore with the
fupercargo, in the hip'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 meſ-
ſage; and I aſked the man, who bade him deliver that
errant to me He told me the cockfwain. I faid no
more to the fellow, but bid him let them know he had
delivered his meſſage, and that I had given him no an-
fwer to it.
I immediately went, and found out the fupercargo,
and told him the ftory, adding, what I prefently fore-
faw, viz. that there would certainly be a mutiny in the
fhip; and intreated him to go immediately on board the
Lip
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
*179
hip 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 fhore, the matter was effected on
board: the boatswain, the gunner, the carpenter, and
in a word, all the inferior officers, as foon as I was gone
off in the boat, came up to the quarter-deck, and de-
fired to ſpeak with the captain; and there the boat-
fwain, making a long harangue (for the fellow talked
very well,) and repeating all he had faid to me, told
the captain in a few words, that as I was now gone
peaceably on fhore, they were loth to uſe any vio-
lence with me; which, if I had not gone on fhore, they
would otherwife have done, to oblige me to have
gone. They therefore thought fit to tell him, that as they
ſhipped themſelves to ferve in the fhip under his com-
mand, they would perform it faithfully: but if I would
not quit the fhip, or the captain oblige me to quit it,
they would all leave the fhip, and fail no farther with
him and at that word ALL, he turned his face about
towards the main-maft, which was, it feems, the fignal
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 fpirit, and of
great prefence of mind; and though he was furpriſed,
you may be fure, at the thing, yet he told them calmly
he would confider of the matter; but that he could do
nothing in it till he had fpoken to me about it: he uſed
fome arguments with them, to fhew them the unreaſon-
ableness and injuftice of the thing; but it was all in
vain; they ſwore, and fhook hands round, before his
face, that they would go all on fhore, unleſs he would
engage to them not to fuffer me to come on board the
fhip.
This was an hard article upon him, who knew his
obligation to me, and did not know how I might take
it; fo he began to talk cavalierly to them; told them,
that I was a confiderable owner of the fhip, and
that in juſtice he could not put me out of my own
houſe; that this was next door to ferving me as the fa-
mous pirate Kid had done, who made the mutiny in
he fhip, fet the captain on fhore in an uninhabited
H6
ifland,
ADVENTURES OF
iſland, and ran away with the fhip: that let them go
into what ſhip they would, if ever they came to Eng-
land 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 lofe the fhip, and the voyage too, than
diſoblige me ſo much; fo they might do as they pleaf-
ed. However, he would go on fhore, and talk with
me there; and invited the boatſwain to go with him,
and perhaps they might accomodate the matter with
me.
But they all rejected the propofal; and faid, they
would have nothing to do with me no more, neither
on board, nor on fhore; and if I came on board, they
would go on fhore. Well faid the captain, if you are
all of this mind let me go on fhore, and talk with him
fo away he came to me with this account, a little after
the meffage had been brought to me from the cock-
fwain.
;
I was very glad to fee my nephew, I must confeſs ;
for I was not without apprehenfions that they would
confine him by violence, fet fail, and run away with
the ſhip; and then I had been ftript naked in a remote
country, and nothing to help myfelf: in fhort, I had
been in a worſe caſe than when I was all alone in the
ifland.
But they had not come to that length, it ſeems, to my
great fatisfaction; and when my nephew told me what
they had faid to him, and how they had fworn, and
ſhook hands, that they would one and all leave the
ſhip, if I was fuffered to come on board, I told him, he
fhould not be concerned at it at all, for I would ſtay on
fhore: 1 only defired he would take care and ſend me
all my neceffary things on fhore, and leave me a fuffici-
ent fum of money, and I would find my way to Eng-
land 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 fhort, he went on board the fhip again, and fatif-
fied the men, that his uncle had yielded to their im-
portunity, and had fent for his goods from on board
the fhip. So the matter was over in a very few
hours:
ROBINSON CRUSO E.
181
hours; the men returned to their duty, and I begun to
confider 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 fea, 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 Baffora by fea, up the Gulph of
Perfia, and from thence might take the way of the ca-
ravans, over the deſerts of Arabia to Aleppo and Scan-
deroon; from thence by fea again to Italy, and fo over
land 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
fome Engliſh ſhips, which were coming to Bengal, frem
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 Eaft-India company, ſo it
would be difficult to go from hence without their
licence, unleſs with great favour of the captains of the
fhips, or of the company's factors; and to both I was
an utter ftranger.
Here I had the particular pleaſure, ſpeaking by con-
trarities, to fee the fhip fet fail without me; a treat-
ment, I think, a man in my circumſtances ſcarce ever
met with, except from pirates running away with a
fhip, and ſetting thofe that would not agree with their
villainy on fhore; indeed this was the next door to
it, both ways: however, my nephew left me two fer-
vants, or rather, one companion, and one fervant ;
the firſt was clerk to the purfer, whom he engaged to
go with me; and the other was his own fervant: I
took me allo a good lodging in the houſe of an Eng-
lish woman, where feveral merchants lodged, fome
French, two Italians, or rather Jews, and one English-
man. Here 1 was handſomely enough entertained ;' and
that I might not be ſaid to run rafhly upon any thing, I
ſtayed here above nine months, confidering what courſe
to take, and how to manage myſelf; I had fum Engliſh
goods with me, of value, and a confiderable fome of
money,
18z
ADVENTURES OF
money, my nephew furniſhing me with a thoufan &
pieces of of eight, and a letter of credit for more, if I
had occafion, that I might not be ſtraitened, whatever
might happen,
I quickly difpofed of my goods, and to advantage
too; and, as I originally intended, I bought here fome
very good diamonds, which, of all other things was the
moſt proper for me, in my circumſtances, becauſe I
might always carry my whole eftate 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, fays he, I have a
project to communicate to you, which, as it fuits with
my thoughts, may, for aught I know, fuit with your's
alſo, when you ſhall have thoroughly confidered it.
Here we are pofted, fays 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 fhip here, the
firſt we can get to our minds; you fhall 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
ín motion, rolling round and round; all the creatures
of God, heavenly bodies, and earthly, are bufy and dili-
gent: why ſhould we be idle? There are no drones,
fays he, living in the world but men: why fhould we
be of that number?
I liked this propoſal very well, and the more, becauſe
it feemed to be expreffed with fo much good will, and
in fo friendly a manner; I will not fay but that I might,
by my looſe and unhinged circumſtances, be the fitter
to embrace a propofal for trade, and, indeed, for any
thing elſe; or otherwiſe, trade was one of my element:
however, I might, perhaps, fay, with fome truth, that
if trade was not my element, rambling was; and no pro-
pofal for ſeeing any part of the world which I had never
feen before, could poffibly come amifs to me.
It
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
183
It was, however, fome time before we could get a
ſhip to our mind; and when we got a veffel it was not
eaſy to get Engliſh failors; that is to ſay, fo many as
were neceffary to govern the voyage, and manage the
failors which we ſhould pick up there; after fome 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 fo many travellers who have written the
hiftory of their voyages and travels this way, that it
would be but very little diverfion 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 Engliſh-
men, 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, firft; and from thence to Siam, where we ex-
changed 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 Sufham,
made a very great voyage, were eight months out, and
returned to Bengal; and I was very well fatisfied with
my adventure. I obſerve that our people in England
often admire how the officers, which the company fend
into India, and the merchants which generally ſtay there
get fuch very good eftates as they do, and fometimes
come home worth fixty, ſeventy, and an hundred thou-
fand pounds at a time.
But it is no wonder, or, at leaſt, we ſhall ſee ſo much
farther into it, when we confider 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 confider, that at all thoſe places and ports where the
Engliſh ſhips come, there is fo much, and fuch conſtant
demand for the growth of all other countries, that there
is a certain vent for the return, as well as a market a-
broad for the goods carried out.
In ſhort, we made a very good voyage, and I got fo
much money by the firſt adventure, and fuch an infight
into
184
ADVENTURES OF
into the method of getting more, that, had I been twenty
years younger, I fhould have been tempted to have ftaid
here, and fought no farther for making my fortune: but
what was all this to a man on the wrong fide of three-
ſcore; that was rich enough, and came abroad more in
obedience to a reſtleſs defire of ſeeing the world, than a
covetous defire of getting in it? And, indeed, I think,
it is with great juftice that I now call it a reſtlefs defire;
for it was fo: when I was at home, I was reftlefs to go
abroad; and now I was abroad, I was reftleſs to be at
home. 1 fay, what was this gain to me? I was rich
enough already; nor had I any uneafy defires 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
progrefs at all; becauſe I was come back, as I might call-
it, to the place from whence I came, as to an home;
whereas my eye, which, like that which Solomon ſpeaks
of, was never fatisfied with feeing, was ftill more defirous
of wandering and feeing. I was come into a part of the
world which I never was in before, and that part in par-
ticular which I had heard much of; and was refolved to
fee as much of it as I could; and then I thought I might
fay, I had ſeen all the world that was worth feeing.
But my fellow-traveller and I had different notions;
I do not name this to infift upon my own, för I acknow-
ledge his was moſt juft, and the moft fuited to the end of
a merchant's life; who, when he is abroad upon adven
tures, it is his wiſdom to ſtick to that, as the beſt thing
for him, which he is like to get the most money by:
my new friend kept himſelf to the nature of the thing,
and would have been content to have gone like a car-
rier's horſe, always to the fame inn, backward and for-
ward, provided he could, as he called it, find his ac-
count in it on the other hand, mine, old as I was, was
the notion of a mad rambling boy, that never cares to fee
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 inter-
val of thefe confultations, my friend, who was always
upon
ROBINSON CRUSOE
185
upon the ſearch for bufinefs, propofed 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 fo
far, but to fome 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 difficul-
ty was in bringing me to come into it; however, at laſt:
nothing elſe offering, 2rd finding that really ftirring
about and trading, the profit being fo great, and, as I
may lay, certain, had more pleaſure in it, and more fa-
tisfaction to the mind, than fitting ftill; which, to me
eſpecially, was the unhappieft part of life, I refolved on
this voyage too; which we made very fuccefsfully,
touching at Borneo, and ſeveral iſlands, whoſe names I
do not remember, and came home in about five months:
we fold our ſpice, which was chiefly cloves, and fome
nutmegs, to the Perfian merchants, who carried them
away for the Gulph; and making near five of one, we
really got a great deal of money.
me;
My friend, when we made up this account, fimiled at
Well now, faid he, with a fort of an agreeable in-
fult upon my indolent temper, is not this better than
walking about here, like a man of nothing to do, and
fpending our time in ftaring at the nonfenfe and igno-
rance of the Pagans? Why truly, faid I, my friend, I
think it is; and I begin to be a convert to the principles
of merchandizing; but I must tell you, faid, 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 fhall harraſs you up and down the world till
I tire you; for I fhall purſue it ſo eagerly, I ſhall never
let you lie ftill.
But to be thort with my fpeculations; a little while
after this there came in a Dutch ſhip from Batavia; fhe
was a coaſter, not an European trader, and of about
two hundred tons burden: the men, as they pretended,
having been fo fickly, that the captain had not men
enough to go to fea with, he lay by at Bengal ; and, as if
having got money enough, or being willing, for other
reafons, to go for Europe, he gave publick notice, that
he
186
ADVENTURES OF
he would fell his fhip: this came to my ears before my
new partner heard of it: and I had a great mind to buy
it: fo I went home to him, and told him of it; he con-
fiderş awhile, for he was no raſh man neither : but, mu-
fing fome time, he replied, She is a little too big: but,
however, we will have her. Accordingly we bought the
fhip: and, agreeing with the matter, we paid for her,
and took poffeffion: when we had done fo, we refolved
to entertain the men, if we could, to join them with
thofe we had, for the purfuing our bufinefs: but on a fud-
den, they having not received their wages, but their
fhare of the money, as we afterwards learnt, not one of
them was to be found. We enquired much about them,
and at length were told, that they were all gone toge-
ther by land to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's
refidence; and from thence were to travel to Surat, and
fo by fea to the gulph of Perfia.
Nothing had fo heartily troubled me a good while, as
that I miffed the opportunity of going with them; for
fuch a ramble, I thought, and in fuch company as would.
both have guarded me, and diverted me, would have
fuited mightily with my great defign; and I ſhould both
have feen the world, and gone homewards too: but I
was much better fatisfied a few days after, when I came
to know what fort of fellows they were; for, in ſhort,
their hiftory 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 at-
tacked on the ſhore by fome 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 refolved to run away with the fhip, which they did;
and had brought her in at the bay of Bengal, leaving
the mate and five men more on fhore; of whom we fhall
hear farther.
Well; let them come by the fhip how they would,
we came honeſtly by her, as we thought; though we did
not, I confefs, examine into things fo exactly as
we ought; for we never enquired any thing of the
feamen, who, if we had examined, would certainly
have faultered in their accounts, contradicted one ano-
ther, and, perhaps, contradicted themfelves; or, one
who
ROBINSON CRUSOE-
187
how or other, we fhould have feen reafon to have fuf-
pected them; but the man fhewed us a bill of fale for
the fhip, to one Emanuel Clofterſhoven, or ſome ſuch
name (for I ſuppoſe it was all a forgery), and called him-
felf by that name; and we would not contradict him; and
being withall a little too unwary, or at leaft, having no
fufpicion of the thing, we went through with our bargain.
However, we picked up fome English feamen here
after this, and fome Dutch; and we now refolved for a
fecond voyage to the fouth-eat, for cloves, &c. that is
to fay, among the Phillippine and Malacca ifles; and
in ſhort, not to fill this part of my ftory with trifles, when
what is yet to come is fo remarkable, I ſpent, from firſt
to laft, fix years in this country, tracing from pert to port
backward and forward, and with very good fuccefs; and
was how the laſt year with my partner, going in the fhip
above-mentioned, on a voyage to China; but defigning
firſt to Siam, to buy rice.
In this voyage, being, by contrary winds, obliged to
beat up and down a great while in the ftreights of Ma-
lacca, and among the iſlands, we were no fooner got clear
of thoſe difficult feas, 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 fome 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-fide of the great
bay or gulph, which goes up to Siam.
While we were here, and going often on fhore for re-
freſhment, there comes to me one day an Engliſhman,
and he was, it ſeems, a gunner's mate on board an En-
gliſh Eaft-India fhip, which rode in the fame 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, fays he, you are a ſtranger to me
and I to you; but I have fomething to tell you, that very
nearly concerns you.
I looked fteadily at him a good while, and he thought
at firſt I had known him, but I did not: If it very nearly
concerns me, faid I, and not yourſelf, what moves you
to
188
ADVENTURES OF
to tell it me? I am moved, fays he, by the imminent
danger you are in; and for aught I fee, you have no
knowledge of it. I know no danger I am in, faid I, but
that my fhip is leaky, and I cannot find it out; but I
propoſe to lay her aground to-morrow, to fee if I can
find it out. But, fir, fays 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 fay to
you: Do you know, fir, faid he, the town of Cambodia
lies about fifteen leagues up this river? and there are
two large Engliſh fhips about five leagues on this fide,
and three Dutch. Well, faid I, and what is that to me?
Why, fir, fays he, is it for a man that is upon fuch ad-
ventures as you are, to come into 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 amufed very much at his dif-
courſe, but not amazed at it, for I could not conceive
what he meant ; and I turned fhort upon him, and faid,
Sir, I wish you would explain yourſelf; I cannot ima-
gine what reaſon I have to be afraid of any of the com-
pany's fhips, or Dutch fhips; I am no interloper;
what can they have to fay to me?
He looked like a man half angry, half pleaſed;
and, paufing a while, but fmiling, Well, fir, fays he, if
you think yourſelf fecure, you must take your chance ;
I am forry your fate fhould blind you againſt good
advice; but affure yourfelf, if you do not put to
fea immediately, you will the very next tide, be at-
tacked 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,
fir, added he, I ſhould have met with a better recep-
tion than this, for doing you a piece of fervice of fuch
importance. I can never be ungrateful, faid I, for
any fervice, or to any man that offers me any kind-
nefs; but it is paft my comprehenfion, faid I, what
they ſhould have fuch a defign upon me for: How-
ever, fince you fay there is no time to be loft, and
that there is fome villainous defign in hand againſt me,
I will go on board this minute, and put to fea im-
mediately, if my men can ftop the leak, or if we can
fwim
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
189
fwim without ſtopping it: Lut fir, faid I, fhall I go
away ignorant of the reafon of all this? Can you give
me no farther light into it?
I can tell you but part of the ſtory, fir, fays he; but
I have a Dutch ſeaman here with me, and, I believe, I
could perfuade him to tell you the reft; but there is
fcarce time for it: but the ſhort of the ſtory is this, the
firſt part of which, I fuppofe, you know well enough,
viz. That you were with this ſhip at Sumatra; that
there your captain was murdered, by the Mallaccans,
with three of his men; and that you, or fome of thoſe
that were on board with you, ran away with the fhip,
and are ſince turned PIRATES. This is the fum of
the ſtory, and you will all be feized as pirates, I can
affure you, and executed with very little ceremony; for
you know merchants fhips fhew but little law to pi-
rates, if they get them in their power.
Now you ſpeak plain Engliſh, faid I, and I thank
you; and though I know nothing that we have done,
like what you talk of, but I am fure we came honeftly,
and fairly by the ſhip, yet, feeing fuch work is a
doing, as you fay, and that you ſeem to mean honeſtly,
I will be upon my guard. Nay, fir, fays he, do not
talk of being upon your guard; the beft 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 fea,
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. Befides,
as they are only boats, and not fhips, they will not
venture to follow you far out to fea, eſpecially if it
blows.
Well, faid I, you have been very kind in this: What
fhall i do for you, to make you amends? Sir, fays he,
you may not be fo willing to make me amends, be-
cauſe 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 fhip-
which I came out
of England in; and the Dutchman, that is with me, has
feren
190
ADVENTURES OF
if
you
feven months pay due to him
due to him; if you will make good
to us, we will go along with you;
four pay to us,
find
nothing more in it, e will defire no more; but if we
do convince you, that we have faved your life, and the
ſhip, and the lives of all the men in her, we will leave
the reft to you.
I confented to this readily; and went immediately on
board, and the two men with me. As foon as I came
to the fhip fide, my partner who was on board, came
out on the quarter-deck, and called to me, with a great
deal of joy, O ho! Oho! we have ftopped the leak!
we have ſtopped the leak! Say you ſo, ſaid I, thank
God; but weigh the anchor then immediately: Weigh!
fays he; What do you mean by that? What is the mat-
ter? fays he. Afk no queftions, faid I, but all hands
to work, and weigh, without lofing a minute: He was
furpriſed: 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 fea: 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 feamen comes to the cabin door, and calls out to us
that the captain bade him tell us, we were chaſed:
Chafed, faid I, by whom and by what? By five floops,
or boats, faid the fellow, full of men. Very well, faid
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 feize the fhip,
and to take us for pirates; and aſked them, if they
would ſtand by us, and by one another,? The men an-
fwered, chearfully, that one and all, they would live and
die with us. Then I aſked the captain, what way he
thought beft for us to manage a fight with them: For,
refift them I refolved we would, and that to the laſt
drop. He faid readily, that the way was to keep them
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 would retire to our clofe quarters; per-
haps they had not materials to break open our bulk-
heads, or get in upon us.
*
The
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
191
The gunner had in the mean time, orders to bring
two guns to bear fore and aft, out of the fteerage, to
clear the deck, and load them with mufquet-bullets, and
fmall pieces of old iron, and what next came to hand;
and thus we made ready for fight: but all this while kept
out to fea, with wind enough, and could fee the boats at
a diſtance, being five large long-boats following us, with
all the fail they could make.
Two of theſe boats, which by our glaffes, we could
fee, were Engliſh, had outfailed the reft, were near two
leagues ahead of them, and gained upon us confiderably;
fo that we fired they would come up with us: upon
which we found a gun without a fhot, to intimate that
they ſhould bring to: and we put out a flag of truce,
as a fignal for parley: but they kept crowding after
us, till they came within fhot; 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 fhot: Not-
withſtanding this, they came on till they were near
enough to call to them with a ſpeaking trumpet, which
we had on board: fo we called them, and bade them
keep off at their peril.
It was all one, they crouded after us, and endeavour-
ed to come under our ftern, ſo to board us on our quar-
ter: Upon which, feeing they were refolute for mif-
chief, and depended upon the ftrength that followed
them, I ordered to bring the ſhip to, fo that they lay
upon our broadfide, when immediately we fired fi ve
guns at them: one of them had been levelled fo true as
to carry away the ftern of the hindermoſt boat, and
bring them to the neceffity of taking down their fail,
and running all to the head of the boat to keep her
from finking: fo fhe lay by, and had enough of it;
but, feeing the foremoſt boat ftill crowd on after us, we
made ready to fire at her in particular.
While this was doing, one c 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 fee her take out the men: we called
again to the foremoſt boat, and offered a truce to par-
ley again, and to know what was her bufinefs with us:
but had no anſwer; only fhe crowded cloſe under our
ftern.
192
ADVENTURES OF
fern. Upon this our gunner, who was a very dextrous.
fellow, run out his two chace guns, and fired at her;
but the fhot miffing, the men in the boat fhouted,
waved their caps, and came on; but the gunner, get-
ting quickly ready again, fired among them a fecond
time; one fhot of which, though it miffed the boat
itfel, yet fell in among the men, and we could eaſily
fee, 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 fplit almoſt to
pieces; in particular, her rudder, and a piece of her
ftern, was fhot quite away; fo they handed their fail
immediately, and were in great diſorder; but, to com-
plete 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 finking, and fome of the men
already in the water: upon this I immediately manned
out our pinnance, which we had kept cloſe by our fide,
with orders to pick up fome of the men, if they could,
and fave them from drowning, and immediately to come
on board with them; becauſe we faw the reft 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 be-
fore we could recover him. As foon as they were on
board, we crowded all the fail we could make, and
ſtood farther out to fea; and we found, that when the
other three boats came up to the firft two, they gave
over their chace.
Being thus delivered from a danger, which, though I
knew not the reafon of it, yet feemed to be much
greater than I apprehended; I took care that we would
change our courſe, and not let any one imagine whitner
we were going; fo we ftood out to fea eastward, quite
out of the courſe all European fhips, whether they
were bound to China, or any where elfe, within the
commerce of the European nations.
When we were now at fea, we began to confult
with the two feamen, and enquire first, what the
meaning of all this ſhould be? The Dutchman let us
into
*
ROBINSON CR O E.
193
into the ſecret of it at once; telling us, That the fel-
low that fold us the fhip, as we faid, 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 treacheroufly 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 failing near the ſhore, in its way from China, had
fent their boat on fhore for freſh water; that he durft
not come to that part of the fhore 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 feamen belonging to the ſhip had arrived, hav-
ing deferted the reft in their travels; and gave an ac-
count, that the fellow who had run away with the ſhip,
fold her at Bengal to a fet of pirates, which were gone a
cruifing in her; and that they had already taken an
English fhip, and two Dutch fhips, very richly laden.
This latter part we found to concern us directly, and
though we knew it to be falfe, yet, as my partner faid,
very well, if we had fallen into their hands, and they
had fuch a propoffeffion againſt us before hand, it had
been in vain for us to have defended ourſelves, or to
hope for any good quarters at their hands, efpecially
confidering that our accufers had been our judges, and
that we could have expected nothing from them but
what rage would have dictated, and ungoverned paffion
have executed : and therefore it was his opinion, we
fhould 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 fhip put in, whom we bought
her of, and the like: and which was more than all the
reft, if we were put to the neceffity of bringing it before
the proper judges we fhould be fure to have fome juf-
tice; and not be haiged firft, and judged afterwards.
VOL. II.
I
I was
194
ADENTURES OF
I was fome time of my partner's opinion; but after
a little more ferious 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 fide of the
ftreights of Malacca; and that if the alarm was given,
we ſhould be fure to be way-laid on every fide, as well
by the Dutch of Batavia, as the Engliſh elfe-where ;
that if we ſhould be taken, as it were, running away, we
fhould even condemn ourſelves, and there would want
no more evidence to deftroy us. I alſo aſked the Engliſh
failor's opinion, who faid he was of my mind, and that
we ſhould certainly be taken.
This danger a little ftartled my partner, and all the
fhip's company; and we immediately refolved to go
away to the coaſt of Tonquin, and ſo on to China; and
from thence purfuing the firft defign, as to trade, find
fome way or other to difpofe of the fhip, and come
back in fome of the veffels of the country, fuch as we
could get. This was approved of as the best method
for our fecurity, and accordingly we fteered away N.
N. E. keeping above fifty leagues off from the ufual
courſe to the eaſtward.
This, however, put us to fome inconveniences; for
firft, the winds, when we came to that diſtance from
the ſhore, ſeemed to be more fteadily againſt us blow-
ing almoſt trade, as we call it, from the east, and E.N.E.
fo that we were a long while upon our voyage; and we
were but ill provided with victuals for fo long a run
and, which was ftill worſe, there was fome danger, that
thofe English and Dutch fhips, whofe boats purfued us,
whereof fome were bound that way, might be got in be-
fore us; and if not, fome other fhip, bound to China,
might have information of us from them, and purſue us
with the fame vigour.
I muft.confes, I was now very uneafy, and thought
myfelf, including the late efcape from the long boats,
to have been in the most dangerous condition that ever
I was in through all my paft life; for, whatever ill cir-
cumſtances I had been in, I was never purfued for a
thief before; nor had I ever done any thing that me-
rited the name of difhoneft, or fraudulent, much lefs
thievih. I had chiefly been mine own enemy; or, as
I may
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
Tog
I may rightly ſay, I had been nobody's enemy but´ my
own. But now I was embarraffed 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 fo 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 feeing me thus dejected,
though he was the moſt concerned at firft, began to en-
courage me; and deferibing to me the feveral ports of
that 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 poffeffion of the
Portegueſe, and where ftill a great many European fami-
lies refided, and particularly the miffionary prieſts uſually
went thither, in order to their going forward to China.
Hither then we refolved to go; and accordingly,
though after a tedious and irregular course, and very
much freightened for provifions, we came within fight
of the coast very early in the morning; and upon re-
flection upon the paſt circumſtances we were in, and the
danger, if we had not efcaped, we refolved to put into a
fmall river, which, however, had depth enough of
water for us, and to fee if we could, either over land,
or by the ſhip's pinnace, come to know what fhip's were
in any port thereabouts. This happy ſtep was, indeed,
our deliverance; for though we did not immediately ſee
any European fhips in the bay of Tonquin, yet, the next
morning, there came into the bay two Dutch fhip's, and
a third without any colours ſpread out, but which we
believed to be a Dutchman, paffed by at about two
leagues diftance, fteering for the the coaft of China; and
in the afternoon we went by two Engliſh fhips, fteering
the fame courſe; and thus we thought, we faw ourſelves
befet with enemies, both one way and the other. The
place we were in was wild and barbarous, the people
thieves, even by occupation or profeffion; and though
it is true, we had not much to feek of them, and ex-
cept getting a few provifions, cared not how little we
had to do with them, yet it was with much difficulty
I 2
A
that
196
ADVENTURES OF
that we kept ourſelves from being infulted by them fe-
veral ways.
We were in a ſmall river of this country, within a
few leagues of its utmoft 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 fhore, that we diſcovered as
above, that in a word, we were furrounded with ene-
mies. The people we were among were the moſt bar-
barous of all the inhabitants of the coaft; having no
correſpondence with any other nation, and dealing only
in fish and oil, and fuch grofs commodities; and it
may be particularly ſeen, that they are, as I faid, the
moſt barbarous of any of the inhabitants ; viz. that
among other cuftoms they have this one, that if any
veffel had the misfortune to be fhipwrecked upon their
coaft, they preſently make the men all prifoners; that
is to fay, flaves; and it was not long before we found
a fpice of their kindneſs this way, on the occafion fol-
lowing.
I have obſerved above, that our ſhip ſprung a leak
at fea, and that we could not find it out; and however
it happened, that, as I have faid, it was ftopped unex-
pectedly, in the happy minute of our being to be ſeized
by the Dutch and Engliſh fhips, near the bay of Siam
yet, as we did not find the thin o perfectly tight and
found as we defired, we refolved, while we were in this
place, to lay her on fhore, take out what heavy things
we had on board, which were not many, and to waſh
and clean her bottom; and, if poffible, to find out where
the leaks were.
Accordingly, having lightened the ſhip, and brought
all our guns, and other moveable things, to one fide,
we tried to bring her down, that we might come at her
bottom: for, on fecond thoughts, we did not care to
lay her dry aground, neither could we find out a pro-
place for it.
The inhabitants, who had never been acquainted with
fuch a fight, came wondering down to the fhore to
look at us: and feeing the fhip lie down on one fide
in a ſuch a manner, and heeling towards the fhore, and
not feeing our men, who were at work on her bot-
tom,
KOBINSON CRUSOE.
197
tom, with ftages, and with their boats on the off fide,
they prefently concluded that the fhip was caft away,
and lay ſo very faft on the ground.
On this fuppofition they came all about us in two or
three hours time, with ten or twelve large boats, having
fome of them eight, fome ten men in a boat, intending,
no doubt, to have come on board and plundered the
fhip, and if they had found us there, to have carried us
away for flaves 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
outfide of the fhip's bottom and fide, wafhing, and
graving, and ſtopping, as every feafaring man knows
how.
+
They flood for awhile gazing at us, and we, who
were a little ſurpriſed, could not imagine what their
defign was; but, being willing to be fure, we took
this opportunity to get fome of us into the fhip, and
others to hand down arms and ammunition, to thoſe
that were at work to defend themfelves with, if there
fhould be occafion: and it was no more than need:
for, in less than a quarter of an hour's confultation,
they agreed, it ſeems, that the ſhip was really a wreck :
that we were all at work, endeavouring to fave 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 fave
fome of our goods. Upon this they took it for granted
they all belonged to them: and away they came di-
rectly upon our men, as if it had been in a line of
battle.
Our men, feeing fo many of them, began to be
frighted; for we lay but in an ill pofture to fight, and cried
out to us to know what they ſhould do. I imme-
diately called to the men who worked upon the ſtages
to flip them down, and get up the fide into the
fhip and bade thoſe in the boat to row round and
come on board: and thofe few of us who were on
board, worked with all the ftrength and hands we
had, to bring the ſhip to rights: but, however, neither
the men upon the ſtage, nor thofe in the boats, could
I 3
do
+798
ADVENTURES OF
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 firft man they laid hold of was an Engliſh feaman,
a ftout ſtrong fellow, who having a mufquet 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 bet-
ter 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 fo againſt the boat's gunnel, that the fellow died
inftantly in his hands; and in the mean time, a Dutch-
man, who flood next, took up the mufquet, and with
the but-end of it, fo laid about him, that he knocked
down five of them, who attempted to enter the boat
but this was little towards refifting 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 deferved our laughter rather
than any thing elſe; and that was this :
Our carpenter being prepared to grave the outfide of
the fhip, as well as to pay the feams where he had caulk-
ed her, to ſtop the leaks, had got two kettles juſt let
down into the boat; one filled with boiling pitch, and
the other with rofin, tallow, and oil, and fuch ſtuff as
the fhipwrights uſed for that work; and the man that
tended the carpenter had a great iron ladle in his hand,
with which he fupplied the men that were at work with
that hot ftuff; two of the enemy's men entered the
boat juſt where this fellow ftood, being in the fore
fheets; he immediately faluted them with a ladleful of
the ftuff, boiling hot, which fo burnt and ſcalded them,
being half-naked, that they roared out like two bulls,
and enraged with the fire, leaped both into the fea.
Tihe carpenter faw it, and cried out, Well done Jack,
give them ſome more of it; when ſtepping forward
hmſelf, he takes one of their maps, and dipping it in
the pitch pot, he and his man threw it among them fo
plentifully, that, in ſhort, of all the men in three boats,
there was not one that was not fcalded and burnt with
it
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
199
it in a mot frightful pitiful manner, and made fuch an
howling and crying, that I never heard a worfe noiſe,
and, indeed, no thing like it'; for it was worth obferving,
that though pain naturally makes all people cry out,
yet every nation have a particular way of exclamation,
and make noifes as different from one another
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 noife of the wolves, which, as I have
faid, I heard howl in the foreft on the frontiers of Lan-
guedoc.
I was never pleaſed with a victory better in my life:
not only as it was a perfect furprife to me, and that our
danger was imminent before; but as we got this victory
without any bloodthed, except of that man the fellow
killed with his naked hands, and which I was very much
concerned at: for I was fick of killing fuch poor favage
wretches, even though it was in my own defence, `know-
ing, they came on errads which they thought juft, and
knew no better; and that though it may be a juft thing,
becauſe neceffary, for there is no neceffary wickedness
in nature: yet I thought it was a fad life, when we muit
be always obliged to be killing our fellow creatures to
preferve ourſelves; and indeed, I think fo ftill; and I
would, even now, fuffer a great deal, rather, than I
would take away the life even of the worst perfon inju-
ring me. I believe alfo, all confidering pe ople, ho
knew the value of life, would be of my opinion, if they
entered ſeriouſly into the confideration of it.
But to return to my ſtory: all the hile this was do-
ing, my partner and I, who managed the reft of the men
on board, had with great dexterity, brought the fhip
almoft 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 ith-
out him; but bid him heat another pitch kettle hich
our cook, who was on board, took care of. But the
enemy was fo terrified with what they met with in their
firſt attack, that they would not come on again; and
1 4
fome
200
ADVENTURES OF
fome of them, that were fartheft off feeing the fhip
iwim, as it were, upright, began, as we fuppofed, to
ſee their miſtake, and gave over the enterpriſe, finding it
not as they expected. Thus we got clear of this merry
fight; and, having gotten fome rice, and fome roots and
bread, with about fixteen good big hogs, on board, two
days before, we refolved to stay here no longer, but go
forward, whatever came of it; for we made no doubt
but we ſhould be furrounded the next day with rogues
enough, perhaps more than our pitch-kettle would dif-
pofe of for us.
We, therefore, got all our things on board the fame
evening, and the next morning were ready to fail. In
the mean time, lying at an anchor fome diſtance from
the fhore, we were not fo much concerned, being now
in a fighting pofture, as well as in a failing pofture, if
any enemy had prefented. The next day, having finiſh-
ed our work within board, and finding our fhip was
perfectly healed of all her leaks, we fet fail; we would
have gone into the bay of Tonquin, for we wanted to
inform ourſelves of what was to be known concerning
the Dutch fhips that had been there; but we durft not
ftand in there, becauſe we had ſeen ſeveral ſhips go in,
as we ſuppoſed, but a little before; fo we kept on N. E.
towards the iſle of Formofa, as much afraid of being
feen by a Dutch or Engliſh merchant ſhip, as a Dutch
or Engliſh merchant ship in the Mediterrean is of an
Algerine man of war.
When we were thus got to fea, we kept on N. E. as
if we would go to the Manillas or the Phillippine iſlands,
and this we did, that we might not fall into the way of
any of the European fhips; and then we fteered north
again, till we came to the latitude of 22 deg. 20 min.
by which means we made the iſland of Formoſa directly,
where we came to an anchor, in order to get water and
freſh provifions, which the people there, who are very
courteous and civil in their manners, fupplied us with
willingly, and dealt very fairly and punctually with us in
all their agreements and bargains; which is what me did
not find among other people and may be owing to the
remains of Chriſtianity, which was once planted here
by a Dutch miffionary of Proteftants, and is a teſtimony
of
ROBINSON CRUS O E.
201
of what I have often obferved, viz. that the chriftian
religion always civilizes the people, and reforms their
manners, where it is received, whether it works faving
effects upon them or no.
From hence we failed ftill north, keeping the coaſt
of China at an equal diſtance, till we knew we were
beyond all the ports of China, where our European
ſhips uſually come: being refolved, if poffible, 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, fo great was my fear in par-
ticular, 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 inquifition.
Being now come to the latitude of 30 degrees, we
refolved 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 fervice, 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 fent 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 of us to the Gulph of Nan-
quin, which is the moſt northern part of the coaſt of
China. The old man faid he knew the Gulph of Nan-
quin very well; but, fmiling, afked us what we would
do there.
I told him we would fell our cargo, and purchaſe
China wares, callicoes, raw filks, tea, wrought filks,
&c. and fo would return by the fame courſe we came.
He told us our beſt port had been to have put in at Ma-
cao, where we could not fail of a market for our opium,
to our fatisfaction, and might, for our money, have
purchaſed all forts 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 opiniated, or conceited, I told
him, we were gentlemen, as well as merchants; and
that we had a mind to go and fee the great city of
I 5
Pekin
102
ADVENTURES OF
Pekin, and the famous court of the monarch of China.
Why then, fays the old man, you ſhould go to Ningpo,
where, by the river that runs into the fea there, you may
go up within five leagues of the great canal. This
canal is a navigable made ftream, which goes through.
the heart of all that vaſt empire of China, croffes all the
rivers, paffes fome confiderable hills by the help of flui-
ces and gates, and goes up to the city of Pekin, being
in length near 270 leagues.
Well, faid 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 fo
very well, and there was a great Dutch ſhip gone up that
way just before. This gave me a little fhock; 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 fright-
ful a figure we depended upon it, that a Dutch hip
would be our deftruction, 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
fome concern, when he named a Dutch fhip; and faid:
to me, Sir, you need be under no apprehenfion of the
Dutch, I fuppofe they are not now at war with your na-.
tion. No, faid. I, that's true; but I know not what li-
berties men may take, when they are out of the reach
of the laws of the country. Why, faid he, you are nos
pirates, what need you fear? They will not meddle
with peaceable merchants fure.
If I had any blood in my body that did not fly up into
my face at that word, it was hindered by fome ftop In
the veffels appointed by nature to circulate it; for it
put me into the greateſt diſorder and confufion imaginable
nor was it poffible for me to conceal it fo, but that
the old man eafily perceived it.
Sir, faid he, I find you are in fome diforder 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 fervice I can. Why, Seignior, faid I it is true, I
am a little unfettled m my refolution at this time,
w hither.
A
ROBINSON CRUS O E.
203
whither to go in particular; and I am fomething more
fo, for what you faid about pirates: I hope there are no
pirates in theſe feas, we are hut in an ill condition to meet
with them for you fee we have but ſmall force, and but
very weakly manned.
:
Ó, Sir, faid 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 feen, as I hear, in the bay
of Siam, about a month fince; but you may be affured
fhe is gone to the fouthward: nor was the a fhip of any
great force, or fit for the work: fhe was not built for a
privateer, but was run away with by a reprobate crew
that were on board, after the captain and fome of his
men had been murdered by the Malaccans, at or near
the iſland of Sumatra.
What! faid I, feeming to know nothing of the matter,
Did they murder the captain? No, faid he, I do not
underſtand that they murdered him: but, as they after-
wards ran away with the fhip, 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, faid I, they deferve death, as much
as if they had done it themſelves. Nay, faid the old
man, they do deſerve it: and they will certainly have it
if they light upon any English or Dutch fhip: for they
have all agreed together, that, if they meet that
they will give him no quarter.
rogue,
But, faid I to him, you fay the pirate is gone out of
thefe feas; how can they meet with him them? Why:
that is true, faid he, they do fay fo: but he was, as I
tell you, in the bay of Siam in the river Cambodia, and
was diſcovered there by fome Dutchmen who belonged
to the fhip, and who were left on fhore when they run
away with her; and fome Engliſh and Dutch traders be-
ing in the river, they were within a little of taking him.
Nay, faid he, if the foremoſt boats had been well fecond-
ed 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 difabled them, before the other
came up; and then ſtanding off to fea, the others were
not able to follow him, and ſo he got away. But they
have all fo exact a defcription of the fhip that they
I 6
will
204
ADVENTURES OF
will be fure to know him; and where-ever they find
him, they have vowed to give no quarter to either the
captain, or the feamen, but to hang them all up at the
yard-arm.
What! faid I, will they execute them right or wrong,
hang them firſt, and judge them afterwards? O, Sir!
faid the old pilot, there is no need to make a formal bu-
fineſs of it with fuch rogues as thoſe; let them tie them
back to back, and fet 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; fo that I turned ſhort
ſo that I turned ſhort upon him:
Well, now, Seignior, faid 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 coun-
try, where the Engliſh or Dutch fhips come: for, be it
known to you, Seignior, thoſe captains of the English
and Dutch fhips are a parcel of rafh, proud, infolent
fellows, that neither know what belongs to juftice, or
how to behave themſelves, as the laws of God and na-
ture direct; but being proud of their offices, and not
underſtanding their power, they would act the murder-
ers to puniſh robbers; would take upon them to infult
men falfly accufed, and determine them guilty without
due enquiry, and perhaps I may live to call fome of
them to an account for it, where they may be taught
how juſtice is to be executed; and that no man ought to
be treated as a criminal till ſome evidence may be had
of the crime, and that he is the man.
With this I told him, that this was the very fhip they
had attacked: and gave him a full account of the fkir-
miſh we had with their boats, and how fooliſhly and
coward-like they had behaved. I told him all the ſtory
of our buying the fhip, and how the Dutchmen ferved
us. I told him the reaſons I had to believe that this
ftory of killing the mafter 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 fuggeft that the men
were turned pirates; and they ought to have been fure
it was fo, before they had ventured to attack us by fur-
priſe, and oblige us to refift them; adding, that they
would
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
205
would have the blood of thoſe men, who were killed
there, in our juft 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 fell the ſhip in China, which we might very well do,
and buy or build another in the country: and, faid he,
tho' you will not get fo good a fhip, 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 fhould meet
with cuſtomers enough for the ſhip at Nanquin, and that
a Chineſe junk would ferve me very well to go back
again; and that he would procure me people both to buy
one, and fell the other.
Well, but, Seignior, fays I, as you fay they know the
ſhip fo well, I may, perhaps, if I follow your meaſures,
be inftrumental to bring fome honeſt innocent men into
a terrible broil, and, perhaps, be murdered in cold blood;
for where-ever they find the ſhip they will prove the
guilt upon the men, by proving this was the ſhip:
and fo innocent men may probably be overpowered and
murdered. Why, faid the old man, I'll find out a way
to prevent that alfo : for as I know all thoſe commanders
you ſpeak of very well, and ſhall fee them all as they
pafs 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
firft might run away with the fhip, yet it was not true
that they had turned pirates: and that in particular thofe
were not the men that firſt went off with the ſhip, but
innocently bought her for their trade and I am per-
fuaded they will fo far believe me, as, at leaft, to a
more cautiously for the time to come. Well, faid I, and
will you deliver one meffage to them from me? Yes,
I will fays 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 ftory of
affaulting
:
206.
ADVENTURES OF™
affaulting me with the long-boats, &c. the pretended
reaſon of it, and the unjust cruel defign of it; and con--
cluded to the commanders that they had done what they
not only ſhould have been aſhamed of, but alſo, that if
ever they came to England, and I lived to ſee them.
there, they ſhould all pay dearly for it, if the laws of
my country were not grown out of uſe before I arrived.
there.
My old pilot read this over and over again, and aſked
me feveral times, if I would ftand to it. I answered, I
would ftand to it as long as I had any thing left in the
world; being fenfible that I fhould, one time or other,.
find an opportunity to put it home to them. But
we had no occafion ever to let the pilot carry this let-
ter; for he never went back again. While thofe things.
were paffing between us, by way of diſcourfe, we went
forward directly for Nanquin, and, in about thirteen days
fail, came to anchor at the fouth weft point of the
great gulph of Nanquin : where, by the way, I came
by accident to underftand, that the two Dutch fhips
were gone that length before me, and that I ſhould cer-
tainly, fall into their hands. I confulted my partner
again in this exigency, and he was as much at a lofs as
I was, and would very gladly have been fafe on ſhore
almoſt any-where. However, I was not in fuch per-
plexity neither, but I asked the old pilot if there was
no creek or harbour, which I might put into, and pur-.
fue my buſineſs with the Chineſe privately, and be in no
danger of the enemy? He told me, if I would fail to
the fouthward about two and forty leagues, there was a
little port called Quinchang, where the fathers of the
miffion ufually landed from Macao, on their progrefs to
teach the chriftian religion to the Chineſe, and where no
European ſhips ever put in; and, if I thought proper to
put in there, I might confider what farther courſe to take
when I was on fhore. He confeffed, he faid, 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 mer-
chandizes.
We all agreed to go back to this place; the name of
the port, as he called it, I may, perhaps. fpell wrong;
for.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
207
for I do not particularly remember it, having loft this,
together with the names of many other places fet down
in a little pocket-book, which was fpoiled by the water,
on an accident which I fhall relate in its order: but this
I remember, that the Chineſe or Japaneſe merchants we
correfpond 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 fhore, where we were to get freſh water; on both
which occafions the people of the country were very
civil to us, and brought us abundance of things to fell
to us; I mean of provifions, plants, roots, tea, rice,
and fome 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 fatisfac-
tion; and I was joyful, and, I may fay, thankful, when
I fet my foot fafe on fhore; refolving, and my partner
too, that if it was poffible to difpofe of ourſelves and
effects any other way, though not every way to our fa-
tisfaction, we would never fet one foot on board that un-
happy veſſel again; and indeed, 1 muft acknowledge,
that of all the circumftances of life that ever I had any
experience of, nothing makes mankind fo completely
miſerable as that of being in conftant fear. Well does
the fcripture fay, The fear of man brings a fnare;' it
is a life of death: and the mind is fo entirely ſuppreſſed
by it, that it is capable of no relief; the animal fpirits
fink, and all the vigour of nature, which uſually fup-
ports men under other afflictions, and is prefent to them
in the greateſt exigencies, fails them here.
Nor did it fail of its ufual operations upon the fancy,
by heightening every danger; repreſenting the Engliſh
and Dutch captains to be men uncapable of hearing rea-
fon, or diftinguishing between honeft men and rogues;
or between a ſtory calculated for our own turn, made
out of nothing, on purpoſe to deceive, and a true ge-
nuine account of our whole voyage, progrefs, and de-
fign; for we might many ways have convinced any
reaſonable creature that we were not pirates: the
goods we had on board, the courſe we fteered, our
frankly
208
ADVENTURES OF
frankly ſhewing ourſelves, and entering into ſuch and
fuch 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 con-
vince 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 Dutchman, who, it
was ſaid, had the names of all the men that were in the
ſhip, might eafily fee that we were a mixture of Eng-
lifh, Portugueſe, and Indians, and but two Dutchmen
on board. Thefe, and many other particular circum-
ſtances, 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 paffion, worked another
way, and threw us into the vapours; it bewildered our
underſtandings, and fet 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 feamen on board the Engliſh
and Dutch ſhips, but especially the Dutch, were fo en-
raged at the name of a pirate, and eſpecially at our
beating off their boats, and efcaping, that they would
not give themſelves leave to enquire 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 re-
flected that there was really fo much apparent evidence
before them, that they would ſcarce enquire after any
more; as, firft, that the fhip was certainly the fame,
and that ſome of the feamen among them knew her,
and had been on board her; and fecondly, that when
we had intelligence at the river Cambodia, that they
were coming down to examine us, we fought their boats,
and fled; fo that we made no doubt but they were as
fully ſatisfied of our being pirates, as we were fatisfied
of the contrary; and I often faid, I knew not but I
ſhould have been apt to have taken the little circum-
ſtances for evidence, if the tables were turned, and my
caſe was theirs; and have made no fcruple of cutting
all the crew to pieces, without believing, or, perhaps,
confidering, what they might have to offer in their
defence.
But
ROBINSON CRUSOE:
20)
But let that be how it will, thoſe were our appre-
henfions; and both my partner and I too fcarce flept a
night without dreaming of halters, and yard-arms;
that is to fay gibbets; of fighting, and being taken;
of killing, and being killed; and one night I was in
fuch a fury in my dream, fancying the Dutchmen had
boarded us, and I was knocking one of their feamen
down, that I ftruck my double fiſt againſt the fide of
the cabin. I lay in, with fuch a force as wounded my
hand moft grievously, broke my knuckles, and cut and
bruifed the flefh: fo that it not only waked me out of
my fleep, but I was once afraid I ſhould have loft two of
my fingers.
Another apprehenfion 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, confefs thofe crimes they
never were guilty of; own themſelves, and all of us, to
be pirates; and fo they would put us to death, with a
formal appearance of juftice; and that they might be
tempted to do this, for the gain of our hip 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 confider that the captains of
ſhips have no authority to act thus; and if we had fur-
rendered 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
fay gave me no fatisfaction; 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 fatisfaction 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 paft variety of my particular cir-
cumſtances; how hard I thought it was, that I, who had
ſpent forty years in a life of continued difficulties, and
was, at laft, come, as it were, at the port or haven
which all men drive at, viz. to have reſt and plenty,
ſhould
210
ADVENTURES OF
fhould be a volunteer in new forrows, by my own un-
happy choice; and that I, who had escaped fo many
dangers in my youth, fhould now come to be hanged
in my old age, and in fo remote a place, for a crime I
was not in the leaſt inclined to, much lefs guilty of; and
in a place and circumftance, where innocence was not
like to be any protection at all to me.
After thefe thoughts, fomething of religion would
come in; and I would be confidering that this feemed
to me to be a difpofition of immediate providence; and
I ought to look upon it, and fubmit to it, as fuch; that
although I was innocent as to men, I was far from
being innocent as to my maker; and I ought to look
n, and examine what other crimes in my life were moit
obvious to me, fand from which Providence might jull-
ly inflict this puniſhment as a retribution; and that I
ought to fubmit to this, juft as I would to a fhipwreck, if
it had pleaſed God to have brought fuch a difafter upon
F
•
me.
In its turn, natural courage would fometimes take
its place and then I would be talking myſelf up to vi-
gorous refolution, that I would not be taken to be
barbaroufly uſed by a parcel of merciless wretches in
cold blood; that it was much better to have fallen into
the hands of the favages, who were men-eaters, and
who, I was fure, would feaft upon me, when they had.
taken me, than by thofe, who would, perhaps, glut their
rage upon me, by inhuman tortures and barbarities;
that, in the cafe of the favages, I always refolved to
die fighting, to the laft gafp; and why fhould I not do
fo 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 favages,
give them their due, would not eat a man till he was
dead; and killed him firft, as we do a bullock; but
that theſe men had many arts beyond the cruelty of
death. Whenever thefe thoughts prevailed, I was fure
to put myself into a kind of fever, with the agitations
of a fuppofed fight; my blood would boil, and my eyes
fparkle, as if I was engaged; and I always refolved
that I would take no quarter at their hands: but even
at laſt, if I could refift no longer, I would blow up the
ship
ROBINSON CRUSOE
21
Ahip, and all that was in her, and leave them but little
booty to boaſt of.
But how much the greater weight the anxities and
perplexities of thoſe things were to our thoughts while
we were at fea, by fo much the greater was our fatis-
faction, when we ſaw ourſelves on fhore; and my part-
ner told me, he dreamed, that he had a very heavy
load upon his back, which he was to carry up an hill,
and found that he was not able to ftand long under it:
but the Portuguete pilot came, and took it off his back,
and the hill diſappeared, the ground before him fhewing
all ſmooth and plain: And truly it was fo; 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 refolved to go no more to fea in that
ſhip. When we came on fhore, 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 fame:
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 feems
there were not a few in the country. However, the
magiftrates allowed us all a little guard, and we had
a foldier with a kind of halbert, or half-pike, who
ſtood centinel 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, fo that our goods were kept very
fafe.
The fair or mart, ufually kept in this place, had been
over fome time; however, we found that there were
three or four junks in the river, and two Japanners, I
mean, fhips from Japan, with goods which they had
bought in China, and were not gone away, having Ja-
paneſe merchants on fhore.
The first thing our old Portugueſe pilot did for us, was
to bring us acquainted with three miffionary Romiſh
prieſts, who were in the town, and who had been there
fome time, converting the people to Christianity; but
we thought they made but poor work of it; and made
them but forry Chriſtians when they had done. However,
that was not our buſineſs. One of theſe was a French-
man,
212
ADVENTURES OF
man, 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 Geno-
efe; but father Simon was courteous, eafy in his man-
ner, and very agreeable company; the other two were
more reſerved, feemed rigid and auftere, and applied
ſeriouſly to the work they came about, viz. to talk with
and infinuate themſelves among the inhabitants, where
ever they had opportunity: we often eat an drank with
thoſe men: and though I must confefs, the converfion,
as they call it, of the Chineſe to Chriftianity, is ſo far
from the true converfion, required, to bring heathen
people to the faith of Chrift, that it feems to amount
to little more than letting them know the name of Christ,
fay fome prayers to the Virgin Mary, and her ſon, in
a tongue which they underſtand not, and to croſs them-
ſelves, and the like; yet it muſt be confeffed, that theſe
religious, whom we call Miffionaries, have a firm belief
that theſe people ſhould be faved, and that they are the
inftrument of it; and, on this account, they undergo
not only the fatigue of the voyage, and hazards of
living in fuch places, but oftentimes death itſelf, with
the moſt violent tortures, for the fake 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 fo many hazards, and
who have no profpect of the leaft 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 feat of the
Chineſe emperor; and waited only for another prieſt,
who was ordered to come to him from Macoa, to go
along with him; and we fcarce ever met together, but
he was inviting me to go that journey with him, telling
me, how he would fhew me all the glorious things of that
mighty empire: and among the reft, the greatest city
in the world; a city, faid he, that your London, and
our Paris, put together, cannot be equal to.
This was
the city of Pekin, which, I confefs, is very great, and
infinitely
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
219
infinitely full of people: but, as I looked on thoſe
things with different eyes from other men, fo I fhall
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 miffionary: Dining
with him one day, and being very merry together, I
fhewed ſome little inclination to go with him; and he
preffed me and my partner very hard, and with a great
many perfuafions to confent. Why, father Simon, ſays
my partner, why fhould you defire our company fo
much? You know we are heretics, and you do not
love us, nor can keep us company with any pleaſure. O!
fays 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,
fo you will preach to us all the way. I won't be trou-
bleſome to you, faid he; our religion does not diveft us
of good manners; befides, faid he, we are here like
countrymen; and fo we are, compared to the place we
are in; and if you are hugonots, and I a catholic, we
may be all Chriſtians at leaſt ; at leaſt, ſaid he, we are all
gentlemen, and we may converſe fo, without being un-
eaſy 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 Brafils; 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 Chriftian
zeal, ftrict piety, and fincere 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
foliciting us to go with him, but we had fomething
elfe before us at that time; for we had, all this while,
our ſhip and our merchandize to diſpoſe of; and we
began to be very doubtful what we ſhould do, for we
were now in a place of very little bufinefs; and once I
was about to venture to fail 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,
214
ADVENTURES OF
think, I ſhould, one way or other, get out of this entan-
gled circumftance, and be brought home to my own
country again; though I had not the leaft view of the
manner; and when I began fometimes to think of it,
could not imagine by what method it was to be done.
Providence, I fay, 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 enquire, 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, fome in
Imall 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 fhip too;
and I ordered the interpreter to propoſe it to him. He
fhrunk up his ſhoulders at it, when at firfl propoſed
to him; but in a few days after, he came to me, with
one of the miffionary priefts 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 fhip; and that therefore, he had not
money enough to pay for the fhip; but if I would let the
fame men who were in the fhip navigate her, he would
hire the ſhip to go to Japan; and would fend them
from thence to the Phillippine 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 fo eager did my head run upon rambling, that
I could not but begin to entertain a notion myſelf of
going with him, and fo to fail from the Phillippine islands
away to the South Seas; and accordingly I aſked the
Japaneſe merchant, if he would not hire us to the
Phillippine islands, and difcharge us there. He faid, no
he could not do that; for then he could not have the re-
turn 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,
wifer than myſelf, perfuaded me from it, reprefenting
the dangers, as well of the feas, as of the Japaneſe, who
R
are
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
215
are a falſe, cruel, and treacherous people; and then of
the Spaniards at the Philippines; more falſe, more cruel,
more treacherous, than they.
But to bring this long turn of our affairs to a conclu-
fion; the first thing we had to do, was to confult
with the captain of the fhip, 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 1 faid, 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
profpect 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; that if ever he came to England, and I
was there, and alive, he would render me a faithful ac-
count of his fucceſs, and it fhould be as much mine as I
pleafed.
I was really loth to part with him; but, confidering
the profpect of advantage, which was really confiderable,
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 confult my partner, and give him an
anfwer the next day. My partner and I diſcourſed
about it; and my partner made a moft generous offer:
he told me, you know it has been an unlucky fhip, and
we both refolve not to go to fea in it again, if your
Reward (fo he called my man) will venture the voyage,
I'll leave my fhare of the veffel to him, and let him
make the beſt of it; and if we live to meet in England,
and he meets with fuccefs abroad, he fhall account for
one half of the profits of the fhip's freight to us, the
other fhall be his own.
ני
i
If my partner, who was no way concerned with my
young man, made him fuch an offer, I could do no
lefs than offer him the fame; and all the ſhip's com-
pany being willing to go with him, we made over half
the hip 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 honeft man to him, protected him at Japan,
and got him a licence to come on fhere, which the
Europeans
216
ADVENTURES OF
Europeans in general have not lately obtained; paid him
his freight very punctually, fent him to the Phillippines,
loaded with Japan and China wares, and a fupercargo
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 fell the ſhip then, the merchant fur-
niſhed him with goods on his own account; that, for
fome money, and fome fpices of his own, which he
brought with him, he went back to the Manillas, to the
Spaniards, where he fold 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 give 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 fold his fhip; and having there alfo obtained
allowance to travel by land to Porto Bello, he found
means, fome how or other, to go to Jamaica with al 1
his treaſure; and about eight years after came to Eng-
land, exceeding rich; of which I fhall take notice in
its place in the mean time, I return to our particula
affairs.
Being now to part with the ſhip, and ſhip's company,
it came before us, of courſe, to confider what recom-
pence we ſhould give to the two men, that gave us
fuch timely notice of the deſign againſt us in the river
of Cambodia. The truth was, they had done us a con-
fiderable fervice, and deferved well at our hands ;
though, by the way, they were a couple of rogues
too, for, as they believed the ftory of our being
pirates, and that we had really run away with the
ſhip, they came down to us, not only to betray the
defign that was formed againſt us, but to go to fea with
us as pirates; and one of them confeffed afterwards,
that nothing else but the hopes of going a
roguing, brought him to do it. However, the fer-
vice they did us was not the lefs; and therefore, as I
had promiſed to be grateful to them, I first ordered the
money
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
217
money to be paid to them, which they faid was due to
them on board their reſpective fhips; that is to ſay, the
Englishmen nineteen months pay, and to the Dutch-
men 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 gun-
ner of the ſhip, the gunner being now made fecond
mate and purfer; the Dutchman I made boatſwain ;
fo they were both very well pleaſed, and proved very
ferviceable, being both able feamen, and very ftout
fellows.
We were now on fhore 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-
forts of the manufactures of the country, and withal
might poffibly find ſome Chineſe junks or veffels from
Nanquin, that would be to be fold, and would carry us
and our goods whither we pleaſed. This I liked very
well, and refolved to wait befides, as our particular
perfons were not obnoxious, fo if any Engliſh or Dutch
Thips came thither, perhaps we might have an opportu-
nity to load our goods, and get paffage to fome other
place in India nearer home.
Upon theſe hopes we refolved to continue here ;
but, to divert ourſelves, we took two or three jour-
nies into the country firſt, we went ten days journey
to fee the City of Nanquin, a city well worth fee.
ing indeed; they fay it has a million of people in
it; which, however, I do not believe; it is regularly
built, the streets all exactly ftrait, and croſs one ano-
ther in direct lines, which gives the figure of it great
advantage.
But when I came to compare the miſerable people of
thefe countries with ours; their fabrics, their man-
ner of living, th ir government, their religion, their
VOL. II.
K
wealth
218
ADVENTURES OF
wealth, and their glory (as fome call it) I muſt con-
fefs, I do not fo 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 obfervable, that we wonder at the gran-
deur, the riches, the pomp, the ceremonies, the go-
vernment the manufactures, the commerce, and the con-
duct of theſe people; not that they are to be wondered
at, or indeed, in the leaft to be regarded: but becaufe,
having firſt a notion of the barbarity of thoſe coun-
tries, the rudenefs, and the ignorance that prevail
there, we do not expect to find any fuch things fo far
off.
Otherwife, what are their buildings to the palaces
and royal buildings of Europe? What their trade to
the univerfal commerce of England, Holland, France,
and Spain? What their cities to ours, for wealth,
ftrength, gaiety of apparel, rich furniture, and an in-
finite variety? What are their ports, fupplied with a
few junks and barks, to our navigation, our mer
chants 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 80 guns, would fight with and deftroy all
the fhipping of China. But the greatness of their
wealth, their trade, the power of their government,
and ftrength of their armies are furprifing to us, becaufe,
as I have faid, confidering them as a barbarous nation of
pagans, little better than ſavages, we did not expect
fuch things among them; and this, indeed, is the ad-
vantage with which all their greatnefs, and power is re-
preſented to us; otherwife it is in itself nothing at all;
for, as I have faid of their fhips, fo it may be faid 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 coun ry, and itarve themfelves. If they were to
befiege a strong town in Flanders, or to fight a difci-
plined army, one line cf German cuirafliers, or of
French cavalry, would overthrow all the horſe of Caira;
a million of their foot could not ftand before on: (m-
battled body of our infantry, pofted fo as not to be fur-
rounded,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
219
rounded, though they were not to be one to twenty in
number r; nay, I do not boaft if I fay, that 30,000
*German or English foot, and 10,000 French horſe,
would fairly beat all the forces of China. And fo of
our fortified towns, and of the art of our Engineers, in
affaulting 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 fame time, all the armies of China could never
take fuch a town as Dunkirk, provided it was not
ftarved: no, not in ten years fiege. They have fire-
arms, it is true, but they are aukward, clumfy, and
uncertain in going off; they have powder, but it is of
no ftrength; they have neither difcipline in the field,
exercife in their arms, ſkill to attack, or temper to re-
treat; and therefore I must confefs it ſeemed ftrange 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 faw and knew that
they were a contemptible herd or croud of ignorant
fordid flaves, fubjected to a government qualified only
to rule fuch a people; and, in a word, for I am now
launched quite befide my defign, I fay, in a word, were
not its diflance inconceivably great from Mufcovy, and
were not the Mafcovite empire almoft as rude, impotent,
and ill-governed a croud of flaves 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 fince hear is a growing prince,
and begins to appear formidable in the world, fallen
this way, inftead 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 fix in number. As their ftrength and their gran-
deur, fo their navigation, commerce, and hufbandry,
is imperfect and impotent, compared to the fame things
in Europe; alfo, in their knowledge, their learning,
their ſkill in the fciences, they have globes and fpheres,
and a fmatch of the knowledge of the mathematics;
but when you come to enquire into their knowledge,
how
K 2
220
ADVENTURES OF
how fhort-fighted are the wifeft of their ſtudents?
they know nothing of the motion of the heavenly bo-
dies; and fo grofly, abfurdly ignorant, that when the
fun is eclipfed, they think it is a great dragon has af-
faulted and run away with it, and they fall a clattering
with all the drums and kettles in the country, to fright
the monſter away, juſt as we do to hive a fwarm of
bees.
**
As this is the only excurfion of this kind which I
have made in all the account I have given of my
travels, ſo I ſhall make no more defcriptions of coun-
tries and people: it is none of my bufinef, or any part
of my deſign: but giving an account of my own ad-
ventures, through a life of infinite wanderings, and
à long variety of changes, which, perhaps, few have
heard the like of, I fhall fay nothing of the mighty
places, defert countries, and numerous people, I have
yet to pafs through, more than relates to my own
ſtory, and which my concern among them will make
neceffary. I was now, as near as I can compute, in
the heart of China, about the latitude of thirty de-
grees north of the line, for we were returned from
Nanquin: I had indeed a mind to fee the city of Pekin,
which I had heard ſo much of, and father Simon impor-
tuned me daily to do it; at length his time of going
away being fet, and the other miffionary, who was to
go
with him, being arrived from Macao, it was necef-
fary that we ſhould refolve either to go, or not to go;
fo I referred him to my partner, and left it wholly to
his choice; who, at length, refolved it in the affirma-
tive; and we prepared 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 refide, and who take great
ſtate upon them, travelling with great attendance, and
with great homage from the people, who are fome-
times greatly impoverished by them, becaufe all the
countries they pafs through are obliged to furniſh
provifions for them, and all their attendants. That
which I particularly obferved, as to our travelling
with
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
221
with his baggage, was this; that though we received
fufficient provifions, 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
fteward, or commiffary of the provifions, collected it
duly from us, fo that our travelling in the retinue of
the mandarin, though it was a very great kindneſs to
us, was not fuch a mighty favour in him, but was,
indeed, a great advantage to him, confidering there
were about thirty other people travelling in the fame
manner befides us, under the protection of his retinue,
or, as we may call it, under his convoy. This, I fay,
was a great advantageo him, for his country furnished
all the provifions 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 miferably
cultivated, the hufbandry, economy, and the way of
living, all very miferable, though they boaſt ſo much
of the industry of the people; I fay, miferable; and
fo it is, if we, who understand how to live, were to
endure it, or to compare it with our own, but not fo to
theſe poor wretches, who know no other. The pride
of thefe people is infinitely great, and exceeded by
nothing but their poverty, which adds to that which
I call their mifery. I muſt needs think the naked favages
of America live much more happy, becauſe, as they
have nothing, fo they defire nothing; whereas theſe are
proud and infolent, and, in the main, are mere beggars
and drudges; their oftentation is inexpreffible, and is
chiefly. fhewed in their clothes and buildings, and in the
keeping multitudes of fervants or flaves, and, which is
to the laft degree ridiculous, their contempt of all the
world but themſelves.
I must confefs, I travelled more pleaſantly afterwards
in the deferts and vaft wilderneffes of Grand Tartary,
than here; and yet the roads here are well paved, and
well kept, and very convenient for traveller:; but no-
thing was more aukward to me, than to ſee fuch an
haughty, imperious, infolent people, in the midſt of
the groffeft fimplicity and ignorance; for all their famed
ingenuity
K 3
222
ADVENTURES OF
ingenuity is no more. My friend, father Simon, and I,
uſed to be very merry upon theſe occafions, 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 Nan-
quin, we had, first of all, the honour to ride with the
maſter of the houſe about two miles; the ftate he rode
in was a perfect Don Quixotifm, being a mixture of
pomp and poverty.
The habit of this greafy don was very proper for a
fcaramouch, or merry-andrew; being a dirty callico,
with all the tawdry-trappings of a fool's coat, fuch as
hanging-fleeves, taffety, and cuts and flaſhes almoſt on
every fide; it covered a rich taffety veft, as greasy as a
butcher, and which teftified, that his honour muſt needs
be a moft exquifite ſloven.
His horfe was a poor, lean, ftarved, hobbling crea-
ture, fuch as in England might fell for about thirty or
forty fhillings; and he had two flaves 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 flaves did about the tail: and thus he
rode by us with about ten or twelve fervants, and we
were told he was going from the city to his country
feat, about half a league before us. We travelled on
gently, but this figure of a gentleman rode away before
us; and as we ftopped at a village about an hour to re-
freſh us, when we came by the country feat of this great
man, we faw him in a little place before his door,
eating his repaft; it was a kind of a garden, but he
was eafy to be feen, and we were given to underſtand,
that the more we looked on him, the better he would be
pleaſed.
He fat under a tree, fomething like the palmettotree,
which effectually fhaded him over, the head, and on the
fouth fide; but under the tree alfo was placed a large
umbrella, which made that part look well enough:
he fat lolling back in a great elbow chair, be-
ing a heavy corpulent man, and his meat being
brought him by two women flaves, he had two more
whofe office, I think, few gentlemen in Europe would
accept of their ſervice in, viz. one fed the 'fquire with a
spoon,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
223
fpoon, and the other held the dish with one hand, and
fcraped off what he let fall upon his worſhip's beard,
and taffety veft, 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 fervants.
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 purfued our
journey; only father Simon had the curiofity to ſtay to
inform himfelf what dainties the country juftice had
to feed on, in all his ftate; which he faid he had the
honour to taſte of, and which was, I think, a dofe
that an Engliſh hound would ſcarce have eaten, if it had
been offered him, viz. a meſs of boiled rice, with a great
piece of garlic in it, and a little bag filled with green
pepper, and another plant which they have there, fome-
thing like our ginger, but fmelling like muſk, and
tafting like muftard; all this was put together, and a
fmall lump or piece of lean mutton boiled in it; and this
was his worship's repaft, four or five fervants more at-
tending at a diſtance. If he fed them meaner than he
was fed himself, the fpice excepted, they muft fare very
coarfely indeed.
As for our mandarin, with whom we travelled, he
was refpected like a king; furrounded always with his
gentlemen, and attended in all his appearances with
fuch-pomp, that I faw little of him but at a diſtance; but
this I obferved, that there was not a horfe in his
retinue, but that our carriers pack-horſes in England
ſeem to me to look much better; but they were ſo cover-
ed with equipage, mantles, trapping, and fuch like
trumpery, that you cannot fee whether they are fat or
lean. In a word, we could fcarce fee 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
4
journe
224
ADVENTURES OF
journey much the pleaſanter to me; nor had I
nor had I any ill
accident attended me, only in the paffing or fording a
fmall 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 feveral people and places which I had
occafion to remember, and which not taking due care
of, the leaves rotted, and the words were never after
to be read, to my great lofs, as to the names of fome
places which I touched at in this voyage.
As for
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 fervant, and who proved
very trusty and diligent; and my partner had nobody
with him but one fervant, who was a kinfman.
the Portuguese Pilot, he being defirous to fee the court,
we gave him his paffage, that is to fay, 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 moft ufeful implement to us every where;
for we had not been above a week at Pekin, when he
came laughing; Ah, Seignior Ingleſe, faid he, I have
fomething to tell you, will make your heart glad. My
heart glad! faid 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, faid the old man,
in broken Engliſh, make you glad, me forrow; forry
he would have faid. This made me more inquifitive.
Why, faid I, will it make you forry? Becauſe, faid he,
you have brought me here twenty-five days journey,
and will leave me to go back alone; and which way
fhall I get to my port afterwards, without a fhip, with-
out a horſe, without pecune? So he called money;
being his broken Latin, of which he had abundance to
make us merry with.
In fhort, he told us there was a great caravan of
Muscovy and Poliſh merchants in the city, and they
were preparing to ſet out on their journey, by land, to
Muscovy, within four or five weeks,, and he was ſure
we would take the opportunity to go with them, and
leave
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
225
•
leave him behind to go back all alone. I confefs, I
was ſurpriſed with this news: a fecret joy ſpread itſelf
over my whole foul, which I cannot deſcribe, and never
felt before or fince; 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? faid I: are
you ſure it is true? Yes, faid he, I met this morning, in
the ſtreet, an old acquaintance of mine, an Armenian,
or one you call a Grecian, who is among them; he came
lait from Aftracan, and was defigning to go to Tonquin
where I formerly knew him, but has altered his mind,
and is nów reſolved to go back with the caravan to
Mufcow, and fo down the river of Wolga to Aftracan.
Well, Seignior, faid I, do not be uneafy about being
left to go back alone: if this be a method for my re-
turn to England, it ſhall be your fault if you go back
to Macao at all. We then went to confulting together
what was to be done, and aſked my partner what he
thought of the pilot's news, and whether it would fuit
with his affairs? He told me he would do juft as I would
for he had fettled all his affairs fo well at Bengal, and
left his effects in fuch good hands, that as we made a
good voyage here, if he could veft it in China filks,
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 fhips.
•
Having refolved upon this, we agreed, that if our
Portugueſe pilot would go with us, we would bear his
charges to Mufcow, or to England, if he pleafed; nor,
indeed, were we to be eſteemed over generous in that
part neither, if we had not rewarded him farther; for
the fervice he had done us was really worth all that,
and more: for he had not only been a pilot to us at
fea, but he had been alfo like a broker for us on
fhore and his procuring for us the Japan merchant, was
fome hundred of pounds in our pockets. So we confult-
ed together about it: and, being willing to gratify him,
which was, indeed, but doing him juffice, and very
willing alfo to have him with us befides, for he was a
moft neceffary man on all occafions, we agreed to
give him a quantity of coined gold, which as I com-
K 5
pute
226
ADVENTURES OF
pute it, came to about 175 pounds fterling between us,
and to bear his charges, both for himſelf and horſe,
except only a horſe to carry his goods.
Having fettled this among ourſelves, we called him,
to let him know what we had reſolved; 1 told him, he
had complained of our being like to let him go back
alone, and I was now to tell him we were refolved he
ſhould not go back at all: that as we had refolved to
go to Europe with the caravan, we refolved alſo he
fhould 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 ſubfift himſelf when he came thither. We told
him, we believed it was fo, and therefore we had re-
folved to do ſomething for him, that fhould let him
ſee how fenfible 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
fet him fafe afhore, (life and cafualties excepted)
either in Muscovy, or in England, which he would,
at our own charge, except only the carriage of his
goods.
He received the propofal like a man tranſported, and
told us, he would go with us over the whole world;
and fo, in fhort, we all prepared ourſelves for the jour-
ney. However, as it was with us, fo it was with
the other merchants, they had many things to do;
and inftead of being ready in five weeks, it was four
months and fome odd days before all things were got
together.
+
It was the beginning of February, our ftyle, when we
fet out from Pekin; my partner and the old pilot had
gone exprefs back to the port where we had firft put
in, to difpofe of fome goods which we had left there;
and I, with a Chineſe merchant, whom I had fome
knowledge of at Nanquin, and who came to Pékin on
his own affairs, went to Nanquin, where I bought
ninety pieces of fine damaſks, with about two hundred
pieces of other very fine filks, of ſeveral forts, ſome
mixed with gold, and had all thefe brought to Pekin
againſt
ROBINSON CRUS O E.
227
againſt my partner's return: befides this, we bought
a very large quantity of raw filk, and fome other
goods: our cargo amounting, in thefe goods only,
to about three thouſand five hundred pounds fter-
ling, which, together with tea, and fome fine cal-
licoes, and three camel-loads of nut-megs and cloves,
loaded in all eighteen camels for our hare, befides
thoſe we rode upon; which, with two or three fpare
horſes, and two horfes loaded with provifions, made
us, in fhort, twenty-fix camels and horfes 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 an hundred and twenty
men, very well armed, and provided for all events.
For, as the eaſtern caravans are fubject to be attacked
by the Arabs, ſo are theſe by the Tarters; but they are
not altogether fo dangerous as the Arabs, nor fo barba
rous when they prevail.
The company confifted of people of feveral nations,
fuch as Muscovites chiefly; for there were about fixty of
them who were merchants or inhabitants of Mufcow,
though of them fome were Livonians, and to our parti-
cular fatisfaction, five of them were Scots, who appeared
alfo to be men of great experience in bufinefs, and very
good fubſtance.
When we had travelled one day's journey, the
guides, who were five in number, called all the gentle-
men and merchants; that is to fay, all the paffengers,
except the ſervants, to a great council, as they termed
it. At this great council, every one depofited a certain
quantity of money to a common ſtock, for the necef-
fary expence of buying forage on the way, where it
was not otherwife to be had, and for fatisfying the
guides, getting horſes, and the like. And here they
conftituted the journey, as they called it, viz. They
named captains and officers to draw us all up, and give
the command in caſe of an attack, and gave every one
their turn of command. Nor was this forming us into
order any more than what we found needful upon the
way, as ſhall be obſerved in its place.
K 6
The
228
ADVENTURES OF
The road all on this fide of the country is very po-
pulous, 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 pi-
lot, who had always fomething or other to fay to make
us merry, came fneering to me, and told me, he would
fhew the greateft rarity in all the country; and that
I ſhould have this to ſay of China, after all the ill-hu-
moured things I had faid of it, that I had ſeen one thing
which was not to be ſeen in all the world befide. I was
very importunate to know what it was; at laft he told
me, it was a gentleman's houſe, built all with China
ware. Well, faid I, are not the materials of their
building the product of their own country; and fo it is
all China ware, it is not? No, no, fays he, I mean,
it is a houſe all made of China ware, fuch as you call
fo in England: or, as it is called in our country, por-
celain. Well, faid I, fuch 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! faid 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 it, it was nothing but this: it was a timber houſe,
or a houſe built, as we call it in England, with lath
and plaiſter, but all the plaiftering was really China
ware, that is to fay, it was plaiſtered with the earth that
makes China ware.
The outfide, which the fun fhone hot upon, was
glazed, and looked very well, perfectly white, and paint-
ed with blue figures, as the large China ware in England
is painted, and hard, as if it had been burnt.
As to
the infide, all the walls, inftead of wainſcot, were lined
up
with hardened and painted tiles, like the little ſquare
tiles we call gally-tiles in England, all made of the
fineſt China, and the figures exceeding fine indeed,
with extraordinary variety of colours, mixed with gold,
many tiles making but one figure, but joined fo artifi-
cially with mortar being made of the fame earth, that
it was very hard to fee where the tiles met. The
floors of the rooms were of the fame compofition,
and as hard as the earthen floors we have in ufe in
feveral
ROBINSON CRUSOE
229
feveral parts of England, efpecially Lincolnshire, Not-
tinghamshire, Leicestershire, &c. as hard as ſtone, and
ſmooth, but not burnt and painted, except fome ſmaller
rooms, like cloſets, which were all as it were paved
with the fame tile; the cielings, and in a word, all the
plaiftering-work in the whole houſe, were of the fame
earth; and, after all, the roof was covered with tiles
of the fame, but of a deep fhining black.
This was a China warehouſe indeed, truly and lite-
rally to be called fo; and, had I not been upon the
journey, I could have ftayed fome days to fee and ex-
amine the particulars of it. They told me there were
fountains and fish-ponds in the garden, all paved at the
bottom and fides with the fame, and fine ftatues fet up
in rows on the walks, entirely formed of the porcelain
earth, and burnt whole.
As this is one of the fingularities of China, fo they
may be allowed to excel in it; but I am very fure they.
excel in their accounts of it; for they told me fuch
incredible things of their performance in crockery-
ware, for fuch it is, that I care not to relate, as know-
ing it could not be true; one told me, in particular, of
a workman that made a ſhip, with all its tackle,
and maſts, and fails, in earthen ware, big enough to
carry fifty men. If he had told me he launched it, and
made a voyage to Japan in it, I might have ſaid ſome-
thing to it indeed; but as it was, I knew the whole
ftory, which was, in fhort, aſking pardon for the word,
that the fellow lied; fo I fmiled, and faid nothing to
it.
This odd fight kept me two hours behind the caravan,
for which the leader of it for the day fined me about
the value of three fhillings; 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 afk 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 abfolutely neceſſary for our common
fafety.
In two days more we paſſed the "great China wall,
made for a fortification agair ft the Tartars: and a very
great
230
ADVENTURES OF.
great work it is, going over hills and mountains in an
endleſs track, where the rocks are impaffable, and the
precipices fuch as no enemy could poffibly enter, or,
indeed, climb up, or where, if they did, no wall could
hinder them. They tell us, its length is near a thou-
fand Engliſh miles, but that the country is five hun-
dred in a ſtrait 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 ftood ſtill an hour, or thereabouts, without tref-
paffing on our orders, for fo long the caravan was in
paffing the gate; I fay, I ftood fill an hour to look at
it on every fide, 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 moft excellent thing to keep off the Tar-
tars, which he happened not to underſtand as I meant
it, and fo tock it for a compliment; but the old pilot
laughed; O Seignior Inglefe, faid he you fpeak in co-
lours. In colours! faid I: what do you mean by
that? Why you ſpeak what looks white this way, and
black that way; gay one.way, and dull another way;
you tell him it is a good wall to keep out Tartars
you tell me by that, it is good for nothing but to keep
out Tartars; or, it will keep out none but Tartars: I
underſtand you, Seignior Inglefe, I understand you, faid
he, joking; but Seignior Chineſe underſtand you his
own way.
Well, faid 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 compa-
nies of miners? Would they not batter it down in ten
days, that an army might enter in battalia, or blow
it
up into the air, foundation and all, that there ſhould
be no fign of it left ? Ay, ay, faid he, I know that.
The Chineſe wanted mightly to know what I faid,
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 faid, he was dumb all the reſt
of
ROBINSON CRUSOE
Passing the great Chinese Wall
Sublished is the 174 directs, ilune
10 1790, by William Save Seal.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
231
of the way, and we heard no more of his fine ftory of
the Chineſe power and greatnefs while he ftayed.
. After we had paffed this mighty Nothing, called a
wall, fomething like the picts wall, fo famous in Nor-
thumberland, 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
fubject to the inroads and depredations of the Tartars,
who rob in great armies, and therefore are not to be re-
fifted by the naked inhabitants of an open country.
And here I began to find the neceffity of keeping to-
gether in a caraven, as we travelled; for we ſaw ſeveral
troops of Tartars roving about; but when I came to fee
them diftinctly, I wondered how that the Chineſe em-
pire could be conquered by fuch contemptible fellows;
for they are a mere herd or croud of wild fellows, keep-
ing no order, and underſtanding no difcipline, or man-
ner of fight.
Their horfes are poor, lean, ftarved 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 fixteen of us to go a hunting as
they call it and what was this but hunting of fheep!
However, it may be called hunting too; for the crea-
tures are the wildeft, and fwifteft of foot, that ever I
faw of their kind; only they will not run a great way,
and you are fure of fport when you begin the chace;
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 fort 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 foon as
they faw us, one of them blew a kind of horn very
loud, but with a barbarous found that I had never
heard before; and, by the way, never care to hear
again. We all fuppofed this was to call their friends
about them; and fo it was; for in lefs than half a
quarter of an hour a troop of forty or fifty more
appeared
232
ADVENTURES OF
appeared at about a mile diftance, but our work was
over firft, as it happened.
One of the Scots merchants of Mufcow happened to
be amongst us and as foon as he heard the horn, he
told us, in ſhort, that we had nothing to do, but to
charge them immediately, without lofs of time; and,
drawing us up in a line, he aſked, if we were refolved;
We told him, We were ready to follow him: fo he
rode directly up to them. They ſtood gazing at us like
a mere crowd, drawn up in no order, nor fhewing the
face of any order at all; but as foon as they faw us ad-
vance, they let fly their arrows: which, however, mif-
fed us very happily; it feems they mistook not their
aim, but their diftance: for their arrows all fell a little
ſhort of us, but with ſo true an aim, that had we been
about 20 yards nearer, we muſt have had feveral men
wounded, if not killed.
Immediately we halted: and though it was at a
great diftance, we fired, and fent them leaden bullets
for wooden arrows, following our fhot full gallop,
refolving to fall in among them fword in hand: for
fo our bold Scot that led us directed. He was, indeed,
but a merchant, but he behaved with that vigour and
bravery on this occafion, and yet with fuch a cool
courage too, that I never faw any man in action fitter
for command. As ſoon as we came up to them, we
fired our piftols in their faces, and then drew; but
they fled in the greateſt confufion imaginable: the only
ftand any of them made was on our right, where
three of them ſtood, and, by figns, called the reft to
come back to them, having a kind of fcymitar in
their hands, and their bows hanging at their backs..
Our brave commander, without afking any body to
follow him, galloped up clofe to them, and with his
fufil knocked one of them off his horfe, killed the
fecond 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 chace
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,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
233
knew, that the other party was fo frighted with the noiſe
of our guns, that they fied, and never made any at-
tempt upon us.
We were all this while in the Chineſe dominions, and
therefore the Tartars were not fo bold as afterwards :
but in about five days we entered a vaſt great wild de-
fert, 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 how-
ever, it was reckoned to China; that there was no care
taken here to preferve it from the inroads of thieves;
and therefore it was reckoned the worſt defert in the
whole march, though we were to go over fome much
larger.
In paffing this wilderneſs, which, I confefs, was at
the first view very frightful to me, we faw two or three
times little parties of the Tartars, but they feemed to be
upon their own affairs, and to have no defign upon us;
and fo, like the man who met the devil, if they had
nothing to fay to us, we had nothing to fay to them; we
let them go.
Once, however, a party of them came fo near as to
ſtand and gaze at us; whether it was to confider what
they ſhould do, viz. to attack us, or not attack us,
we knew not; but when we were paffed at fome dif-
tance by them, we made a rear-guard of forty men,
and flood ready for them, letting the caravan paſs half
a mile, or thereabouts, before us; after awhile they
marched off, only we found they affaulted us with five
arrows at their parting; one of which wounded a horſe,
fo that it diſabled him; and we left him the next day,
poor creature, in great need of a good farrier; we ſup-
poſe they might ſhoot more arrows, which might fall
hort of us; but we faw no more arrows, or Tartars, at
that time.
We travelled near a month after this, the ways being
not fo good as at first, though ftill in the dominions of
the
234
ADVENTURES OF
the Emperor of China; but lay, for the most part, in
villages, fome of which were fortified, becauſe of the
incurfions of the Tartars. When we came to one of
theſe towns (it was about two days and an half's jour-
ney before we were to come to the City of Naum),
I wanted to buy a camel, of which there are plenty
to be fold all the way upon that road, and of horfes
alfo, -fuch as they are, becauſe fo many caravans com-
ing 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 1, like a fool, muſt be
officious, and go myſelf along with him. The place
was about two miles ont of the village, where it feems,
they kept the camels and horfes feeding under a
guard.
I walked it on foot, with my old pilot in company,
and a Chineſe, being defirous, forfooth, of a little
variety. When we came to this place, it was
a low
marshy ground, walled round with a ftone wall, piled
up dry, without mortar or earth among it, like a park
with a little guard of Chineſe foldiers 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 fudden came up five Tartars
on horſeback; two of them feized the fellow, and
took the camel from him, while the other three
ſtepped up to me, and my old pilot ; feeing us, as it
were, unarmed, for I had no weapon about me but
my fword, which could but ill defend me againſt three
horfeman. The firft that came up, stopped fhort upon
my drawing my fword (for they are arrant cowards) :
but a fecond coming upon my left, gave me a blow
on the head, which I never felt till afterward, and
wondered, when I came to myſelf, what was the mat-
ter with me, and where I was, for he laid me flat on the
ground, but my never-failing old pilot, the Portugueſe
(fo Providence unlooked for directs deliverances from
dangers, which to us are unforeſeen), had a piftol in his
pocket, which I knew nothing of, nor the Tartars nei-
ther; if they had, I fuppofe they would not have at-
tacked us; but cowards are always boldeſt when there
is no danger.
The
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
235
•
The old man, feeing me down, with a bold heart
ftepped up to the fellow that had ftruck 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
fhot him into the head, and laid him dead on the ſpot;
he then immediately ſtepped up to him who had ſtopped
us, as I faid, 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 ſcymitar, which he always wore;
but, miffing the man, cut his horſe into the fide of his
head, cut one of his ears off by the root, and a great
flice down the fide of his face. The poor beaſt, en-
raged with the wounds, was no more to be governed
by his rider, though the fellow fat well enough too; but
away he flew, and carried him quite out of the pi-
lot's reach, and at fome diſtance rifing upon his hind
legs, threw down the Tartar, and fell upon him.
in this interval the poor Chineſe came in, who had
loft 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 fide, ſomething like a pole-ax, but not a
pole-ax neither, he wrenched it from him, and made
fhift 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 ftill too and falls to work with his
tackle to charge his piſtol again; but as foon as the
Tartar faw the piſtol, whether he ſuppoſed it to be the
fame 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 fweet
fleep; but as I faid above, I wondered where I was,
how I came upon the ground, and what was the mat-
ter; in a word, a few minutes after, as ſenſe returned,
I felt pain, tho' I did not know where; I clapped my
hand to my head, and took it away bloody; then I
felt my head ach; and then, in another moment, me-
mory
236
ADVENTURES OF
mory returned, and every thing was prefent to me
again.
I jumped up upon my feet inftantly, and got hold of
my fword, but no enemies in view. I found a Tartár
lie dead," and his horfe ftanding very quietly by him;
and, looking farther, I faw my champion and deliverer,
who had been to fee what the Chinele had done, com-
ing back with his hanger in his hand; the old man,
feeing me on my feet, came running to me, and em-
braced me with a great deal of joy, being afraid before
that I had been killed; and feeing me bloody, would
fee 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 loft a camel, and gained a horfe; but that which
was remarkable, when we came back to the village,
the man demanded to be paid for the camel: I difputed
it, and it was brought to a hearing before the Chi-
neſe Judge of the place: that is to fay, in English, we
went before a juftice of the peace.
Give him his
due, he acted with a great deal of prudence and impar-
tiality and, having heard both fides, he gravely aſked
the Chineſe man that went with me to buy the camel,
whoſe fervant he was? I am no fervant, faid he, but
went with the ſtranger. At whofe requeft? faid the
juftice. At the ftranger's requeſt, faid he. Why then
faid the juſtice, you were the ftranger's fervant for
the time; and the camel being delivered to his
fervant, wit as delivered to him, and he muſt pay for
it.
I confess the thing was fo clear, that I had not a word
to fay but admiring to fee fuch juft reaſoning upon the
confequence, and fo accurate ftating the cafe, I paid
willingly for the camel, and fent for another: but you
may obferve, I fent for it: I did not go to fetch it my-
felf any more; I had enough of that.
The city of Naum is a frontier of the Chineſe em-
pire: they call it fortified, and fo it is, as fortifications
go there for this I will venture to affirm, that all the
T'artars
ROBINSON CRUSOE:
237
Tartars in Karakathay, which I believe, are fome mil-
lions, could not batter down the walls with their bows
and arrows; but to call it ftrong, 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 meffengers were fent expreſs to every
part of the road, to tell all travellers and caravans to
halt, till they had a guard fent 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 fhould have a guard. Accordingly
two days after, we had 200 foldiers fent us from a gar-
riſon of the Chineſe on our left, and three hundred more
from the city of Naum, and with thoſe we advanced
boldly the three hundred foldiers 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 center; in this order, and well
prepared for battle, we thought ourſelves a match for
the whole ten thouſand Mogul Tartars, if they had ap-
peared; 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-fituated town, called Changu, we had a river
to pafs, 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 defert of about 15 or 16 miles over, behold, by a cloud
of duft they raiſed, we faw an enemy was at hand; and
they were at hand indeed, for they came on upon the
fpur.
The Chinese, our guard on the front, who had talked
fo big the day before, began to ftagger, and the foldiers
frequently looked behind them, which is a certain fign
in a foldier, that he is juft ready to run away. My
old
238
ADVENTURES OF
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 Tar-
tars come on, they will never ftand it.
I am of your
mind, faid I: but what courſe muſt be done? Done,
faid 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 1 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 reft made a line of
referve, for fo we marched, leaving the last two hun-
dred men to make another body to themſelves, and to
guard the camels; only that, if need were, they ſhould
fend an hundred men to affift the laft 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 firft, and viewed our pofture, traverfing
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 falvo on each wing
with their fhot, which was done; but they went off,
and I ſuppoſe went back to give an account of the re-
ception they were like to meet with; and, indeed, that
falute clogged their ftomachs; for they immediately
halted, flood awhile to confider of it, and, wheeling off
to the left, they gave over the defign, and faid ne more
to us for that time, which was very agreeable to our
circumftances, which were but very indifferent for a
battle with fuch a number.
He
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 100 crowns, or there-
abouts, which we gave to the foldiers fent to guard us:
and here we reſted one day. This is a garriſon indeed,
and there were nine hundred foldiers kept here; but the
reaſon of it was, that formerly the Mufcovite frontiers
lay nearer to them than they do now, the Muscovites hav-
ing abandoned that part of the country (which lies from
the city weft, for about two hundred miles) as defolate
and
ROBINSON CRUS O E,
139
and ur.fit for uſe; and more eſpecially, being fo very
remote, and fo difficult to fend troops hither for its de-
fence; for we had yet above two thouſand miles to Muf-
covy, properly fo called.
After this we paffed feveral great rivers, and two
dreadful deſerts, one of which we were fixteen days paf-
fing over, and which, as I faid, was to be called No
Man's land; and on the the 13th of April, we came to
frontiers of the Mufcovite dominions. I think the firſt
city, or town, or fortress, whatever it might be called,
that belonged to the Czar of Mufcovy, was called Ar-
gun, being on the weft fide of the river Argun.
I could not but diſcover an infinite fatisfaction, that I
was now arrived in, as I called it a chriſtian country;
or, at leaſt, in a country governed by chriftians; for
though the Muſcovites do, in my opinion, but juſt de-
ferve the name of chriftians; yet fich they pretend to
be, and are very devout in their way. It would cer-
tainly occur to any man who travels the world as I have
done, and who had any power of reflection; I fay, it
would occur to him to reflect, what a bleffing 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
ftrong delufions, worship the devil, and proftrate them-
felves to ſtocks and ftones; worſhip monſters, elements,
horrible ſhaped animals, and ftatues, or images of
monſters. Not a town or city we paffed 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 leaft, a face of the chriftian
worſhip appeared, where the knee was bowed to Je-
fus; 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 foul rejoice to fee it. I faluted the brave
Scotch Merchant I mentioned above, with my firſt ac-
knowledgment of this; and, taking him by the hand,
I ſaid to him, bleffed be God, we are once again come
among chriftians. He fmiled, and anſwered, do not
rejoice too foon, countryman; thefe Mufcovites are
but
240
ADVENTURES OF
but an odd ført of chriftians; and but for the name of
it, you may fee very little of the fubftance for ſome
months farther of our jouruey.
Well, faid I, but ftill 'tis better than paganifm, and
worshipping of devils. Why, I'll tell you, faid he ;
except the Ruffian foldiers in garrifons, and a few of
the inhabitants of the cities upon the road, ali the reft
of this country, for above a thousand miles farther, is
inhabited by the worst, and molt ignorant of pagans;
and ſo indeed we found it.
We were now launched into the greateſt piece of folid
earth, if I underſtand any thing of the furface of the
globe, that is to be found in any part of the world;
we had at least twelve hundred miles to the ſea, eaſt-
ward; we had at leaſt two thouſand to the bottom of
the Baltic fea, weftward; and almoft 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 Perfian fea, fouth; and about eight
hundred miles to the frozen ſea, north; nay, if fome
people may be believed, there might be no fea north-
caft till we came round the pole, and confequently 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 Mafcovite dominions, a good
while before we came to any confiderable town, we
had nothing to obferve there but this; firft, that all the
rivers run to the eaft. As I understood by the charts
which fome of our caravans had with them, it was
plain that all thofe rivers ran into the great river
Yamour, or Gammour. This river, by the natural
courſe of it, muft run into the eat fea, or Chineſe
ocean. The story they tell us, that the mouth of this
river is choaked up with bulrufhes of a monftrous
growth, viz. three feet about, and twenty or thirty
feet high, muft be allowed to fay, I believe nothing
af; but as its navigation is of no ufe, because there is
no trade that way, the Tartars, to whom alone it
belongs, dealing in nothing but cattle; fo nobody that
ever I head of, has been curious enough either to
*
+$
go
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
241
go down to the mouth of it in boats, or come up from
the mouth of it in fhips; but this is certain, that this
river running due eaſt, in the latitude of 60 degrees,
carries a vaſt concourſe of rivers along with it, and finds
an ocean to empty itſelf in that latitude; fo we are ſure
of fea there.
Some leagues to the north of this river there are ſe-
veral confiderable rivers, whoſe ſtreams run as due north
as the Yamour runs eaſt; and theſe are all found to join
their waters with the great rivers Tartarus, named ſo
from the northermoft nations of the Mogul Tartars,
who, the Chineſe ſay, were the firft Tartars in the world;
and who, as our geographers alledge, are the Gog and
Magog mentioned in facred ftory.
The rivers running all northward, as well as all the
other rivers I am yet to ſpeak of, make it evident,
that the northern ocean bounds the land alſo on that
fide; ſo that it does not ſeem rational in the leaſt to
think; that the land can extend itſelf to join with
America on that fide, or that there is not a communi-
cation between the northern and the eaſtern ocean;
but of this I ſhall fay no more; it was my obfervation
at that time, and therefore I take notice of it in this
place. We now advanced from the river Arguna by
eafy and moderate journies, and were very vifibly
obliged to the care the czar of Muſcovy has taken, to
have cities and towns built in as many places as are
poffible to place them, where his foldiers keep garriſon,
fomething like the ſtationary foldiers placed by the Ro-
mans in the remoteft countries of their empire, fome of
which I had read were particularly placed in Britain for
the fecurity of commerce, and for the lodging of tra-
vellers; and thus it was here; for wherever we came,
though at theſe towns and ſtations the garrifons and
governor were Ruffians, and profeſſed mere pagans, fa-
crificing to idols, and worshipping the fun, moon, and
ftars, 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 men's fleſh, as our ſavages of America did.
Some inftances of this we met with in the country
between Arguna, where we enter the Muscovite domi-
VOL. II
L
nions.
2#2
ADVENTURES OF
mions, and a city of Tartars and Ruffians together, cal-
ded Nertzinſkay; in which ſpace is a contined defert or
foreft, which coft us twenty days to travel over it. In
a village, near the laſt of thoſe places, I had the curi-
ofity to go and fee their way of living; which is moſt
brutish and unfufferable; they had, I fuppofe, a great
facrifice that day; for there ſtood out upon an old ſtump
of a tree, an idol made of wood, frightful as the devil;
at leaſt as any thing we can think of to repreſent the
devil can be made; it had an head certainly not fo
much reſembling any creature that the world ever faw;
ears as big as goats horns, and as high; eyes as big as
a crown piece; a nofe 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
fuppofe; 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 fet up at the out-fide of the vil-
lage; and when I came near to it, there were fixteen
or feventeen creatures, whether men or women I
could not tell, for they make no diftinction by their
habits, either of body or head; theſe lay all flat on the
ground, round this formidable block of fhapelefs 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 an
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 mon-
fter, and at the door of a tent or hut, made all of
fheep-fkins and cow-fkins, dried, flood three butchers;
I thought they were fuch; 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 fteer. Thefe, it
feems, were facrifices to that ſenſeleſs log of an idol;
and theſe three men prieſts belonging to it; and the fe-
venteen
ROBINSON CRU´S O E.
243
venteen proftrated wretches were the people who
brought the offering, and were making their prayers to
that stock.
I confeſs I was more moved at their ftupidity, and
this brutish worſhip of an hobgoblin, than ever I was
at any thing in my life; to fee God's moft glorious
and best creature, to whom he had granted fo many
advantages, even by creation, above the rest of the
works of his hands, vefted with a reaſonable foul, and
that foul adorned with faculties and capacities adapted
both to honour his maker, and be honoured by him;
1 fay, to ſee it funk and degenerated to a degree fo
more than ftupid, as to proftrate itſelf to a frightful no-
thing, a mere imaginary object, dreffed up by them-
ſelves, 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 in hellish devotion by the devil himfelf; who, en-
vying his Maker the homage and adoration of his
creatures, had deluded them into fuch grofs, furfeiting,
fordid, and brutiſh things, as one would think ſhould
fhock nature itſelf.
But what fignified all the aftonishment and reflection
of thoughts? Thus it was, and I faw it before my
eyes; and there was no room to wonder at it, or think
it impoffible; all my admiration turned to rage; and
I rode up to the image or moniter, call it what you
will, and with my fword cut the bonnet that was on
its head in two in the middle, fo that it hung down by
one of the horns; and one of our men that was with
me took hold of the fneep-fkin 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, fo that I was
glad to fcour for it; for we faw fome had bows and
arrows; but I reſolved from that moment to vifit them
again.
Our caravan reſted three nights at this town, which
was about four miles off, in order to provide ſome ·
horfes, which they wanted, feveral of the horſes hav-
ing been lamed and jaded with the badneſs of the way,
L 2
and
244
ADVENTURES OF
and our long march over the laft defert; fo we had
fome leiſure here to put my defign in execution. I
communicated my project to the Scots merchant of
Moſcow, of whoſe courage. I had a fufficient teftimony,
as above. I told him what I had ſeen, and with what
indignation I had fince thought, that human nature
could be ſo degenerate. I told him, I was refolved, if
I could get but four or five men well armed to go with
ne, to go and deſtroy that vile, abominable idol: to
let them fee, that it had no power to help itſelf,
and confequently could not be an object of worship, or
to be prayed to, much lefs help them that offered iacri-
fices to it.
He laughed at me ; faid he, Your zeal may be good;
but what do you propoſe to yourfelf by it? Propofe !
faid I, to vindicate the honour of God, which is in-
fulted by this devil-worship. But how will it vindi-
cate the honour of God? faid 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 fo; and
then they will fight you too, I will affure you; for
they are defperate fellow, and that eſpecially in de-
fence of their idolatry. Can we not, faid I, do it in
the night, and then leave them the reaſons in writing,
in their own language? Writing! faid 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 langu-
age, or in their own. Wretched ignorance! faid I
to him; however, I have a great mind to do it; perhaps
nature may draw inferences from it to them, to let them
fee how brutish they are to worship fuch horrid things.
Lock you, Sir, faid he, if your zeal prompts you to it fo
warmly, you must do it; but, in the next place, I
would have you confider theſe wild nations of people
are fubjected, by force, to the czar of Mufcovy's do-
minions; and if you do this, it is ten to one but they will
come by thousands to the governor of Nertzinfkay, and
complain, and demand fatisfaction and if he cannot
give them fatisfaction, it is ten to one but they revolt; and
it will occafion a new war with all the Tartars in the
country.
2
This,
ROBINSON CRUSOE
245
This, I confefs, put new thoughts into my head for
a while; but I harped upon the fame ftring ftill; and
all that day 1 was uneafy to put my project in execu-
tion. Towards the evening the Scots merchant met
me by accident in our walk about the town, and de-
fired to ſpeak with me: I believe, faid he, I have put
you off your good deſign; I have been a little con-
cerned about it fince; for I abhor the idol and idola-
try as much as you can do. Truly, faid 1, you hav
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
fnall do it ftill before I quit this place, though I were
to be delivered up to them for fatisfaction. No, no,
faid he ; God forbid they ſhould deliver you up to fuch a
crew of monſters! they fhall not do that neither;
that would be murdering you indeed. Why, faid I,
how would they ufe me? Ufe you! faid he; I'll tell
you how they ſerved a poor Ruffian, who affronted them
in their worship juft as you did, and whom they took
prifoner, after they had lamed him with an arrow, that
he could not run away; they took him and ſtripped him
ſtark naked, and fet him upon the top of the idol mon-
fter, and ſtood all round him, and fhot as many arrows
into him as would ſtick over his whole body; and then
they burnt him and all the arrows fticking in him, as a
facrifice to the idol. And was this the fame idol?
faid I. Yes, ſaid he, the very fame. Well, ſaid I,
I will tell you a ſtory: fo I related the ftory of our men
at Madagaſcar, and how they burnt and facked the vil-
lage 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 fo to that village, faid he, you miſ-
take very much; it was not this village, it was almoſt
a hundred miles from this place; but it was the fame
idol, for they carry him about in proceffion all over
the country. Well, faid I, then that idol ought to be
puniſhed for it; and it ſhall, ſaid I, if I live this night-
out.
L. 3
In
246
ADVENTURES OF
*
In a word, finding me refoluté, he liked the defign,
and told me I fhould not go alone, but he would go
with me; but he would go first, and bring a ſtout fet
low, one of his countrymen, to go alfo with us; and
one, ſaid he, as famous for his zeal as you can defire
any one to be againſt fuch devilish things as theſe. In
a word, he brought me his comrade, a Scotfman, whom
he called captain Richardfon; and I gave him a full
account of what I had feen, and alfo cf what I intend-
ed; and he told me readily, he would go with me, if
it coft him his life. So we agreed to go, only we three.
I had, indeed, propofed it to my partner; but he de-
clined it. He faid, he was ready to affift me to the ut-
moít, and upon all occafions, for my defence; but that
this was an adventure quite out of his way: fo, I fay,
we refolved upon our work, only we three, and my
man-fervant, and to put it in execution that night about
midnight, with all the fecrecy imaginable.
However, upon fecond thoughts, we were willing to
delay it till the next night, becauſe the caravan being
to fet forward in the morning, we fuppofed the governor
could not pretend to give them any fatisfaction upon us
when we were out of his power; the Scots merchant,
as fteady in his reſolution to enterprize it, as bold in
executing, brought me a Tartar's robe or gown of fheep-
ſkins, and a bonne., with a bow and arrows, and had
provided the fame for himſelf and his countryman, that
the people, if they faw us, fhould not be able to deter-
mine who we were.
All the first night we ſpent in mixing up fome com-
buftible matter with aqa-vitæ, gunpowder, and fuch
other materials as we could get, and, having a good
quantity of tar in a little pot, about an hour after night
we fet cut upon our expedition.
We came to the place about eleven o'clock at night,
and found that the people had not the leaſt jealouſy of
danger attending their idol; the night was cloudy; yet
the moon gave us light enough to fee that the idol
ftood juft in the fame pofture and place that it did
before. The people feemed to be all at their reft, only,
that in the great hut, or tent, as we called it, where
we
ROBINSON CRUSOE
247
we faw the three priefts, whom we mistook for butch-
er, we faw a light, and, going up cloſe to the door.
we heard people talking, as if there were five or fix
of them; we concluded therefore, that if we fet wild-
fire to the idol, thefe men would come out immediate
ly, and run up to the place to refcue it from the de-
ftruction 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 diftance; but when
we came to handle it, we found it too bulky for our
carriage; fo we were at a lofs again. The fecond
Scotfman was for fetting 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 impoffible to be
avoided. Well then, faid the Scots merchant, 1 will
tell you what we will do; we will try to take them pri-
foners, tie their hands, and make them ftand and fee
their idol deſtroyed.
As it happened, we had twine or packthread enough
about us, which we uſed to tie our fire-works together
with; fo we refolved to attack thefe people first, and
with as little noife as we could. The first thing we did,
we knocked at the door, when one of the prieſts
coming to it, we immediately feized upon him, flopped
his mouth, and tied his hands behind him and led him to
the idol, were we gagged him, that he might not make
a noiſe; tied his feet alfo together, and left him on the
ground.
Two of us then waited at the door, expecting that
another would come out to fee what the matter was;
but we waited fo 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
ferved them juft in the fame manner, but were obliged
to go all with them, and lay them down by the idol
fome 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 feized
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 compofition we
L4
had
248
ADVENTURES OF
had made, that would only ſmoke and ſtink, he ſet
fire to it, and threw it in among them; by that time
the other Scotchman and my man taking charge of the
two men already bound, and tied together alfo by the
arm, led them away to the idol, and left them there,
to ſee if their idol would relieve them, making hafte
back to us.
When the Furze we had thrown in had filled the hut
with fo much smoke that they were almoft fuffocated,
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 fuppofed,
had been about fome of their diabolic facrifices. They
appeared, in ſhort, frighted to death, at least fo as to
fit trembling and ftupid, and not able to fpeak neither,
for the fmoke.
In a word, we took them, bound them as we had the
other, and all without any noife. I fhould have faid,
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 altogether to the idol; when we came there we
fell to work with him; and firft we daubed him all
over, and his robes alfo, with tar, and fuch other
ftuff as we had, which was tallow mixed with brim-
ftone; then we ftopped his eyes, and ears, and mouth
full of gunpowder; then we wrapped up a great
piece of wildfire in his bonnet; and then flicking
all the combuftibles we had brought with us upon him,
we looked about to fee if we could find any thing elſe
to help to burn him: when my Scotſman remember-
ed, that by the tent, or hut, where the men were,
there lay a heap of dry forage, whether ftraw or ruſhes
I do not remember: away he and the other Scotfman
ran, and fetched their arms full of that. When we had
done this, we took all our prifoners, and brought
them, having untied their feet, and ungagged their
mouths, and made them ftand up, and fet them juft
before their monftrous idol, and then fet fire to the
whole.
We
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
249
We ftayed by it a quarter of an hour, or thereabouts,
till the powder in the eyes, and mouth, and ears of the
idol blew up, and, as we could perceive, had ſplit and
deformed the shape of it, and, in a word, till we faw
it burnt into a mere block or log of wood; and then
fetting the dry forage to it, we found it would be foon
quite confumed, 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 themfelves into the
fire, and burn themfelves with the idol; fo we refolved
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 tra-
vellers, exceeding bufy in getting ready for our journey;
nor could any man fuggeft that we had been any-
where but in our beds, as travellers might be fuppofed
to be to fit themſelves for the fatigues of that day's
journey.
de-
But it did not end fo; for the next day came a great
multitude of the country people, not only of this vil-
lage, but of an hundred more, for aught I know, to
the town gates; and, in a moft outrageous manner,
manded fatisfaction of the Ruffian governor, for the in-
fulting their priefts, and burning their great Cham-
Chi-Thaungu; fuch an hard name they gave the mon-
ftrous creature they worshipped: the people of Nert-
zinſkay were at firft in a great confternation: for, they
faid, the Tartars were no less than thirty thouſand, and
that in a few days more, they would be 100,000
ftrong.
The Ruffian governor fent out meſſengers to appeaſe
them, and gave them all the good words imaginable.
He affured them he knew nothing of it, and that there
had not a foul of his garriſon been abroad: that it
could not be from any body there and if they would
let him know who it was, they ſhould be exemplarily
punished. They returned, haughtily, That all the
country reverenced the great Cham-Chi-Thaungu, who
dwelt in the fun, and no mortal would have dared to
offer violence to his image, but fome Chriftian mif-
creant: fo they called them, it ſeems, and they there-
LS
fore
250
ADVENTURES OF
fore denounced war againſt him, and all the Ruffians,
who, they ſaid, were miscreants and Chriftians,
The governor, ftill patient, and unwilling to make a
breach, or to have any caufe of war alledged to be given
treat
by him, the czar having ſtraightly charged him given
the conquered country with gentlenefs and civility, gave
them ſtill all the good words he could; at laft he told
them, there was a caravan gone towards Ruffia that
morning, and, perhaps, it was fome of them who had
done them this injury; and that, if they would be fa-
tisfied with that, he would fend after them, to enquire
into it. This feemed to appleaſe them a little ; and ac-
cordingly the governor fent after us, and gave us a
particular account how the thing was; intimating with-
al, that if any in our caravan had done it, they fhould
anake their escape; but that, whether they had done it
or no, we ſhould make all the hafte forward that was
poffible; and that in the mean time, he would keep them
in play as long as he could.
This was very friendly in the governor. However,
when it came to the caravan, there was nobody knew
any thing of the matter; and, as for us that were guilty,
we were the leaſt of all ſuſpected; none fo much as
afked us the queſtion; however, the captain of the ca-
ravan, for the time, took the hint that the governor
gave us, and we marched or travelled two days and
two nights without any confiderable ftop, and then
we lay at a village called Plothus: nor did we make
any long ftop here, but haftened on towards Jara-
wena, another of the czar of Mufcovy's colonies,
and where we expected we ſhould be fafe; but it is to
be obferved, that here we began, for two or three
dsys march, to enter upon a vaft nameleſs defert, of
which I ſhall fay 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 duft behind us at
a great diſtance, fome of our people began to be ſen,
fible we were purſued; we had entered the defert, and
had paffed by a great lake, called Schanks Ofier, when
we perceived a very great body of horſe appear on
the
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
251
*
the other fide of the lake to the north, we travelling
weft. We obferved they went away weft, as we did;
but had ſuppoſed we ſhould have taken that fide of the
lake, whereas we very happily took the fouth fide; and
in two days more we faw them not, for they, believing
we were ſtill before them, pufhed on, till they came to
the river Udda; this is a very great river when it paffes
farther north; but when we came to it, we found it nar-
row 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 fatisfaction, juft pitched upon a place for our camp
which was very convenient for the night for as we
were upon a defert, 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 Jarawena, which we had yet two days march
to; the defert, however, had fome few woods in it on
this fide, and little rivers, which ran all into the great
river Udda. It was in a narrow freight between two
fmall, 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 defert, fo 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 tra-
vels, a moſt advantageous camp; for we lay between
two woods, with a little rivulet running juft before our
front; fo that we could not be furrounded or attacked
any way, but in our front or rear; we took care alſo to
make our front as ftrong as we could, by placing our
packs, with our camels and horſes, all in a line on the
infide of the river, and we felled fome trees in our
rear.
In this poſture we encamped for the night; but the
enemy was upon us before we had finished our fitua-
tion: they did not come on us like thieves, as we
L 6
expected,
252
ADVENTURES OF
expected, but fent three meffengers to us, to demand
the men to be delivered to them, that had abuſed their
priefts, 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 meffage, and began to ftare
at one another, to ſee who looked with moft guilt in
their faces, but, nobody was the word, nobody did it.
The leader of the caravan fent word, he was well af-
fured 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; fo
defired 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 fuch an advantageous fituation, they durft come no
farther than the brook in our front, where then
ftood, and fhewed us fuch a number, as, indeed, ter-
rified us very much; for thoſe that ſpoke leaft of them
ſpoke of ten thouſand. Here they ſtood, and looked
at us a while, and then fetting up a great howl, they
let fly a cloud of arrows among us; but we were well
enough fortified for that, for we were fheltered under
our baggage; and I do not remember that one man of
us was hurt.
Some time after this, we faw them move a little to
our right, and expected them on the rear,, when a
cunning fellow, a Coffack as they call them, of Jara-
wena, in the pay of the Mufcovites, calling to the leader
of the caravan, faid to him, I will fend all theſe people
away to Sibeilka; this was a city four or five days
journey, at least, to the fouth, and rather behind
us.
So he takes his bow and arrows; and, getting.
on horfeback, 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 fent exprefs to tell them
a long
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
253
a long ftory, that the people who had burnt their Cham-
Chi-Thaungu were gone to Sibeilka, with a caravan of
mifcreants, as he called them; that is to fay, chriftians;
and that they were refolved to burn the god Scal Iſarg,
belonging to the Tongues.
As this fellow was a mere Tartar, and perfectly ſpoke
their language, he counterfeited fo well, that they all
took it from him, and away they drove, in a moſt vio-
lent hurry, to Sibeilka, which it feems, was five days
journey to the fouth, and in lefs than three hours they
were entirely out of our fight, and we never heard any
more of them, or ever knew whether they went to that
other place called Sibeilka, or no.
So we paffed fafely on to the City of Jarawena,
where there was a garriſon of Mufcovites; and there we
refted 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 defert, which held
us three and twenty days march. We furniſhed our-
felves with fome tents here, for the better accommodating
ourfelves in the night; and the leader of the caravan pro-
cured fixteen carriages, or waggons, of the country, for
carrying our water and proviſions; and theſe carriages
were our defence every night round our little camp; fo
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 fuppofed to want reft again after
this long journey; for, in this defert, we faw neither
houſe or tree, or ſcarce a buſh; we faw, indeed, abun-
dance of the fable-hunters, as they call them; thefe 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 cu-
rious to ſee the ſable-ſkins they catched: but I could
never ſpeak with any of them; for they durft not come
near us, neither durft we ftraggle from our company to
go near them.
After we had paffed this defert, we came into a
country pretty well inhabited; that is to fay, we found
towns and caſtles fettled by the Czar of Muſcovy, with
garrifons
25.4
ADVENTURES OF
garrifons of ſtationary foldiers to protect the caravans,
and defend the country againſt the Tarters, 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 fent to fee travellers fafe from fta-
tion to ſtation.
And thus the governor of Adinſkoy, whom I had an
opportunity to make a vifit 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 myfelf mif-
taken in both, for we had yet the nation of the Tonguefes
to paſs through; where we faw the fame tokens of pa-
ganifm and barbarity, or worse than before; only as
they were conquered by the Mufcovites, and entirely re-
duced, they were not fo dangerous; but for the rudeness
of manners, idolatry, and polytheiſm, no people in the
world ever went beyond them. They are clothed all in
the ſkins of beafts, and their houfes are built of the
fame. 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
fnow, they live under ground in houfes like vaults,
which have cavities or caves going from one to ano-
ther.
If the Tartars had their Cham Chi Thaungu for a
whole village, or country, theſe had idols in every hut,
and every cave; befides, they worſhip the ſtars, the fun,
the water, the fnow, and, in a word, every thing that
they do not underſtand, and they underſtand but very
little; fo that almoſt every element, every uncommon
thing, fets them a facrificing.
But I am no more to deſcribe people than countries,
any farther than my own ftory 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
255
of it being another defert, which took us up twelve
days ſevere travelling, without houſe, tree or buſh; bụt
were obliged again to carry our own provifions, as well
water as bread. After we were out of this defert, and
had travelled two days, we came to Janezay, a Muf-
covite city or ſtation, on the great river Janezay. This
river, they told us, parted Europe from Afia, tho' our
map-makers, as I am told, do not agree to it; however,
it is certainly the eastern boundary of the antient Sibe-
ria, which now makes a province only of the vast Muf-
covite empire, but is itſelf equal in bigneſs to the whole
empire of Germany.
And yet here I obſerved ignorance and paganism ftill
prevailed, except in the Mufcovite 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 Afia, or America. I also found, which I ob-
ferved to the Muscovite governors, whom I had oppor-
tunity to converſe with, that the pagans are not much
the wifer, or the nearer chriſtianity, for being under the
Mufcovite government; which they acknowledged was
true enough, but, they faid, it was none of their bufi-
nefs; that if the Czar expected to convert his Siberian,
or Tongueſe, or Tartar fubjects, it ſhould be done by
fending clergymen among them, not foldiers; and they
added, with more fincerity than I expected, that they
found it was not fo much the concern of their monarch,
to make the people chriftians, as it was to make them
fubjects.
From this river, to the great river Oby, we croffed a
wild uncultivated country; I cannot fay 'tis a barbarous
feil; 'tis only barren of people, and good manage-
ment; otherwiſe it is in itſelf a moft pleaſant, fruitful,
and agreeable country. What inhabitants we found in
it are all pagans, except fuch as are fent among them
from Ruffia; for this is the country I mean on both
fides the river Oby, whither the Mufcovite criminals,
that are not put to death, are baniſhed, and from
whence it is next to impoffible they ſhould ever come
away..
I have
256
ADVENTURES OF
*
I have nothing material to fay of my particular
affairs, till I came to Tobolski, the capital of Siberia,
where I continued fome time on the following occa-
fion.
We had been now almoſt ſeven months on our jour-
ney, 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, confidering that
we were bound for England, and not for Moſcow, to
confider how to difpofe of ourſelves: They told us of
fledges and rein-deer to carry us over the fnow in the
winter-time: and, indeed, they have fuch things, as it
would be incredible to relate the particulars of, by
which means the Ruffians travel more in the winter than
they can in fummer; becauſe in theſe fledges they are
able to run night and day: the fnow being frozen, is
one univerſal covering to nature, by which the hills,
the vales, the rivers, the lakes, are all fmooth, and
hard as a ſtone; and they run upon the furface, without
any regard to what is underneath.
But I had no occafion to push at a winter journey of
this kind: I was bound to England, not to Moſcow,
and my route two ways: either I must go on as the ca-
ravan went, till I came to Jariſlaw, and then go off
weft for Narva, and the gulph of Finland, and fo either
by feat or land to Dantzick, where I might poffibly fell
my China cargo to good advantage, or I muſt leave the
caravan at a little town on the Dwina, from whence
I had but fix days by water to Arch-Angel, and from
thence might be fure of fhipping, either to England,
Holland, or Hamburgh.
Now to go any of theſe journies in the winter
would have been prepofterous: for as to Dantzick, the
Baltick would be frozen up, and I could not get paf-
fage and to go by land in thofe countries, was far
leſs ſafe than among the Mogul Tartars: likewiſe to
Arch-Angel, in October all the fhips would be gone
from thence, and even the merchants, who dwell
there in fummer, retire fouth to Moſcow in the winter,
when the fhips are gone: fo that I ſhould have no-
thing but extremity of cold to encounter, with a ſcar-
cit
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
257
city of provifions, and muſt lie there in an empty town
all the winter; fo 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 fixty degrees, where I was
fure of three things to wear out a cold winter with,
viz. plenty of provifions, fuch as the country afforded,
a warm houſe, with fuel enough, and excellent com-
pany; of all which I ſhall give a full account in its
place.
I was now in a quite different climate from my be-
loved 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, and my neceffity, in dreff-
ing my food, &c. Now I made me three good vefts,
with large robes or gowns over them to hang down
to the feet, and button cloſe to the wrifts, and all
thefe lined with furs, to make them fufficiently
warm.
As to a warm houfe, I must confefs, I greatly dif-
like our way in England, of making fires in every
room in the houſe, in open chimneys, which, when
the fire was out, always kept the air in the room cold
as the climate. But taking an apartment in a good
houſe in the town, I ordered a chimney to be built
like a furnace, in the centre of fix feveral rooms, like
a ſtove; the funnel to carry the fmoke went up one
way, the door to come at the fire went in ano-
ther, and all the rooms were kept equally warm,
but no fire ſeen; like as they heat the bagnios in Eng-
land.
By this means we had always the fame climate in all
the rooms, and an equal heat was preſerved; and how
cold foever 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 poffible to meet with good company here, in a coun-
try fo barbarous as that of the most northerly parts of
Europe, near the frozen ocean, and within but a very
few degrees of Nova Zembla.
But
#58
ADVENTURES OF
But this being the country where the ſtate criminals
of Muſcovy, as I obferved before, are all baniſhed;
this city was full of noblemen, princes, gentlemen, co-
lonels, and, in fhort, all degrees of the nobility, gentry,
foldiery, and courtiers of Mufcovy. Here were the fa
mous Prince Galilfken, or Galoffken, and his fon, the
old General Roboftiſky, and ſeveral other perfons of note.
and fome ladies.
By means of my Scots merchant, whom, neverthe-
lefs, 1 parted with here, I made an acquaintance
with feveral of thefe gentlemen, and fome of them
of the firſt rank; and from thefe, in the long winter-
nights in which I ftayed here, I received feveral
agreeable vifits. It was talking one night with a cer-
tain prince, one of the baniſhed ministers of ſtate be-
longing to the Czar of Mufcovy, that my talk of my
particular cafe began. He had been telling me abun-
dance of fine things, of the greatnefs, the magnifi-
cence, and dominions, and the abfolute power of
the emperors of the Ruffians. I interrupted him, and
told him, I was a greater and more powerful prince
than ever the Czar of Mufcovy was, though my domi-
nions were not ſo large, or my people fo many. The
Ruffian Grandee looked a little furprised, and fixing
his eyes fteadily upon me, began to wonder what I
meant.
I told him his wonder would ceafe when I had ex-
plained myſelf. First, I told him, I had the abſolute
difpofal of the lives and fortunes of all my fubjects:
that notwithſtanding my abfolute power, I had not
one perfon difaffected to my government or to my
perfon, in all my dominions. He fhook his head at
that, and ſaid, There, indeed, I outdid the Czar of
Muscovy. I told him, that all the lands in my king-
dom were my own, and all my fubjects 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 fuch I acknowledged myfelf to be, was ever fo uni-
verfally beloved, and yet fo horribly feared, by his
fubjects.
After
ROBINSON CRUS O E.
259
*
After amufing them with theſe riddles in govern-
ment for a while, I opened the cafe, 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 fince minuted it down. They
were exceedingly taken with the ftory, and efpecially
the prince, who told me with a figh, that the true
greatneſs of life was to be mafter of ourſelves; that
he would not have exchanged ſuch a ſtate of life as
mine, to have been Czar of Mufcovy ; and that he found
more felicity in the retirement he ſeemed to be banish-
ed to there, than ever he found in the higheſt autho-
rity he enjoyed in the court of his mafter the Czar: that
the height of human wiſdom was to bring our tem-
pers down to our circumftances, and to make a calm
within, under the weight of the greateft ftorm with-
out. When he came firft hither, he faid, 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 confideration had made him look into him-
felf, 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 univerfal life, and
how little this world was concerned in its true feli-
city, was perfectly capable of making a felicity for
itfelf, fully fatisfying to itſelf, and ſuitable to its own
beft ends and defires, with but very little aſſiſtance
from the world; that air to breathe in, food to fuf-
tain life, clothes for warmth, and liberty for exer-
cife, in order to health, compleated, in his opinion, all
that the world could do for us: and though the great-
nefs, the authority, the riches, and the pleaſures,
which fome enjoyed in the world, and which he had
enjoyed his fhare of, had much in them that was agree-
able to us, yet he obſerved, that all thofe things chiefly
gratified the coarſeft of our affections: fuch as our
ambition, our particular pride, our avarice, our va-
nity, and our fenfuality; all which were, indeed, the
mere product of the worit part of man, were in them-
felves crimes, and had in them the feeds of all man-
ner of crimes; but neither were related to, or con-
cerned with, any of thofe virtues that conſtituted us
督
​wife
260
ADVENTURES OF
wife 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 exercife of all
thoſe vices, he ſaid, he was at leiſure to look upon the
dark fide of them, where he found all manner of defor-
mity; and was now convinced, that virtue only makes
a man truly wiſe, rich, and great, and preferves him in
the way to a fuperior happineſs in a future ftate; and in
this, he faid, they were more happy in their baniſhment
than all their enemies were, who had the full poffeffion
of all the wealth and power that they (the baniſhed) had
left behind them.
Nor, fir, faid he, do I bring my mind to this politically
by the neceffity of my circumftances, which fome call
miſerable; but if I know any thing of myſelf, I would
not go back, no, not though my mafter, the Czar, fhould
call me, and offer to reinftate me in all my former gran-
deur; I fay, I would no more go back to it, than I be-
lieve my foul, when it fhall be delivered from this
priſon of the body, and has had a taſte of the glorious
ſtate beyond life, would come back to the goal of fleſh
and blood it is now incloſed 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 fpirits, 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 fincerity.
I told him, I once thought myſelf a kind of a mo-
narch 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 conquerer; for that he that has got a
victory over his own exorbitant defires, and has the
abfolute dominion over himſelf, and whoſe reaſon
entirely governs his will, is certainly greater than he
that conquers a city. But, my lord, faid I, fhall I take
the liberty to aſk you a queſtion? With all my heart,
faid he. If the door of your liberty was opened, ſaid
I, would not you take hold of it to deliver yourfelf from
this exile ?
Hold,
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
261
Hold, faid he, your queftion is fubtle, and requires
fome ſerious juft diftinctions to give it a fincere an-
fwer; 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 ftate of baniſh-
ment, except thefe two: First, the enjoyment of my
relations; and, fecondly, 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 minifter
of ſtate; the wealth, the gaiety, and the pleaſures,
that is to fay, follies of a courtier; if my mafter ſhould
fend me word this moment, that he reſtores me
to all he banished me from: I proteft, if I know
myſelf at all, I would not leave this wilderneſs, theſe
deferts, and thefe frozen lakes, for the palace of
Moſcow.
But, my lord, faid I, perhaps you not only are ba-
niſhed from the pleaſures of the court, and from the
power, and authority, and wealth, you enjoyed be-
fore, but
you may be abfent too from fome of the con-
eniencies of life; your eftate, perhaps, confifcated,
and your effects plundered: and the fupplies left you
here may not be ſuitable to the ordinary demands of
life.
Ay, faid he, that is as you ſuppoſe me to be a lord,
or a prince, &c. So, indeed, I am;
So, indeed, I am; but you are now
to confider me only as a man, an human creature, not
at all diſtinguiſhed from another; and fo I can fuffer no
want, unless I fhould be visited with fickneſs and dif-
tempers. However, to put the queſtion out of diſpute ;
you ſee our manner; we are in this place five perfons of
rank; we live perfectly retired, as fuited to a ſtate of
baniſhment; we have fomething reſcued from the hip-
wreck of our fortunes, which keeps us from the mere
neceffity of hunting for our food, but the poor foldiers
who are here, without that heip, live in as much plenty
as we. They go into the woods, and catch fables and
foxes
; the labour of a month will maintain them a year;
and as the way of living is not expenfive, fo it is not hard
to get fufficient to ourselves; So that objection is out of
doors.
+
I have
262
ADVENTURES OF
I have no room to give a full account of the most
agreeable converfation I had with his truly great
man; and in all which he ſhewed, that his mind was fo
inſpired with a fuperior knowledge of things, fo fup-
ported by religion, as well as by a vaſt ſhare of wif
dom, that his contempt of the world was really as
much as he had expreffed, and that he was always the
fame 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 fo intenſe,
that I could not fo much as look abroad without be-
ing wrapt in furs, and a maſk of fur before my face,
or rather a hood, with only an hole for breath, and
two for fight. The little day-light we had, was, as
we reckoned, for three months, not above five hours a
day, and fix at moft; only that the fnow lying on the
ground continually, and the weather clear, it was
never quite dark. Our horfes were kept (or rather
ftarved) under ground; and, as, for our fervants (for
we hired fervants here to look after our horfes and
felves), we had every now and then their fingers and toes
to thaw, and take care of, left they ſhould mortify and
fall off.
It is true, within doors we were warm, the houſes
being clofe, the walls thick, the lights fmall, and the
glafs all double. Our food was chiefly the fleſh of
deer, dried and cured in the feafon; good bread enough,
ut baked as bifcuits; dried fifh of feveral forts, and
ome fleſh of mutton, and of buffaloes, which is pretty
good beef. All the ftore of provifion for the winter
are laid up in the fummer, and well cured; our drink
was water mixed with aqua vitae inftead of brandy;
and, for a treat, mead inſtead of wine; which however,
they have excellent good. The hunters, who ventur-
ed abroad all weathers, frequently brought us in freſh
veniſon, very fat and good : and fometimes bears fleſh,
but we did not much care for the laſt. We had a good
ſtock of tea, with which we treated our friends as above;
and, in a word, we lived very chearfully and well, all
things confidered.
It
ROBINSON CRUSOE
253
It was now March, and the days grown confider-
ably longer, and the weather at leaſt tolerable; fo
other travellers began to prepare fledges to carry them
over the fnow, and to get things ready to be going;
but my meaſures being fixed, as I have faid, for Arch-
Angel, and not for Mufcovy or the Baltic, I made
no motion, knowing very well, that the fhips from the
fouth do not fet 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 foon as any ſhips would be
ready to go away; and therefore, I fay, I made no
hafte to be gone, as others did? in a word, I ſaw a
great many people, nay, all the travellers, go away
before me.
It feems, every year they go from thence
to Mufcow for trade, viz. to carry furs, and buy
neceſſaries with them, which they bring back to fur-
niſh their ſhops; alfo others went on the fame errand
to Arch-Angel; but then they alfo, being to come
back again above eight hundred miles, went out all
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 feeing all theſe people were ba-
niſhed by the Czar of Mufcovy 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 whereever they thought fit? and I be-
gan to examine what ſhould hinder them from making
fuch an attempt.
But my wonder was over, when I entered upon
that ſubject with the perfon I have mentioned, who
anſwered me thus: Confider, firſt, fir, faid he, the
place where we are; and, fecondly, the condition we
are in; efpecially, faid he, the generality of the people
who are baniſhed hither. We are furrounded, faid he,
with ftronger things than bars and bolts; on the
north fide is an unnavigable ocean, where fhip never
failed, and boat never ſwam; neither, if we had both,
could we know whither to go with them. Every other
way, faid he, we have above a thouſand miles to paſs
through the Czar's own dominions, and by ways ut-
terly impaffable, except by the roads made by the go-
vernment,
264
ADVENTURES OF
vernment, and through the towns garrifoned by his
troops; ſo that we could neither pafs undiscovered by
the road, or fubfiſt any other way; fo that is in vain to
attempt it.
I was filenced, indeed, at once, and found that they
were in prifon, every jot as fecure, as if they had been
locked up in the cattle of Moſcow: however, it came
into my thoughts, that I might certainly be made an
inftrument to procure the eſcape of this excellent per-
fon, 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 Mofcow, but to Arch-Angel,
and that I went in the nature of a caravan, by which
I was not obliged to lie in the ftationary towns in the
defert, but could encamp every night where I would,
we might eafily país uninterrupted to Arch-Angel,
where I could immediately fecure him on board an
Engliſh or Dutch fhip, and carry him off ſafe along with
me; and, as to his fubfiſtence, and other particulars,
that ſhould be my care, till he ſhould better fupply him-
ſelf.
He heard me very attentively, and looked earneſtly
on me all the while I fpoke; nay, I could fee in his
very face, that what I faid put his fpirits into an ex-
ceeding 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 fay 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 fnares to
us, and we are made tempters of one another! My dear
friend, faid he, your offer is fo fincere, has fuch kind-
neſs in it, is ſo diſintereſted in itſelf, and is ſo calculat-
ed 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 fincere in
what I have ſo often faid to you of my contempt
the world? Did you believe I spoke my very foul
to you, and that I had really maintained that degree
of
of
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
265
of felicity here, that had placed me above all that the
world could give me, or do for me? Did you believe I
was fincere, 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 mafter? Did you
believe me, my friend, to be an honeft man, or did you
think me to be a boaiting hypocrite? Here he stopped,
as if he would hear what I would fay; but, indeed, I
foon after perceived, that he ſtopped becauſe his fpirits
were in motion; his heart was full of ſtruggles, and
he could not go on. I was, I confefs, aftoniſhed at the
thing, as well as at the man, and I uſed fome argu-
ments with him to urge him to fet himſelf free that
he ought to look upon this as a door opened by Hea-
ven for his deliverance, and a fummons by Providence,
who has the care and good difpofition 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, fir, faid he, warmly, but that inſtead of a
fummons from heaven, it may be a feint of another
inftrument, repreſenting, in all the alluring colours, to
me, the fhew of felicity as a deliverance, which may
in itſelf be my fnare, and tend directly to my ruin?
Here I am free from the temptation of returning to
my former miferable greatness; there I am not fure,
but that all the feeds 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 prifoner, whom you fee now maf-
ter of his foul's liberty, fhall be the miſerable ilave of
his own fenfes, in the full of all perfonal liberty. Dear
fir, let me remain in this bleffed confinement, baniſhed
from the crimes of life, rather than purchaſe a ſhew
of freedom at the expence of the liberty of my reaſon,
and at the expence of the future happineſs which now
I have in my view, but ſhall then, I fear, quickly loſe
fight of; for I am but fleſh, a man, a mere man, have
paffions and affections as likely to poffefs and overthrow
me as any man: O be not my friend and my tempter
both together!
VOL. II.
M
If
266
ADVENTURES OF
If I was ſurpriſed before, I was quite dumb now;
and ſtood filent, looking at him; and, indeed, admired
what I faw; the ſtruggle in his foul wa fo great, that
though the weather was extremely cold, it put him intó
a moſt violent fweat, and I found he wanted to give¨
vent to his mind; fo I faid a word or two, that I would
leave him to confider 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; 1
affure you, it is not for want of a fenfe of the kindneſs
of it in you; and I come to make the moft fincere ac-
knowledgment of it to you; but, I hope, I have got
the victory over myſelf.
My lord, faid I, I hope you are fully fatisfied, that
you did not reſiſt the call of heaven. Sir, faid he, if it
had been from heaven, the fame power would have in-
fluenced me to accept it; but, I hope, and am fully
fatisfied, that it is from heaven that I decline it; and
I have an infinite fatisfaction in the parting, that you
ſhall leave me an honeft man ſtill, though not a free
man.
I had nothing to do but to acquiefce, and make pro-
fefſion to him of my having no end in it, but a fincere
defire to ſerve him. He embraced me very paffion-
ately, and affured me, he was fenfible of that, and
fhould always acknowledge it; and with that he offered
me a very fine prefent of fables, too much, indeed,
for me to accept from a man in his circumftances; and
I would have avoided them, but he would not be re-
fufed.
The next morning I fent my-fervant to his lord-
fhip, wit a ſmall prefent of tea, two pieces of China
damaſk, and four little wedges of Japan gold, which
did not all weigh above fix ounces, or thereabouts; but
were far fhort of the value of his fables, which, in-
deed, when I came to England, I found worth near two
hundred pounds. He accepted the tea, and one piece
of
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
267
of the damaſk, and one of the pieces of gold, which
had a fine ftamp upon it, of the Japan coinage, which
I found he took for the rarity of it, but would not take
any more; and fent word by my fervant, that he de-
fired to ſpeak with me.
When I came to him, he told me, I knew what
had paffed between us, and hoped I would not move
him any more in that affair; but that, fince I made
fuch a generous offer to him, he asked me, if I had
kindneſs enough to offer the fame to another perfon
that he would name to me, in whom he had a great
fhare of concern. I told him, that I could not fay I
inclined to do fo much for any one but himſelf, for
whom I had a particular value, and fhould have been
glad to have been the inftrument of his deliverance;
however, if he would pleaſe to name the perfon 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 fon, who, though I had
not ſeen, yet was in the fame condition with himſelf,
and above two hundred miles from him, on the other
fide the Oby; but that, if I confented, he would fend
for him.
I made no hesitation, but told him I would do it :
I made fome ceremony in letting him understand, that
it was wholly on his account; and that feeing I could not
prevail on him, I would fhew my reſpect to him, by
my concern for his fon: but theſe things are too te-
dious to repeat here. He fent away the next day for
his fon, and in about twenty days he came back with
the meffenger, bringing fix or feven horſes loaded with
very rich furs, and which, in the whole, amounted to
a very great value.
His fervants brought the horfes into the town, but
left the young lord at a diſtance till night, when he
came incognito into our apartment, and his father pre-
fented him to me; and, in fhort, we concerted there
the manner of our travelling, and every thing proper
for the journey.
I had bought a confiderable quantity of fables, black
fox-ſkins, fine ermins, and fuch other furs that are
very rich; I ſay, I had bought them in that city fo
M 2
exchag
268
ADVENTURES OF
exchange for fome of the goods brought from China; in
particular, for the cloves and nutmegs, of which I fold
the greateſt part here; and the reft afterwards at Arch-
angel, for a much better price than I could have done at
London; and my partner, who was fenfible of the pro-
fit, and whofe bufinefs more particularly than mine,
was merchandize, was mightily pleafed with our stay,
on account of the traffic we made here.
w
It was in the beginning of June, when I left this re-
mote place, a city, I believe, little heard of in the
world; and, indeed, it is ſo far out of the road of com
merce, that I know not how it ſhould be much talked
of. We were now come to a very ſmall caravan, being
only thirty-two horfes and camels in all, and all of
them paffed for mine, though my new gueft was pro-
prietor of eleven of them. It was moit natural alſo,
that I fhould take more ſervants with me than I had be-
fore, and the young lord paffed for my ſteward ; what
great man I paffed for myſelf I know not, neither did
it concern me to enquire. We had here the worst and
the largeſt defert to pafs over that we met with in all
the journey, indeed, I call it the worft, becauſe the
way was very deep in fome places, and very uneven
in others; the best we had to fay for it, was, that we
thought we had no troops of Tartars and robbers to
fear, and that they never came on this fide the river
Oby, or at leaſt but very feldom; but we found it
otherwiſe.
My young lord had with him a faithful Mufcovite
fervant, or rather a Siberian fervant, who was per-
fectly 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, fuch
as Tumen, Soloy-Kamofkoy, and feveral others; be-
cauſe the Mufcovite garriſons which are kept there are
very curious and ſtrict in their obſervations upon travel-
lers, and fearching left any of the banished perfons of
note fhould make their eſcape that way into Muscovy;
but by this means, as we were kept out of the cities,
fo our whole journey was a defert, 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
ROBINSON CRUSOE..
169
?
i
his the young lord was fo fenfible of, that he would
not allow us to lie abroad, when we came to feveral:
cities on the way; but lay abroad himſelf, with his
fervant, in the woods, and met us always at the ap-
pointed places.
We were juft entered Europe, having paffed the river
Kama, which, in thofe parts, is the boundary between
Europe and Afia; and the firft city on the European fide
was called Soloy-Kamoſkoy, which is as much as to fay,
the great city on the river Kama; and here we thought
to have ſeen fome evident alteration in the people, their
manners, their habit, their religion, and their bufi-
nefs; but we were miſtaken; for as we had a vaft de-
fert to pafs, which, by relation, is near feven hundred
miles long in fome places, but not above two hundred
miles over where we paffed it; fo, till we came paſt
that horrible place, we found very little difference be-
tween that country and the Mogul Tartary; the people
moftly Pagans, and little better than the favages of
America; their houfes 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 Chriftians, as they call themſelves of the Greek
church; but even theſe have their religion mingled
with fo many reliques of fuperftition, that it is ſcarce
to be known in fome places for mere forcery and
witchcraft.
In paffing this foreft, I thought, indeed, we muſt,
after all our dangers were, in our imagination, efcaped,
as before, have been plundered and robbed, and per-
haps murdered by a troop of thieves; of what coun-
try they were, whether the roving bands of the Oftiachi,
a kind of Tartars, or wild people on the banks of
the Oby, had ranged thus far; or whether they were
the fable hunters of Siberia, I am yet at a lofs to
know; but they were all on horſeback, carried bows,
´and arrows, and were at firft about five and forty in
number ; they came fo near to us, as within about.
two mufquet fhot; and, afking no queftions, they fur-
rounded us with their horſe, and looked very earnestly
upon us twice; at length they placed themfelves juft
in our way; upon which we drew up in a little line
M. 3
before
秘
​270
ADVENTURES OF
before our camels being not above fixteen men in all;
and being drawn up thus, we halted, and ſent out the
Siberian fervant, 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 apprehenfive 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 dia-
lects of languages rather, he could not underſtand a
word they faid; however, after fome figns to him not
to come nearer to them at his peril; ſo he ſaid he un-
derſtood them to mean, offering to fhoot at him if he
advanced; the fellow came back no wiſer than he went,
only that by their drefs, he ſaid, he believed them to be
fome Tartars of Kalmuck, or of the Circaffian hords;
and that there must be more of them on the great defert,
though he never heard that ever any of them were ſeen
fo 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 flood clofe together, and very near
the road; I immediately refolved we would advance
to thoſe trees, and fortify ourſelves as well as we
could there; for, first, I confidered 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
propofed it: and who had this excellency attending
him, namely, that he was always readieſt and moſt apt
to direct and encourage us in cafes of the moft dan-
ger. 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, keep-
ing their ſtand, and not attempting to hinder us.
When we came thither, we found, to our great fatis-
faction, that it was a ſwampy fpringy piece of ground,
and, on the other fide, a very great spring of water,
which, running out in a little rill or brook, was a
little farther joined by another of the like bigneſs: and
was, in fhort, the head or fource of a confiderable ri-
ver, called afterwards the Wirtſka; the trees which
grew
ROBINSON CRUSO E.
271
grew about this fpring, were not in all above two hun
dred, but were very large, and ſtood pretty thick; fo
that as ſoon as we got in, we faw ourſelves perfectly
fafe 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; fo that he made a continued fence
almoft round us.
We ftaid here, waiting the motion of the enemy
fome hours, without perceiving they made any offer to
ftir; when about two hours before night, they came
down directly upon us; and, though we had not per-
ceived it, we found they had been joined by fome more
of the fame, ſo that they were near fourfcore horſe,
whereof, however, we fancied fome were women,
They came on till they were within half a ſhot of our
little wood, when we fired one mufquet without ball,
and called to them in the Ruffian tongue, to know what
they wanted, and bid them keep off; but, as if they
knew nothing of what we faid, they came on with a
double fury directly up to the wood-fide, not imagining
we were fo barricadoed, that they could not break in;
our old pilot was our captain, as well as he had been
our engineer; and defired of us, not to fire
not to fire upon them
till they came within piſtol-ſhot, that we might be fure
to kill; and that when we did fire we ſhould be fure
to take good aim. We bade him give the word of com-
mand; which he delayed ſo long, that they were, ſome
of them, within two pikes length of us when we
fired.
We aimed fo true (or Providence directed our ſhot ſo
fure) that we killed fourteen of them at the firſt volley,
and wounded ſeveral others, as alfo feveral of their
horſes; for we had all of us loaded our pieces with two
or three bullets a piece at leaſt.
They were terribly furpriſed with our fire, and re-
treated immediately about one hundred rods from us ;
in which time we loaded our pieces again, and, feeing
them keep that diſtance, we fallied out, and caught
four or five of their horſes, whoſe riders, we ſup-
ተ
pofed,
272
ADVENTURES OF
pofed, 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 excur-
fion fuch an unuſual length.
About an hour after, they made a motion to attack
us again, and rode round our little wood, to fee where
elfe they might break in; but finding us always ready
to face them, they went off again, and we refolved not
to ſtir from the place for that night.
fure
We ſlept a little, you may be f ure; but ſpent the moſt
part of the night in ſtrengthening our fituation, and
barricadoing the entrances into the wood; and, keeping
a ſtrict watch, we waited for day-light, and, when it
came, it gave us a very unwelcome difcovery indeed;
for the enemy, who we thought were diſcouraged with
the reception they had met with, were now increaſed to
no lefs than three hundred, and had fet up eleven or
twelve huts and tents, as if they were refolved to befiege
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, furpriſed at this difcovery; and now,
I confefs, I gave myſelf over for loft, and all that I had.
The lofs of my effects did not lie fo near me (though
they were very confiderable) as the thoughts of falling
into the hands of fuch barbarians, at the latter end of
my journey, after fo many difficulties and hazard
as I had gone through; and even in fight of our
port, where we expected fafety and deliverance.
for my partner, he was raging; he declared, that to
lofe his goods would be his ruin; and he would rather
die than be ſtarved; and he was for fighting to the laſt
drop.
*
As
The young lord, as gallant as ever fleſh fhewed it--
felf, was for fighting to the laſt alfo; and my old pilot
was of the opinion we were able to refift them all, in
the fituation we then were in; and thus we fpent the day
in debates of what we ſhould do; but, towards evening,.
we found that the number of out enemies ftill encreaf-
ed: perhaps, as they were abroad in feveral parties for
prey, he firſt had fent out fcouts to call for help, and.
to acquaint them of their booty; and we did not know
but by the morning they might ftill be a greater
number;、
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
273
number; fo I began to enquire of thoſe people we had
brought from Tobolſki, if there was no other, or more
private ways, by which we might avoid them in the
night, and, perhaps either retreat to ſome town, or get
help to guard us over the defert.
The Siberian, who was fervant to the young lord,
told us, if we defigned 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 Tar-
tars never the wifer; but he faid, his lord had told
him he would not return, but would rather chuſe to fight..
I told him, he mistook his lord; for that he was too
wife a man to love fighting for the fake of it; that I
knew his lord was brave enough by what he had fhewed
already; but that his lord knew better, than to defire
to have ſeventeen or eighteen men fight five hundred,
unleſs an unavoidable neceffity forced them to it; and
that if he thought it poffible for us to eſcape in the
night, we had nothing elfe to do but to attempt it. He
anfwered, if his lord gave him fuch order, he would loſe
his life if he did not perform it. We foon brought his
lord to give that order, though privately, and we im-
mediately prepared for the putting it in practice.
And firft, as foon as it began to be dark, we kindled
a fire in our little camp, which we kept burning, and
prepared fo as to make it burn all night, that the Tar-
tars might conclude we were ftill there; but, as ſoon as
it was dark, that is to fay, fo as we could fee the ſtars,
(for our guide would not ftir before) having all our
horfes and camels ready loaden, we followed our new
guide, who, I foon found, fteered himſelf by the pole,
or north ſtar, all the country being level för a long
way.
After we had travelled two hours very hard, it began
to be lighter ftill, not that it was quite dark all night,
but the moon began to riſe, ſo that, in ſhort, it was ra-
ther lighter than we wiſhed it to be: but by fix o'clock
next morning, we were gotten near forty miles, though
the truth is, we almoft fpoiled our horfes. Here we
found a Ruffian village, named Kirmazinſkoy, where we
reſted, and heard nothing of the Calmuck Tartars that
day.
嘁
​274
ADVENTURES OF
day. About two hours before night we fet out again,
and travelled till eight the next morning, though not
quite fo haftily as before; and about ſeven o'clock we
paffed a little river, called Kirtxa, and came to a good
large town inhabited by Ruffians, and very populous,
called Ozemys; there we heard, that feveral troops or
hords of Calmucks had been abroad upon the defert,
but that we were now completely out of danger of them,
which was to our great fatisfaction, you may be fure.
Here we were obliged to get fome fresh horſes, and,
having need enough of reft, we ſtaid five days; and my
partner and I agreed to give the honeft Siberian, who
brought us thither, the value of ten piftoles for his con-
ducting us.
In five days more we came to Veuffima, 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 feven days paf-
fage to Archangel: from hence we came to Law-
renſkoy, where the river joins, the third of July: and
provided ourſelves with two luggage-boats, and a barge,
for our convenience: we embarked the feventh, and
arrived all ſafe at Archangel the eighteenth, having
been a year, five months, and three days, on the jour-
ney, including our ftay of eight monthis and odd days
at Tobolſki.
We were obliged to ſtay at this place fix weeks for
the arrival of the fhips, and muſt have tarried longer,
had not a Hamburgher come in above a month fooner
than any of the Engliſh fhips: when, after fome confi-
deration, that the city of Hamburgh might happen to
be as good a market for our goods as London, we all
tock freight with him: and having put our goods on
board, it was moſt natural for me to put my fteward on
board to take care of them: by which means my young
lord had a fufficient 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 fome of the Moſcow merchants would cer-
tainly have ſeen and diſcovered him.
We failed from Archangel the twentieth of Auguft
the fame year; and, after no extraordinary bad voyage,
arrived
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
275
arrived in the Elbe, the 13th of September: here my
partner and I found a very good fale for our goods, as
well thofe of China, as the fables, &c. of Siberia: and
dividing the produce of our effects, my ſhare amounted
to 34751. 17s. 3d. notwithſtanding fo many loffes we
had ſuſtained, and charges we had been at only re-
membering that I had included, in this, about 600l.
worth of diamonds, which I had purchaſed at Bengal.
Here the young lord took his leave of us, and went
up the Elbe, in order to go to the court of Vienna,
where he refolved to feek protection, and where he
could correſpond with thoſe of his father's friends who
were left alive. He did not part without all the teſti-
monies he could give, of gratitude for the fervice I had
done him, and his fenfe of my kindneſs to the prince his
father.
To conclude, having ſtaid near four months in Ham-
burgh, I came from thence, over land to the Hague,
where I embarked in the packet, and arrived in London
the 10th of January, 1705, having been gone from
England ten years and nine months.
And here, refolving to harrafs myſelf no more, I
am preparing for a longer journey than all theſe, hav-
ing lived 72 years a life of infinite variety, and learned
fufficiently to know the value of retirement, and the
bleffing of ending our days in peace.
FINI S.
નરે
letharg
P