The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

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(1808), by Daniel Defoe
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Title: The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808)
Author: Daniel Defoe
Release Date: June 15, 2004 [eBook #12623]
Most recently updated: December 29, 2014
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF
ROBINSON CRUSOE (1808)***
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Editorial note: Daniel Defoe's tale of Robinson Crusoe was first
published in 1719. Numerous--almost countless--
versions were published subsequently. Several are
available in Project Gutenberg's library, including
our e-books #521, 561, 5902, 6328, 6936, 11239, and
11866 (http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/521 etc.).
Various tales have been included in the different
versions, usually under the names of "The Adventures
of Robinson Crusoe," "The Further Adventures of
Robinson Crusoe," and "Robinson Crusoe's Vision of
the Angelic World." Even an account of the
adventures of Alexander Selkirk, who was marooned
for four years on an island in the Pacific Ocean,
has been incorporated into some versions of the
Robinson Crusoe stories. This e-book, taken from an
1808 edition, includes "The Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe" and "The Further Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe."
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE
by DANIEL DE FOE
London.
1808
[Illustration: I had one labour to make me a Canoe,
which at last I finished.]
THE LIFE OF DE FOE
Daniel De Foe was descended from a respectable family in the county of
Northampton, and born in London, about the year 1663. His father, James
Foe, was a butcher, in the parish of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, and a
protestant dissenter. Why the subject of this memoir prefixed the _De_
to his family name cannot now be ascertained, nor did he at any period
of his life think it necessary to give his reasons to the public. The
political scribblers of the day, however, thought proper to remedy this
lack of information, and accused him of possessing so little of the
_amor patriae_, as to make the addition in order that he might not be
taken for an Englishman; though this idea could have had no other
foundation than the circumstance of his having, in consequence of his
zeal for King William, attacked the prejudices of his countrymen in his
"True-born Englishman."
After receiving a good education at an academy at Newington, young De
Foe, before he had attained his twenty-first year, commenced his career
as an author, by writing a pamphlet against a very prevailing sentiment
in favour of the Turks who were at that time laying siege to Vienna.
This production, being very inferior to those of his maturer years, was
very little read, and the indignant author, despairing of success with
his pen, had recourse to the sword; or, as he termed it, when boasting
of the exploit in his latter years, "displayed his attachment to
liberty, and protestantism," by joining the ill-advised insurrection
under the Duke of Monmouth, in the west. On the failure of that
unfortunate enterprise, he returned again to the metropolis; and it is
not improbable, but that the circumstance of his being a native of
London, and his person not much known in that part of the kingdom where
the rebellion took place, might facilitate his escape, and be the means
of preventing his being brought to trial for his share in the
transaction. With the professions of a writer and a soldier, Mr. De Foe,
in the year 1685, joined that of a trader; he was first engaged as a
hosier, in Cornhill, and afterwards as a maker of bricks and pantiles,
near Tilbury Fort, in Essex; but in consequence of spending those hours
in the hilarity of the tavern which he ought to have employed in the
calculations of the counting-house, his commercial schemes proved
unsuccessful; and in 1694 he was obliged to abscond from his creditors,
not failing to attribute those misfortunes to the war and the severity
of the times, which were doubtless owing to his own misconduct. It is
much to his credit however, that after having been freed from his debts
by composition, and being in prosperous circumstances from King
William's favour, he voluntarily paid most of his creditors both the
principal and interest of their claims. This is such an example of
honesty as it would be unjust to De Foe and to the world to conceal. The
amount of the sums thus paid must have been very considerable, as he
afterwards feelingly mentions to Lord Haversham, who had reproached him
with covetousness; "With a numerous family, and no helps but my own
industry, I have forced my way through a sea of misfortunes, and reduced
my debts, exclusive of composition, from seventeen thousand to less than
five thousand pounds."
At the beginning of the year 1700, Mr. De Foe published a satire in
verse, which excited very considerable attention, called the "True-born
Englishman." Its purpose was to furnish a reply to those who were
continually abusing King William and some of his friends as
_foreigners_, by shewing that the present race of Englishmen was a mixed
and heterogeneous brood, scarcely any of which could lay claim to native
purity of blood. The satire was in many parts very severe; and though
it gave high offence, it claimed a considerable share of the public
attention. The reader will perhaps be gratified by a specimen of this
production, wherein he endeavours to account for--
"What makes this discontented land appear
Less happy now in times of peace, than war;
Why civil feuds disturb the nation more,
Than all our bloody wars had done before:
Fools out of favour grudge at knaves in place,
And men are always honest in disgrace:
The court preferments make men knaves in course,
But they, who would be in them, would be worse.
'Tis not at foreigners that we repine,
Would foreigners their perquisites resign:
The grand contention's plainly to be seen,
To get some men put out, and some put in."
It will be immediately perceived that De Foe could have no pretentious
to the character of a _poet_; but he has, notwithstanding, some nervous
and well-versified lines, and in choice of subject and moral he is in
general excellent. The True-born Englishman concludes thus:
Could but our ancestors retrieve their fate,
And see their offspring thus degenerate;
How we contend for birth and names unknown,
And build on their past actions, not our own;
They'd cancel records, and their tombs deface,
And openly disown the vile, degenerate race.
For fame of families is all a cheat;
'TIS PERSONAL VIRTUE ONLY MAKES US GREAT.
For this defence of foreigners De Foe was amply rewarded by King
William, who not only ordered him a pension, but as his opponents
denominated it, appointed him _pamphlet-writer general to the court_; an
office for which he was peculiarly well calculated, possessing, with a
strong mind and a ready wit, that kind of yielding conscience which
allowed him to support the measures of his benefactors though convinced
they were injurious to his country. De Foe now retired to Newington
with his family, and for a short time lived at ease; but the death of
his royal patron deprived him of a generous protector, and opened a
scene of sorrow which probably embittered his future life.
He had always discovered a great inclination to engage in religious
controversy, and the furious contest, civil and ecclesiastical, which
ensued on the accession of Queen Anne, gave him an opportunity of
gratifying his favourite passion. He therefore published a tract
entitled "The shortest Way with the Dissenters, or Proposals for the
Establishment of the Church," which contained an ironical recommendation
of persecution, but written in so serious a strain, that many persons,
particularly Dissenters, at first mistook its real intention. The high
church party however saw, and felt the ridicule, and, by their
influence, a prosecution was commenced against him, and a proclamation
published in the Gazette, offering a reward for his apprehension[1].
When De Foe found with how much rigour himself and his pamphlet were
about to be treated, he at first secreted himself; but his printer and
bookseller being taken into custody, he surrendered, being resolved, as
he expresses it, "to throw himself upon the favour of government, rather
than that others should be ruined for his mistakes." In July, 1703, he
was brought to trial, found guilty, and sentenced to be imprisoned, to
stand in the pillory, and to pay a fine of two hundred marks. He
underwent the infamous part of the punishment with great fortitude, and
it seems to have been generally thought that he was treated with
unreasonable severity. So far was he from being ashamed of his fate
himself, that he wrote a hymn to the pillory, which thus ends, alluding
to his accusers:
Tell them, the men that plac'd him here
Are scandals to the times;
Are at a loss to find his guilt,
And can't commit his crimes.
Pope, who has thought fit to introduce him in his Dunciad (probably from
no other reason than party difference) characterises him in the
following line:
Earless on high stood unabash'd De Foe.
[Footnote 1: St. James's, January 10, 1702-3. "Whereas Daniel De Foe,
alias De Fooe, is charged with writing a scandalous and seditious
pamphlet, entitled 'The shortest Way with the Dissenters:' he is a
middle-sized spare man, about 40 years old, of a brown complexion, and
dark-brown coloured hair, but wears a wig, a hooked nose, a sharp chin,
grey eyes, and a large mole near his mouth, was born in London, and for
many years was a hose-factor, in Freeman's Yard, in Cornhill, and now is
owner of the brick and pantile works near Tilbury Fort, in Essex;
whoever shall discover the said Daniel De Foe, to one of her Majesty's
Principal Secretaries of State, or any of her Majesty's Justices of
Peace, so as he may be apprehended, shall have a reward of 50_l_. which
her Majesty has ordered immediately to be paid upon such discovery."
_London Gaz_. No. 3679.]
This is one of those instances of injustice and malignity which so
frequently occur in the Dunciad, and which reflect more dishonour on the
author than on the parties traduced. De Foe lay friendless and
distressed in Newgate, his family ruined, and himself without hopes of
deliverance, till Sir Robert Harley, who approved of his principles, and
foresaw that during a factious age such a genius could be converted to
many uses, represented his unmerited sufferings to the Queen, and at
length procured his release. The treasurer, Lord Godolphin, also sent a
considerable sum to his wife and family, and to him money to pay his
fine and the expense of his discharge. Gratitude and fidelity are
inseparable from an honest man; and it was this benevolent act that
prompted De Foe to support Harley, with his able and ingenious pen, when
Anne lay lifeless, and his benefactor in the vicissitude of party was
persecuted by faction, and overpowered, though not conquered,
by violence.
The talents and perseverance of De Foe began now to be properly
estimated, and as a firm supporter of the administration, he was sent
by Lord Godolphin to Scotland, on an errand which, as he says, was far
from being unfit for a sovereign to direct, or an honest man to perform.
His knowledge of commerce and revenue, his powers of insinuation, and
above all, his readiness of pen, were deemed of no small utility, in
promoting the union of the two kingdoms; of which he wrote an able
history, in 1709, with two dedications, one to the Queen, and another to
the Duke of Queensbury. Soon afterwards he unhappily, by some equivocal
writings, rendered himself suspected by both parties, so that he once
more retired to Newington in hopes of spending the remainder of his days
in peace. His pension being withdrawn, and wearied with politics, he
began to compose works of a different kind.--The year 1715 may therefore
be regarded as the period of De Foe's political life. Faction henceforth
found other advocates, and parties procured other writers to disseminate
their suggestions, and to propagate their falsehoods.
In 1715 De Foe published the "Family Instructor;" a work inculcating the
domestic duties in a lively manner, by narration and dialogue, and
displaying much knowledge of life in the middle ranks of society.
"Religious Courtship" also appeared soon after, which, like the "Family
Instructor," is eminently religious and moral in its tendency, and
strongly impresses on the mind that spirit of sobriety and private
devotion for which the dissenters have generally been distinguished. The
most celebrated of all his works, "The Life and Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe," appeared in 1719. This work has passed through numerous
editions, and been translated into almost all modern languages. The
great invention which is displayed in it, the variety of incidents and
circumstances which it contains, related in the most easy and natural
manner, together with the excellency of the moral and religious
reflections, render it a performance of very superior and uncommon
merit, and one of the most interesting works that ever appeared. It is
strongly recommended by Rosseau as a book admirably calculated to
promote the purposes of natural education; and Dr. Blair says, "No
fiction, in any language, was ever better supported than the Adventures
of Robinson Crusoe. While it is carried on with that appearance of truth
and simplicity, which takes a strong hold of the imagination of all
readers, it suggests, at the same time, very useful instruction; by
shewing how much the native powers of man may be exerted for surmounting
the difficulties of any external situation." It has been pretended, that
De Foe surreptitiously appropriated the papers of Alexander Selkirk, a
Scotch mariner, who lived four years alone on the island of Juan
Fernandez, and a sketch of whose story had before appeared in the voyage
of Captain Woodes Rogers. But this charge, though repeatedly and
confidently brought, appears to be totally destitute of any foundation.
De Foe probably took some general hints for his work from the story of
Selkirk, but there exists no proof whatever, nor is it reasonable to
suppose that he possessed any of his papers or memoirs, which had been
published seven years before the appearance of Robinson Crusoe. As a
farther proof of De Foe's innocence, Captain Rogers's Account of Selkirk
may be produced, in which it is said that the latter had neither
preserved pen, ink, or paper, and had, in a great measure, lost his
language; consequently De Foe could not have received any written
assistance, and we have only the assertion of his enemies to prove that
he had any verbal.
The great success of Robinson Crusoe induced its author to write a
number of other lives and adventures, some of which were popular in
their times, though at present nearly forgotten. One of his latest
publications was "A Tour through the Island of Great Britain," a
performance of very inferior merit; but De Foe was now the garrulous old
man, and his spirit (to use the words of an ingenious biographer) "like
a candle struggling in the socket, blazed and sunk, blazed and sunk,
till it disappeared at length in total darkness." His laborious and
unfortunate life was finished on the 26th of April, 1731, in the parish
of St. Giles's, Cripplegate.
Daniel De Foe possessed very extraordinary talents; as a commercial
writer, he is fairly entitled to stand in the foremost rank among his
contemporaries, whatever may be their performances or their fame. His
distinguishing characteristics are originality, spirit, and a profound
knowledge of his subject, and in these particulars he has seldom been
surpassed. As the author of Robinson Crusoe he has a claim, not only to
the admiration, but to the gratitude of his countrymen; and so long as
we have a regard for supereminent merit, and take an interest in the
welfare of the rising generation, that gratitude will not cease to
exist. But the opinion of the learned and ingenious Dr. Beattie will be
the best eulogium that can be pronounced on that celebrated romance:
"Robinson Crusoe," says the Doctor, "must be allowed by the most rigid
moralist, to be one of those novels which one may read, not only with
pleasure, but also with profit. It breathes throughout a spirit of piety
and benevolence; it sets in a very striking light the importance of the
mechanic arts, which they, who know not what it is to be without them,
are so apt to undervalue; it fixes in the mind a lively idea of the
horrors of solitude, and, consequently, of the sweets of social life,
and of the blessings we derive from conversation and mutual aid; and it
shews, how, by labouring with one's own hands, one may secure
independence, and open for one's self many sources of health and
amusement. I agree, therefore, with Rosseau, that it is one of the best
books that can be put into the hands of children."
G.D.
THE
LIFE AND ADVENTURES
OF
ROBINSON CRUSOE,
&c. &c.
* * * * *
I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family,
though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who
settled first at Hull: he got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving
off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my
mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that
country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the
usual corruption of words in England, we are now called, nay we call
ourselves, and write our name Crusoe, and so my companions always
called me.
I had two elder brothers, one of which was lieutenant-colonel to an
English regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous
Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the
Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, any more than
my father or mother did know what was become of me.
Being the third son of the family, and not bred to any trade, my head
began to be filled very early with rambling thoughts: my father, who was
very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as
house education and a country free-school generally go, and designed me
for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea; and
my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay the
commands of my father, and against all the entreaties and persuasions of
my mother and other friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in
that propension of nature tending directly to the life of misery which
was to befal me.
My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel
against what he foresaw was my design. He called me one morning into his
chamber, where he was confined by the gout, and expostulated very warmly
with me upon this subject: he asked me what reasons more than a mere
wandering inclination I had for leaving my father's house and my native
country, where I might be well introduced, and had a prospect of raising
my fortune by application and industry, with a life of ease and
pleasure. He told me it was for men of desperate fortunes on one hand,
or of aspiring superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon
adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in
undertakings of a nature out of the common road; that these things were
all either too far above me, or too far below me; that mine was the
middle state, or what might be called the upper station of _low life_,
which he had found by long experience was the best state in the world,
the most suited to human happiness, not exposed to the miseries and
hardships, the labour and sufferings of the mechanic part of mankind,
and not embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy of the
upper part of mankind, he told me, I might judge of the happiness of
this state by this one thing, viz. that this was the state of life which
all other people envied; that kings have frequently lamented the
miserable consequences of being born to great things, and wish they had
been placed in the middle of the two extremes, between the mean and the
great; that the wise man gave his testimony to this as the just standard
of true felicity, when he prayed to have neither poverty nor riches.
He bid me observe it, and I should always find, that the calamities of
life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind; but that the
middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many
vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, they were not
subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses, either of body or
mind, as those were, who by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances,
on one hand, or by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean or
insufficient diet, on the other hand, bring distempers upon themselves
by the natural consequences of their way of living; that the middle
station of life was calculated for all kind of virtues and all kind of
enjoyments; that peace and plenty were the handmaids of a middle
fortune; that temperance, moderation, quietness, health, society, all
agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were the blessings
attending the middle station of life; that this way men went silently
and smoothly through the world, and comfortably out of it, not
embarrassed with the labours of the hands or of the head, not sold to
the life of slavery for daily bread, or harassed with perplexed
circumstances, which rob the soul of peace, and the body of rest; not
enraged with the passion of envy, or secret burning lust of ambition for
great things; but in easy circumstances sliding gently through the
world, and sensibly tasting the sweets of living, without the bitter,
feeling that they are happy, and learning by every day's experience to
know it more sensibly.
After this, he pressed me earnestly, and in the most affectionate
manner, not to play the young man, not to precipitate myself into
miseries which nature and the station of life I was born in seemed to
have provided against; that I was under no necessity of seeking my
bread; that he would do well for me, and endeavour to enter me fairly
into the station of life which he had been just recommending to me; and
that if I was not very easy and happy in the world, it must be my mere
fate or fault that must hinder it, and that he should have nothing to
answer for, having thus discharged his duty in warning me against
measures which he knew would be to my hurt: in a word, that as he would
do very kind things for me if I would stay and settle at home as he
directed, so he would not have so much hand in my misfortunes, as to
give me any encouragement to go away: and to close all, he told me I had
my elder brother for an example, to whom he had used the same earnest
persuasions to keep him from going into the Low Country wars, but could
not prevail, his young desires prompting him to run into the army, where
he was killed; and though he said he would not cease to pray for me, yet
he would venture to say to me, that if I did take this foolish step, God
would not bless me, and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon
having neglected his counsel when there might be none to assist in
my recovery.
I observed in this last part of his discourse, which was truly
prophetic, though I suppose my father did not know it to be so himself;
I say, I observed the tears run down his face very plentifully, and
especially when he spoke of my brother who was killed; and that when he
spoke of my having leisure to repent, and none to assist me, he was so
moved, that he broke off the discourse, and told me, his heart was so
full he could say no more to me.
I was sincerely affected with this discourse, as indeed who could be
otherwise? and I resolved not to think of going abroad any more, but to
settle at home according to my father's desire. But, alas! a few days
wore it all off; and in short, to prevent any of my father's farther
importunities, in a few weeks after I resolved to run quite away from
him. However, I did not act so hastily neither as my first heat of
resolution prompted, but I took my mother, at a time when I thought her
a little pleasanter than ordinary, and told her, that my thoughts were
so entirely bent upon seeing the world, that I should never settle to
any thing with resolution enough to go through with it, and my father
had better give me his consent than force me to go without it; that I
was now eighteen years old, which was too late to go apprentice to a
trade, or clerk to an attorney; that I was sure, if I did, I should
never serve out my time, and I should certainly run away from my master
before my time was out, and go to sea; and if she would speak to my
father to let me go one voyage abroad, if I came home again, and did not
like it, I would go no more, and I would promise by a double diligence
to recover that time I had lost.
This put my mother into a great passion: she told me, she knew it would
be to no purpose to speak to my father upon any such subject; that he
knew too well what was my interest to give his consent to any such thing
so much for my hurt; and that she wondered how I could think of any such
thing after such a discourse as I had had with my father, and such kind
and tender expressions as she knew my father had used to me; and that,
in short, if I would ruin myself, there was no help for me; but I might
depend I should never have their consent to it: that for her part she
would not have so much hand in my destruction; and I should never have
it to say, that my mother was willing when my father was not.
Though my mother refused to move it to my father, yet, as I have heard
afterwards, she reported all the discourse to him, and that my father,
after shewing a great concern at it, said to her with a sigh, "That boy
might be happy if he would stay at home; but if he goes abroad, he will
be the most miserable wretch that was ever born; I can give no
consent to it."
It was not till almost a year after this that I broke loose, though, in
the meantime, I continued obstinately deaf to all proposals of settling
to business, and frequently expostulating with my father and mother
about their being so positively determined against what they knew my
inclinations prompted me to. But being one day at Hull, where I went
casually, and without any purpose of making an elopement that time; but
I say, being there, and one of my companions being going by sea to
London, in his father's ship, and prompting me to go with them, with the
common allurement of seafaring men, viz. that it should cost me nothing
for my passage, I consulted neither father or mother any more, not so
much as sent them word of it; but leaving them to hear of it as they
might, without asking God's blessing, or my father's, without any
consideration of circumstances or consequences, and in an ill hour, God
knows, on the first of September, 1651, I went on board a ship bound for
London. Never any young adventurer's misfortunes, I believe, began
sooner, or continued longer than mine. The ship was no sooner gotten out
of the Humber, but the wind began to blow, and the waves to rise in a
most frightful manner; and, as I had never been at sea before, I was
most inexpressibly sick in body, and terrified in mind. I began now
seriously to reflect upon what I had done, and how justly I was
overtaken by the judgment of Heaven for my wicked leaving my father's
house, and abandoning my duty; all the good counsel of my parents, my
father's tears and my mother's entreaties, came now fresh into my mind;
and my conscience, which was not yet come to the pitch of hardness to
which it has been since, reproached me with the contempt of advice, and
the breach of my duty to God and my father.
All this while the storm increased, and the sea, which I had never been
upon before, went very high, though nothing like what I have seen many
times since; no, nor like what I saw a few days after: but it was enough
to affect me then, who was but a young sailor, and had never known any
thing of the matter. I expected every wave would have swallowed us up,
and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought, in the trough or
hollow of the sea, we should never rise more; and in this agony of mind
I made many vows and resolutions, that if it would please God here to
spare my life this one voyage, if ever I got once my foot upon dry land
again I would go directly home to my father, and never set it into a
ship again while I lived; that I would take his advice, and never run
myself into such miseries as these any more. Now I saw plainly the
goodness of his observations about the middle station of life, how easy,
how comfortably he had lived all his days, and never had been exposed to
tempests at sea, or troubles on shore; and I resolved that I would, like
a true repenting prodigal, go home to my father.
These wise and sober thoughts continued all the while the storm
continued, and indeed some time after; but the next day the wind was
abated, and the sea calmer, and I began to be a little inured to it:
however, I was very grave for all that day, being also a little sea-sick
still; but towards night the weather cleared up, the wind was quite
over, and a charming fine evening followed; the sun went down perfectly
clear, and rose so the next morning; and having little or no wind, and a
smooth sea, the sun shining upon it, the sight was, as I thought, the
most delightful that ever I saw.
I had slept well in the night, and was now no more sea-sick, but very
cheerful, looking with wonder upon the sea that was so rough and
terrible the day before, and could be so calm and so pleasant in so
little time after. And now, lest my good resolutions should continue, my
companion, who had indeed enticed me away, comes to me: "Well, Bob,"
says he, (clapping me upon the shoulder) "how do you do after it? I
warrant you were frighted, wa'n't you, last night, when it blew but a
capful of wind?"--"A capful do you call it?" said I; "it was a terrible
storm."--"A storm you fool you," replied he, "do you call that a storm?
why it was nothing at all; give us but a good ship and sea-room, and we
think nothing of such a squall of wind as that; but you're but a
fresh-water sailor, Bob. Come, let us make a bowl of punch, and we'll
forget all that; do you see what charming weather it is now?" To make
short this sad part of my story, we went the old way of all sailors; the
punch was made, and I was made drunk with it; and in that one night's
wickedness I drowned all my repentance, all my reflections upon my past
conduct, and all my resolutions for my future. In a word, as the sea was
returned to its smoothness of surface and settled calmness by the
abatement of that storm, so the hurry of my thoughts being over, my
fears and apprehensions of being swallowed up by the sea being
forgotten, and the current of my former desires returned, I entirely
forgot the vows and promises that I made in my distress. I found,
indeed, some intervals of reflection, and the serious thoughts did, as
it were, endeavour to return again sometimes; but I shook them off, and
roused myself from them as it were from a distemper, and applying myself
to drinking and company, soon mastered the return of those fits, for so
I called them; and I had in five or six days got as complete a victory
over conscience, as any young fellow that resolved not to be troubled
with it could desire: but I was to have another trial for it still; and
Providence, as in such cases generally it does, resolved to leave me
entirely without excuse: for if I would not take this for a deliverance,
the next was to be such a one as the worst and most hardened wretch
among us would confess both the danger and the mercy.
The sixth day of our being at sea we came into Yarmouth Roads; the wind
having been contrary, and the weather calm, we had made but little way
since the storm. Here we were obliged to come to anchor, and here we
lay, the wind continuing contrary, viz. at south-west, for seven or
eight days, during which time a great many ships from Newcastle came
into the same roads, as the common harbour where the ships might wait
for a wind for the river.
We had not, however, rid here so long, but should have tided it up the
river, but that the wind blew too fresh; and after we had lain four or
five days, blew very hard. However, the roads being reckoned as good as
a harbour, the anchorage good, and our ground tackle very strong, our
men were unconcerned, and not in the least apprehensive of danger, but
spent the time in rest and mirth, after the manner of the sea; but the
eighth day in the morning the wind increased, and we had all hands at
work to strike our topmasts, and make every thing snug and close, that
the ship might ride as easy as possible. By noon the sea went very high
indeed, and our ship rid _forecastle in_, shipped several seas, and we
thought once or twice our anchor had come home; upon which our master
ordered out the sheet anchor; so that we rode with two anchors ahead,
and the cables veered out to the better end.
By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed; and now I began to see
terror and amazement in the faces even of the seamen themselves. The
master, though vigilant in the business of preserving the ship, yet as
he went in and out of his cabin by me, I could hear him softly to
himself say several times, "Lord be merciful to us! we shall be all
lost, we shall be all undone!" and the like. During these first hurries
I was stupid, lying still in my cabin, which was in the steerage, and
cannot describe my temper: I could ill reassume the first penitence
which I had so apparently trampled upon, and hardened myself against: I
thought the bitterness of death had been past, and that this would be
nothing like the first: but when the master himself came by me, as I
said just now, and said we should be all lost, I was dreadfully
frighted: I got up out of my cabin, and looked out; but such a dismal
sight I never saw; the sea went mountains high, and broke upon us every
three or four minutes: when I could look about, I could see nothing but
distress round us: two ships that rid near us, we found, had cut their
masts by the board, being deep loaden; and our men cried out, that a
ship which rid about a mile ahead of us was foundered. Two more ships
being driven from their anchors, were run out of the roads to sea, at
all adventures, and that with not a mast standing. The light ships fared
the best, as not so much labouring in the sea; but two or three of them
drove, and came close by us, running away with only their sprit-sail out
before the wind.
Towards evening the mate and boatswain begged the master of our ship to
let them cut away the fore-mast, which he was very unwilling to do: but
the boatswain protesting to him, that if he did not, the ship would
founder, he consented; and when they had cut away the fore-mast, the
main-mast stood so loose, and shook the ship so much, they were obliged
to cut her away also, and make a clear deck.
Any one may judge what a condition I must be in at all this, who was but
a young sailor, and who had been in such a fright before at but a
little. But if I can express at this distance the thoughts I had about
me at that time, I was in tenfold more horror of mind upon account of my
former convictions, and the having returned from them to the resolutions
I had wickedly taken at first, than I was at death itself; and these,
added to the terror of the storm, put me in such a condition, that I can
by no words describe it. But the worst was not come yet; the storm
continued with such fury, that the seamen themselves acknowledged they
had never known a worse. We had a good ship, but she was deep loaden,
and wallowed in the sea, that the seamen every now and then cried out,
she would founder. It was my advantage in one respect, that I did not
know what they meant by founder till I inquired. However, the storm was
so violent, that I saw what is not often seen, the master, the
boatswain, and some others more sensible than the rest, at their
prayers, and expecting every moment when the ship would go to the
bottom. In the middle of the night, and under all the rest of our
distresses, one of the men that had been down on purpose to see, cried
out, we had sprang a leak; another said, there was four foot water in
the hold. Then all hands were called to the pump. At that very word my
heart, as I thought, died within me, and I fell backwards upon the side
of my bed where I sat, into the cabin. However, the men roused me, and
told me, that I that was able to do nothing before, was as well able to
pump as another; at which I stirred up, and went to the pump and worked
very heartily. While this was doing, the master seeing some light
colliers, who, not able to ride out the storm, were obliged to slip and
run away to sea, and would come near us, ordered to fire a gun as a
signal of distress. I, who knew nothing what that meant, was so
surprised, that I thought the ship had broke, or some dreadful thing
happened. In a word, I was so surprised, that I fell down in a swoon. As
this was a time when every body had his own life to think of, nobody
minded me, or what was become of me; but another man stept up to the
pump, and thrusting me aside with his foot, let me lie, thinking I had
been dead; and it was a great while before I came to myself.
We worked on; but the water increasing in the hold, it was apparent that
the ship would founder; and though the storm began to abate a little;
yet as it was not possible she could swim till we might run into a port,
so the master continued firing guns for help; and a light ship, who had
rid it out just ahead of us, ventured a boat out to help us. It was with
the utmost hazard the boat came near us, but it was impossible for as to
get on board, or for the boat to lie near the ship's side, till at last
the men rowing very heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours,
our men cast them a rope over the stern with a buoy to it, and then
veered it out a great length, which they after great labour and hazard
took hold of, and we hauled them close under our stern, and got all into
their boat. It was to no purpose for them or us, after we were in the
boat, to think of reaching to their own ship; so all agreed to let her
drive, and only to pull her in towards shore as much as we could; and
our master promised them, that if the boat was staved upon shore he
would make it good to their master: so partly rowing and partly driving,
our boat went away to the northward, sloping towards the shore almost as
far as Winterton-Ness.
We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship but we
saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by
a ship foundering in the sea. I must acknowledge I had hardly eyes to
look up when the seamen told me she was sinking; for from that moment
they rather put me into the boat, than that I might be said to go in; my
heart was, as it were, dead within me, partly with fright, partly with
horror of mind, and the thoughts of what was yet before me.
While we were in this condition, the men yet labouring at the oar to
bring the boat near the shore, we could see, when our boat mounting the
waves we were able to see the shore, a great many people running along
the shore to assist us when we should come near; but we made but slow
way towards the shore, nor were we able to reach the shore, till being
past the light-house at Winterton, the shore falls off to the westward
towards Cromer, and so the land broke off a little the violence of the
wind. Here we got in, and, though not without much difficulty, got all
safe on shore, and walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth, where, as
unfortunate men, we were used with great humanity, as well by the
magistrates of the town, who assigned us good quarters, as by particular
merchants and owners of ships, and had money given us sufficient to
carry us either to London or back to Hull, as we thought fit.
Had I now had the sense to have gone back to Hull, and have gone home, I
had been happy, and my father, an emblem of our blessed Saviour's
parable, had even killed the fatted calf for me; for hearing the ship I
went away in was cast away in Yarmouth Roads, it was a great while
before he had any assurance that I was not drowned.
But my ill fate pushed me on now with an obstinacy that nothing could
resist; and though I had several times loud calls from my reason and my
more composed judgment to go home, yet I had no power to do it. I know
not what to call this, nor will I urge that it is a secret over-ruling
decree that hurries us on to be the instruments of our own destruction,
even though it be before us, and that we push upon it with our eyes
open. Certainly nothing but some such decreed unavoidable misery
attending, and which it was impossible for me to escape, could have
pushed me forward against the calm reasonings and persuasions of my most
retired thoughts, and against two such visible instructions as I had met
with in my first attempt.
My comrade, who had helped to harden me before, and who was the master's
son, was now less forward than I. The first time he spoke to me after we
were at Yarmouth, which was not till two or three days, for we were
separated in the town to several quarters; I say, the first time he saw
me, it appeared his tone was altered, and looking very melancholy, and
shaking his head, asked me how I did, and telling his father who I was,
and how I had come this voyage only for a trial, in order to go farther
abroad; his father turning to me with a very grave and concerned tone,
"Young man," says he, "you ought never to go to sea any more; you ought
to take this for a plain and visible token that you are not to be a
seafaring man."--"Why, Sir," said I, "will you go to sea no more?" "That
is another case," said he; "it is my calling, and therefore my duty; but
as you made this voyage for a trial, you see what a taste Heaven has
given you of what you are to expect if you persist: perhaps this is all
befallen us on your account, like Jonah in the ship of Tarshish. Pray,"
continues he, "what are you? and on what account did you go to sea?"
Upon that I told him some of my story; at the end of which he burst out
with a strange kind of passion; "What had I done," says he, "that such
an unhappy wretch should come into my ship? I would not set my foot in
the same ship with thee again for a thousand pounds." This indeed was,
as I said, an excursion of his spirits, which were yet agitated by the
sense of his loss, and was farther than he could have authority to go.
However, he afterwards talked very gravely to me, exhorted me to go back
to my father, and not tempt Providence to my ruin; told me I might see a
visible hand of Heaven against me. "And young man," said he, "depend
upon it, if you do not go back, wherever you go, you will meet with
nothing but disasters and disappointments, till your father's words are
fulfilled upon you."
We parted soon after; for I made him little answer, and I saw him no
more: which way he went, I know not. As for me, having some money in my
pocket, I travelled to London by land; and there, as well as on the
road, had many struggles with myself, what course of life I should take,
and whether I should go home, or go to sea.
As to going home, shame opposed the best motions that offered to my
thoughts; and it immediately occurred to me how I should be laughed at
among the neighbours, and should be ashamed to see, not my father and
mother only, but even every body else; from whence I have since often
observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind
is, especially of youth, to that reason which ought to guide them in
such cases, viz. that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed
to repent; nor ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be
esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which only can make
them be esteemed wise men.
In this state of life however I remained some time, uncertain what
measures to take, and what course of life to lead. An irresistible
reluctance continued to going home; and as I stayed a while, the
remembrance of the distress I had been in wore off; and as that abated,
the little motion I had in my desires to a return wore off with it, till
at last I quite laid aside the thoughts of it, and looked out for
a voyage.
That evil influence which carried me first away from my father's house,
that hurried me into the wild and indigested notion of raising my
fortune; and that impressed those conceits so forcibly upon me, as to
make me deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties and even the
command of my father: I say, the same influence, whatever it was,
presented the most unfortunate of all enterprises to my view; and I went
on board a vessel bound to the coast of Africa; or, as our sailors
vulgarly call it, a voyage to Guinea.
It was my great misfortune that in all these adventures I did not ship
myself as a sailor; whereby, though I might indeed have worked a little
harder than ordinary, yet at the same time I had learnt the duty and
office of a foremastman; and in time might have qualified myself for a
mate or lieutenant, if not for a master. But as it was always my fate to
choose for the worse, so I did here; for having money in my pocket, and
good clothes upon my back, I would always go on board in the habit of a
gentleman; and so I neither had any business in the ship, or learnt
to do any.
It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good company in London,
which does not always happen to such loose and unguided young fellows as
I then was; the devil generally not omitting to lay some snare for them
very early: but it was not so with me. I first fell acquainted with the
master of a ship who had been on the coast of Guinea; and who, having
had very good success there, was resolved to go again; and who taking a
fancy to my conversation, which was not at all disagreeable at that
time, hearing me say I had a mind to see the world, told me if I would
go the voyage with him I should be at no expense; I should be his
messmate and his companion; and if I could carry any thing with me, I
should have all the advantage of it that the trade would admit; and
perhaps I might meet with some encouragement.
I embraced the offer; and entering into a strict friendship with this
captain, who was an honest and plain-dealing man, I went the voyage with
him, and carried a small adventure with me, which, by the disinterested
honesty of my friend the captain, I increased very considerably; for I
carried about 40_l_. in such toys and trifles as the captain directed me
to buy. This 40_l_. I had mustered together by the assistance of some of
my relations whom I corresponded with, and who, I believe, got my
father, or at least my mother, to contribute so much as that to my first
adventure.
This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my
adventures, and which I owe to the integrity and honesty of my friend
the captain, under whom also I got a competent knowledge of the
mathematics and the rules of navigation, learnt how to keep an account
of the ship's course, take an observation, and, in short, to understand
some things that were needful to be understood by a sailor: for, as he
took delight to instruct me, I took delight to learn; and, in a word,
this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant: for I brought home
five pounds nine ounces of gold-dust for my adventure, which yielded me
in London at my return almost 300_l_. and this filled me with those
aspiring thoughts which have so completed my ruin.
Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too; particularly, that I
was continually sick, being thrown into a violent calenture by the
excessive heat of the climate; our principal trading being upon the
coast, from the latitude of 15 degrees north even to the line itself.
I was now set up for a Guinea trader; and my friend, to my great
misfortune, dying soon after his arrival, I resolved to go the same
voyage again, and I embarked in the same vessel with one who was his
mate in the former voyage, and had now got the command of the ship. This
was the unhappiest voyage that ever man made; for though I did not
carry quite 100_l_. of my new-gained wealth, so that I had 200_l_. left,
and which I lodged with my friend's widow, who was very just to me, yet
I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage; and the first was this,
viz. our ship making her course towards the Canary Islands, or rather
between those islands and the African shore, was surprised in the grey
of the morning by a Turkish rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with
all the sail she could make. We crowded also as much canvass as our
yards would spread, or our masts carry, to have got clear; but finding
the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us in a few
hours, we prepared to fight; our ship having twelve guns, and the rogue
eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came up with us, and bringing
to by mistake just athwart our quarter, instead of athwart our stern, as
he intended, we brought eight of our guns to bear on that side, and
poured in a broadside upon him, which made him sheer off again, after
returning our fire, and pouring in also his small-shot from near 200 men
which he had on board. However, we had not a man touched, all our men
keeping close. He prepared to attack us again, and we to defend
ourselves; but laying us on board the next time upon our other quarter,
he entered sixty men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and
hacking the decks and rigging. We plied them with small-shot,
half-pikes, powder-cheats, and such like, and cleared our deck of them
twice. However, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship
being disabled, and three of our men killed and eight wounded, we were
obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Sallee, a port
belonging to the Moors.
The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I apprehended; nor
was I carried up the country to the emperor's court, as the rest of our
men were, but was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize,
and made his slave, being young and nimble, and fit for his business. At
this surprising change of my circumstances, from a merchant to a
miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed; and now I looked back upon
my father's prophetic discourse to me, that I should be miserable, and
have none to relieve me, which I thought was now so effectually brought
to pass, that I could not be worse; that now the hand of Heaven had
overtaken me, and I was undone without redemption: but, alas! this was
but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will appear in the
sequel of this story.
As my new patron, or master, had taken me home to his house, so I was in
hopes that he would take me with him when he went to sea again,
believing that it would sometime or other be his fate to be taken by a
Spanish or Portugal man of war, and that then I should be set at
liberty. But this hope of mine was soon taken away; for when he went to
sea, he left me on shore to look after his little garden, and do the
common drudgery of slaves about his house; and when he came home again
from his cruise, he ordered me to be in the cabin to look after
the ship.
Here I meditated nothing but my escape, and what method I might take to
effect it, but found no way that had the least probability in it:
nothing presented to make the supposition of it rational; for I had
nobody to communicate it to that would embark with me, no fellow slave,
no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotsman there but myself; so that for two
years, though I often pleased myself with the imagination, yet I never
had the least encouraging prospect of putting it in practice.
After about two years an odd circumstance presented itself, which put
the old thought of making some attempt for my liberty again in my head:
my patron lying at home longer than usual without fitting out his ship,
which, as I heard, was for want of money, he used constantly, once or
twice a week, sometimes oftener, if the weather was fair, to take the
ship's pinnace, and go out into the road a-fishing; and as he always
took me and a young Maresco with him to row the boat, we made him very
merry, and I proved very dexterous in catching fish; insomuch that
sometimes he would send me with a Moor, one of his kinsmen, and the
youth the Maresco, as they called him, to catch a dish of fish for him.
It happened one time, that going a-fishing in a stark calm morning, a
fog rose so thick, that though we were not half a league from the shore
we lost sight of it; and rowing we knew not whither or which way, we
laboured all day, and all the next night, and when the morning came we
found we had pulled off to sea instead of pulling in for the shore; and
that we were at least two leagues from the shore: however, we got well
in again, though with a great deal of labour and some danger; for the
wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning; but particularly we were
all very hungry.
But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved to take more care of
himself for the future; and having lying by him the long-boat of our
English ship he had taken, he resolved he would not go a-fishing any
more without a compass and some provision; so he ordered the carpenter
of his ship, who also was an English slave, to build a little
state-room, or cabin, in the middle of the long-boat, like that of a
barge, with a place to stand behind it to steer and hale home the
main-sheet; and room before for a hand or two to stand and work the
sails: she sailed with that we call a shoulder of mutton sail; and the
boom gibed over the top of the cabin, which lay very snug and low, and
had in it room for him to lie, with a slave or two, and a table to eat
on, with some small lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor as he
thought fit to drink; particularly his bread, rice, and coffee.
We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing, and as I was most
dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me. It happened
that he had appointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for
fish, with two or three Moors of some distinction in that place, and for
whom he had provided extraordinarily, and had therefore sent on board
the boat over-night a larger store of provisions than ordinary; and had
ordered me to get ready three fuzees with powder and shot, which were on
board his ship; for that they designed some sport of fowling as well
as fishing.
I got all things ready as he had directed, and waited the next morning
with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out, and every
thing to accommodate his guests; when by and by my patron came on board
alone, and told me his guests had put off going, upon some business that
fell out, and ordered me with the man and boy, as usual, to go out with
the boat and catch them some fish, for that his friends were to sup at
his house; and commanded that as soon as I got some fish I should bring
it home to his house; all which I prepared to do.
This moment my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts,
for now I found I was like to have a little ship at my command; and my
master being gone, I prepared to furnish myself, not for fishing
business, but for a voyage; though I knew not, neither did I so much as
consider, whither I should steer; for any where to get out of that place
was my way.
My first contrivance was to make a pretence to speak to this Moor, to
get something for our subsistence on board; for I told him we must not
presume to eat of our patron's bread; he said, that was true: so he
brought a large basket of rusk or bisket of their kind, and three jars
with fresh water, into the boat. I knew where my patron's case of
bottles stood, which it was evident, by the make, were taken out of some
English prize, and I conveyed them into the boat while the Moor was on
shore, as if they had been there before for our master: I conveyed also
a great lump of bees-wax into the boat, which weighed above half a
hundred weight, with a parcel of twine or thread, a hatchet, a saw, and
a hammer, all which were of great use to us afterwards, especially the
wax to make candles. Another trick I tried upon him, which he innocently
came into also; his name was Ismael, whom they call Muly or Moley; so I
called to him: "Moley," said I, "our patron's guns are on board the
boat; can you not get a little powder and shot? It may be we may kill
some alcamies (a fowl like our curlews) for ourselves, for I know he
keeps the gunner's stores in the ship."--"Yes," says he, "I'll bring
some;" and accordingly he brought a great leather pouch which held about
a pound and a half of powder, or rather more; and another with shot,
that had five or six pounds, with some bullets, and put all into the
boat; at the same time I had found some powder of my master's in the
great cabin, with which I filled one of the large bottles in the case,
which was almost empty, pouring what was in it into another; and thus
furnished with every thing needful, we sailed out of the port to fish.
The castle, which is at the entrance of the port, knew who we were, and
took no notice of us: and we were not above a mile out of the port
before we haled in our sail, and set us down to fish. The wind blew from
the N.N.E. which was contrary to my desire; for had it blown southerly,
I had been sure to have made the coast of Spain, and at last reached to
the bay of Cadiz; but my resolutions were, blow which way it would, I
would be gone from that horrid place where I was, and leave the rest
to fate.
After we had fished some time and catched nothing, for when I had fish
on my hook I would not pull them up, that he might not see them, I said
to the Moor, "This will not do; our master will not be thus served; we
must stand farther off." He, thinking no harm, agreed, and being in the
head of the boat set the sails; and as I had the helm I ran the boat out
near a league farther, and then brought her to as if I would fish; when
giving the boy the helm, I stepped forward to where the Moor was, and
making as if I stooped for something behind him, I took him by surprise
with my arm under his twist, and tossed him clear overboard into the
sea; he rose immediately, for he swam like a cork, and called to me,
begged to be taken in, told me he would go all over the world with me.
He swam so strong after the boat, that he would have reached me very
quickly, there being but little wind; upon which I stepped into the
cabin, and fetching one of the fowling-pieces, I presented it at him,
and told him, I had done him no hurt, and if he would be quiet I would
do him none: "But," said I, "you swim well enough to reach to the shore,
and the sea is calm; make the best of your way to shore, and I will do
you no harm; but if you come near the boat I'll shoot you through the
head, for I am resolved to have my liberty:" so he turned himself about,
and swam for the shore, and I make no doubt but he reached it with ease,
for he was an excellent swimmer.
I could have been content to have taken this Moor with me, and have
drowned the boy, but there was no venturing to trust him. When he was
gone I turned to the boy, whom they called Xury, and said to him, "Xury,
if you will be faithful to me I'll make you a great man; but if you will
not stroke your face to be true to me," that is, swear by Mahomet and
his father's beard, "I must throw you into the sea too." The boy smiled
in my face, and spoke so innocently, that I could not mistrust him; and
swore to be faithful to me, and go all over the world with me.
While I was in view of the Moor that was swimming, I stood out directly
to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that they might
think me gone towards the Straits' mouth; (as indeed any one that had
been in their wits must have been supposed to do) for who would have
supposed we were sailed on to the southward to the truly Barbarian
coast, where whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with the
canoes, and destroy us; where we could never once go on shore but we
should be devoured by savage beasts, or more merciless savages of
human kind?
But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course, and
steered directly south and by east, bending my course a little toward
the east, that I might keep in with the shore; and having a fair, fresh
gale of wind, and a smooth, quiet sea, I made such sail that I believe
by the next day at three o'clock in the afternoon, when I first made the
land, I could not be less than 150 miles south of Sallee; quite beyond
the Emperor of Morocco's dominions, or indeed of any other king
thereabouts, for we saw no people.
Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful
apprehensions I had of falling into their hands, that I would not stop,
or go on shore, or come to an anchor; the wind continuing fair till I
had sailed in that manner five days, and then the wind shifting to the
southward, I concluded also that if any of our vessels were in chase of
me, they also would now give over; so I ventured to make to the coast,
and come to an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what,
or where; neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or what
river: I neither saw, or desired to see any people; the principal thing
I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening,
resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the
country; but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard, such dreadful
noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild creatures, of we
knew not what kinds that the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and
begged of me not to go on shore till day. "Well, Xury," said I, "then I
won't; but it may be we may see men by day, who will be as bad to us as
those lions."--"Then we give them the shoot gun," says Xury, laughing,
"make them run wey." Such English Xury spoke by conversing among us
slaves. However, I was glad to see the boy so cheerful, and I gave him a
dram (out of our patron's case of bottles) to cheer him up. After all,
Xury's advice was good, and I took it; we dropped our little anchor, and
lay still all night; I say still, for we slept none; for in two or three
hours we saw vast great creatures (we knew not what to call them) of
many sorts, come down to the sea-shore and run into the water, wallowing
and washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling themselves; and they
made such hideous howlings and yellings, that I never indeed heard
the like.
Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed so was I too; but we were both
more frighted when we heard one of these mighty creatures come swimming
towards our boat; we could not see him, but we might hear him by his
blowing to be a monstrous huge and furious beast; Xury said it was a
lion, and it might be so for aught I know; but poor Xury cried to me to
weigh the anchor and row away: "No," says I, "Xury; we can slip our
cable with the buoy to it, and go off to sea; they cannot follow us
far." I had no sooner said so, but I perceived the creature (whatever it
was) within two oars' length, which something surprised me; however, I
immediately stepped to the cabin-door, and taking up my gun fired at
him; upon which he immediately turned about, and swam towards the
shore again.
But it is impossible to describe the horrible noises, and hideous cries
and howlings, that were raised, as well upon the edge of the shore as
higher within the country, upon the noise or report of the gun, a thing
I have some reason to believe those creatures had never heard before:
this convinced me that there was no going on shore for us in the night
upon that coast, and how to venture on shore in the day was another
question too; for to have fallen into the hands of any of the savages,
had been as bad as to have fallen into the hands of lions and tigers; at
least we were equally apprehensive of the danger of it.
Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on shore somewhere or other
for water, for we had not a pint left in the boat; when or where to get
it, was the point: Xury said, if I would let him go on shore with one of
the jars, he would find if there was any water, and bring some to me. I
asked him why he would go? why I should not go, and he stay in the
boat? The boy answered with so much affection, that made me love him
ever after. Says he, "If wild mans come, they eat me, you go
wey."--"Well, Xury," said I, "we will both go, and if the wild mans
come, we will kill them, they shall eat neither of us." So I gave Xury a
piece of rusk bread to eat, and a dram out of our patron's case of
bottles which I mentioned before; and we haled the boat in as near the
shore as we thought was proper, and waded on shore; carrying nothing but
our arms, and two jars for water.
I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the coming of
canoes with savages down the river; but the boy seeing a low place about
a mile up the country, rambled to it; and by and by I saw him come
running towards me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, or frighted
with some wild beast, and I run forward towards him to help him; but
when I came nearer to him, I saw something hanging over his shoulders,
which was a creature that he had shot, like a hare, but different in
colour, and longer legs; however, we were very glad of it, and it was
very good meat; but the great joy that poor Xury came with, was to tell
me that he had found good water, and seen no wild mans.
But we found afterwards that we need not take such pains for water, for
a little higher up the creek where we were, we found the water fresh
when the tide was out, which flows but a little way up; so we filled our
jars, and feasted on the hare we had killed, and prepared to go on our
way, having seen no footsteps of any human creature in that part of
the country.
As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I knew very well that the
islands of the Canaries, and the Cape de Verd islands also, lay not far
off from the coast. But as I had no instruments to take an observation
to know what latitude we were in, and not exactly knowing, or at least
remembering what latitude they were in, and knew not where to look for
them, or when to stand off to sea towards them; otherwise I might now
easily have found some of these islands. But my hope was, that if I
stood along this coast till I came to that part where the English
traded, I should find some of their vessels upon their usual design of
trade, that would relieve and take us in.
By the best of my calculation, that place where I now was, must be that
country, which, lying between the emperor of Morocco's dominions and the
Negroes, lies waste, and uninhabited, except by wild beasts; the Negroes
having abandoned it, and gone farther south for fear of the Moors; and
the Moors not thinking it worth inhabiting, by reason of its barrenness;
and indeed both forsaking it because of the prodigious numbers of
tigers, lions, leopards, and other furious creatures which harbour
there; so that the Moors use it for their hunting only, where they go
like an army, two or three thousand men at a time; and indeed for near
an hundred miles together upon this coast, we saw nothing but a waste
uninhabited country by day, and heard nothing but howlings and roaring
of wild beasts by night.
Once or twice in the daytime. I thought I saw the Pico of Teneriffe,
being the high top of the Mountain Teneriffe in the Canaries; and had a
great mind to venture out in hopes of reaching thither; but having tried
twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds, the sea also going too
high for my little vessel; so I resolved to pursue my first design, and
keep along the shore.
Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water, after we had left
this place; and once in particular, being early in the morning, we came
to an anchor under a little point of land which was pretty high; and the
tide beginning to flow, we lay still to go farther in. Xury, whose eyes
were more about him than it seems mine were, calls softly to me, and
tells me that we had best go farther off the shore; "for," says he,
"look yonder lies a dreadful monster on the side of that hillock fast
asleep." I looked where he pointed, and saw a dreadful monster indeed,
for it was a terrible great lion that lay on the side of the shore,
under the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as it were a little
over him. "Xury," says I, "you shall go on shore and kill him." Xury
looked frighted, and said, "Me kill! he eat me at one mouth;" one
mouthful he meant: however, I said no more to the boy, but had him lie
still, and I took our biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and
loaded it with a good charge of powder, and with two slugs, and laid it
down; then I loaded another gun with two bullets; and the third, for we
had three pieces, I loaded with five smaller bullets. I took the best
aim I could with the first piece, to have shot him into the head, but he
lay so with his leg raised a little above his nose, that the slugs hit
his leg about the knee, and broke the bone. He started up growling at
first, but finding his leg broke fell down again, and then got up upon
three legs, and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard. I was a
little surprised that I had not hit him on the head; however, I look up
the second piece immediately, and, though he began to move off, fired
again, and shot him into the head, and had the pleasure to see him drop,
and make but little noise, but he struggling for life. Then Xury took
Heart, and would have me let him go on shore: "Well, go," said I; so the
boy jumped into the water, and taking a little gun in one hand, swam to
shore with the other hand, and coming close to the creature, put the
muzzle of the piece to his ear, and shot him into the head again, which
dispatched him quite.
This was game indeed to us, but this was no food; and I was very sorry
to lose three charges of powder and shot upon a creature that was good
for nothing to us. However, Xury said he would have some of him; so he
comes on board, and asked me to give him the hatchet. "For what, Xury?"
said I, "Me cut off his head," said he. However, Xury could not cut off
his head, but he cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a
monstrous great one.
I bethought myself however, that perhaps the skin of him might one way
or other be of some value to us; and I resolved to take off his skin if
I could. So Xury and I went to work with him; but Xury was much the
better workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it. Indeed it took
us up both the whole day, but at last we got off the hide of him, and
spreading it on the top of our cabin, the sun effectually dried it in
two days time, and it afterwards served me to lie upon.
After this stop, we made on to the southward continually for ten or
twelve days, living very sparing on our provisions, which began to abate
very much, and going no oftener into the shore than we were obliged to
for fresh water: my design in this was, to make the river Gambia or
Senegal, that is to say, any where about the Cape de Verd, where I was
in hopes to meet with some European ship; and if I did not, I knew not
what course I had to take, but to seek for the islands, or perish there
among the Negroes. I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sailed
either to the coast of Guinea or Brasil, or to the East Indies, made
this Cape, or those islands; and in a word, I put the whole of my
fortune upon this single point, either that I must meet with some ship,
or must perish.
When I had passed this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said,
I began to see that the land was inhabited; and in two or three places,
as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we
could also perceive that they were quite black, and stark naked. I was
once inclined to have gone on shore to them; but Xury was my better
counsellor, and said to me, "No go, no go." However, I hauled in nearer
the shore that I might talk to them, and I found they run along the
shore by me a good way: I observed they had no weapons in their hands,
except one, who had a long slender stick, which Xury said was a lance,
and that they would throw, them a great way with good aim; so I kept at
a distance, but talked with them by signs as well as I could; and
particularly made signs for something to eat; they beckoned to me to
stop my boat, and they would fetch me some meat. Upon this I lowered the
top of my sail, and lay by, and two of them ran up into the country, and
in less than half an hour came back, and brought with them two pieces of
dry flesh and some corn, such as is the produce of their country; but we
neither knew what the one nor the other was: however, we were willing to
accept it, but how to come at it was our next dispute, for I was not for
venturing on shore to them, and they were as much afraid of us: but they
took a safe way for us all, for they brought it to the shore and laid it
down, and went and stood a great way off till we fetched it on board,
and then came close to us again.
We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing to make them amends;
but an opportunity offered that very instant to oblige them wonderfully;
for while we were lying by the shore came two mighty creatures, one
pursuing the other (as we took it) with great fury from the mountains
towards the sea; whether it was the male pursuing the female, or whether
they were in sport or in rage, we could not tell, any more than we could
tell whether it was usual or strange, but I believe it was the latter;
because, in the first place, those ravenous creatures seldom appear but
in the night; and in the second place, we found the people terribly
frighted, especially the women. The man that had the lance or dart did
not fly from them, but the rest did; however, as the two creatures ran
directly into the water, they did not seem to offer to fall upon any of
the Negroes, but plunged themselves into the sea, and swam about as if
they had come for their diversion. At last one of them began to come
nearer our boat than at first I expected; but I lay ready for him, for I
had loaded my gun with all possible expedition, and had Xury load both
the others: as soon as he came fairly within my reach I fired, and shot
him directly into the head; immediately he sunk down into the water, but
rose instantly, and plunged up and down as if he was struggling for
life; and so indeed he was: he immediately made to the shore; but
between the wound, which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling of the
water, he died just before he reached the shore.
It is impossible to express the astonishment of these poor creatures at
the noise and the fire of my gun; some of them were even ready to die
for fear, and fell down as dead with the very terror. But when they saw
the creature dead, and sunk in the water, and that I made signs to them
to come to the shore, they took heart and came to the shore, and began
to search for the creature. I found him by his blood staining the water,
and by the help of a rope, which I slung round him, and gave the Negroes
to hale, they dragged him on shore, and found that it was a most curious
leopard, spotted and fine to an admirable degree, and the Negroes held
up their hands with admiration to think what it was I had killed
him with.
The other creature, frighted with the flash of fire and the noise of the
gun, swam on shore, and ran up directly to the mountains from whence
they came, nor could I at that distance know what it was. I found
quickly the Negroes were for eating the flesh of this creature, so I was
willing to have them take it as a favour from me, which, when I made
signs to them that they might take him, they were very thankful for.
Immediately they fell to work with him, and though they had no knife,
yet with a sharpened piece of wood they took off his skin as readily,
and much more readily, than we could have done with a knife. They
offered me some of the flesh, which I declined, making as if I would
give it them, but made signs for the skin, which they gave me very
freely, and brought me a great deal more of their provision, which,
though I did not understand, yet I accepted; then I made signs to them
for some water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning it bottom
upward, to shew that it was empty, and that I wanted to have it filled.
They called immediately to some of their friends, and there came two
women, and brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt, as I
suppose, in the sun; this they set down for me, as before, and I sent
Xury on shore with my jars, and filled them all three. The women were as
stark naked as the men.
I was now furnished with roots and corn, such as it was, and water; and,
leaving my friendly Negroes, I made forward for about eleven days more,
without offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run out a
great length into the sea, at about the distance of four or five leagues
before me; and, the sea being very calm, I kept a large offing to make
this point: at length, doubling the point at about two leagues from the
land, I saw plainly land on the other side to seaward; then I concluded,
as it was most certain indeed, that this was the Cape de Verd, and those
the _islands_, called from thence Cape de Verd Islands. However, they
were at a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had best to
do, for if I should be taken with a fresh of wind I might neither reach
one nor the other.
In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped into the cabin and sat
me down, Xury having the helm, when on a sudden the boy cried out,
"Master, Master, a ship with a sail!" and the foolish boy was frighted
out of his wits, thinking it must needs be some of his master's ships
sent to pursue us, when I knew we were gotten far enough out of their
reach. I jumped out of the cabin, and immediately saw not only the ship,
but what she was, viz. that it was a Portuguese ship, and, as I thought,
was bound to the coast of Guinea for Negroes. But when I observed the
course she steered, I was soon convinced they were bound some other way,
and did not design to come any nearer to the shore; upon which I
stretched out to sea as much as I could, resolving to speak with them
if possible.
With all the sail I could muster, I found I should not be able to
come in their way, but that they would be gone by before I could
make any signal to them; but after I had crowded to the utmost,
and began to despair, they, it seems, saw me by the help of their
perspective-glasses, and that it was some European boat, which, as they
supposed, must belong to some ship that was lost; so they shortened sail
to let me come up. I was encouraged with this; and as I had my patron's
ancient on board, I made a waft of it to them for a signal of distress,
and fired a gun, both which they saw, for they told me they saw the
smoke, though they did not hear the gun: upon these signals they very
kindly brought to, and lay by for me, and in about three hours time I
came up with them.
They asked me what I was in Portuguese, and in Spanish, and in French;
but I understood none of them; but at last a Scots sailor, who was on
board, called to me, and I answered him, and told him I was an
Englishman, that I had made my escape out of slavery from the Moors at
Sallee. Then they had me come on board, and very kindly took me in, and
all my goods.
It was an inexpressible joy to me, that any one would believe that I was
thus delivered, as I esteemed it, from such a miserable and almost
hopeless condition as I was in, and immediately offered all I had to the
captain of the ship, as a return for my deliverance; but he generously
told me, he would take nothing from me, but that all I had should be
delivered safe to me when I came to the Brasils; "For," says he, "I have
saved your life on no other terms than I would be glad to be saved
myself; and it may one time or other be my lot to be taken up in the
same condition: Besides," said he, "when I carry you to the Brasils, so
great a way from your own country, if I should take from you what you
have, you will be starved there, and then I only take away that life I
have given. No, no, Seignor Inglese," says he, "Mr. Englishman, I will
carry you thither in charity, and those things will help you to buy your
subsistence there, and your passage home again."
As he was charitable in his proposal, so he was just in the performance
to a tittle; for he ordered the seamen, that none should offer to touch
any thing I had: then he took every thing into his own possession, and
gave me back an exact inventory of them, that I might have them; even so
much as my three earthen jars.
As to my boat, it was a very good one, and that he saw, and told me he
would buy it of me for the ship's use, and asked me what I would have
for it? I told him, he had been so generous to me in everything, that I
could not offer to make any price of the boat, but left it entirely to
him; upon which he told me he would give me a note of his hand to pay me
eighty pieces of eight for it at Brasil; and when it came there, if any
one offered to give more, he would make it up: he offered me also sixty
pieces of eight more for my boy Xury, which I was loath to lake; not
that I was not willing to let the captain have him, but I was very loath
to sell the poor boy's liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully in
procuring my own. However, when I let him know my reason, he owned it to
be just, and offered me this medium, that he would give the boy an
obligation to set him free in ten years, if he turned Christian. Upon
this, and Xury saying he was willing to go to him, I let the
captain have him.
We had a very good voyage to the Brasils, and arrived in the Bay de
Todos los Santos, or All Saints' Bay, in about twenty-two days after.
And now I was once more delivered from the most miserable of all
conditions of life; and what to do next with myself I was now
to consider.
The generous treatment the captain gave me, I can never enough remember;
he would take nothing of me for my passage, gave me twenty ducats for
the leopard's skin, and forty for the lion's skin which I had in my
boat, and caused every thing I had in the ship to be punctually
delivered me; and what I was willing to sell he bought, such as the case
of bottles, two of my guns, and a piece of the lump of bees-wax, for I
had made candles of the rest; in a word, I made about two hundred and
twenty pieces of eight of all my cargo; and with this stock I went on
shore in the Brasils.
I had not been long here, but being recommended to the house of a good
honest man like himself, who had an _ingeino_ as they call it; that is,
a plantation and a sugarhouse; I lived with him some time, and
acquainted myself by that means with the manner of their planting and
making of sugar; and seeing how well the planters lived, and how they
grew rich suddenly, I resolved, if I could get license to settle there,
I would turn planter among them, resolving, in the mean time, to find
out some way to get my money, which I had left in London, remitted to
me. To this purpose, getting a kind of a letter of naturalization, I
purchased as much land that was uncured as my money would reach, and
formed a plan for my plantation and settlement, and such a one as might
be suitable to the stock which I proposed to myself to receive
from England.
I had a neighbour, a Portuguese of Lisbon, but born of English parents,
whose name was Wells, and in much such circumstances as I was. I call
him neighbour, because his plantation lay next to mine, and we went on
very sociable together. My stock was but low, as well as his: and we
rather planted for food, than any thing else, for about two years.
However, we began to increase, and our land began to come into order; so
that the third year we planted some tobacco, and made each of us a large
piece of ground ready for planting canes in the year to come; but we
both wanted help; and now I found, more than before, I had done wrong in
parting with my boy Xury.
But, alas! for me to do wrong, that never did right, was no great
wonder: I had no remedy but to go on; I was gotten into an employment
quite remote to my genius, and directly contrary to the life I delighted
in, and for which I forsook my father's house, and broke through all his
good advice; nay, I was coming into the very middle station, or upper
degree of low life, which my father advised me to before; and which if I
resolved to go on with, I might as well have staid at home, and never
have fatigued myself in the world as I had done; and I used often to say
to myself, I could have done this as well in England among my friends,
as have gone five thousand miles off to do it, among strangers and
savages in a wilderness, and at such distance, as never to hear from any
part of the world that had the least knowledge of me.
In this manner I used to look upon my condition with the utmost regret.
I had nobody to converse with, but now and then this neighbour; no work
to be done, but by the labour of my hands; and I used to say, I lived
just like a man cast away upon some desolate island, that had nobody
there but himself. But how just has it been, and how should all men
reflect, that, when they compare their present conditions with others
that are worse, Heaven may oblige them to make the exchange, and be
convinced of their former felicity, by their experience; I say, how just
has it been, that the truly solitary life I reflected on in, an island
of mere desolation should be my lot, who had so often unjustly compared
it with the life which I then led, in which had I continued, I had in
all probability been exceeding prosperous and rich.
I was in some degree settled in my measures for carrying on the
plantation, before my kind friend the captain of the ship, that took me
up at sea, went back; for the ship remained there, in providing his
loading, and preparing for his voyage, near three months; when, telling
him what little stock I had left behind me in London, he gave me this
friendly and sincere advice; "Seignor Inglese," says he, for so he
always called me, "if you will give me letters, and a procuration here
in form to me, with orders to the person who has your money in London,
to send your effects to Lisbon, to such persons as I shall direct, and
in such goods as are proper for this country, I will bring you the
produce of them, God willing, at my return; but since human affairs are
all subject to changes and disasters, I would have you give orders but
for one hundred pounds sterling, which you say is half your stock, and
let the hazard be run for the first; so that if it come safe, you may
order the rest the same way; and if it miscarry, you may have the other
half to have recourse to for your supply."
This was so wholesome advice, and looked so friendly, that I could not
but be convinced it was the best course I could take; so I accordingly
prepared letters to the gentlewoman with whom I had left my money, and a
procuration to the Portuguese captain, as he desired.
I wrote the English captain's widow a full account of all my adventures,
my slavery, escape, and how I had met with the Portugal captain at sea,
the humanity of his behaviour, and what condition I was now in, with all
other necessary directions for my supply; and when this honest captain
came to Lisbon, he found means, by some of the English merchants there,
to send over, not the order only, but a full account of my story, to a
merchant at London, who represented it effectually to her; whereupon,
she not only delivered the money, but out of her own pocket sent the
Portugal captain a very handsome present for his humanity and charity
to me.
The merchant in London vesting this hundred pounds in English goods,
such as the captain had writ for, sent them directly to him at Lisbon,
and he brought them all safe to me to the Brasils; among which, without
my direction (for I was too young in my business to think of them) he
had taken care to have all sort of tools, iron work, and utensils
necessary for my plantation, and which were of great use to me.
When this cargo arrived, I thought my fortune made, for I was surprised
with joy of it; and my good steward the captain had laid out the five
pounds which my friend had sent him for a present for himself, to
purchase, and bring me over a servant under bond for six years service,
and would not accept of any consideration, except a little tobacco,
which I would have him accept, being of my own produce.
Neither was this all; but my goods being all English manufactures, such
as cloth, stuffs, baize, and things particularly valuable and desirable
in the country, I found means to sell them to a very great advantage; so
that I may say, I had more than four times the value of my first cargo,
and was now infinitely beyond my poor neighbour, I mean in the
advancement of my plantation; for the first thing I did, I bought me a
Negro slave, and an European servant also; I mean another besides that
which the captain brought me from Lisbon.
But as abused prosperity is oftentimes made the very means of our
greatest adversity, so was it with me. I went on the next year with
great success in my plantation: I raised fifty great rolls of tobacco on
my own ground, more than I had disposed of for necessaries among my
neighbours; and these fifty rolls, being each of above a hundred weight,
were well cured and laid by against the return of the fleet from Lisbon.
And now, increasing in business and in wealth, my head began to be full
of projects and undertakings beyond my reach; such as are indeed often
the ruin of the best heads in business.
Had I continued in the station I was now in, I had room for all the
happy things to have yet befallen me, for which my father so earnestly
recommended a quiet retired life, and of which he had so sensibly
described the middle station of life to be full; but other things
attended me, and I was still to be the wilful agent of all my own
miseries; and particularly to increase my fault, and double the
reflections upon myself, which in my future sorrows I should have
leisure to make; all these miscarriages were procured by my apparent
obstinate adhering to my foolish inclination of wandering abroad, and
pursuing that inclination, in contradiction to the clearest views of
doing myself good in a fair and plain pursuit of those prospects and
those measures of life, which nature and Providence concurred to present
me with, and to make my duty.
As I had done thus in my breaking away from my parents, so I could not
be content now, but I must go and leave the happy view I had of being a
rich and thriving man in my new plantation, only to pursue a rash and
immoderate desire of rising faster than the nature of the thing
admitted; and thus I cast myself down again into the deepest gulf of
human misery that ever man fell into, or perhaps could be consistent
with life and a state of health in the world.
To come then by just degrees to the particulars of this part of my
story; you may suppose, that having now lived almost four years in the
Brasils, and beginning to thrive and prosper very well upon my
plantation, I had not only learnt the language, but had contracted
acquaintance and friendship among my fellow-planters, as well as among
the merchants at St. Salvadore, which was our port; and that in my
discourse among them, I had frequently given them an account of my two
voyages to the coast of Guinea, the manner of trading with the Negroes
there, and how easy it was to purchase upon the coast, for trifles, such
as beads, toys, knives, scissars, hatchets, bits of glass, and the like,
not only gold-dust, Guinea grains, elephants teeth, &c. but Negroes for
the service of the Brasils in great numbers.
They listened always very attentively to my discourses on these heads,
but especially to that part which related to the buying Negroes, which
was a trade at that time not only not far entered into, but, as far as
it was, had been carried on by the Assientos for permission of the
kings of Spain and Portugal, and engrossed in the public, so that few
Negroes were brought, and those excessive dear.
It happened, being in company with some merchants and planters of my
acquaintance, and talking of those things very earnestly, three of them
came to me the next morning, and told me they had been musing very much
upon what I had discoursed with them of, the last night, and they came
to make a secret proposal to me; and after enjoining me secrecy, they
told me, that they had a mind to fit out a ship to to Guinea; that they
had all plantations as well as I, and were straitened for nothing so
much as servants; that as it was a trade could not be carried on,
because they could not publicly sell the Negroes when they came home, so
they desired to make but one voyage, to bring the Negroes on shore
privately, and divide them among their own plantations; and in a word,
the question was, whether I would go their supercargo in the ship, to
manage the trading part upon the coast of Guinea? and they offered me
that I should have my equal share of the Negroes, without providing any
part of the stock.
This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, had it been made to any
one that had not had a settlement and plantation of his own to look
after, which was in a fair way of coming to be very considerable, and
with a good stock upon it. But for me, that was thus entered and
established, and had nothing to do but go on as I had begun, for three
or four years more, and to have sent for the other hundred pounds from
England, and who in that time, and with that little addition, could
scarce have failed of being worth three or four thousand pounds
sterling, and that increasing too; for me to think of such a voyage, was
the most preposterous thing that ever man in such circumstances could be
guilty of.
But I, that was born to be my own destroyer, could no more resist the
offer, than I could restrain my first rambling designs, when my father's
good counsel was lost upon me. In a word, I told them I would go with
all my heart, if they would undertake to look alter my plantation in my
absence, and would dispose of it to such as I should direct if I
miscarried. This they all engaged to do, and entered into writings or
covenants to do so; and I made a formal will, disposing of my plantation
and effects, in case of my death, making the captain of the ship that
had saved my life as before, my universal heir, but obliging him to
dispose of my effects as I had directed in my will, one half of the
produce being to himself, and the other to be shipped to England.
In short, I took all possible caution to preserve my effects, and keep
up my plantation: had I used half as much prudence to have looked into
my own interest, and have made a judgment of what I ought to have done,
and not to have done, I had certainly never gone away from so prosperous
an undertaking, leaving all the probable views of a thriving
circumstance, and gone upon a voyage to sea, attended with all its
common hazards; to say nothing of the reasons I had to expect particular
misfortunes to myself.
But I was hurried on, and obeyed blindly the dictates of my fancy rather
than my reason: and accordingly the ship being fitted out, and the cargo
furnished, and all things done as by agreement, by my partners in the
voyage, I went on board in an evil hour, the 1st of September, 1650,
being the same day eight years that I went from my father and mother at
Hull, in order to act the rebel to their authority, and the fool to my
own interest.
Our ship was about one hundred and twenty ton burden, carrying six guns,
and fourteen men, besides the master, his boy, and myself; we had on
board no large cargo of goods, except of such toys as were fit for our
trade with the Negroes, such as beads, bits of glass, shells, and odd
trifles, especially little looking-glasses, knives, scissars, hatchets,
and the like.
The same day I went on board we set sail, standing away to the northward
upon our own coast, with design to stretch over for the African coast;
when they came about 10 or 12 degrees of northern latitude, which it
seems was the manner of their course in those days. We had very good
weather, only excessive hot, all the way upon our own coast, till we
made the height of Cape St. Augustino, from whence keeping farther off
at sea we lost sight of land, and steered as if we were bound for the
isle Fernand de Noronha, holding our course N.E. by N. and leaving those
isles on the east. In this course we passed the line in about twelve
days time, and were by our last observation in 7 degrees 22 min.
northern latitude, when a violent tornado or hurricane took us quite out
of our knowledge; it began from the south-east, came about to the
north-west, and then settled into the north-east, from whence it blew in
such a terrible manner, that for twelve days together we could do
nothing but drive; and scudding away before it, let it carry us whither
ever fate and the fury of the winds directed; and during these twelve
days, I need not say that I expected every day to be swallowed up, nor
indeed did any in the ship expect to save their lives.
In this distress, we had, besides the terror of the storm, one of our
men die of the calenture, and one man and the boy washed overboard;
about the twelfth day the weather abating a little, the master made an
observation as well as he could, and found that he was in about 11
degrees north latitude, but that he was 22 degrees of longitude
difference west from Cape St. Augustino; so that he found he was gotten
upon the coast of Guinea, or the north part of Brasil, beyond the river
Amazones, toward that of the river Oronoque, commonly called the Great
River, and began to consult with me what course he should take, for the
ship was leaky and very much disabled, and he was going directly back to
the coast of Brasil.
I was positively against that, and looking over the charts of the sea
coasts of America with him we concluded there was no inhabited country
for us to have recourse to, till we came within the circle of the
Caribbee islands, and therefore resolved to stand away for Barbadoes,
which by keeping off at sea, to avoid the indraft of the bay or gulf of
Mexico, we might easily perform, as we hoped, in about fifteen days
sail; whereas we could not possibly make our voyage to the coast of
Africa without some assistance, both to our ship and to ourselves.
With this design we changed our course, and steered away N.W. by W. in
order to reach some of our English islands, where I hoped for relief;
but our voyage was otherwise determined; for being in the latitude of 12
deg. 18 min. a second storm came upon us, which carried us away with the
same impetuosity westward, and drove us so out of the very way of all
human commerce, that had all our lives been saved, as to the sea, we
were rather in danger of being devoured by savages than ever returning
to our own country.
In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, one of our men early
in the morning cried out, _Land!_ and we had no sooner run out of the
cabin to look out in hopes of seeing whereabouts in the world we were,
but the ship struck upon a sand, and in a moment, her motion being so
stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner, that we expected we
should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven
into our close quarters to shelter us from the very foam and spray
of the sea.
It is not easy for any one, who has not been in the like condition, to
describe or conceive the consternation of men in such circumstances; we
knew nothing where we were, or upon what land it was we were driven,
whether an island or the main, whether inhabited or not inhabited; and
as the rage of the wind was still great, though rather less than at
first, we could not so much as hope to have the ship hold many minutes
without breaking in pieces, unless the winds by a kind of miracle should
turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking one upon another, and
expecting death every moment, and every man acting accordingly, as
preparing for another world, for there was little or nothing more for us
to do in this; that which was our present comfort, and all the comfort
we had, was, that, contrary to our expectation, the ship did not break
yet, and that the master said the wind began to abate.
Now though we thought that the wind did a little abate, yet the ship
having thus struck upon the sand, and sticking too fast for us to expect
her getting off, we were in a dreadful condition indeed, and had nothing
to do but to think of saving our lives as well as we could. We had a
boat at our stern, just before the storm; but she was first staved by
dashing against the ship's rudder, and in the next place she broke away,
and either sunk or was driven off to sea; so there was no hope from her.
We had another boat on board, but how to get her off into the sea was a
doubtful thing; however, there was no room to debate, for we fancied the
ship would break in pieces every minute, and some told us she was
actually broken already.
In this distress, the mate of our vessel lays hold of the boat, and with
the help of the rest of the men they got her slung over the ship's side,
and getting all into her, let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven
in number, to God's mercy and the wild sea; for though the storm was
abated considerably, yet the sea went dreadful high upon the shore, and
might well be called _den wild zee_, as the Dutch call the sea in
a storm.
And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly, that
the sea went so high, that the boat could not live, and that we should
be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none, nor, if we had,
could we have done any thing with it; so we worked at the oar towards
the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we
all knew, that when the boat came nearer the shore, she would be dashed
into a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we committed
our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind driving us
towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own hands,
pulling as well as we could towards land.
What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether steep or shoal, we
knew not; the only hope that could rationally give us the least shadow
of expectation, was, if we might happen into some bay or gulf, or the
mouth of some river, where, by great chance, we might have run our boat
in, or got under the lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth water. But
there was nothing of this appeared; but as we made nearer and nearer the
shore, the land looked more frightful than the sea.
After we had rowed, or rather driven about a league and a half, as we
reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,
and plainly had us expect the _coup-de-grace_. In a word, it took us
with such a fury, that it overset the boat at once; and separating us as
well from the boat, as from one another, gave us not time hardly to say
O God! for we were all swallowed up in a moment.
Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sunk
into the water; for though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver
myself from the waves so as to draw breath, till that wave having driven
me, or rather carried me a vast way on towards the shore, and having
spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry, but half
dead with the water I took in. I had so much presence of mind as well as
breath left, that, seeing myself nearer the main land than I expected, I
got upon my feet, and endeavoured to make on towards the land as fast as
I could, before another wave should return, and take me up again. But I
soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for I saw the sea come after
me as high as a great hill, and as furious as an enemy which I had no
means or strength to contend with; my business was to hold my breath,
and raise myself upon the water, if I could; and so by swimming to
preserve my breathing, and pilot myself towards the shore, if possible;
my greatest concern now being, that the sea, as it would carry me a
great way towards the shore when it came on, might not carry me back
again with it when it gave back towards the sea.
The wave that came upon me again, buried me at once twenty or thirty
foot deep in its own body; and I could feel myself carried with a mighty
force and swiftness towards the shore a very great way; but I held my
breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my might. I
was ready to burst with holding my breath, when, as I felt myself rising
up, so, to my immediate relief, I found my head and hands shoot out
above the surface of the water; and though it was not two seconds of
time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved me greatly, gave me
breath and new courage. I was covered again with water a good while, but
not so long but I held it out; and finding the water had spent itself,
and began to return, I struck forward against the return of the waves,
and felt ground again with my feet. I stood still a few moments to
recover breath, and till the water went from me, and then took to my
heels, and ran with what strength I had farther towards the shore. But
neither would this deliver me from the fury of the sea, which came
pouring in after me again; and twice more I was lifted up by the waves
and carried forwards as before, the shore being very flat.
The last time of these two had well near been fatal to me; for the sea
having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me
against a piece of a rock, and that with such force, as it left me
senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my own deliverance; for the blow
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my
body; and had it returned again immediately, I must have been strangled
in the water; but I recovered a little before the return of the waves,
and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I resolved to hold
fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible, till
the wave went back. Now as the waves were not so high as at first,
being near land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and then fetched
another run, which brought me so near the shore, that the next wave,
though it went over me, yet did not so swallow me up as to carry me
away; and the next run I took I got to the main land, where, to my great
comfort, I clambered up the clifts of the shore, and sat me down upon
the grass, free from danger, and quite out of the reach of the water.
I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank God
that my life was saved in a case wherein there was some minutes before
scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express to the
life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are, when it is so
saved, as I may say, out of the very grave; and I do not wonder now at
that custom, viz. that when a malefactor, who has the halter about his
neck, is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and has a reprieve
brought to him: I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon with
it, to let him blood that very moment they tell him of it, that the
surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart, and
overwhelm him:
For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.
I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands and my whole being, as
I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance, making a
thousand gestures and motions which I cannot describe; reflecting upon
all my comrades that were drowned, and that there should not be one soul
saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw them afterwards, or any
sign of them, except three of their hats, one cap, and two shoes that
were not fellows.
I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when the breach and troth of the
sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far off, and
considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore!
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition,
I began to look round me, to see what kind of place I was in, and what
was next to be done; and I soon found my comforts abate, and that in a
word I had a dreadful deliverance; for I was wet, had no clothes to
shift me, nor any thing either to eat or drink to comfort me; neither
did I see any prospect before me, but that of perishing with hunger, or
being devoured by wild beasts; and that which was particularly
afflicting to me, was, that I had no weapon either to hunt and kill any
creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other
creature that might desire to kill me for theirs; in a word, I had
nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco pipe, and a little tobacco in a
box; this was all my provision, and this threw me into terrible agonies
of mind, that for a while I ran about like a madman. Night coming upon
me, I began with a heavy heart to consider what would be my lot if there
were any ravenous beasts in that country, seeing at night they always
come abroad for their prey.
All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that time, was, to get up
into a thick bushy tree like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, and
where I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what death
I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked about a
furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh water to drink,
which I did, to my great joy; and having drank, and put a little tobacco
in my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up into
it, endeavoured to place myself so, as that if I should sleep I might
not fall; and having cut me a short stick, like a truncheon, for my
defence, I took up my lodging, and having been excessively fatigued, I
fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have
done in my condition, and found myself the most refreshed with it that I
think I ever was on such an occasion.
When I waked it was broad day, the weather clear, and the storm abated,
so that the sea did not rage and swell as before; but that which
surprised me most was, that the ship was lifted off in the night from
the sand where she lay, by the swelling of the tide, and was driven up
almost as far as the rock which I first mentioned, where I had been so
bruised by the dashing me against it; this being within about a mile
from the shore where I was, and the ship seeming to stand upright still,
I wished myself on board, that, at least, I might save some necessary
things for my use.
When I came down from my apartment in the tree, I looked about me again,
and the first thing I found was the boat, which lay as the wind and the
sea had tossed her up upon the land, about two miles on my right hand. I
walked as far as I could upon the shore to have got to her, but found a
neck or inlet of water between me and the boat, which was about half a
mile broad; so I came back for the present, being more intent upon
getting at the ship, where I hoped to find something for my present
subsistence.
A little after noon I found the sea very calm, and the tide ebbed so far
out, that I could come within a quarter of a mile of the ship; and here
I found a fresh renewing of my grief: for I saw evidently, that if we
had kept on board, we had been all safe, that is to say, we had all got
safe on shore, and I had not been so miserable as to be left entirely
destitute of all comfort and company, as I now was. This forced tears
from my eyes again; but as there was little relief in that, I resolved,
if possible, to get to the ship; so I pulled off my clothes, for the
weather was hot to extremity, and took the water; but when I came to the
ship, my difficulty was still greater to know how to get on board; for
as she lay aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing within
my reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and the second time I
spied a small piece of a rope, which I wondered I did not see at first,
hang down by the fore-chains so low as that with great difficulty I got
hold of it, and by the help of that rope got up into the forecastle of
the ship. Here I found that the ship was bulged, and had a great deal of
water in her hold, but that she lay so on the side of a bank of hard
sand, or rather earth, and her stern lay lifted up upon the bank, and
her head low almost to the water: by this means all her quarter was
free, and all that was in that part was dry; for you may be sure my
first work was to search and to see what was spoiled and what was free;
and first I found that all the ship's provisions were dry and untouched
by the water; and being very well disposed to eat, I went to the
bread-room and filled my pockets with bisket, and ate it as I went about
other things, for I had no time to lose. I also found some rum in the
great cabin, of which I took a large drain, and which I had indeed need
enough of to spirit me for what was before me. Now I wanted nothing but
a boat to furnish myself with many things which I foresaw would be very
necessary to me.
It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not to be had; and
this extremity roused my application. We had several spare yards, and
two or three large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in the
ship; I resolved to fall to work with these, and flung as many of them
overboard as I could manage of their weight, tying every one with a
rope, that they might not drive away. When this was done I went down the
ship's side, and pulling them to me, I tied four of them fast together
at both ends as well as I could, in the form of a raft, and laying two
or three short pieces of plank upon them crossways, I found I could walk
upon it very well, but that it was not able to bear any great weight,
the pieces being too light; so I went to work, and with the carpenter's
saw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, and added them to my raft,
with a great deal of labour and pains; but hope of furnishing myself
with necessaries encouraged me to go beyond what I should have been able
to have done upon another occasion.
My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight; my next
care was what to load it with, and how to preserve what I laid upon it
from the surf of the sea; but I was not long considering this: I first
laid all the planks or boards upon it that I could get, and having
considered well what I most wanted, I first got three of the seamen's
chests, which I had broken open and emptied, and lowered them down upon
my raft. The first of these I filled with provisions, viz. bread, rice,
three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat's flesh, which we lived
much upon, and a little remainder of European corn which had been laid
by for some fowls which we brought to sea with us, but the fowls were
killed. There had been some barley and wheat together, but, to my great
disappointment, I found afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it
all. As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles belonging to our
skipper, in which were some cordial waters, and in all above five or six
gallons of rack: these I stowed by themselves, there being no need to
put them into the chest, nor no room for them. While I was doing this, I
found the tide began to flow, though very calm, and I had the
mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on
shore upon the sand, swim away; as for my breeches, which were only
linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings:
however, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of which I found
enough, but took no more than I wanted for present use, for I had other
things which my eye was more upon; as, first, tools to work with on
shore; and it was after long searching that I found out the carpenter's
chest, which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and much more
valuable than a ship-loading of gold would have been at that time: I got
it down to my raft, even whole as it was, without losing time to look
into it, for I knew in general what it contained.
My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very good
fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols: these I secured
first, with some powder horns, and a small bag of shot, and two old
rusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in the ship,
but knew not where our gunner had stowed them; but with much search I
found them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken water; those
two I got to my raft, with the arms. And now I thought myself pretty
well freighted, and began to think how I should get to shore with them,
having neither sail, oar, or rudder, and the least capful of wind would
have overset all my navigation.
I had three encouragements: 1. A smooth, calm sea; 2. The tide rising
and setting in to the shore; 3. What little wind there was blew me
towards the land: and thus, having found two or three broken oars
belonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest, I
found two saws, an axe, and a hammer; and with this cargo I put to sea:
for a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well, only that I found it
drive a little distant from the place where I had landed before, by
which I perceived that there was some indraft of the water, and
consequently I hoped to find some creek or river there, which I might
make use of as a port to get to land with my cargo.
As I imagined, so it was: there appeared before me a little opening of
the land, and I found a strong current of the tide set into it, so I
guided my raft as well as I could to keep in the middle of the stream;
but here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if I
had, I think verily would have broke my heart; for knowing nothing of
the coast, my raft run aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not
being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo
had slipped off towards that end that was afloat, and so fallen into the
water. I did my utmost, by setting my back against the chests, to keep
them in their places, but could not thrust off the raft with all my
strength; neither durst I stir from the posture I was in, but holding up
the chests with all my might, stood in that manner near half an hour, in
which time the rising of the water brought me a little more upon a
level; and a little after, the water still rising, my raft floated
again, and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel; and
then driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of a
little river, with land on both sides, and a strong current or tide
running up. I looked on both sides for a proper place to get to shore;
for I was not willing to be driven too high up the river, hoping in time
to see some ship at sea, and therefore resolved to place myself as near
the coast as I could.
At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, to
which, with great pain and difficulty, I guided my raft, and at last got
so near, as that, reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her
directly in; but here I had like to have dipped all my cargo in the sea
again; for that shore lying pretty steep, that is to say sloping, there
was no place to land, but where one end of the float, if it run on
shore, would lie so high, and the other sink lower as before, that it
would endanger my cargo again: all that I could do, was to wait till the
tide was at the highest, keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor to
hold the side of it fast to the shore, near a flat piece of ground,
which I expected the water would flow over; and so it did. As soon as I
found water enough, for my raft drew about a foot of water, I thrust her
on upon that flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored her by
sticking my two broken oars into the ground; one on one side near one
end, and one on the other side near the other end; and thus I lay till
the water ebbed away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore.
My next work was to view the country, and seek a proper place for my
habitation, and where to stow my goods, to secure them from whatever
might happen. Where I was I yet knew not; whether on the continent or on
an island, whether inhabited or not inhabited, whether in danger of wild
beasts or not. There was a hill not above a mile from me, which rose up
very steep and high, and which seemed to overtop some other hills which,
lay as in a ridge from it northward: I took out one of the
fowling-pieces, and one of the pistols, and an horn of powder, and thus
armed I travelled for discovery up to the top of that hill, where, after
I had with great labour and difficulty got to the top, I saw my fates to
my great affliction, viz. that I was in an island environed every way
with the sea, no land to be seen, except some rocks which lay a great
way off, and two small islands less than this, which lay about three
leagues to the west.
I found also that the island I was in was barren, and, as I saw good
reason to believe, uninhabited, except by wild beasts, of whom, however,
I saw none; yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not their kinds;
neither when I killed them could I tell what was fit for food, and what
not. At my coming back I shot at a great bird, which I saw sitting upon
a tree on the side of a great wood--I believe it was the first gun that
had been fired there since the creation of the world. I had no sooner
fired, but from all parts of the wood there arose an innumerable number
of fowls of many sorts, making a confused screaming, and crying every
one according to his usual note; but not one of them of any kind that I
knew. As for the creature I killed, I took it to be a kind of a hawk,
its colour and beak resembling it, but had no talons or claws more than
common; its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing.
Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to work
to bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that day; and
what to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest;
for I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some wild
beast might devour me; though, as I afterwards found, there was really
no need for those fears.
However, as well as I could, I barricadoed myself round with the chests
and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of a hut for
that night's lodging. As for food, I yet saw not which way to supply
myself, except that I had seen two or three creatures like hares run
out of the wood where I shot the fowl.
I now began to consider, that I might yet get a great many things out of
the ship, which would be useful to me, and particularly some of the
rigging and sails, and such other things as might come to land, and I
resolved to make another voyage on board the vessel, if possible; and as
I knew that the first storm that blew must necessarily break her all in
pieces, I resolved to set all other things apart, till I got every thing
out of the ship that I could get. Then I called a council, that is to
say, in my thoughts, whether I should take back the raft; but this
appeared impracticable; so I resolved to go as before, when the tide was
down, and I did so, only that I stripped before I went from my hut,
having nothing on but a checked shirt and a pair of linen trowsers, and
a pair of pumps on my feet.
I got on board the ship, as before, and prepared a second raft; and
having had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy, nor
loaded it so hard, but yet I brought away several things very useful to
me; as first, in the carpenter's stores I found two or three bags full
of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets,
and, above all, that most useful thing called a grindstone; all these I
secured, together with several things belonging to the gunner,
particularly two or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket-bullets,
seven muskets, and another fowling-piece, with some small quantity of
powder more; a large bag full of small shot, and a great roll of sheet
lead; but this last was so heavy I could not hoist it up to get it over
the ship's side.
Besides these things, I took all the men's clothes that I could find,
and a spare fore-topsail, hammock, and some bedding; and with this I
loaded my second raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to my very
great comfort.
I was under some apprehensions during my absence from the land, that at
least my provisions might be devoured on shore; but when I came back, I
found no sign of any visitor, only there sat a creature like a wild cat
upon one of the chests, which, when I came towards it, ran away a little
distance, and then stood still; she sat very composed and unconcerned,
and looked full in my face, as if she had a mind to be acquainted with
me; I presented my gun at her, but as she did not understand it, she was
perfectly unconcerned at it, nor did she offer to stir away; upon which
I tossed her a bit of biscuit, though by the way I was not very free of
it, for my store was not great: however, I spared her a bit, I say, and
she went to it, smelled of it, and ate it, and looked, as pleased, for
more; but I thanked her, and could spare no more; so she marched off.
Having got my second cargo on shore, though I was fain to open the
barrels of powder, and bring them by parcels, for they were too heavy,
being large casks, I went to work to make me a little tent with the sail
and some poles which I cut for that purpose; and into this tent I
brought every thing that I knew would spoil, either with rain or sun;
and I piled all the empty chests and casks up in a circle round the
tent, to fortify it from any sudden attempt, either from man or beast.
When I had done this, I blocked up the door of the tent with some boards
within; and an empty chest set up an end without, and spreading one of
the beds upon the ground, laying my two pistols just at my head, and my
gun at length by me, I went to bed for the first time, and slept very
quietly all night, for I was very weary and heavy, as the night before I
had slept little, and had laboured very hard all day, as well to fetch
all those things from the ship as to get them on shore.
I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that ever were laid up, I
believe, for one man; but I was not satisfied still; for while the ship
sat upright in that posture, I thought I ought to get every thing out of
her that I could; so every day at low water I went on board, and
brought away something or other; but particularly the third time I went,
I brought away as much of the rigging as I could, as also all the small
ropes and rope-twine I could get, with a piece of spare canvass, which
was to mend the sails upon occasion, and the barrel of wet gunpowder; in
a word, I brought away all the sails first and last, only that I was
fain to cut them in pieces, and bring as much at a time as I could; for
they were no more useful to be sails, but as mere canvass only.
But that which comforted me more still, was, that at last of all, after
I had made five or six such voyages as these, and thought I had nothing
more to expect from the ship that was worth my meddling with; I say,
after all this, I found a great hogshead of bread, and three large
runlets of rum or spirits, and a box of sugar, and a barrel of fine
flower; this was surprising to me, because I had given over expecting
any more provisions, except what was spoiled by the water: I soon
emptied the hogshead of that bread, and wrapped it up, parcel by parcel,
in pieces of the sails, which I cut out; and in a word, I got all this
safe on shore also.
The next day I made another voyage; and now, having plundered the ship
of what was portable and fit to hand out, I began with the cables; and
cutting the great cable into pieces, such as I could move, I got two
cables and a hawser on shore, with all the iron-work I could get; and
having cut down the spritsail-yard, and the mizen-yard, and every thing
I could to make a large raft, I loaded it with all those heavy goods,
and came away: but my good luck began now to leave me; for this raft was
so unwieldy and so overladen, that after I had entered the little cove
where I had landed the rest of my goods, not being able to guide it so
handily as I did the other, it overset, and threw me and all my cargo
into the water. As for myself, it was no great harm, for I was near the
shore; but as to my cargo, it was great part of it lost, especially the
iron, which I expected would have been of great use to me: however,
when the tide was out, I got most of the pieces of cable ashore, and
some of the iron, though with infinite labour; for I was fain to dip for
it into the water, a work which fatigued me very much. After this, I
went every day on board, and brought away what I could get.
I had been now thirteen days on shore, and had been eleven times on
board the ship; in which time I had brought away all that one pair of
hands could well be supposed capable to bring, though I believe, verily,
had the calm weather held, I should have brought away the whole ship,
piece by piece; but preparing the twelfth time to go on board, I found
the wind began to rise; however, at low water I went on board, and
though I thought I had rummaged the cabin so effectually, as that
nothing more could be found, yet I discovered a locker with drawers in
it, in one of which I found two or three razors, and one pair of large
scissars, with some ten or a dozen of good knives and forks; in another
I found about thirty-six pounds value in money, some European coin, some
Brasil, some pieces of eight, some gold, some silver.
I smiled to myself at the sight of this money. "O drug!" said I, aloud,
"what art thou good for? thou art not worth to me, no not the taking off
of the ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap; I have no
manner of use for thee; even remain where thou art, and go to the bottom
as a creature whose life is not worth saving." However, upon second
thoughts, I took it away, and wrapping all this in a piece of canvass, I
began to think of making another raft; but while I was preparing this, I
found the sky overcast, and the wind began to rise, and in a quarter of
an hour it blew a fresh gale from the shore. It presently occurred to
me, that it was in vain to pretend to make a raft with the wind off
shore, and that it was my business to be gone before the tide of flood
began, otherwise I might not be able to reach the shore at all;
accordingly I let myself down into the water, and swam cross the
channel which lay between the ship and the sands, and even that with
difficulty enough, partly with the weight of things I had about me, and
partly the roughness of the water, for the wind rose very hastily, and
before it was quite high water it blew a storm.
But I was gotten home to my little tent, where I lay with all my wealth
about me very secure. It blew very hard all that night, and in the
morning when I looked out, behold no more ship was to be seen. I was a
little surprised, but recovered myself with this satisfactory
reflection, viz. that I had lost no time, nor abated no diligence to get
every thing out of her that could be useful to me, and that indeed there
was little left in her that I was able to bring away, if I had had
more time.
I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or of any thing out of
her, except what might drive on shore from her wreck, as indeed divers
pieces of her afterwards did; but those things were of small use to me.
My thoughts were now wholly employed about securing myself against
either savages, if any should appear, or wild beasts, if any were in the
island; and I had many thoughts of the method how to do this, and what
kind of dwelling to make; whether I should make me a cave in the earth,
or a tent upon the earth: and, in short, I resolved upon both, the
manner and description of which it may not be improper to give an
account of.
I soon found the place I was in was not for my settlement, particularly
because it was upon a low moorish ground near the sea, and I believed
would not be wholesome, and more particularly because there was no fresh
water near it; so I resolved to find a more healthy and more convenient
spot of ground.
I consulted several things in my situation which I found would be proper
for me: 1st, Health, and fresh water, I just now mentioned, 2dly,
Shelter from the heat of the sun. 3dly, Security from ravenous
creatures, whether man or beast. 4thly, A view to the sea, that, if God
sent any ship in sight, I might not lose any advantage for my
deliverance, of which I was not willing to banish all my
expectation yet.
In search of a place proper for this, I found a little plain on the side
of a rising hill, whose front towards this little plain was steep as a
house-side, so that nothing could come down upon me from the top: on the
side of this rock there was a hollow place worn a little way in like the
entrance or door of a cave, but there was not really any cave or way
into the rock at all.
On the flat of the green, just before this hollow place, I resolved to
pitch my tent: this plain was not above an hundred yards broad, and
about twice as long, and lay like a green before my door, and at the end
of it descended irregularly every way down into the low grounds by the
sea-side. It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill, so that I was sheltered
from the heat every day, till it came to a W. and by S. sun, or
thereabouts, which in those countries is near the setting.
Before I set up my tent, I drew a half-circle before the hollow place,
which took in about ten yards in its semi-diameter from the rock, and
twenty yards in its diameter, from its beginning and ending.
In this half circle I pitched two rows of strong stakes, driving them
into the ground till they stood very firm, like piles, the biggest end
being out of the ground about five foot and a half, and sharpened on the
top; the two rows did not stand above six inches from one another.
Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in the ship, and laid
them in rows one upon another, within the circle between these two rows
of stakes, up to the top, placing other stakes in the inside, leaning
against them, about two foot and a half high, like a spur to a post; and
this fence was so strong, that neither man or beast could get into it or
over it: this cost me a great deal of time and labour, especially to cut
the piles in the woods, bring them to the place, and drive them into
the earth.
The entrance into this place I made to be not by a door, but by a short
ladder, to go over the top: which ladder, when I was in, I lifted over
after me: and so I was completely fenced in, and fortified, as I
thought, from all the world, and consequently slept secure in the night,
which otherwise I could not have done, though, as it appeared afterward,
there was no need of all this caution from the enemies that I
apprehended danger from.
Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labour, I carried all my
riches, all my provisions, ammunition, and stores, of which you have the
account above; and I made me a large tent, which, to preserve me from
the rains, that in one part of the year are very violent there, I made
double, viz. one smaller tent within, and one larger tent above it, and
covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin which I had saved among
the sails.
And now I lay no more for awhile in the bed which I had brought on
shore, but in a hammock, which was indeed a very good one, and belonged
to the mate of the ship.
Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and every thing that would
spoil by the wet; and having thus enclosed all my goods, I made up the
entrance, which till now I had left open, and so passed and repassed, as
I said, by a short ladder.
When I had done this, I began to work my way into the rock, and bringing
all the earth and stones that I dug down, out through my tent, I laid
them up within my fence in the nature of a terrace, that so it raised
the ground within about a foot and a half; and thus I made me a cave
just behind my tent, which served me like a cellar to my house.
It cost me much labour, and many days, before all these things were
brought to perfection, and therefore I must go back to some other things
which took up some of my thoughts. At the same time it happened, after
I had laid my scheme for the setting up my tent, and making the cave,
that a storm of rain falling from a thick dark cloud, a sudden flash of
lightning happened, and after that a great clap of thunder, as is
naturally the effect of it. I was not so much surprised with the
lightning, as I was with a thought which darted into my mind as swift as
the lightning itself; O my powder! my very heart sunk within me, when I
thought, that at one blast all my powder might be destroyed; on which,
not my defence only, but the providing me food, as I thought, entirely
depended; I was nothing near so anxious about my own danger; though, had
the powder took fire, I had never known who had hurt me.
Such impression did this make upon me, that, after the storm was over, I
laid aside all my works, my building, and fortifying, and applied myself
to make bags and boxes to separate the powder, and to keep it a little
and a little in a parcel, in hope, that, whatever might come, it might
not all take fire at once, and to keep it so apart, that it should not
be possible to make one part fire another. I finished this work in about
a fortnight; and I think my powder, which in all was about two hundred
and forty pounds weight, was divided in not less than a hundred parcels.
As to the barrel that had been wet, I did not apprehend any danger from
that, so I placed it in my new cave, which in my fancy I called my
kitchen; and the rest I hid up and down in holes among the rocks, so
that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where I laid it.
In the interval of time while this was doing, I went out once at least
every day with my gun, as well to divert myself, as to see if I could
kill any thing fit for food, and as near as I could to acquaint myself
with what the island produced. The first time I went out I presently
discovered that there were goats in the island, which was a great
satisfaction to me; but then it was attended with this misfortune to me,
viz. that they were so shy, so subtle, and so swift of foot, that it
was the most difficult thing in the world to come at them. But I was not
discouraged at this, not doubting but I might now and then shoot one, as
it soon happened; for after I had found their haunts a little, I laid
wait in this manner for them: I observed, if they saw me in the vallies,
though they were upon the rocks, they would run away as in a terrible
fright; but if they were feeding in the vallies, and I was upon the
rocks, they took no notice of me; from whence I concluded, that by the
position of their optics, their sight was so directed downward, that
they did not readily see objects that were above them; so afterward I
took this method; I always climbed the rocks first, to get above them,
and then had frequently a fair mark. The first shot I made among these
creatures killed a she-goat, which had a little kid by her which she
gave suck to, which grieved me heartily; but when the old one fell, the
kid stood stock still by her till I came and took her up; and not only
so; but when I carried the old one with me upon my shoulders, the kid
followed me quite to my enclosure; upon which I laid down the dam, and
took the kid in my arms, and carried it over my pale, in hopes to have
bred it up tame; but it would not eat; so I was forced to kill it, and
eat it myself. These two supplied me with flesh a great while, for I ate
sparingly, and saved my provisions (my bread especially) as much as
possibly I could.
Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely necessary to
provide a place to make a fire in, and fuel to burn; and what I did for
that, as also how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniencies I made, I
shall give a full account of in its place; but I must first give some
little account of myself, and of my thoughts about living, which it may
well be supposed were not a few.
I had a dismal prospect of my condition; for as I was not cast away upon
that island without being driven, as is said, by a violent storm quite
out of the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, viz. some
hundreds of leagues out of the ordinary course of the trade of mankind,
I had great reason to consider it as a determination of Heaven, that in
this desolate place, and in this desolate manner, I should end my life.
The tears would run plentifully down my face when I made these
reflections; and sometimes I would expostulate with myself, why
Providence should thus completely ruin his creatures, and render them so
absolutely miserable, so without help abandoned, so entirely depressed,
that it could hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life.
But something always returned swift upon me to check these thoughts, and
to reprove me; and particularly one day, walking with my gun in my hand
by the sea-side, I was very pensive upon the subject of my present
condition, when reason, as it were, expostulating with the t'other way,
thus: "Well, you are in a desolate condition, 'tis true, but pray
remember, where are the rest of you? Did not you come eleven of you into
the boat? Where are the ten? Why were they not saved and you lost? Why
were you singled out? Is it better to be here or there?" And then I
pointed to the sea. All evils are to be considered with the good that is
in them, and with what worse attended them.
Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my
subsistence, and what would have been my ease if it had not happened,
which was an hundred thousand to one, that the ship floated from the
place where she first struck, and was driven so near the shore that I
had time to get all these things out of her. What would have been my
case, if I had been to have lived in the condition in which I at first
came on shore, without necessaries of life, or necessaries to supply and
procure them? "particularly," said I, loud (though to myself), "what
should I have done without a gun, without ammunition, without any tools
to make any thing, or to work with; without clothes, bedding, a tent, or
any manner of covering?" and that now I had all these to a sufficient
quantity, and was in a fair way to provide myself in such a manner, as
to live without my gun when my ammunition was spent; so that I had a
tolerable view of subsisting, without any want, as long as I lived; for
I considered from the beginning how I should provide for the accidents
that might happen, and for the time that was to come, even not only
after my ammunition should be spent, but even after my health or
strength should decay.
I confess I had not entertained any notion of my ammunition being
destroyed at one blast, I mean my powder being blown up by lightning;
and this made the thoughts of it so surprising to me when it lightned
and thundered, as I observed just now.
And now, being about to enter into a melancholy relation of a scene of
silent life, such perhaps as was never heard of in the world before, I
shall take it from its beginning, and continue it in its order. It was,
by my account, the 30th of September, when, in the manner as above said,
I first set foot upon this horrid island, when the sun being, to us, in
its autumnal equinox, was almost just over my head, for I reckoned
myself, by observation, to be in the latitude of 9 degrees 22 minutes
north of the line.
After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came into my
thoughts, that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of books, and
pen and ink, and should even forget the sabbath days from the working
days; but to prevent this, I cut it with my knife upon a large post, in
capital letters, and making it into a great cross, I set it up on the
shore where I first landed, viz. "I came on shore here on the 30th of
September 1659." Upon the sides of this square post, I cut every day a
notch with my knife, and every seventh notch was as long again as the
rest, and every first day of the month as long again as that long one;
and thus I kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning
of time.
In the next place we are to observe, that among the many things which I
brought out of the ship in the several voyages, which, as above
mentioned, I made to it, I got several things of less value, but not all
less useful to me, which I omitted setting down before; as in
particular, pens, ink, and paper, several parcels in the captain's,
mate's, gunner's, and carpenter's keeping, three or four compasses, some
mathematical instruments, dials, perspectives, charts, and books of
navigation; all which I huddled together, whether I might want them or
no. Also I found three very good Bibles, which came to me in my cargo
from England, and which I had packed up among my things; some Portuguese
books also, and among them two or three popish prayer-books, and several
other books; all which I carefully secured. And I must not forget, that
we had in the ship a dog and two cats, of whose eminent history I may
have occasion to say something in it's place; for I carried both the
cats with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship of himself,
and swam on shore to me the day after I went on shore with my first
cargo, and was a trusty servant to me many years; I wanted nothing that
he could fetch me, nor any company that he could make up to me; I only
wanted to have him talk to me, but that he could not do. As I observed
before, I found pen, ink, and paper, and I husbanded them to the utmost;
and I shall shew, that while my ink lasted, I kept things very exact;
but after that was gone I could not, for I could not make any ink by any
means that I could devise.
And this put me in mind that I wanted many things, notwithstanding all
that I had amassed together; and of these, this of ink was one, as also
spade, pickaxe, and shovel, to dig or remove the earth; needles, pins,
and thread. As for linen, I soon learnt to want that without much
difficulty.
This want of tools made every work I did go on heavily, and it was near
a whole year before I had entirely finished my little pale or surrounded
habitation: the piles or stakes, which were as heavy as I could well
lift, were a long time in cutting and preparing in the woods, and more
by far in bringing home; so that I spent sometimes two days in cutting
and bringing home one of those posts, and a third day in driving it into
the ground; for which purpose I got a heavy piece of wood at first, but
at last bethought myself of one of the iron crows, which however, though
I found it, yet it made driving those posts or piles very laborious and
tedious work.
But what need I have been concerned at the tediousness of any thing I
had to do, seeing I had time enough to do it in? Nor had I any other
employment if that had been over, at least that I could foresee, except
the ranging the island to seek for food, which I did more or less
every day.
I now began to consider seriously my condition, and the circumstance I
was reduced to, and I drew up the state of my affairs in writing, not so
much to leave them to any that were to come after me, for I was like to
have but few heirs, as to deliver my thoughts from daily poring upon
them, and afflicting my mind; and as my reason began now to master my
despondency, I began to comfort myself as well as I could, and to set
the good against the evil, that I might have something to distinguish my
case from worse; and I stated it very impartially, like debtor and
creditor, the comforts I enjoyed against the miseries I suffered, thus:
_Evil_. _Good_.
I am cast upon a horrible But I am alive, and
desolate island, void not drowned, as all my
of all hope of recovery. ship's company was.
I am singled out and But I am singled out
separated, as it were, too from all the ship's
from all the world to be crew to be spared from
miserable. death; and He that
miraculously saved me from
death, can deliver me
from this condition.
I am divided from But I am not starved
mankind, a solitaire, one and perishing on a barren
banished from human society. place, affording no sustenance.
I have not clothes to But I am in a hot climate,
cover me. where if I had
clothes I could hardly wear
them.
I am without any defence But I am cast on an
or means to resist island, where I see no
any violence of man or wild beasts to hurt me,
beast. as I saw on the coast of
Africa: and what if I
had been shipwrecked
there?
I have no soul to speak But God wonderfully
to, or relieve me. sent the ship in near
enough to the shore, that
I have gotten out so many
necessary things as will
either supply my wants,
or enable me to supply
myself even as long as I
live.
Upon the whole, here was an undoubted testimony, that there was scarce
any condition in the world so miserable, but there was something
_negative_ or something _positive_ to be thankful for in it; and let
this stand as a direction from the experience of the most miserable of
all conditions in this world, that we may always find in it something to
comfort ourselves from, and to set, in the description of good and evil,
on the credit side of the account.
Having now brought my mind a little to relish my condition, and given
over looking out to sea, to see if I could spy a ship; I say, giving
over these things, I began to apply myself to accommodate my way of
living, and to make things as easy to me as I could.
I have already described my habitation, which was a tent under the side
of a rock, surrounded with a strong pale of posts and cables; but I
might now rather call it a wall, for I raised a kind of wall up against
it of turfs, about two foot thick on the outside; and after some time, I
think it was a year and half, I raised rafters from it, leaning to the
rock, and thatched or covered it with boughs of trees, and such things
as I could get to keep out the rain, which I found at some times of the
year very violent.
I have already observed how I brought all my goods into this pale, and
into the cave which I had made behind me: but I must observe too that at
first this was a confused heap of goods, which as they lay in no order,
so they took up all my place: I had no room to turn myself; so I set
myself to enlarge my cave, and work farther into the earth; for it was a
loose sandy rock, which yielded easily to the labour I bestowed on it:
and so when I found I was pretty safe as to beasts of prey, I worked
sideways to the right hand into the rock; and then, turning to the right
again, worked quite out, and made me a door to come out, on the outside
of my pale or fortification.
This gave me not only egress and regress, as it were a back-way to my
tent and to my storehouse, but gave me room to stow my goods.
And now I began to apply myself to make such necessary things as I found
I most wanted, particularly a chair and a table; for without these I was
not able to enjoy the few comforts I had in the world; I could not write
or eat, or do several things with so much pleasure without a table.
So I went to work; and here I must needs observe, that as reason is the
substance and original of the mathematics, so by stating and squaring
every thing by reason, and by making the most rational judgment of
things, every man may be in time master of every mechanic art. I had
never handled a tool in my life, and yet in time, by labour,
application, and contrivance, I found at last that I wanted nothing but
I could have made it, especially if I had had tools; however, I made
abundance of things, even without tools, and some with no more tools
than an adze and a hatchet, which perhaps were never made that way
before, and that with infinite labour: for example, if I wanted a board,
I had no other way but to cut down a tree, set it on an edge before me,
and hew it flat on either side with my axe, till I had brought it to be
as thin as a plank, and then dub it smooth with my adze. It is true, by
this method I could make but one board out of a whole tree; but this I
had no remedy for but patience, any more than I had for the prodigious
deal of time and labour which it took me up to make a plank or board:
but my time or labour was little worth, and so it was as well employed
one way as another.
However, I made me a table and a chair, as I observed above, in the
first place; and this I did out of the short pieces of boards that I
brought on my raft from the ship: but when I had wrought out some
boards, as above, I made large shelves of the breadth of a foot and a
half one over another, all along one side of my cave, to lay all my
tools, nails, and iron-work, and in a word, to separate every thing at
large in their places, that I might come easily at them. I knocked
pieces into the wall of the rock to hang my guns and all things that
would hang up.
So that, had my cave been to be seen, it looked like a general magazine
of all necessary things; and I had every thing so ready at my hand, that
it was a great pleasure to me to see all my goods in such order, and
especially to find my stock of all necessaries so great.
And now it was that I began to keep a journal of every day's employment;
for indeed at first I was in too much a hurry; and not only hurry as to
labour, but in too much discomposure of mind, and my journal would have
been full of many dull things. For example, I must have said thus: Sept.
the 30th, after I got to shore, and had escaped drowning, instead of
being thankful to God for my deliverance, having first vomited with the
great quantity of salt water which was gotten into my stomach, and
recovering myself a little, I ran about the shore, wringing my hands,
and beating my head and face, exclaiming at my misery, and crying out, I
was undone, undone; till tired and faint I was forced to lie down on the
ground to repose, but durst not sleep for fear of being devoured.
Some days after this, and after I had been on board the ship, and got
all that I could out of her, yet I could not forbear getting up to the
top of a little mountain, and looking out to sea in hopes of seeing a
ship; then fancy at a vast distance I spied a sail; please myself with
the hopes of it; and then after looking steadily till I was almost
blind, lose it quite, and sit down and weep like a child, and thus
increase my misery by my folly.
But having gotten over these things in some measure, and having settled
my household-stuff and habitation, made me a table and a chair, and all
as handsome about me as I could, I began to keep my journal, of which I
shall here give you the copy (though in it will be told all those
particulars over again) as long as it lasted; for having no more ink, I
was forced to leave it off.
* * * * *
THE JOURNAL.
_September 30, 1659_.
I poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked, during a dreadful
storm in the offing, came on shore on this dismal unfortunate island,
which I called the Island of Despair; all the rest of the ship's company
being drowned, and myself almost dead.
All the rest of that day I spent in afflicting myself at the dismal
circumstances I was brought to, viz. I had neither food, house,
clothes, weapon, or place to fly to, and in despair of any relief, saw
nothing but death before me, either that I should be devoured by wild
beasts, murdered by savages, or starved to death for want of food. At
the approach of night I slept in a tree, for fear of wild creatures, but
slept soundly, though it rained all night.
October 1. In the morning I saw, to my great surprise, the ship had
floated with the high tide, and was driven on shore again much nearer
the island; which as it was some comfort on one hand, for seeing her sit
upright, and not broken to pieces, I hoped, if the wind abated, I might
get on board, and get some food and necessaries out of her for my
relief; so on the other hand, it renewed my grief at the loss of my
comrades, who I imagined, if we had all staid on board, might have saved
the ship, or at least that they would not have been all drowned, as they
were; and that, had the men been saved, we might perhaps have built us a
boat out of the ruins of the ship, to have carried us to some other part
of the world. I spent great part of this day in perplexing myself on
these things; but at length, seeing the ship almost dry, I went upon the
sand as near as I could, and then swam on board. This day also it
continued raining, though with no wind at all.
From the 1st of October to the 24th. All these days entirely spent in
many several voyages to get all I could out of the ship, which I brought
on shore, every tide of flood, upon rafts. Much rain also in these days,
though with some intervals of fair weather: but, it seems, this was the
rainy season.
Oct. 20. I overset my raft, and all the goods I had got up upon it; but
being in shoal water, and the things being chiefly heavy, I recovered
many of them when the tide was out.
Oct. 25. It rained all night and all day, with some gusts of wind;
during which time the ship broke in pieces, the wind blowing a little
harder than before, and was no more to be seen, except the wreck of her,
and that only at low water. I spent this day in covering and securing
the goods which I had saved, that rain might not spoil them.
Oct. 26. I walked about the shore almost all day, to find out a place to
fix my habitation, greatly concerned to secure myself from any attack in
the night, either from wild beasts or men. Towards night I fixed upon a
proper place under a rock, and marked out a semicircle for my
encampment, which I resolved to strengthen with a work, wall, or
fortification made of double piles, lined within with cable, and without
with turf.
From the 26th to the 30th I worked very hard in carrying all my goods to
my new habitation, though some part of the time it rained
exceeding hard.
The 31st in the morning I went out into the island with my gun, to see
for some food, and discover the country; when I killed a she goat, and
her kid followed me home, which I afterwards killed also, because it
would not feed.
November 1. I set up my tent under a rock, and lay there for the first
night, making it as large as I could with stakes driven in to swing my
hammock upon.
Nov. 2. I set up all my chests and boards, and the pieces of timber
which made my rafts, and with them formed a fence round me, a little
within the place I had marked out for my fortification.
Nov. 3. I went out with my gun, and killed two fowls like ducks, which
were very good food. In the afternoon went to work to make me a table.
Nov. 4. This morning I began to order my times of work, of going out
with my gun, time of sleep, and time of diversion; viz. every morning I
walked out with my gun for two or three hours, if it did not rain, then
employed myself to work till about eleven o'clock, then ate what I had
to live on, and from twelve to two I lay down to sleep, the weather
being excessive hot, and then in the evening to work again: the working
part of this day and of the next were wholly employed in making my
table, for I was yet but a very sorry workman, though time and necessity
make me a complete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe it would do
any one else.
Nov. 5. This day went abroad with my gun and my dog, and killed a wild
cat, her skin pretty soft, but her flesh good for nothing: every
creature I killed I took off the skins and preserved them. Coming back
by the sea-shore I saw many sorts of sea-fowls, which I did not
understand; but was surprised and almost frighted with two or three
seals, which, while I was gazing at, not well knowing what they were,
got into the sea, and escaped me for that time.
Nov. 6. After my morning walk I went to work with my table again, and
finished it, though not to my liking, nor was it long before I learnt
to mend it.
Nov. 7. Now it began to be settled fair weather. The 7th, 8th, 9th,
10th, and part of the 12th (for the 11th was Sunday), I took wholly up
to make me a chair, and with much ado brought it to a tolerable shape,
but never to please me; and even in the making I pulled it in pieces
several times. _Note_, I soon neglected my keeping Sundays, for omitting
my mark for them on my post, I forgot which was which.
Nov. 13. This day it rained, which refreshed me exceedingly, and cooled
the earth, but it was accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning,
which frighted me dreadfully for fear of my powder: as soon as it was
over I resolved to separate my stock of powder into as many little
parcels as possible, that it might not be in danger.
Nov. 14, 15, 16. These three days I spent in making little square chests
or boxes, which might hold a pound, or two pound, at most, of powder;
and so putting the powder in, I stowed it in places as secure and remote
from one another as possible. On one of these three days I killed a
large bird that was good to eat, but I knew not what to call it.
Nov. 17. This day I began to dig behind my tent into the rock, to make
room for my farther conveniency. _Note_, Three things I wanted
exceedingly for this work, viz. a pickaxe, a shovel, and a wheel-barrow
or basket; so I desisted from my work, and began to consider how to
supply that want, and make me some tools: as for a pickaxe, I made use
of the iron crows, which were proper enough, though heavy; but the next
thing was a shovel or spade; this was so absolutely necessary, that
indeed I could do nothing effectually without it; but what kind of one
to make I knew not.
Nov. 18. The next day in searching the woods I found a tree of that
wood, or like it, which in the Brasils they call the iron tree, for its
exceeding hardness: of this, with great labour and almost spoiling my
axe, I cut a piece, and brought it home too with difficulty enough, for
it was exceeding heavy.
The excessive hardness of the wood, and having no other way, made me a
long while upon this machine; for I worked it effectually by little and
little into the form of a shovel or spade, the handle exactly shaped
like ours in England, only that the broad part having no iron shod upon
it at bottom, it would not last me so long; however, it served well
enough for the uses which I had occasion to put it to; but never was a
shovel, I believe, made after that fashion, or so long a making.
I was still deficient, for I wanted a basket or a wheel-barrow; a basket
I could not make by any means, having no such things as twigs that would
bend to make wicker-ware, at least none yet found out; and as to a
wheel-barrow, I fancied I could make; all but the wheel, but that I had
no notion of, neither did I know how to go about it; besides, I had no
possible way to make the iron gudgeons for the spindle or axis of the
wheel to run in, so I gave it over; and so for carrying away the earth
which I dug out of the cave, I made me a thing like a hod which the
labourers carry mortar in, when they serve the bricklayers.
This was not so difficult to me as the making the shovel; and yet this,
and the shovel, and the attempt which I made in vain to make a
wheel-barrow, took me up no less than four days, I mean always excepting
my morning walk with my gun, which I seldom failed; and very seldom
failed also bringing home something to eat.
Nov. 23. My other work having now stood still, because of my making
these tools, when they were finished I went on, and working every day,
as my strength and time allowed, I spent eighteen days entirely in
widening and deepening my cave, that it might hold my goods
commodiously.
_Note_, During all this time, I worked to make this room or cave
spacious enough to accommodate me as a warehouse or magazine, a kitchen,
a dining-room, and a cellar: as for my lodging, I kept to the tent,
except that sometimes in the wet season of the year, it rained so hard
that I could not keep myself dry, which caused me afterwards to cover
all my place within my pale with long poles in the form of rafters,
leaning against the rock, and load them with flags and large leaves of
trees like a thatch.
Dec. 10. I began now to think my cave or vault finished, when on a
sudden (it seems I had made it too large) a great quantity of earth fell
down from the top and one side, so much that in short it frighted me,
and not without reason too; for if I had been under it I had never
wanted a gravedigger. Upon this disaster I had a great deal of work to
do over again; for I had the loose earth to carry out, and, which was of
more importance, I had the ceiling to prop up, so that I might be sure
no more would come down.
Dec. 11. This day I went to work with it accordingly, and got two shores
or posts pitched upright to the top, with two pieces of boards across
over each post; this I finished the next day; and setting more posts up
with boards, in about a week more I had the roof secured; and the posts,
standing in rows, served me for partitions to part off my house.
Dec. 17. From this day to the twentieth I placed shelves, and knocked
up nails on the posts to hang every thing up that could be hung up: and
now I began to be in some order within doors.
Dec. 20. Now I carried every thing into the cave, and began to furnish
my house, and set up some pieces of boards like a dresser, to order my
victuals upon; but boards began to be very scarce with me: also I made
me another table.
Dec. 24. Much rain all night and all day; no stirring out.
Dec. 25. Rain all day.
Dec. 26. No rain, and the earth much cooler than before and pleasanter.
Dec. 27. Killed a young goat, and lamed another, so that I caught it,
and led it home in a string; when I had it home, I bound and splintered
up its leg which was broke. N.B. I took such care of it that it lived,
and the leg grew well and as strong as ever; but by nursing it so long
it grew tame, and fed upon the little green at my door, and would not go
away. This was the first time that I entertained a thought of breeding
up some tame creatures, that I might have food when my powder and shot
was all spent.
Dec. 28, 29, 30. Great heats and no breeze; so that there was no
stirring abroad, except in the evening for food. This time I spent in
putting all my things in order within doors.
January 1. Very hot still, but I went abroad early and late with my gun,
and lay still in the middle of the day. This evening, going farther into
the vallies which lay towards the centre of the island, I found there
was plenty of goats, though exceeding shy and hard to come at; however,
I resolved to try if I could not bring my dog to hunt them down.
Jan. 2. Accordingly, the next day I went out with my dog, and set him
upon the goats; but I was mistaken, for they all faced about upon the
dog; and he knew his danger too well, for he would, not come near them.
Jan. 3. I began my fence or wall; which, being still jealous of my
being attacked by somebody, I resolved to make very thick and strong.
N.B. This wall being described before, I purposely omit what
was said, in the Journal; it is sufficient to observe, that I
was no less time than from the 3d of January to the 14th of
April, working, finishing, and perfecting this wall, though
it was no more than about twenty-four yards in length, being
a half-circle from one place in the rock to another place
about eight yards from it, the door of the cave being in the
centre behind it.
All this time I worked very hard, the rains hindering me many days, nay,
sometimes weeks together; But I thought I should never be perfectly
secure until this wall was finished; and it is scarce credible what
inexpressible labour every thing was done with, especially the bringing
piles out of the woods, and driving them into the ground, for I made
them much bigger than I need to have done.
When this wall was finished, and the outside double fenced with a turf
wall raised up close to it, I persuaded myself that if any people were
to come on shore there, they would not perceive any thing like a
habitation; and it was very well I did so, as may be observed hereafter
upon a very remarkable occasion.
During this time I made my rounds in the woods for game every day, when
the rain admitted me, and made frequent discoveries in these walks of
something or other to my advantage; particularly I found a kind of wild
pigeons, who built not as wood pigeons in a tree, but rather as house
pigeons, in the holes of the rocks; and taking some young ones, I
endeavoured to breed them up tame, and did so; but when they grew older
they flew away, which perhaps was at first for want of feeding them, for
I had nothing to give them; however, I frequently found their nests, and
got their young ones, which were very good meat.
And now, in the managing my household affairs, I found myself wanting in
many things, which I thought at first it was impossible for me to make,
as indeed as to some of them it was; for instance, I could never make a
cask to be hooped; I had a small runlet or two, as I observed before,
but I could never arrive to the capacity of making one by them, though I
spent many weeks about it; I could neither put in the heads, or joint
the staves so true to one another as to make them hold water: so I gave
that also over.
In the next place, I was at a great loss for candle; so that as soon as
ever it was dark, which was generally by seven o'clock, I was obliged to
go to bed: I remembered the lump of bees-wax with which I made candles
in my African adventure, but I had none of that now; the only remedy I
had, was, that when I had killed a goat I saved the tallow, and with a
little dish made of clay, which I baked in the sun, to which I added a
wick of some oakum, I made me a lamp; and this gave me light, though not
a clear steady light like a candle. In the middle of all my labours it
happened, that, rummaging my things, I found a little bag, which, as I
hinted before, had been filled with corn for the feeding of poultry; not
for this voyage, but before, as I suppose, when the ship came from
Lisbon; what little remainder of corn had been in the bag, was all
devoured with the rats, and I saw nothing in the bag but husks and dust;
and being willing to have the bag for some other use, I think it was to
put powder in, when I divided it for fear of the lightning, or some such
use, I shook the husks of corn out of it on one side of my fortification
under the rock.
It was a little before the great rains, just now mentioned, that I threw
this stuff away, taking no notice of any thing, and not so much as
remembering that I had thrown any thing there; when about a month after,
or thereabout, I saw some few stalks of something green shooting out of
the ground, which I fancied might be some plant I had not seen; but I
was surprised and perfectly astonished, when after a little longer time
I saw about ten or twelve ears come out, which were perfect green barley
of the same kind as our European, nay, as our English barley.
It is impossible to express the astonishment and confusion of my
thoughts on this occasion; I had hitherto acted upon no religious
foundation at all; indeed I had very few notions of religion in my head,
or had entertained any sense of any thing that had befallen me,
otherwise than as a chance, or, as we lightly say, what pleases God;
without so much as inquiring into the end of Providence in these things,
or his order in governing events in the world: but after I saw barley
grow there, in a climate which I knew was not proper for corn, and
especially that I knew not how it came there, it startled me strangely,
and I began to suggest, that God had miraculously caused this grain to
grow without any help of seed sown, and that it was so directed purely
for my sustenance on that wild miserable place.
This touched my heart a little, and brought tears out of my eyes, and I
began to bless myself, that such a prodigy of nature should happen upon
my account; and this was the more strange to me, because I saw near it
still, all along by the side of the rock, some other straggling stalks,
which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I knew, because I had seen
it grow in Africa, when I was ashore there.
I not only thought these the pure productions of Providence for my
support, but not doubting but that there was more in the place, I went
all over that part of the island, where I had been before, peeping in
every corner and under every rock to see for more of it, but I could not
find any; at last it occurred to my thought, that I had shook a bag of
chicken's meat out in that place, and then the wonder began to cease;
and I must confess, my religious thankfulness to God's providence began
to abate too upon discovering that all this was nothing but what was
common; though I ought to have been as thankful for so strange and
unforeseen a providence as if it had been miraculous; for it was really
the work of Providence as to me, that should order or appoint ten or
twelve grains of corn to remain unspoiled, when the rats had destroyed
all the rest, as if it had been dropped from heaven: as also, that I
should throw it out in that particular place, where, it being in the
shade of a high rock, it sprang up immediately; whereas if I had thrown
it any were else at that time, it had been burnt up and destroyed.
I carefully saved the ears of corn, you may be sure, in their season,
which was about the end of June, and laying up every corn, I resolved to
sow them all again, hoping in time to have some quantity sufficient to
supply me with bread; but it was not till the fourth year that I could
allow myself the least grain of this corn to eat, and even then but
sparingly, as I shall say afterwards in its order; for I lost all that I
sowed the first season, by not observing the proper time; for I sowed it
just before the dry season, so that it never came up at all, at least
not as it would have done: of which in its place.
Besides this barley there were, as above, twenty or thirty stalks of
rice, which I preserved with the same care, and whose use was of the
same kind or to the same purpose, viz. to make me bread, or rather food;
for I found ways to cook it up without baking, though I did that also
after some time. But to return to my journal.
I worked excessive hard these three or four months to get my wall done;
and the 14th of April I closed it up, contriving to go into it, not by a
door, but over the wall by a ladder, that there might be no sign in the
outside of my habitation.
April 16. I finished the ladder; so I went up with the ladder to the
top, and then pulled it up after me, and let it down on the inside: this
was a complete enclosure to me; for within I had room enough, and
nothing could come at me from without, unless it could first mount
my wall.
The very next day after this wall was finished, I had almost had all my
labour overthrown at once, and myself killed; the case was thus: As I
was busy in the inside of it behind my tent, just in the entrance into
my cave, I was terribly frighted with a most dreadful surprising thing
indeed; for on a sudden I found the earth come crumbling down from the
roof of my cave, and from the edge of the hill, over my head, and two of
the posts I had set up in the cave cracked in a frightful manner: I was
heartily scared, but thought nothing of what was really the cause, only
thinking that the top of my cave was falling in, as some of it had done
before; and for fear I should be buried in it, I ran forward to my
ladder, and not thinking myself safe there neither, I got over my wall
for fear of the pieces of the hill which I expected might roll down upon
me. I was no sooner stept down upon the firm ground, but I plainly saw
it was a terrible earthquake, for the ground I stood on shook three
times at about eight minutes distance, with three such shocks, as would
have overturned the strongest building that could be supposed to have
stood on the earth; and a great piece of the top of a rock, which stood
about half a mile from me next the sea, fell down with such a terrible
noise as I never heard in all my life: I perceived also the very sea was
put into violent motion by it; and I believe the shocks were stronger
under the water than on the island.
I was so amazed with the thing itself, having never felt the like, or
discoursed with any one that had, that I was like one dead or stupified;
and the motion of the earth made my stomach sick, like one that was
tossed at sea; but the noise of the falling of the rock awaked me, as it
were, and rousing me from the stupified condition I was in, filled me
with horror, and I thought of nothing then but the hill falling upon my
tent and all my household goods, and burying all at once; and this sunk
my very soul within me a second time.
After the third shock was over, and I felt no more for some time, I
began to take courage, and yet I had not heart enough to get over my
wall again, for fear of being buried alive, but sat still upon the
ground, greatly cast down and disconsolate, not knowing what to do. All
this while I had not the least serious religious thought, nothing but
the common "Lord have mercy upon me!" and when it was over, that
went away too.
While I sat thus, I found the air overcast, and grow cloudy, as if it
would rain; soon after that the wind rose by little and little, so that
in less than half an hour it blew a most dreadful hurricane: the sea was
all on a sudden covered over with foam and froth, the shore was covered
with the breach of the water, the trees were torn up by the roots, and a
terrible storm it was; and this held about three hours, and then began
to abate, and in two hours more it was stark calm, and began to rain
very hard.
All this while I sat upon the ground, very much terrified and dejected,
when on a sudden it came into my thoughts, that these winds and rain
being the consequence of the earthquake, the earthquake itself was spent
and over, and I might venture into my cave again: with this thought my
spirits began to revive, and the rain also helping to persuade me, I
went in and sat down in my tent; but the rain was so violent, that my
tent was ready to be beaten down with it; and I was forced to go into my
cave, though very much afraid and uneasy, for fear it should fall on
my head.
This violent rain forced me to a new work, viz. to cut a hole through my
new fortification like a sink, to let water go out, which would else
have drowned my cave. After I had been in my cave some time, and found
still no more shocks of the earthquake follow, I began to be more
composed; and now, to support my spirits, which indeed wanted it very
much, I went to my little store, and took a small sup of rum, which
however I did then and always very sparingly, knowing I could have no
more when that was gone.
It continued raining all that night, and great part of the next day, so
that I could not stir abroad; but my mind being more composed, I began
to think of what I had best do, concluding, that if the island was
subject to these earthquakes, there would be no living for me in a cave,
but I must consider of building me some little hut in an open place,
which I might surround with a wall as I had done here, and so make
myself secure from wild beasts or men: but concluded, if I staid where I
was, I should certainly, one time or other, be buried alive.
With these thoughts I resolved to remove my tent from the place where it
stood, which was just under the hanging precipice of the hill, and
which, if it should be shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent.
And I spent the two next days, being the 19th and 20th of April, in
contriving where and how to remove my habitation.
The fear of being swallowed up alive, made me that I never slept in
quiet, and yet the apprehension of lying abroad without any fence was
almost equal to it; but still, when I looked about and saw how every
thing was put in order, how pleasantly concealed I was, and how safe
from danger, it made me very loth to remove.
In the meantime it occurred to me that it would require a vast deal of
time for me to do this, and that I must be contented to run the venture
where I was, till I had formed a camp for myself, and had secured it so
as to remove to it. So with this resolution I composed myself for a
time, and resolved that I would go to work with all speed to build me a
wall with piles and cables, &c. in a circle as before; and set my tent
up in it when it was finished, but that I would venture to stay where I
was till it was finished and fit to remove to. This was the 21st.
April 22. The next morning I began to consider of means to put this
resolve in execution, but I was at a great loss about my tools. I had
three large axes and abundance of hatchets (for we carried the hatchets
for traffic with the Indians); but with much chopping and cutting
knotty hard wood, they were all full of notches and dull; and though I
had a grindstone, I could not turn it and grind my tools too: this cost
me as much thought as a statesman would have bestowed upon a grand point
of politics, or a judge upon the life and death of a man. At length I
contrived a wheel with a string, to turn it with my foot, that I might
have both my hands at liberty. _Note_, I had never seen any such thing
in England, or at least not to take notice how it was done, though since
I have observed it is very common there; besides that, my grindstone was
very large and heavy. This machine cost me a full week's work to bring
it to perfection.
April 28, 29. These two whole days I took up in grinding my tools, my
machine for turning my grindstone performing very well.
April 30. Having perceived my bread had been low a great while, now I
took a survey of it, and reduced myself to one biscuit-cake a day, which
made my heart very heavy.
May 1. In the morning, looking towards the sea-side, the tide being low,
I saw something lie on the shore bigger than ordinary; and it looked
like a cask; when I came to it, I found a small barrel, and two or three
pieces of the wreck of the ship, which were driven on shore by the late
hurricane; and looking towards the wreck itself, I thought it seemed to
lie higher out of the water than it used to do. I examined the barrel
which was driven on shore, and soon found it was a barrel of gunpowder,
but it had taken water, and the powder was caked as hard as a stone;
however, I rolled it farther on shore for the present, and went on upon
the sands as near as I could to the wreck of the ship, to look for more.
When I came down to the ship, I found it strangely removed; the
forecastle, which lay before buried in sand, was heaved up at least six
foot; and the stern, which was broke to pieces, and parted from the rest
by the force of the sea, soon after I had left rummaging her, was
tossed, as it were, up, and cast on one side, and the sand was thrown so
high on that side next her stern, that whereas there was a great place
of water before, so that I could not come within a quarter of a mile of
the wreck without swimming, I could now walk quite up to her when the
tide was out. I was surprised with this at first, but soon concluded it
must be done by the earthquake: and as by this violence the ship was
more broken open than formerly, so many things came daily on shore,
which the sea had loosened, and which the winds and water rolled by
degrees to the land.
This wholly diverted my thoughts from the design of removing my
habitation; and I busied myself mightily, that day especially, in
searching whether I could make any way into the ship; but I found
nothing was to be expected of that kind, for that all the inside of the
ship was choked up with sand: however, as I had learnt not to despair of
any thing, I resolved to pull every thing to pieces that I could of the
ship, concluding, that every thing I could get from her would be of some
use or other to me.
May 3. I began with my saw, and cut a piece of a beam through, which I
thought held some of the upper part or quarter-deck together, and when I
had cut it through, I cleared away the sand as well as I could from the
side which lay highest; but the tide coming in, I was obliged to give
over for that time.
Way 4. I went a-fishing, but caught not one fish that I durst eat of,
till I was weary of my sport; when just going to leave off, I caught a
young dolphin. I had made me a long line of some rope yarn, but I had no
hooks, yet I frequently caught fish enough, as much as I cared to eat;
all which I dried in the sun, and ate them dry.
May 5. Worked on the wreck, cut another beam asunder, and brought three
great fir planks off from the decks, which I tied together, and made
swim on shore when the tide of flood came on.
May 6. Worked on the wreck, got several iron bolts out of her, and
other pieces of iron-work; worked very hard, and came home very much
tired, and had thoughts of giving it over.
May 7. Went to the wreck again, but with an intent not to work, but
found the weight of the wreck had broke itself down, the beams being
cut, that several pieces of the ship seemed to lie loose, and the inside
of the hold lay so open, that I could see into it, but almost full of
water and sand.
May 8. Went to the wreck, and carried an iron crow to wrench up the
deck, which lay now quite clear of the water or sand; I wrenched open
two planks, and brought them on shore also with the tide: I left the
iron crow in the wreck for next day.
May 9. Went to the wreck, and with the crow made way into the body of
the wreck, and felt several casks, and loosened them with the crow, but
could not break them up: I felt also the roll of English lead, and could
stir it, but it was too heavy to remove.
May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Went every day to the wreck, and got a great
many pieces of timber, and boards, or plank, and two or three hundred
weight of iron.
May 15. I carried two hatchets, to try if I could not cut a piece off
the roll of lead, by placing the edge of one hatchet, and driving it
with the other; but as it lay about a foot and a half in the water, I
could not make any blow to drive the hatchet.
May 16. It had blown hard in the night, and the wreck appeared more
broken by the force of the water; but I staid so long in the woods to
get pigeons for food, that the tide prevented me going to the wreck
that day.
May 17. I saw some pieces of the wreck blown on shore, at a great
distance, near two miles off me, but resolved to see what they were, and
found it was a piece of the head, but too heavy for me to bring away.
May 24. Every day to this day I worked on the wreck, and with hard
labour I loosened some things so much with the crow, that the first
flowing tide several casks floated out, and two of the seamen's chests;
but the wind blowing from the shore, nothing came to land that day but
pieces of timber, and a hogshead, which had some Brasil pork in it, but
the salt water and the sand had spoiled it.
I continued this work every day to the 15th of June, except the time
necessary to get food, which I always appointed, during this part of my
employment, to be when the tide was up, that I might be ready when it
was ebbed out; and by this time I had gotten timber, and plank, and
iron-work enough to have built a good boat, if I had known how; and also
I got at several times, and in several pieces, near one hundred weight
of the sheet-lead.
June 16. Going down to the sea-side, I found a large tortoise or turtle:
this was the first I had seen, which it seems was only my misfortune,
not any defect of the place, or scarcity; for had I happened to be on
the other side of the island, I might have had hundreds of them every
day, as I found afterwards; but perhaps had paid dear enough for them.
June 17. I spent in cooking the turtle; I found in her threescore eggs;
and her flesh was to me at that time the most savory and pleasant that
ever I tasted in my life, having had no flesh, but of goats and fowls,
since I landed in this horrid place.
June 18. Rained all day, and I stayed within. I thought at this time the
rain felt cold, and I was something chilly, which I knew was not usual
in that latitude.
June 19. Very ill, and shivering, as if the weather had been cold.
June 20. No rest all night, violent pains in my head, and feverish.
June 21. Very ill, frighted almost to death with the apprehensions of my
sad condition, to be sick, and no help. Prayed to God for the first time
since the storm off Hull, but scarce knew what I said, or why; my
thoughts being all confused.
June 22. A little better, but under dreadful apprehensions of sickness.
June 23. Very bad again, cold and shivering, and then a violent headach.
June 24. Much better.
June 25. An ague very violent; the fit held me seven hours, cold fit and
hot, with faint sweats after it.
June 26. Better; and having no victuals to eat, took my gun, but found
myself very weak; however, I killed a she-goat, and with much difficulty
got it home, and broiled some of it, and ate; I would fain have stewed
it, and made some broth, but had no pot.
June 27. The ague again so violent, that I lay abed all day, and neither
ate or drank. I was ready to perish for thirst, but so weak I had not
strength to stand up, or to get myself any water to drink. Prayed to God
again, but was light-headed; and when I was not I was so ignorant, that
I knew not what to say; only I lay and cried, "Lord look upon me! Lord
pity me! Lord have mercy upon me!" I suppose I did nothing else for two
or three hours, till the fit wearing off, I fell asleep, and did not
wake till far in the night; when I waked, I found myself much refreshed,
but weak, and exceeding thirsty: however, as I had no water in my whole
habitation, I was forced to lie till morning, and went to sleep again.
In this second sleep I had this terrible dream.
I thought that I was sitting on the ground on the outside of my wall,
where I sat when the storm blew after the earthquake, and that I saw a
man descend from a great black cloud, in a bright flame of fire, and
light upon the ground. He was all over as bright as a flame, so that I
could but just bear to look towards him; his countenance was most
inexpressibly dreadful, impossible for words to describe; when he
stepped upon the ground with his feet I thought the earth trembled, just
as it had done before in the earthquake, and all the air looked to my
apprehension as if it had been filled with flashes of fire.
He was no sooner landed upon the earth, but he moved forward towards
me, with a long spear or weapon in his hand to kill me; and when he came
to a rising ground, at some distance, he spoke to me, or I heard a voice
so terrible, that it is impossible to express the terror of it; all that
I can say I understood was this, "Seeing all these things have not
brought thee to repentance, now thou shall die:" at which words I
thought he lifted up the spear that was in his hand to kill me.
No one, that shall ever read this account, will expect that I should be
able to describe the horrors of my soul at this terrible vision; I mean,
that even while it was a dream, I even dreamed of those horrors; nor is
it any more possible to describe the impression that remained upon my
mind, when I awaked, and found it was but a dream.
I had, alas! no divine knowledge; what I had received by the good
instruction of my father was then worn out by an uninterrupted series,
for eight years, of seafaring wickedness, and a constant conversation
with nothing but such as were, like myself, wicked and profane to the
last degree. I do not remember that I had in all that time one thought
that so much as tended either to looking upwards toward God, or inwards
towards a reflection upon my own ways. But a certain stupidity of soul,
without desire of good, or conscience of evil, had entirely overwhelmed
me, and I was all that the most hardened, unthinking, wicked creature
among our common sailors can be supposed to be, not having the least
sense, either of the fear of God in danger, or of thankfulness to God in
deliverances.
In the relating what is already past of my story, this will be the more
easily believed, when I shall add, that through all the variety of
miseries that had to this day befallen me, I never had so much as one
thought of it being the hand of God, or that it was a just punishment
for my sin, my rebellious behaviour against my father, or my present
sins, which were great; or so much as a punishment for the general
course of my wicked life. When I was on the desperate expedition on the
desert shores of Africa, I never had so much as one thought of what
would become of me; or one wish to God to direct me whither I should go,
or to keep me from the danger which apparently surrounded me, as well
from voracious creatures as cruel savages: but I was merely thoughtless
of a God, or a Providence, acted like a mere brute from the principles
of nature, and by the dictates of common sense only, and indeed
hardly that.
When I was delivered, and taken up at sea by the Portugal captain, well
used, and dealt justly and honourably with, as well as charitably, I had
not the least thankfulness on my thoughts. When again I was shipwrecked,
ruined, and in danger of drowning on this island, I was as far from
remorse, or looking on it as a judgment; I only said to myself often,
that I was _an unfortunate dog_, and born to be always miserable.
It is true, when I got on shore first here, and found all my ship's crew
drowned, and myself spared, I was surprised with a kind of ecstasy, and
some transports of soul, which, had the grace of God assisted, might
have come up to true thankfulness; but it ended where it begun, in a
mere common flight of joy, or, as I may say, _being glad I was alive_,
without the least reflection upon the distinguishing goodness of the
Hand which had preserved me, and had singled me out to be preserved,
when all the rest were destroyed; or an inquiry why Providence had been
thus merciful to me; even just the same common sort of joy which seamen
generally have, after they have got safe on shore from a shipwreck,
which they drown all in the next bowl of punch, and forget almost as
soon as it is over; and all the rest of my life was like it.
Even when I was afterwards, on due consideration, made sensible of my
condition, how I was cast on this dreadful place, out of the reach of
human kind, out of all hope of relief, or prospect of redemption, as
soon as I saw but a prospect of living, and that I should not starve
and perish for hunger, all the sense of my affliction wore off, and I
began to be very easy, applied myself to the works proper for my
preservation and supply, and was far enough from being afflicted at my
condition, as a judgment from Heaven, or as the hand of God against me:
these were thoughts which very seldom entered into my head.
The growing up of the corn, as is hinted in my Journal, had at first
some little influence upon me, and began to affect me with seriousness,
as long as I thought it had something miraculous in it; but as soon as
ever that part of thought was removed, all the impression which was
raised from it wore off also, as I have noted already.
Even the earthquake, though nothing could be more terrible in its
nature, or more immediately directing to the invisible Power which alone
directs such things; yet no sooner was the first fright over, but the
impression it had made went off also. I had no more sense of God, or his
judgments, much less of the present affliction of my circumstances being
from his hand, than if I had been in the most prosperous condition
of life.
But now, when I began to be sick, and a leisurely view of the miseries
of death came to place itself before me; when my spirits began to sink
under the burden of a strong distemper, and nature was exhausted with
the violence of the fever; conscience, that had slept so long, began to
awake, and I began to reproach myself with my past life, in which I had
so evidently, by uncommon wickedness, provoked the justice of God to lay
me under uncommon strokes, and to deal with me in so vindictive
a manner.
These reflections oppressed me from the second or third day of my
distemper, and in the violence, as well of the fever as of the dreadful
reproaches of my conscience, extorted some words from me, like praying
to God, though I cannot say they were either a prayer attended with
desires, or with hopes; it was rather the voice of mere fright and
distress; my thoughts were confused, the convictions great upon my mind,
and the horror of dying in such a miserable condition, raised vapours
into my head with the mere apprehensions; and, in these hurries of my
soul, I knew not what my tongue might express: but it was rather
exclamation, such as, "Lord! what a miserable creature am I! If I should
be sick, I shall certainly die for want of help, and what will become of
me!" Then the tears burst out of my eyes, and I could say no more for a
good while.
In this interval, the good advice of my father came to my mind; and
presently his prediction, which I mentioned in the beginning of this
story, viz. that if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless
me, and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon having neglected
his counsel, when there might be none to assist in my recovery. "Now,"
said I aloud, "my dear father's words are come to pass: God's justice
has overtaken me, and I have none to help or hear me: I rejected the
voice of Providence, which had mercifully put me in a posture or station
of life wherein I might have been happy and easy; but I would neither
see it myself, nor learn to know the blessing of it from my parents; I
left them to mourn over my folly, and now I am left to mourn under the
consequences of it: I refused their help and assistance, who would have
lifted me into the world, and would have made every thing easy to me;
and now I have difficulties to struggle with, too great for even nature
itself to support, and no assistance, no help, no comfort, no advice."
Then I cried out, "Lord be my help, for I am in great distress!"
This was the first prayer, if I might call it so, that I had made for
many years. But I return to my journal.
June 28. Having been somewhat refreshed with the sleep I had had, and
the fit being entirely off, I got up: and though the fright and terror
of my dream was very great, yet I considered, that the fit of the ague
would return again the next day, and now was my time to get something to
refresh and support myself when I should be ill; and the first thing I
did, I filled a large square case-bottle with water, and set it upon my
table, in reach of my bed; and to take off the chill or aguish
disposition of the water, I put about a quarter of a pint of rum into
it, and mixed them together; then I got me a piece of the goat's flesh,
and broiled it on the coals, but could eat very little. I walked about,
but was very weak, and withal very sad and heavy-hearted under a sense
of my miserable condition, dreading the return of my distemper the next
day. At night I made my supper of three of the turtle's eggs, which I
roasted in the ashes, and ate, as we call it, in the shell; and this was
the first bit of meat I had ever asked God's blessing to, even, as I
could remember, in my whole life.
After I had eaten I tried to walk; but found myself so weak, that I
could hardly carry the gun (for I never went out without that): so I
went but a little way, and sat down upon the ground, looking out upon
the sea, which was just before me, and very calm and smooth. As I sat
here, some such thoughts as these occurred to me:
What is the earth and sea, of which I have seen so much? Whence is it
produced? And what am I, and all the other creatures, wild and tame,
human and brutal? whence are we?
Sure we are all made by some secret Power, who formed the earth and sea,
the air and sky; and who is that?
Then it followed, most naturally: it is God that has made it all: well,
but then it came on strangely; if God has made all these things, he
guides and governs them all, and all things that concern them; for the
Being that could make all things, must certainly have power to guide and
direct them.
If so, nothing can happen in the great circuit of his works, either
without his knowledge or appointment.
And if nothing happens without his knowledge, he knows that I am here,
and am in a dreadful condition; and if nothing happens without his
appointment, he has appointed all this to befal me.
Nothing occurred to my thoughts to contradict any of these conclusions;
and therefore it rested upon me with the greater force, that it must
needs be, that God had appointed all this to befal me; that I was
brought to this miserable circumstance by his direction, he having the
sole power, not of me only, but of every thing that happened in the
world. Immediately it followed,
Why has God done this to me? What have I done to be thus used?
My conscience presently checked me in that inquiry, as if I had
blasphemed; and methought it spoke to me, like a voice; "Wretch! dost
thou ask what thou hast done? look back upon a dreadful mispent life,
and ask thyself what thou hast not done? ask, why is it that thou wert
not long ago destroyed? why wert thou not drowned in Yarmouth Roads?
killed in the fight when the ship was taken by the Sallee man of war?
devoured by the wild beasts on the coast of Africa? or, drowned here,
when all the crew perished but thyself? Dost thou ask, What have
I done?"
I was struck with these reflections as one astonished, and had not a
word to say, no, not to answer to myself: but rose up pensive and sad,
walked back to my retreat, and went up over my wall, as if I had been
going to bed; but my thoughts were sadly disturbed, and I had no
inclination to sleep; so I sat down in my chair, and lighted my lamp,
for it began to be dark. Now, as the apprehensions of the return of my
distemper terrified me very much, it occurred to my thought, that the
Brasilians take no physic but their tobacco, for almost all distempers;
and I had a piece of a roll of tobacco in one of the chests, which was
quite cured, and some also that was green, and not quite cured.
I went, directed by Heaven, no doubt; for in this chest I found a cure
both for soul and body. I opened the chest, and found what I looked
for, viz. the tobacco; and as the few books I had saved lay there too, I
took out one of the Bibles which I mentioned before, and which, to this
time, I had not found leisure, or so much as inclination, to look into;
I say I took it out, and brought both that and the tobacco with me to
the table.
What use to make of the tobacco I knew not, as to my distemper, or
whether it was good for it or no; but I tried several experiments with
it, as if I was resolved it should hit one way or other: I first took a
piece of a leaf, and chewed it in my mouth, which indeed at first almost
stupified my brain, the tobacco being green and strong, and that I had
not been much used to it; then I took some, and steeped it an hour or
two in some rum, and resolved to take a dose of it when I lay down; and
lastly, I burnt some upon a pan of coals, and held my nose close over
the smoke of it, as long as I could bear it, as well for the heat as the
virtue of it, and I held almost to suffocation.
In the interval of this operation I took up the Bible, and began to
read; but my head was too much disturbed with the tobacco to bear
reading, at least at that time; only having opened the book casually,
the first words that occurred to me were these: "Call on me in the day
of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me."
The words were very apt to my case, and made some impression upon my
thoughts at the time of reading them, though not so much as they did
afterwards; for as for being delivered, the word had no sound, as I may
say, to me; the thing was so remote, so impossible in my apprehension of
things, that I began to say as the children of Israel did, when they
were promised flesh to eat, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?"
So I began to say, Can God himself deliver me from this place? And as it
was not for many years that any hope appeared, this prevailed very often
upon my thoughts: but, however, the words made a very great impression
upon me, and I mused upon them very often. It grew now late, and the
tobacco had, as I said, dozed my head so much, that I inclined to sleep;
so that I left my lamp burning in the cave, lest I should want any thing
in the night, and went to bed; but before I lay down, I did what I never
had done in all my life: I kneeled down, and prayed to God to fulfil the
promise to me, that if I called upon him in the day of trouble, he would
deliver me. After my broken and imperfect prayer was over, I drank the
rum in which I had steeped the tobacco, which was so strong and rank of
the tobacco, that indeed I could scarce get it down. Immediately upon
this I went to bed, and I found presently it flew up into my head
violently; but I fell into a sound sleep, and waked no more, till by the
sun it must necessarily be near three o'clock in the afternoon the next
day; nay, to this hour I am partly of the opinion, that I slept all the
next day and night, and till almost three the day after; for otherwise I
knew not how I should lose a day out of my reckoning in the days of the
week, as it appeared some years after I had done; for if I had lost it
by crossing and recrossing the line, I should have lost more than a day;
but in my account it was lost, and I never knew which way.
Be that however one way or other; when I awaked, I found myself
exceedingly refreshed, and my spirits lively and cheerful; when I got
up, I was stronger than I was the day before, and my stomach better; for
I was hungry; and, in short, I had no fit the next day, but continued
much altered for the better: this was the 29th.
The 30th was my well day of course, and I went abroad with my gun, but
did not care to travel too far: I killed a sea-fowl or two, something
like a brand goose, and brought them home, but was not very forward to
eat them: so I ate some more of the turtle's eggs, which were very good.
This evening I renewed the medicine which I had supposed did me good the
day before, viz. the tobacco steeped in rum; only I did not take so
much as before, nor did I chew any of the leaf, or hold my head over the
smoke; however, I was not so well the next day, which was the 1st of
July, as I hoped I should have been; for I had a little spice of the
cold fit, but it was not much.
July 2. I renewed the medicine all the three ways, and dozed myself with
it at first, and doubled the quantity which I drank.
July 3. I missed the fit for good and all, though I did not recover my
full strength for some weeks after. While I was thus gathering strength,
my thoughts ran exceedingly upon this scripture, "I will deliver thee;"
and the impossibility of my deliverance lay much upon my mind, in bar of
my ever expecting it: but as I was discouraging myself with such
thoughts, it occurred to my mind, that I pored so much upon my
deliverance from the main affliction, that I disregarded the deliverance
I had received; and I was, as it were, made to ask myself such questions
as these; viz. Have I not been delivered, and wonderfully too, from
sickness? from the most distressed condition that could be, and that was
so frightful to me? and what notice had I taken of it? had I done my
part? _God had delivered me;_ but _I had not glorified him_: that is to
say, I had not owned and been thankful for that as a deliverance; and
how could I expect greater deliverance?
This touched my heart very much, and immediately I kneeled down, and
gave God thanks aloud, for my recovery from my sickness.
July 4. In the morning I took the Bible; and, beginning at the New
Testament, I began seriously to read it, and imposed upon myself to read
a while every morning and every night, not tying myself to the number of
chapters, but as long as my thoughts should engage me. It was not long
after I set seriously to this work, but I found my heart more deeply and
sincerely affected with the wickedness of my past life; the impression
of my dream revived, and the words, "All these things have not brought
thee to repentance," ran seriously in my thoughts: I was earnestly
begging of God to give me repentance, when it happened providentially
the very day, that, reading the Scripture, I came to these words, "He is
exalted a Prince, and a Saviour, to give repentance, and to give
remission." I threw down the book, and with my heart as well as my hand
lifted up to heaven, in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud,
"Jesus, thou Son of David, Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour, give
me repentance!"
This was the first time that I could say, in the true sense of the
words, that I prayed in all my life; for now I prayed with a sense of my
condition, and with a true Scripture view of hope, founded on the
encouragement of the word of God; and from this time, I may say, I began
to have hope that God would hear me.
Now I began to construe the words mentioned above, "Call on me, and I
will deliver thee," in a different sense from what I had ever done
before; for then I had no notion of any thing being called deliverance,
but my being delivered from the captivity I was in; for though I was
indeed at large in the place, yet the island was certainly a prison to
me, and that in the worst sense in the world; but now I learnt to take
it in another sense. Now I looked back upon my past life with such
horror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of
God, but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all my
comfort. As for my solitary life, it was nothing; I did not so much as
pray to be delivered from it, or think of it; it was all of no
consideration in comparison of this; and I added this part here, to hint
to whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of
things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than
deliverance from affliction.
But, leaving this part, I return to my journal. My condition began now
to be, though not less miserable as to my way of living, yet much easier
to my mind; and my thoughts being directed, by a constant reading the
Scripture, and praying to God, to things of a higher nature, I had a
great deal of comfort within, which till now I knew nothing of; also as
my health and strength returned, I bestirred myself to furnish myself
with every thing that I wanted, and make my way of living as regular
as I could.
From the 4th of July to the 14th, I was chiefly employed in walking
about with my gun in my hand a little and a little at a time, as a man
that was gathering up his strength after a fit of sickness; for it is
hardly to be imagined how low I was, and to what weakness I was reduced.
The application which I made use of was perfectly new, and perhaps what
had never cured an ague before; neither can I recommend it to any one to
practise by this experiment; and though it did carry off the fit, yet it
rather contributed to weaken me; for I had frequent convulsions in my
nerves and limbs for some time.
I learnt from it also this in particular, that being abroad in the rainy
season was the most pernicious thing to my health that could be,
especially in those rains which came attended with storms and hurricanes
of wind; for as the rain which came in a dry season was always most
accompanied with such storms, so I found this rain was much more
dangerous than the rain which fell in September and October.
I had been now in this unhappy island above ten months; all possibility
of deliverance from this condition seemed to be entirely taken from me;
and I firmly believed that no human shape had ever set foot upon that
place. Having now secured my habitation, as I thought, fully to my mind,
I had a great desire to make a more perfect discovery of the island, and
to see what other productions I might find, which yet I knew nothing of.
It was the 15th of July that I began to take a more particular survey of
the island itself. I went up the creek first, where, as I hinted, I
brought my rafts on shore. I found, after I came about two miles up,
that the tide did not flow any higher, and that it was no more than a
little brook of running water, and very fresh and good: but this being
the dry season, there was hardly any water in some parts of it, at least
not enough to run into any stream, so as it could be perceived.
On the bank of this brook I found many pleasant savannas or meadows,
plain, smooth, and covered with grass; and on the rising parts of them
next to the higher grounds, where the water, as it might be supposed,
never overflowed, I found a great deal of tobacco, green, and growing to
a great and very strong stalk: there were divers other plants which I
had no notion of, or understanding about; and might perhaps have virtues
of their own, which I could not find out.
I searched for the cassave root, which the Indians in all that climate
make their bread of, but I could find none. I saw large plants of aloes,
but did not then understand them: I saw several sugar-canes, but wild,
and, for want of cultivation, imperfect. I contented myself with these
discoveries for this time, and came back, musing with myself what course
I might take to know the virtue and goodness of any of the fruits or
plants which I should discover, but could bring it to no conclusion;
for, in short, I had made so little observation while I was in the
Brasils, that I knew little of the plants of the field, at least very
little that might serve me to any purpose now in my distress.
The next day, the 16th, I went up the same way again; and, after going
something farther than I had done the day before, I found the brook and
the savannas began to cease, and the country became more woody than
before. In this part I found different fruits, and particularly I found
melons upon the ground in great abundance, and grapes upon the trees;
the vines had spread indeed over the trees, and the clusters of grapes
were just now in their prime, very ripe and rich. This was a surprising
discovery, and I was exceeding glad of them; but I was warned by my
experience to eat sparingly of them, remembering, that when I was
ashore in Barbary, the eating of grapes killed several of our Englishmen
who were slaves there, by throwing them into fluxes and fevers: but I
found an excellent use for these grapes, and that was to cure or dry
them in the sun, and keep them as dried grapes or raisins are kept,
which I thought would be, as indeed they were, as wholesome, and as
agreeable to eat, when no grapes might be had.
I spent all that evening there, and went not back to my habitation,
which by the way was the first night, as I might say, I had lain from
home. In the night I took my first contrivance, and got up into a tree,
where I slept well, and the next morning proceeded upon my discovery,
travelling near four miles, as I might judge by the length of the
valley, keeping still due north, with a ridge of hills on the south and
north side of me.
At the end of this march I came to an opening, where the country seemed
to descend to the west; and a little spring of fresh water, which issued
out of the side of the hill by me, ran the other way, that is, due east;
and the country appeared so fresh, so green, so flourishing, every thing
being in a constant verdure or flourish of spring, that it looked like a
planted garden.
I descended a little on the side of that delicious valley, surveying it
with a secret kind of pleasure (though mixed with other afflicting
thoughts) to think that this was all my own, that I was king and lord of
all this country indefeasibly, and had a right of possession; and if I
could convey it, I might have it in inheritance, as completely as any
lord of a manor in England. I saw here abundance of cocoa-trees, orange
and lemon, and citron-trees, but all wild, and few bearing any fruit; at
least, not then: however, the green limes that I gathered were not only
pleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I mixed their juice afterwards
with water, which made it very wholesome, and very cool and refreshing.
I found now I had business enough to gather and carry home; and resolved
to lay up a store, as well of grapes as limes and lemons, to furnish
myself for the wet season, which I knew was approaching.
In order to do this I gathered a great heap of grapes in one place, and
a lesser heap in another place, and a great parcel of limes and lemons
in another place; and taking a few of each with me, I travelled
homeward, and resolved to come again, and bring a bag or sack, or what I
could make, to carry the rest home.
Accordingly, having spent three days in this journey, I came home (so I
must now call my tent, and my cave;) but before I got thither, the
grapes were spoiled; the richness of the fruit, and the weight of the
juice, having broken them, and bruised them, they were good for little
or nothing: as to the limes, they were good, but I could bring but
a few.
The next day, being the 19th, I went back, having made me two small bags
to bring home my harvest. But I was surprised, when coming to my heap of
grapes, which were so rich and fine when I gathered them, I found them
all spread abroad, trod to pieces, and dragged about, some here, some
there, and abundance eaten and devoured. By this I concluded there were
some wild creatures thereabouts, which had done this; but what they were
I knew not.
However, as I found there was no laying them up on heaps, and no
carrying them away in a sack, but that one way they would be destroyed,
and the other way they would be crushed with their own weight, I took
another course; for I gathered a large quantity of the grapes, and hung
them upon the out branches of the trees, that they might cure and dry in
the sun; and as for the limes and lemons, I carried as many back as I
could well stand under.
When I came home from this journey, I contemplated with great pleasure
on the fruitfulness of that valley, and the pleasantness of the
situation, the security from storms on that side of the water, and the
wood; and concluded that I had pitched upon a place to fix my abode,
which was by far the worst part of the country. Upon the whole, I began
to consider of removing my habitation, and to look out for a place
equally safe as where I now was situated, if possible, in that pleasant
fruitful part of the island.
This thought ran long in my head, and I was exceeding fond of it for
some time, the pleasantness of the place tempting me; but when I came to
a nearer view of it, and to consider that I was now by the sea-side,
where it was at least possible that something might happen to my
advantage, and that the same ill fate that brought me hither might bring
some other unhappy wretches to the same place; and though it was scarce
probable that any such thing should ever happen, yet to enclose myself
among the hills and woods, in the centre of the island, was to
anticipate my bondage, and to render such an affair not only improbable,
but impossible; and that therefore I ought not by any means to remove.
However, I was so enamoured with this place, that I spent much of my
time there for the whole remaining part of the month of July; and
though, upon second thoughts, I resolved as above, not to remove, yet I
built me a little kind of a bower, and surrounded it at a distance with
a strong fence, being a double hedge, as high as I could reach, well
staked and filled between with brushwood; and here I lay very secure,
sometimes two or three nights together, always going over it with a
ladder, as before; so that I fancied now I had my country house, and my
sea-coast house: and this work took me up the beginning of August.
I had but newly finished my fence, and began to enjoy my labour, but the
rains came on, and made me stick close to my first habitation; for
though I had made me a tent like the other, with a piece of a sail, and
spread it very well, yet I had not the shelter of a hill to keep me from
storms, nor a cave behind me to retreat into when the rains were
extraordinary.
About the beginning of August, as I said, I had finished my bower, and
began to enjoy myself. The 3d of August I found the grapes I had hung up
were perfectly dried, and indeed were excellent good raisins of the
sun; so I began to take them down from the trees, and it was very happy
that I did so; for the rains which followed would have spoiled them, and
I had lost the best part of my winter food; for I had above two hundred
large bunches of them. No sooner had I taken them all down, and carried
most of them home to my cave, but it began to rain; and from thence,
which was the 14th of August, it rained more or less every day, till the
middle of October; and sometimes so violently, that I could not stir out
of my cave for several days.
In this season I was much surprised with the increase of my family: I
had been concerned for the loss of one of my cats, who ran away from me,
or, as I thought, had been dead; and I heard no more tale or tidings of
her, till to my astonishment she came home about the end of August, with
three kittens. This was the more strange to me, because though I had
killed a wild cat, as I called it, with my gun, yet I thought it was a
quite different kind from our European cats; yet the young cats were the
same kind of house breed like the old one; and both my cats being
females, I thought it very strange: but from these three cats I
afterwards came to be so pestered with cats, that I was forced to kill
them like vermin, or wild beasts, and to drive them from my house as
much as possible.
From the 14th of August to the 26th, incessant rain, so that I could not
stir, and was now very careful not to be much wet. In this confinement I
began to be straitened for food; but venturing out twice, I one day
killed a goat: and the last day, which was the 26th, found a very large
tortoise, which was a treat to me, and my food was regulated thus: I ate
a bunch of raisins for my breakfast, a piece of the goat's flesh, or of
the turtle, for my dinner, broiled (for, to my great misfortune, I had
no vessel to boil or stew any thing;) and two or three of the turtle's
eggs for supper. During this confinement in my cover by the rain, I
worked daily two or three hours at enlarging my cave; and, by degrees,
worked it on towards one side, till I came to the outside of the hill,
and made a door or way out, which came beyond my fence or wall; and so I
came in and out this way: but I was not perfectly easy at lying so open;
for as I had managed myself before, I was in a perfect enclosure,
whereas now I thought I lay exposed; and yet I could not perceive that
there was any living thing to fear, the biggest creature that I had seen
upon the island being a goat.
September the 30th. I was now come to the unhappy anniversary of my
landing: I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore
three hundred and sixty-five days. I kept this day as a solemn fast,
setting it apart to a religious exercise, prostrating myself to the
ground with the most serious humiliation, confessing myself to God,
acknowledging his righteous judgment upon me, and praying to him to have
mercy on me, through Jesus Christ; and having not tasted the least
refreshment for twelve hours, even till the going down of the sun, I
then ate a biscuit-cake and a bunch of grapes, and went to bed,
finishing the day as I began it.
I had all this time observed no sabbath-day; for as at first I had no
sense of religion upon my mind, I had after some time omitted to
distinguish the weeks, by making a longer notch than ordinary for the
sabbath-day, and so did not really know what any of the days were; but
now, having cast up the days as before, I found I had been there a year;
so I divided it into weeks, and set apart every seventh day for a
sabbath; though I found at the end of my account I had lost a day or two
of my reckoning.
A little after this my ink began to fail me, and so I contented myself
to use it more sparingly, and to write down only the most remarkable
events of my life, without continuing a daily memorandum of
other things.
The rainy season, and the dry season, began now to appear regular to
me, and I learnt to divide them so as to provide for them accordingly.
But I bought all my experience before I had it; and this I am going to
relate, was one of the most discouraging experiments that I made at all.
I have mentioned, that I had saved the few ears of barley and rice which
I had so surprisingly found spring up, as I thought, of themselves, and
believe there were about thirty stalks of rice, and about twenty of
barley: and now I thought it a proper time to sow it after the rains,
the sun being in its southern position going from me.
Accordingly I dug up a piece of ground, as well as I could, with my
wooden spade, and dividing it into two parts, I sowed my grain; but as I
was sowing, it casually occurred to my thought, that I would not sow it
all at first, because I did not know when was the proper time for it; so
I sowed about two thirds of the seeds, leaving about a handful of each.
It was a great comfort to me afterwards that I did so; for not one grain
of that I sowed this time came to any thing; for the dry months
following, the earth having had no rain after the seed was sown, it had
no moisture to assist its growth, and never came up at all, till the wet
season had come again, and then it grew as if it had been newly sown.
Finding my first seed did not grow, which I easily imagined was by the
drought, I sought for a moister piece of ground to make another trial
in; and I dug up a piece of ground near my new bower, and sowed the rest
of my seed in February, a little before the vernal equinox; and this,
having the rainy months of March and April to water it, sprung up very
pleasantly, and yielded a very good crop; but having part of the seed
left only, and not daring to sow all that I had yet, I had but a small
quantity at last, my whole crop not amounting to above half a peck of
each kind.
But by this experience I was made master of my business, and knew
exactly when the proper season was to sow; and that I might expect two
seed-times, and two harvests, every year.
While this corn was growing, I made a little discovery, which was of use
to me afterwards. As soon as the rains were over, and the weather began
to settle, which was about the month of November, I made a visit up the
country to my bower, where though I had not been some months, yet I
found all things just as I left them. The circle or double hedge that I
had made, was not only firm and entire, but the stakes which I had cut
off of some trees that grew thereabouts, were all shot out, and grown
with long branches, as much as a willow tree usually shoots the first
year after lopping its head. I could not tell what tree to call it that
these stakes were cut from. I was surprised, and yet very well pleased,
to see the young trees grow; and I pruned them, and led them up to grow
as much alike as I could; and it is scarce credible, how beautiful a
figure they grew into in three years; so that though the hedge made a
circle of about twenty-five yards in diameter, yet the trees, for such I
might now call them, soon covered it; and it was a, complete shade,
sufficient to lodge under all the dry season.
This made me resolve to cut some more stakes, and make me an hedge like
this in a semicircle round my wall, I mean that of my first dwelling,
which I did; and placing the trees or stakes in a double row, at above
eight yards distance from my first fence, they grew presently, and were
at first a fine cover to my habitation, and afterwards served for a
defence also, as I shall observe in its order.
I found now, that the seasons of the year might generally be divided,
not into summer and winter, as in Europe, but into the rainy seasons and
the dry seasons, which were generally thus:
Half February,} Rainy, the sun being then on, or near,
March, } the equinox.
Half April, }
Half April,}
May,} Dry, the sun being then to the north
June,} of the line.
July,}
Half August,}
September,} Rain, the sun being then come back.
Half October,}
Half October,}
November,} Dry, the sun being then to the south
December,} of the line.
January,}
Half February,}
The rainy season sometimes held longer or shorter, as the winds happened
to blow; but this was the general observation I made. After I had found,
by experience, the ill consequence of being abroad in the rain, I took
care to furnish myself with provision beforehand, that I might not be
obliged to go out; and I sat within doors as much as possible during the
wet months.
In this time I found much employment, (and very suitable also to the
time) for I found great occasion of many things which I had no way to
furnish myself with, but by hard labour and constant application;
particularly, I tried many ways to make myself a basket; but all the
twigs I could get for the purpose proved so brittle, that they would do
nothing. It proved of excellent advantage to me now, that when I was a
boy I used to take great delight in standing at a basket-maker's in the
town where my father lived, to see them make their wicker-ware; and
being, as boys usually are, very officious to help, and a great observer
of the manner how they worked those things, and sometimes lent an hand,
I had by this means so full knowledge of the methods of it, that I
wanted nothing but the materials; when it came into my mind, that the
twigs of that tree from whence I cut my stakes that grew, might possibly
be as tough as the sallows, and willows, and osiers, in England; and I
resolved to try.
Accordingly the next day I went to my country-house, as I called it, and
cutting some of the smaller twigs, I found them to my purpose as much as
I could desire; whereupon I came the next time prepared with an hatchet
to cut down a quantity, which I soon found, for there was a great plenty
of them: these I set up to dry within my circle or hedges; and when they
were fit for use, I carried them to my cave; and here during the next
season I employed myself in making (as well as I could) a great many
baskets, both to carry earth, or to carry or lay up any thing, as I had
occasion; and though I did not finish them very handsomely, yet I made
them sufficiently serviceable for my purpose; and thus afterwards I took
care never to be without them; and as my wicker-ware decayed I made
more; especially I made strong deep baskets to place my corn in, instead
of sacks, when I should come to have any quantity of it.
Having mastered this difficulty, and employed a world of time about it,
I bestirred myself to see, if possible, how to supply two wants. I had
no vessels to hold any thing that was liquid, except two rundlets, which
were almost full of rum, and some glass bottles, some of the common
size, and others which were case-bottles square, for the holding of
waters, spirits, &c. I had not so much as a pot to boil any thing in,
except a great kettle which I saved out of the ship, and which was too
big for such uses as I desired it for, viz. to make broth, and stew a
bit of meat by itself. The second thing I would fain have had, was a
tobacco-pipe, but it was impossible for me to make one; however, I found
a contrivance for that too at last.
I employed myself in planting my second rows of stakes of piles, and in
this wicker-work, all the summer, or dry season; when another business
took me up more time than it could be imagined I could spare.
I mentioned before, that I had a great mind to see the whole island,
and that I had travelled up the brook, and so on to where I built my
bower, and where I had an opening quite to the sea, on the other side of
the island. I now resolved to travel quite across to the sea shore on
that side. So taking my gun and hatchet, and my dog, and a larger
quantity of powder and shot than usual, with two biscuit-cakes and a
great bunch of raisins in my pouch, for my store, I began my journey.
When I had passed the vale where my bower stood, as above, I came within
view of the sea, to the west; and it being a very clear day, I fairly
descried land, whether an island or continent I could not tell; but it
lay very high, extending from the west to the W.S.W. at a very great
distance; by my guess it could not be less than fifteen or twenty
leagues off.
I could not tell what part of the world this might be, otherwise than
that I knew it must be part of America; and, as I concluded by all my
observations, must be near the Spanish dominions, and perhaps was all
inhabited by savages, where if I should have landed, I had been in a
worse condition than I was now; and therefore I acquiesced in the
dispositions of Providence, which I began now to own, and to believe,
ordered every thing for the best; I say, I quieted my mind with this,
and left afflicting myself with fruitless wishes of being there.
Besides, after some pause upon this affair, I considered, that if this
land was the Spanish coast, I should certainly, one time or other, see
some vessels pass or repass one way or other; but if not, then it was
the savage coast between the Spanish country and Brasil, which were
indeed the worst of savages; for they are cannibals, or men-eaters, and
fail not to murder and devour all the human bodies that fall into their
hands. With these considerations I walked very leisurely forward. I
found that side of the island where I now was, much pleasanter than
mine, the open or savanna fields sweet, adorned with flowers and grass,
and full of very fine woods. I saw abundance of parrots, and fain would
I have caught one, if possible, to have kept it to be tame, and taught
it to speak to me. I did, after some painstaking, catch a young parrot;
for I knocked it down with a stick, and having recovered it, I brought
it home, but it was some years before I could make him speak. However,
at last I taught him to call me by my name very familiarly: but the
accident that followed, though it be a trifle, will be very diverting in
its place.
I was exceedingly diverted with this journey: I found in the low
grounds, hares, as I thought them to be, and foxes, but they differed
greatly from all the other kinds I had met with; nor could I satisfy
myself to eat them, though I killed several: but I had no need to be
venturous; for I had no want of food, and of that which was very good
too; especially these three sorts, viz. goats, pigeons, and turtle or
tortoise; which added to my grapes. Leadenhall-market could not have
furnished a better table than I, in proportion to the company: and
though my case was deplorable enough, yet I had great cause for
thankfulness, that I was not driven to any extremities for food; but
rather plenty, even to dainties.
I never travelled in this journey above two miles outright in a day, or
thereabouts; but I look so many turns and returns, to see what
discoveries I could make, that I came weary enough to the place where I
resolved to sit down for all night; and then either reposed myself in a
tree, or surrounded myself with a row of stakes set upright in the
ground, either from one tree to another, or so as no wild creature could
come at me without waking me.
As soon as I came to the sea-shore, I was surprised to see that I had
taken up my lot on the worst side of the island; for here indeed the
shore was covered with innumerable turtles, whereas on the other side I
had found but three in a year and an half. Here was also an infinite
number of fowls of many kinds, some of which I had not seen before, and
many of them very good meat; but such as I knew not the names of except
those called penguins.
I could have shot as many as I pleased, but was very sparing of my
powder and shot: and therefore had more mind to kill a she-goat, if I
could, which I could better feed on: and though there were many goats
here more than on the other side of the island, yet it was with much
more difficulty that I could come near them; the country being flat and
even, and they saw me much sooner than when I was on the hills.
I confess this side of the country was much pleasanter than mine, but
yet I had not the least inclination to remove; for as I was fixed in my
habitation, it became natural to me, and I seemed all the while I was
here to be, as it were, upon a journey, and from home: however, I
travelled along the shore of the sea towards the east, I suppose, about
twelve miles; and then setting up a great pole upon the shore for a
mark, I concluded I would go home again; and the next journey I took
should be on the other side of the island, east from my dwelling, and so
round, till I came to my post again: of which in its place.
I took another way to come back than that I went, thinking I could
easily keep all the island so much in my view, that I could not miss
finding my first dwelling by viewing the country; but I found myself
mistaken; for being come about two or three miles, I found myself
descended into a very large valley; but so surrounded with hills, and
those hills covered with woods, that I could not see which was my way by
any direction but that of the sun; nor even then, unless I knew very
well the position of the sun at that time of the day.
It happened, to my farther misfortune, that the weather proved hazy for
three or four days, while I was in this valley; and not being able to
see the sun, I wandered about very uncomfortably, and at last was
obliged to find out the sea-side, look for my post, and come back the
same way I went; and then by easy journies I turned homeward, the
weather being exceeding hot; and my gun, ammunition, hatchet, and other
things, very heavy.
In this journey my dog surprised a young kid, and seized upon it; and I
running in to take hold of it, caught it, and saved it alive from the
dog. I had a great mind to bring it home, if I could; for I had often
been musing whether it might not be possible to get a kid or two, and so
raise a breed of tame goats, which might supply me when my powder and
shot should be spent.
I made a collar for this little creature, and with a string which I made
of some rope-yarn, which I always carried about me, I led him along,
though with some difficulty, till I came to my bower, and there I
enclosed him, and left him; for I was very impatient to be at home, from
whence I had been absent above a month.
I cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me to come into my old
hutch, and lie down in my hammock-bed: this little wandering journey,
without a settled place of abode, had been so unpleasant to me that my
own house, as I called it to myself, was a perfect settlement to me,
compared to that; and it rendered every thing about me so comfortable,
that I resolved I would never go a great way from it again, while it
should be my lot to stay on the island.
I reposed myself here a week, to rest and regale myself after my long
journey; during which, most of the time was taken up in the weighty
affair of making a cage for my Pol, who began now to be a mere domestic,
and to be mighty well acquainted with me. Then I began to think of the
poor kid, which I had pent in within my little circle, and resolved to
go and fetch it home, and give it some food; accordingly I went, and
found it where I left it; for indeed it could not get out, but was
almost starved for want of food; I went and cut boughs of trees and
branches of such shrubs as I could find, and threw it over, and having
fed it, I tied it as I did before to lead it away; but it was so tame
with being hungry, that I had no need to have tied it; for it followed
me like a dog; and as I continually fed it, the creature became so
loving, so gentle, and so fond, that it became from that time one of my
domestics also, and would never leave me afterwards.
The rainy season of the autumnal equinox was now come, and I kept the
30th of September in the same solemn manner as before, being the
anniversary of my landing on the island, having now been there two
years, and no more prospect of being delivered than the first day I came
there. I spent the whole day in humble and thankful acknowledgments of
the many wonderful mercies which my solitary condition was attended
with, and without which it might have been infinitely more miserable. I
gave humble and hearty thanks, that God had been pleased to discover to
me even that it was possible I might be more happy in this solitary
condition than I should have been in a liberty of society, and in all
the pleasures of the world: that he could fully make up to me the
deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of human society, by his
presence, and the communication of his grace to my soul, supporting,
comforting, and encouraging me to depend upon his providence here, and
hope for his eternal presence hereafter.
It was now that I began sensibly to feel how much more happy the life I
now led was, with all its miserable circumstances, than the wicked,
cursed, abominable life I led all the past part of my days; and now,
having changed both my sorrows and my joys, my very desires altered, my
affections changed their gust, and my delights were perfectly new from
what they were at first coming, or indeed for the two years past.
Before, as I walked about, either on my hunting, or for viewing the
country, the anguish of my soul at my condition would break out upon me
on a sudden, and my very heart would die within me, to think of the
woods, the mountains, the deserts I was in; and how I was a prisoner,
locked up with the eternal bars and bolts of the ocean, in an
uninhabited wilderness, without redemption. In the midst of the greatest
composures of my mind, this would break out upon me like a storm, and
made me wring my hands, and weep like a child. Sometimes it would take
me in the middle of my work, and I would immediately sit down and sigh,
and look upon the ground for an hour or two together, and this was still
worse to me; for if I could burst out into tears, or vent myself by
words, it would go off; and the grief, having exhausted itself,
would abate.
But now I began to exercise myself with new thoughts; I daily read the
word of God, and applied all the comforts of it to my present state. One
morning being very sad, I opened the Bible upon these words, "I will
never, never leave thee, nor forsake thee!" Immediately it occurred,
that these words were to me, why else should they be directed in such a
manner, just at the moment when I was mourning over my condition, as one
forsaken of God and man? "Well then," said I, "if God does not forsake
me, of what ill consequence can it be, or what matters it, though the
world should all forsake me; seeing, on the other hand, if I had all the
world, and should lose the favour and blessing of God, there would be no
comparison in the loss?"
From this moment I began to conclude in my mind, that it was possible
for me to be more happy in this forsaken, solitary condition, than it
was probable I should have ever been in any other particular state in
the world; and with this thought I was going to give thanks to God for
bringing me to this place.
I know not what it was, but something shocked my mind at that thought,
and I durst not speak the words, "How canst thou be such an hypocrite,"
said I, even audibly, "to pretend to be thankful for a condition, which,
however thou mayst endeavour to be contented with, thou wouldst rather
pray heartily to be delivered from?" So I stopped there; but though I
could not say I thanked God for being there, yet I sincerely gave
thanks to God for opening my eyes, by whatever afflicting providences,
to see the former condition, of my life, and to mourn for my wickedness,
and repent. I never opened the Bible, or shut it, but my very soul
within me blessed God for directing my friend in England, without any
order of mine, to pack it up among my goods; and for assisting me
afterwards to save it out of the wreck of the ship.
Thus, and in this disposition of mind, I began my third year; and though
I have not given the reader the trouble of so particular an account of
my works this year as at the first, yet in general it may be observed,
that I was very seldom idle; having regularly divided my time, according
to the several daily employments that were before me; such as, first, my
duty to God, and reading the Scriptures, which I constantly set apart
some time for, thrice, every day: secondly, the going abroad with my gun
for food, which generally took me up three hours every morning when it
did not rain: thirdly, the ordering, curing, preserving, and cooking
what I had killed or catched for my supply; these took up great part of
the day: also it is to be considered, that in the middle of the day,
when the sun was in the zenith, the violence of the heat was too great
to stir out; so that about four hours in the evening was all the time I
could be supposed to work in; with this exception, that sometimes I
changed my hours of hunting and working, and went to work in the
morning, and abroad with my gun in the afternoon.
To this short time allowed for labour, I desire may be added the
exceeding laboriousness of my work; the many hours, which for want of
tools, want of help, and want of skill, every thing that I did, took up
out of my time: for example, I was full two-and-forty days making me a
board for a long shelf, which I wanted in my cave; whereas two sawyers,
with their tools and saw-pit, would have cut six of them out of the same
tree in half a day.
My case was this: it was to be a large tree which was to be cut down,
because my board was to be a broad one. The tree I was three days a
cutting down, and two more cutting off the boughs, and reducing it to a
log, or piece of timber. With inexpressible hacking and hewing I reduced
both the sides of it into chips, till it began to be light enough to
move; then I turned it, and made one side of it smooth and flat, as a
board, from end to end: then turning that side downward, cut the other
side till I brought the plank to be about three inches thick, and smooth
on both sides. Any one may judge the labour of my hands in such a piece
of work; but labour and patience carried me through that and many other
things; I only observe this in particular, to shew the reason why so
much of my time went away with so little work, viz. that what might be a
little to be done with help and tools, was a vast labour, and required a
prodigious time to do alone, and by hand.
But notwithstanding this, with patience and labour, I went through many
things, and indeed ever thing that my circumstances made necessary for
me to do, as will appear by what follows.
I was now in the months of November and December, expecting my crop of
barley and rice. The ground I had manured or dug up for them was not
great; for, as I observed, my seed of each, was not above the quantity
of half a peck; for I had lost one whole crop by sowing in the dry
season; but now my crop promised very well, when on a sudden I found I
was in danger of losing it all again by enemies of several sorts, which
it was scarce possible to keep from it; as first, the goats, and wild
creatures which I called hares, which, tasting the sweetness of the
blade, lay in it night and day, as soon as it came up, and ate it so
close, that it could get no time to shoot up into stalks.
This I saw no remedy for, but by making an enclosure about it with a
hedge, which I did with a great deal of toil; and the more, because it
required a great deal of speed; the creatures daily spoiling my corn.
However, as my arable land was but small, suited to my crop, I got it
totally well fenced in about three weeks time, and shooting some of the
creatures in the day-time, I set my dog to guard it in the night, tying
him up to a stake at the gate, where he would stand and bark all night
long; so in a little time the enemies forsook the place, and the corn
grew very strong and well, and began to ripen apace.
But as the beasts ruined me before, while my corn was in the blade, so
the birds were as likely to ruin me now, when it was in the ear; for
going along by the place to see how it throve, I saw my little crop
surrounded with fowls of I know not how many sorts, which stood as it
were watching till I should be gone. I immediately let fly among them
(for I always had my gun with me.) I had no sooner shot, but there arose
up a little cloud of fowls, which I had not seen at all, from among the
corn itself.
This touched me sensibly; for I foresaw, that in a few days they would
devour all my hopes; that I should be starved, and never be able to
raise a crop at all; and what to do I could not tell: however, I
resolved not to lose my corn, if possible, though I should watch it
night and day. In the first place, I went among it to see what damage
was already done, and found they had spoiled a good deal of it; but
that, as it was yet too green for them, the loss was not so great, but
the remainder was like to be a good crop, if it could be saved.
I stayed by it to load my gun, and then coming away, I could easily see
the thieves sitting upon all the trees about me, as if they only waited
till I was gone away, and the event proved it to be so; for as I walked
off as if I was gone, I was no sooner out of their sight, but they
dropped down one by one into the corn again. I was so provoked, that I
could not have patience to stay till more came on, knowing that every
grain that they ate now was, as it might be said, a peck loaf to me in
the consequence; but coming up to the hedge, I fired again, and killed
three of them. This was what I wished for; so I took them up, and served
them as we serve notorious thieves in England, viz. hanged them in
chains for a terror to others. It is impossible to imagine almost, that
this should have such an effect as it had; for the fowls would not only
not come at the corn, but in short they forsook all that part of the
island, and I could never see a bird near the place as long as my
scarecrows hung there.
This I was very glad of, you may be sure; and about the latter end of
December, which was our second harvest of the year, I reaped my corn.
I was sadly put to it for a scythe or a sickle to cut it down, and all I
could do was to make one as well as I could out of one of the
broad-swords, or cutlasses, which I saved among the arms out of the
ship. However, as my crop was but small, I had no great difficulty to
cut it down: in short, I reaped it my way, for I cut nothing off but the
ears, and carried it away in a great basket which I had made, and so
rubbed it out with my hands: and at the end of all my harvesting I
found, that out of my half-peck of seed I had near two bushels of rice,
and above two bushels and a half of barley, that is to say, by my guess,
for I had no measure at that time.
However, this was a great encouragement to me; and I foresaw, that in
time it would please God to supply me with bread: and yet here I was
perplexed again; for I neither knew how to grind or make meal of my
corn, or indeed how to clean it and part it; nor, if made into meal, how
to make bread of it; and if how to make it, yet. I knew not how to bake
it. These things being added to my desire of having a good quantity for
store, and to secure a constant supply, I resolved not to taste any of
this crop, but to preserve it all for seed against the next season, and
in the meantime to employ all my study and hours of working to
accomplish this great work of providing myself with corn and bread.
It might be truly said, that I now worked for my bread. It is a little
wonderful, and what I believe few people have thought much upon; viz.
the strange multitude of little things necessary in the providing,
producing, curing, dressing, making, and finishing this one article
of bread.
I, that was reduced to a mere state of nature, found this to be my daily
discouragement, and was made more and more sensible of it every hour,
even after I got the first handful of seed corn, which, as I have said,
came up unexpectedly, and indeed to a surprise. First, I had no plough
to turn the earth, no spade or shovel to dig it. Well, this I conquered
by making a wooden spade, as I observed before; but this did my work but
in a wooden manner; and though it cost me a great many days to make it,
yet, for want of iron, it not only wore out the sooner, but made my work
the harder, and made it be performed much worse.
However, this I bore with too, and was content to work it out with
patience, and bear with the badness of the performance. When the corn
was sowed, I had no harrow, but was forced to go over it myself, and
drag a great heavy bough of a tree over it, to scratch the earth, as it
may be called, rather than rake or harrow it.
When it was growing or grown, I have observed already how many things I
wanted, to fence it, secure it, mow or reap it, cure or carry it home,
thresh, part it from the chaff, and save it. Then I wanted a mill to
grind it, sieves to dress it, yeast and salt to make it into bread, and
an oven to bake it in; and all these things I did without, as shall be
observed; and yet the corn was an inestimable comfort and advantage to
me too; but all this, as I said, made every thing laborious and tedious
to me, but that there was no help for; neither was my time so much loss
to me, because I had divided it; a certain part of it was every day
appointed to these works; and as I resolved to use none of the corn for
bread till I had a greater quantity by me, I had the next six months to
apply myself wholly by labour and invention, to furnish myself with
utensils proper for the performing all the operations necessary for the
making the corn, when I had it, fit for my use.
But first I was to prepare more land, for I had now seed enough to sow
above an acre of ground. Before I did this, I had a week's work at least
to make me a spade, which, when it was done, was a very sorry one
indeed, and very heavy, and required double labour to work with it;
however, I went through that, and sowed my seeds in two large flat
pieces of ground, as near my house as I could find them to my mind, and
fenced them in with a good hedge, the stakes of which were all cut off
that wood which I had set before, which I knew would grow; so that in
one year's time I knew I should have a quick or living hedge, that would
want but little repair. This work was not so little as to take me up
less than three months; because great part of that time was in the wet
season, when I could not go abroad.
Within-door, that is, when it rained, and I could not go out, I found
employment on the following occasion, always observing, that all the
while I was at work, I diverted myself with talking to my parrot, and
teaching him to speak; and I quickly learnt him to know his own name; at
last, to speak it out pretty loud, Pol; which was the first word I ever
heard spoken in the island by any mouth but my own. This therefore was
not my work, but an assistant to my work; for now, as I said, I had a
great employment upon my hands, as follows: viz. I had long studied, by
some means or other, to make myself some earthen vessels, which indeed I
wanted sorely, but knew not where to come at them: however, considering
the heat of the climate, I did not doubt but, if I could find out any
such clay, I might botch up some such pot as might, being dried by the
sun, be hard enough and strong enough to bear handling, and to hold any
thing that was dry, and required to be kept so; and as this was
necessary in preparing corn, meal, &c. which was the thing I was upon, I
resolved to make some as large as I could, and fit only to stand like
jars to hold what should be put into them.
It would make the reader pity me, or rather laugh at me, to tell how
many awkward ways I look to raise this paste, what odd misshapen ugly
things I made, how many of them fell in, and how many fell out, the clay
not being stiff enough to bear its own weight; how many cracked by the
over-violent heat of the sun, being set out too hastily; and how many
fell to pieces with only removing, as well before as after they were
dried; and, in a word, how, after having laboured hard to find the clay,
to dig it, to temper it, to bring it home, and work it, I could not make
above two large earthen ugly things, I cannot call them jars, in about
two months labour.
However, as the sun baked these two very dry and hard, I lifted them
very gently up and set them down again in two great wicker-baskets,
which I had made on purpose for them that they might not break; and, as
between the pot and the basket there was a little room to spare, I
stuffed it full of the rice and barley-straw; and these two pots being
to stand always dry, I thought would hold my dry corn, and perhaps the
meal when the corn was bruised.
Though I miscarried so much in my design for large pots, yet I made
several smaller things with better success; such as little round pots,
flat dishes, pitchers, and pipkins, and any thing my hand turned to; and
the heat of the sun baked them strangely hard.
But all this would not answer my end, which was to get an earthen pot to
hold what was liquid, and bear the fire, which none of these could do.
It happened after some time, making a pretty large fire for cooking my
meat, when I went to put it out, after I had done with it, I found a
broken piece of one of my earthenware vessels in the fire, burnt as hard
as a stone, and red as a tile. I was agreeably surprised to see it, and
said to myself, that certainly they might be made to burn whole, if they
would burn broken.
This set me to study how to order my fire, so as to make it burn me some
pots. I had no notion of a kiln such as the potters burn in, or of
glazing them with lead, though I had some lead to do it with; but I
placed three large pipkins, and two or three pots, in a pile one upon
another, and placed my fire-wood all round it with a great heap of
embers under them: I piled the fire with fresh fuel round the outside,
and upon the top, till I saw the pots in the inside red-hot quite
through, and observed that they did not crack at all: when I saw them
clear red, I let them stand in that heat about five or six hours, till I
found one of them, though it did not crack, did melt or run; for the
sand which was mixed with the clay melted by the violence of the heat,
and would have run into glass, if I had gone on; so I slacked my fire
gradually, till the pots began to abate of the red colour; and watching
them all night that I might not let the fire abate too fast, in the
morning I had three very good, I will not say handsome pipkins, and two
other earthen pots, as hard burnt as could be desired; and one of them
perfectly glazed with the running of the sand.
After this experiment I need not say that I wanted no sort of
earthenware for my use; but I must needs say, as to the shapes of them,
they were very indifferent, as any one may suppose, when I had no way of
making them, but as the children make dirt-pies, or as a woman would
make pies that never learnt to raise paste.
No joy at a thing of so mean a nature was ever equal to mine, when I
found I had made an earthen pot that would bear the fire; and I had
hardly patience to stay till they were cold, before I set one upon the
fire again with some water in it, to boil me some meat, which I did
admirably well; and with a piece of a kid I made some very good broth,
though I wanted oatmeal, and several other ingredients requisite to
make it so good as I would have had it.
My next concern was to get me a stone mortar to stamp or beat some corn
in; for as to the mill, there was no thought of arriving to that
perfection of art with one pair of hands. To supply this want, I was at
a great loss; for of all trades in the world I was as perfectly
unqualified for a stone-cutter, as for any whatever; neither had I any
tools to go about it with. I spent many a day to find out a great stone
big enough to cut hollow, and make fit for a mortar, and could find none
at all except what was in the solid rock, and which I had no way to dig
or cut out; nor indeed were the rocks in the island of hardness
sufficient, but were all of a sandy crumbling stone, which would neither
bear the weight of an heavy pestle, nor would break the corn without
filling it with sand; so, after a great deal of time lost in searching
for a stone, I gave it over, and resolved to look out a great block of
hard wood, which I found indeed much easier; and getting one as big as I
had strength to stir, I rounded it, and formed it on the outside with my
axe and hatchet; and then with the help of fire and infinite labour,
made an hollow place in it, as the Indians in Brasil make their canoes.
After this, I made a great heavy pestle or beater of the wood called the
iron-wood, and this I prepared and laid by against I had my next crop of
corn, when I proposed to myself to grind, or rather pound, my corn or
meal to make my bread.
My next difficulty was to make a sieve or searce, to dress my meal, and
part it from the bran and the husk, without which I did not see it
possible I could have any bread. This was a most difficult thing, so
much as but to think on; for to be sure I had nothing like the necessary
things to make it with; I mean fine thin canvass, or stuff, to searce
the meal through. And here I was at a full stop for many months; nor did
I really know what to do: linen I had none left but what was mere rags;
I had goat's hair, but neither knew I how to weave or spin it; and had
I known how, here were no tools to work it with. All the remedy that I
found for this, was, that at last I did remember I had among the
seamen's clothes which were saved out of the ship, some neckcloths of
calico or muslin; and with some pieces of these I made three small
sieves, but proper enough for the work; and thus I made shift for some
years; how I did afterwards, I shall shew in its place.
The baking part was the next thing to be considered, and how I should
make bread when I came to have corn; for, first, I had no yeast: as to
that part, there was no supplying the want, so I did not concern myself
much about it. But for an oven, I was indeed in great pain. At length I
found out an experiment for that also, which was this; I made some
earthen vessels very broad, but not deep; that is to say, about two feet
diameter, and not above nine inches deep; these I burnt in the fire, as
I had done the other, and laid them by; and when I wanted to bake, I
made a great fire upon the hearth, which I had paved with some square
tiles of my own making and burning also; but I should not call
them square.
When the fire-wood was burnt pretty much into embers, or live coals, I
drew them forward upon this hearth, so as to cover it all over; and
there I let them lie, till the hearth was very hot; then sweeping away
all the embers, I set down my loaf, or loaves; and whelming down the
earthen pot upon them, drew the embers all round the outside of the pot,
to keep in, and add to the heat; and thus, as well as in the best oven
in the world, I baked my barley-loaves, and became in a little time a
mere pastry-cook into the bargain; for I made myself several cakes of
the rice, and puddings; indeed I made no pies, neither had I any thing
to put into them, supposing I had, except the flesh either of fowls
or goats.
It need not be wondered at, if all these things took me up most part of
the third year of my abode here; for it is to be observed, that in the
intervals of these things I had my new harvest and husbandry to manage:
for I reaped my corn in its season, and carried it home as well as I
could, and laid it up in the ear, in my large baskets, till I had time
to rub it out; for I had no floor to thresh it on, or instrument to
thresh it with.
And now indeed my stock of corn increasing, I really wanted to build my
barns bigger: I wanted a place to lay it up in; for the increase of the
corn now yielded me so much, that I had of the barley about twenty
bushels, and of the rice as much, or more; insomuch that I now resolved
to begin to use it freely, for my bread had been quite gone a great
while; also I resolved to see what quantity would be sufficient for me a
whole year, and to sow but once a year.
Upon the whole, I found that the forty bushels of barley and rice were
much more than I could consume in a year: so I resolved to sow just the
same quantity every year that I sowed the last, in hopes that such a
quantity would fully provide me with bread, &c.
All the while these things were doing, you may be sure my thoughts ran
many times upon the prospect of land which I had seen from the other
side of the island; and I was not without secret wishes, that I was on
shore there, fancying that seeing the main land, and an inhabited
country, I might find some way or other to convey myself farther, and
perhaps at last find some means of escape.
But all this while I made no allowance for the dangers of such a
condition, and how I might fall into the hands of savages, and perhaps
such as I might have reason to think far worse than the lions and tigers
of Africa: that if I once came into their power, I should run an hazard
more than a thousand to one of being killed, and perhaps of being eaten;
for I had heard that the people of the Caribean coasts were cannibals,
or men-eaters; and I knew by the latitude that I could not be far off
from that shore: that, suppose they were not cannibals, yet they might
kill me, as many Europeans who had fallen into their hands had been
served, even when they had been ten or twenty together; much more I that
was but one, and could make little or no defence. All these things, I
say, which I ought to have considered well of, and I did cast up in my
thoughts afterwards, yet took none of my apprehensions at first; and my
head ran mightily upon the thoughts of getting over to that shore.
Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long-boat, with the shoulder of
mutton sail, with which I sailed above a thousand miles on the coast of
Africa; but this was in vain. Then I thought I would go and look on our
ship's boat, which, as I have said, was blown up upon the shore a great
way in the storm, when we were first cast away. She lay almost where she
did at first, but not quite; and was turned by the force of the waves
and the winds almost bottom upwards, against the high ridge of a beachy
rough sand, but no water about her as before.
If I had had hands to have refitted her, and have launched her into the
water, the boat would have done well enough, and I might have gone back
into the Brasils with her easy enough; but I might have easily foreseen,
that I could no more turn her, and set her upright upon her bottom, than
I could remove the island. However, I went to the wood, and cut levers
and rollers, and brought them to the boat, resolving to try what I could
do; suggesting to myself, that if I could but turn her down, I might
easily repair the damage she had received, and she would be a very good
boat, and I might go to sea in her very easily.
I spared no pains indeed in this piece of fruitless toil, and spent, I
think, three or four weeks about it; at last finding it impossible to
heave it up with my little strength, I fell to digging away the sand to
undermine it; and so to make it fall down, setting pieces of wood to
thrust and guide it right in the fall.
But when I had done this, I was unable to stir it up again, or to get
under it, much less to move it forwards towards the water; so I was
forced to give it over: and yet, though I gave over the hopes of the
boat, my desire to venture over for the main increased, rather than
decreased, as the means for it seemed impossible.
This at length set me upon thinking whether it was not possible to make
myself a canoe or periagua, such as the natives of those climates make,
even without tools, or, as I might say, without hands, viz. of the trunk
of a great tree. This I not only thought possible, but easy: and pleased
myself extremely with my thoughts of making it, and with my having much
more convenience for it than any of the Negroes or Indians; but not at
all considering the particular inconveniences which I lay under more
than the Indians did, viz. want of hands to move it into the water, when
it was made; a difficulty much harder for me to surmount than all the
consequences of want of tools could be to them: for what was it to me,
that when I had chosen a vast tree in the woods, I might with great
trouble cut it down, if after I might be able with my tools to hew and
dub the outside into a proper shape of a boat, and burn or cut out the
inside to make it hollow, so to make a boat of it, if, after all this, I
must leave it just there where I found it, and was not able to launch it
into the water?
One would have thought I could not have had the least reflection upon my
mind of this circumstance, while I was making this boat, but I should
have immediately thought how I should get it into the sea; but my
thoughts were so intent upon my voyage over the sea in it, that I never
once considered how I should get it off the land; and it was really in
its own nature more easy for me to guide it over forty-five miles of
sea, than about forty-five fathoms of land, where it lay, to set it
afloat in the water.
I went to work upon this boat the most like a fool that ever man did,
who had any of his senses awake. I pleased myself with the design,
without determining whether I was ever able to undertake it; not but
that the difficulty of launching my boat came often into my head; but I
put a stop to my own inquiries into it by this foolish answer, which I
gave myself; Let me first make it, I'll warrant I'll find some way or
other to get it along, when it is done.
This was a most preposterous method; but the eagerness of my fancy
prevailed, and to work I went, and felled a cedar-tree: I question much
whether Solomon ever had such an one for the building the temple at
Jerusalem; it was five feet ten inches diameter at the lower part next
the stump, and four feet eleven inches diameter at the end of twenty-two
feet, after which it lessened for a while, and then parted into
branches. It was not without infinite labour that I felled this tree: I
was twenty days hacking and hewing at it at the bottom; I was fourteen
more getting the branches and limbs, and the vast spreading head of it,
cut off, which I hacked and hewed through with my axe and hatchet, with
inexpressible labour: after this it cost me a month to shape it, and dub
it to a proportion, and to something like the bottom of a boat, that it
might swim upright as it ought to do. It cost me near three months more
to clear the inside, and work it out so as to make an exact boat of it:
this I did indeed without fire, by mere mallet and chissel, and by the
dint of hard labour; till I had brought it to be a very handsome
periagua, and big enough to have carried six-and-twenty men, and
consequently big enough to have carried me and all my cargo.
When I had gone through this work, I was extremely delighted with it:
the boat was really much bigger than I ever saw a canoe or periagua,
that was made of one tree, in my life; many a weary stroke it had cost,
you may be sure, for there remained nothing but to get it into the
water; and had I gotten it into the water, I make no question but I
should have begun the maddest voyage, and the most unlikely to be
performed, that ever was undertaken.
But all my devices to get it into the water failed me, though they cost
infinite labour too; it lay about one hundred yards from the water, and
not more; but the first inconvenience was, it was up hill towards the
creek. Well, to take away this discouragement, I resolved to dig into
the surface of the earth, and so make a declivity; this I began, and it
cost me a prodigious deal of pains: but who grudge pains, that have
their deliverance in view? but when this was worked through, and this
difficulty managed, it was still much at one; for I could no more stir
the canoe, than I could the other boat.
Then I measured the distance of ground, and resolved to cut a dock, or
canal, to bring the water up to the canoe, seeing I could not bring the
canoe down to the water: well, I began this work, and when I began to
enter into it, and calculated how deep it was to be dug, how broad, how
the stuff to be thrown out, I found, that by the number of hands I had,
being none but my own, it must have been ten or twelve years before I
should have gone through with it; for the shore lay high, so that at the
upper end it must have been at least twenty feet deep: so at length,
though with great reluctancy, I gave this attempt over also.
This grieved me heartily; and now I saw, though too late, the folly of
beginning a work before we count the cost, and before we judge lightly
of our own strength to go through with it.
In the middle of this work I finished my fourth year in this place, and
kept my anniversary with the same devotion, and with as much comfort, as
ever before; for by a constant study, and serious application of the
word of God, and by the assistance of his grace, I gained a different
knowledge from what I had before; I entertained different notions of
things; I looked now upon the world as a thing remote; which I had
nothing to do with, no expectation from, and indeed no desires about: in
a word, I had nothing indeed to do with it, nor was ever like to have;
so I thought it looked as we may perhaps look upon it hereafter; viz. as
a place I had lived in, but was come out of it; and well I might say,
as father Abraham to Dives, "Between me and thee there is a great
gulf fixed."
In the first place, I was removed from all the wickedness of the world
here: I had neither the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the
pride of life: I had nothing to covet, for I had all I was now capable
of enjoying; I was lord of the whole manor, or, if I pleased, I might
call myself king or emperor over the whole country which I had
possession of: there were no rivals: I had no competitor, none to
dispute sovereignty or command with me; I might have raised
ship-loadings of corn, but I had no use for it; so I let as little grow
as I thought enough for my occasion: I had tortoises or turtles enough;
but now and then one was as much as I could put to any use: I had timber
enough to have built a fleet of ships; I had grapes enough to have made
wine, or to have cured into raisins, to have loaded that fleet when they
had been built.
But all I could make use of, was all that was valuable: I had enough to
eat, and to supply my wants, and what was all the rest to me? If I
killed more flesh than I could eat, the dog must eat it, or the vermin;
if I sowed more corn than I could eat, it must be spoiled. The trees
that I cut down were lying to rot on the ground, I could make no more
use of them, than for fuel; and that I had no occasion for, but to
dress my food.
In a word, the nature and experience of things dictated to me upon just
reflection, that all the good things of this world are no farther good
to us, than as they are for our use: and that whatever we may heap up
indeed to give to others, we enjoy as much as we can use, and no more.
The most covetous griping miser in the world would have been cured of
the vice of covetousness, if he had been in my case; for I possessed
infinitely more than I knew what to do with. I had no room for desire,
except it was of things which I had not, and they were but trifles,
though indeed of great use to me. I had, as I hinted before, a parcel
of money, as well gold as silver, about thirty-six pounds sterling;
alas! there the nasty, sorry, useless stuff lay; I had no manner of
business for it; and I often thought with myself, that I would have
given an handful of it for a gross of tobacco-pipes, or for an hand-mill
to grind my corn; nay, I would have given it all for six-penny-worth of
turnip and carrot seed out of England, or for an handful of peas and
beans, and a bottle of ink: as it was, I had not the least advantage by
it, or benefit from it; but there it lay in a drawer, and grew mouldy
with the damp of the cave, in the wet season; and if I had had the
drawer full of diamonds, it had been the same case; and they had been of
no manner of value to me, because of no use.
I had now brought my state of life to be much easier in itself than it
was at first, and much easier to my mind, as well as to my body. I
frequently sat down to my meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand
of God's providence, which had thus spread my table in the wilderness: I
learnt to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon
the dark side; and to consider what I enjoyed, rather than what I
wanted; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot
express them; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented
people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God hath given
them, because they see and covet something that he has not given them:
all our discontents about what we want, appeared to me to spring from
the want of thankfulness for what we have.
Another reflection was of great use to me, and doubtless would be so to
any one that should fall into such distress as mine was; and this was,
to compare my present condition with what I at first expected it should
be; nay, with what it would certainly have been, if the good providence
of God had not wonderfully ordered the ship to be cast up near to the
shore, where I not only could come at her, but could bring what I got
out of her to the shore for my relief and comfort; without which I had
wanted tools to work, weapons for defence, or gunpowder and shot for
getting my food.
I spent whole hours, I may say whole days, in representing to myself in
the most lively colours, how I must have acted, if I had got nothing out
of the ship; how I could not have so much as got any food, except fish
and turtles; and that, as it was long before I found any of them, I must
have perished first: that I should have lived, if I had not perished,
like a mere savage: that if I had killed a goat or a fowl by any
contrivance, I had no way to flay or open them, or part the flesh from
the skin and the bowels, or to cut it up; but must gnaw it with my
teeth, and pull it with my claws, like a beast.
These reflections made me very sensible of the goodness of Providence to
me, and very thankful for my present condition, with all its hardships
and misfortunes: and this part also I cannot but recommend to the
reflection of those who are apt in their misery to say, Is any
affliction like mine? Let them consider, how much worse the cases of
some people are, and what their case might have been, if Providence had
thought fit.
I had another reflection which assisted me also to comfort my mind with
hopes; and this was, comparing my present condition with what I had
deserved, and had therefore reason to expect from the hand of
Providence. I had lived a dreadful life, perfectly destitute of the
knowledge and fear of God: I had been well instructed by father and
mother; neither had they been wanting to me in their early endeavours to
infuse a religious awe of God into my mind, a sense of my duty, and of
what the nature and end of my being required of me. But, alas! falling
early into the seafaring life, which of all the lives is the most
destitute of the fear of God, though his terrors are always before them;
I say, falling early into the seafaring life, and into seafaring
company, all that little sense of religion which I had entertained, was
laughed out of me by my messmates; by an hardened despising of dangers,
and the views of death, which grew habitual to me; by my long absence
from all manner of opportunities to converse with any thing but what was
like myself, or to hear any thing of what was good, or tended
towards it.
So void was I of every thing that was good, or of the least sense of
what I was, or was to be, that in the greatest deliverance I enjoyed,
such as my escape from Sallee, my being taken up by the Portuguese
master of the ship, my being planted so well in Brasil, my receiving the
cargo from England, and the like, I never once had the words, Thank God,
so much as on my mind, or in my mouth; nor in the greatest distress had
I so much thought as to pray to him; nor so much as to say, Lord, have
mercy upon me! no, not to mention the name of God, unless it was to
swear by, and blaspheme it.
I had terrible reflections upon my mind for many months, as I have
already observed, on the account of my wicked and hardened life past;
and when I looked about me, and considered what particular providences
had attended me, since my coming into this place, and how God had dealt
bountifully with me; had not only punished me less than my iniquity
deserved, but had so plentifully provided for me; this gave me great
hopes that my repentance was accepted, and that God had yet mercies in
store for me.
With these reflections I worked my mind up, not only to resignation to
the will of God in the present disposition of my circumstances, but even
to a sincere thankfulness of my condition; and that I, who was yet a
living man, ought not to complain, seeing I had not the due punishment
of my sins; that I enjoyed so many mercies, which I had no reason to
have expected in that place, that I ought never more to repine at my
condition, but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks, for that daily
bread, which nothing but a cloud of wonders could have brought: that I
ought to consider I had been fed even by a miracle, even as great as
that of feeding Elijah by ravens; nay, by a long series of miracles; and
that I could hardly have named a place in the uninhabited part of the
world, where I could have been cast more to my advantage: a place, where
as I had no society, which was my affliction on one hand, so I found no
ravenous beasts, no furious wolves or tigers, to threaten my life; no
venomous creatures, or poisonous, which I might have fed on to my hurt;
no savages to murder and devour me.
In a word, as my life was a life of sorrow one way, so it was a life of
mercy another; and I wanted nothing to make it a life of comfort, but to
be able to make my sense of God's goodness to me, and care over me in
this condition, be my daily consolation; and after I made a just
improvement of these things, I went away, and was no more sad.
I had now been here so long, that many things which I brought on shore
for my help, were either quite gone, or very much wasted, and
near spent.
My ink, as I observed, had been gone for some time, all but a very
little, which I eked out with water a little and a little, till it was
so pale it scarce left any appearance of black upon the paper: as long
as it lasted, I made use of it to minute down the days of the month on
which any remarkable thing happened to me; and first, by casting up
times past, I remember that there was a strange concurrence of days, in
the various providences which befel me, and which, if I had been
superstitiously inclined to observe days as fatal or fortunate, I might
have had reason to have looked upon with a great deal of curiosity.
First, I had observed, that the same day that I broke away from my
father and my friends, and ran away to Hull in order to go to sea, the
same day afterwards I was taken by the Sallee man of war, and made
a slave.
The same day of the year that I escaped out of the wreck of the ship in
Yarmouth Roads, that same day of the year afterwards I made my escape
from Sallee in the boat.
The same day of the year I was born on, viz. the 20th of September, the
same day I had my life so miraculously saved twenty-six years after,
when I was cast on shore in this island; so that my wicked life, and
solitary life, both began on a day.
The next thing to my ink's being wasted, was that of my bread, I mean
the biscuit which I brought out of the ship. This I had husbanded to the
last degree, allowing myself but one cake of bread a day, for above a
year: and yet I was quite without bread for a year before I got any corn
of my own: and great reason I had to be thankful that I had any at all,
the getting it being, as has been already observed, next to miraculous.
My clothes too began to decay mightily: as to linen, I had none a good
while, except some chequered shirts which I found in the chests of the
other seamen, and which I carefully preserved, because many times I
could bear no other clothes on but a shirt; and it was a very great help
to me, that I had among all the men's clothes of the ship almost three
dozen of shirts. There were also several thick watch-coats of the
seamen, which were left behind, but they were too hot to wear; and
though it is true, that the weather was so violent hot, that there was
no need of clothes, yet I could not go quite naked; no, though I had
been inclined to it, which I was not; nor could I abide the thought of
it, though I was all alone.
One reason why I could not go quite naked, was, I could not bear the
heat of the sun so well when quite naked as with some clothes on; nay,
the very heat frequently blistered my skin; whereas, with a shirt on,
the air itself made some motion, and whistling under the shirt, was
twofold cooler than without it: no more could I ever bring myself to go
out in the heat of the sun without a cap or a hat; the heat of the sun
beating with such violence as it does in that place, would give me the
headach presently, by darting so directly on my head, without a cap or
hat on, so that I could not bear it; whereas, if I put on my hat, it
would presently go away.
Upon these views I began to consider about putting the few rags I had,
which I called clothes, into some order; I had worn out all the
waistcoats I had, and my business was now to try if I could not make
jackets out of the great watch-coats which I had by me, and with such
other materials as I had; so I set to work a-tailoring, or rather indeed
a-botching; for I made most piteous work of it. However, I made shift to
make two or three waistcoats, which I hoped would serve me a great
while; as for breeches or drawers, I made but very sorry shift indeed,
till afterwards.
I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all the creatures that I
killed, I mean four-footed ones; and I had hung them up stretched out
with sticks in the sun; by which means some of them were so dry and
hard, that they were fit for little; but others, it seems, were very
useful. The first thing I made of these was a great cap for my head,
with the hair on the outside to shoot off the rain; and this I performed
so well, that after this I made a suit of clothes wholly of those skins;
that is to say, a waistcoat and breeches open at the knees, and both
loose; for they were rather wanted to keep me cool, than to keep me
warm. I must not omit to acknowledge, that they were wretchedly made;
for if I was a bad carpenter, I was a worse tailor; however, they were
such as I made a very good shift with; and when I was abroad, if it
happened to rain, the hair of the waistcoat and cap being outmost, I was
kept very dry.
After this I spent a deal of time and pains to make me an umbrella: I
was indeed in great want of one, and had a great mind to make one: I had
seen them made in the Brasils, where they are very useful in the great
heats which are there; and I felt the heats every jot as great here, and
greater too, being nearer the equinox; besides, as I was obliged to be
much abroad, it was a most useful thing to me, as well for the rains as
the heats. I took a world of pains at it, and was a great while before I
could make any thing likely to hold; nay, after I thought I had hit the
way, I spoiled two or three before I made one to my mind; but at last I
made one that answered indifferently well. The main difficulty I found
was to make it to let down: I could make it to spread; but if it did not
let down too, and draw in, it would not be portable for me any way, but
just over my head, which would not do. However, at last, as I said, I
made one to answer; I covered it with skins, the hair upwards, so that
it cast off the rain like a penthouse, and kept off the sun so
effectually, that I could walk out in the hottest of the weather, with
greater advantage than I could before in the coolest; and when I had no
need of it, I could close it, and carry it under my arm.
Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being entirely composed by
resigning to the will of God, and throwing myself wholly upon the
disposal of his providence: this made my life better than sociable; for
when I began to regret the want of conversation, I would ask myself,
whether thus conversing mutually with my own thoughts, and, as I hope I
may say, with even my Maker, by ejaculations and petitions, was not
better than the utmost enjoyment of human society in the world?
I cannot say, that after this, for five years, any extraordinary thing
happened to me; but I lived on in the same course, in the same posture
and place, just as before. The chief thing I was employed in, besides my
yearly labour of planting my barley and rice, and curing my raisins, of
both which I always kept up just enough to have sufficient stock of the
year's provisions beforehand; I say, besides this yearly labour, and my
daily labour of going out with my gun, I had one labour to make me a
canoe, which at last I finished: so that by digging a canal to it, six
feet wide, and four feet deep, I brought it into the creek, almost half
a mile. As for the first, that was so vastly big, as I made it without
considering beforehand, as I ought to do, how I should be able to launch
it; so never being able to bring it to the water, or bring the water to
it, I was obliged to let it lie where it was, as a memorandum to teach
me to be wiser next time. Indeed the next time, though I could not get a
tree proper for it, and was in a place where I could not get the water
to it, at any less distance than, as I have said, of near half a mile;
yet as I saw it was practicable at last, I never gave it over; and
though I was near two years about it, yet I never grudged my labour, in
hopes of having a boat to go off to sea at last.
However, though my little periagua was finished, yet the size of it was
not at all answerable to the design which I had in view, when I made the
first; I mean of venturing over to the Terra Firma, where it was above
forty miles broad; accordingly, the smallness of my boat assisted to put
an end to that design, and now I thought no more of it. But as I had a
boat, my next design was to make a tour round the island: for as I had
been on the other side, in one place, crossing, as I have already
described it, over the land, so the discoveries I made in that journey
made me very eager to see the other parts of the coast; and now I had a
boat, I thought of nothing but sailing round the island.
For this purpose, and that I might do every thing with discretion and
consideration, I fitted up a little mast to my boat, and made a sail to
it out of some of the pieces of the ship's sails, which lay in store,
and of which I had a great store by me.
Having fitted my mast and sail, and tried the boat, I found she would
sail very well. Then I made little lockers and boxes at each end of my
boat, to put provisions, necessaries, and ammunition, &c. into, to be
kept dry, either from rain, or the spray of the sea; and a little long
hollow place I cut in the inside of the boat, where I could lay my gun,
making a flap to hang down over it to keep it dry.
I fixed my umbrella also in a step at the stern, like a mast, to stand
over my head, and keep the heat of the sun off me, like an awning; and
thus I every now and then took a little voyage upon the sea, but never
went far out, nor far from the little creek; but at last, being eager to
view the circumference of my little kingdom, I resolved upon my tour,
and accordingly I victualled my ship for the voyage; putting in two
dozen of my loaves (cakes I should rather call them) of barley-bread; an
earthen pot full of parched rice, a food I ate a great deal of, a little
bottle of rum, half a goat, and powder with shot for killing more, and
two large watch-coats, of those which, as I mentioned before, I had
saved out of the seamen's chests; these I took, one to lie upon, and the
other to cover me in the night.
It was the 6th of November, in the sixth year of my reign, or my
captivity, which you please, that I set out on this voyage, and I found
it much longer than I expected; for though the island itself was not
very large, yet when I came to the east side of it, I found a great
ledge of rocks lie out about two leagues into the sea, some above water,
some under it; and beyond this a shoal of sand, lying dry half a league
more; so that I was obliged to go a great way out to sea to double
that point.
When I first discovered them, I was going to give over my enterprise,
and come back again, not knowing how far it might oblige me to go out to
sea, and above all, doubting how I should get back again; so I came to
an anchor, for I had made me a kind of an anchor with a piece of broken
grappling which I got out of the ship.
Having secured my boat, I took my gun, and went on shore, climbing up an
hill, which seemed to over-look that point, where I saw the full extent
of it, and resolved to venture.
In my viewing the sea from that hill where I stood, I perceived a
strong, and indeed a most furious current, which ran to the east, even
came close to the point; and I took the more notice of it, because I
saw there might be some danger, that when I came into it, I might be
carried out to sea by the strength of it, and not be able to make the
island again. And indeed, had I not gotten first upon this hill, I
believe it would have been so; for there was the same current on the
other side of the island, only that it set off at a farther distance;
and I saw there was a strong eddy under the shore; so I had nothing to
do but to get out of the first current, and I should presently be in
an eddy.
I lay here, however, two days; because the wind blowing pretty fresh (at
E.S.E. and that being just contrary to the said current) made a great
breach of the sea upon the point; so that it was not safe for me to keep
too close to the shore for the breach, nor to go too far off because of
the stream.
The third day in the morning, the wind having abated over-night, the sea
was calm, and I ventured; but I am a warning-piece again to all rash and
ignorant pilots; for no sooner was I come to the point, when I was not
my boat's length from the shore, but I found myself in a great depth of
water, and a current like a sluice of a mill. It carried my boat along
with it with such violence, that all I could do could not keep her so
much as on the edge of it: but I found it hurried me farther and farther
out from the eddy, which was on the left hand. There was no wind
stirring to help me, and all that I could do with my paddles signified
nothing; and now I began to give myself over for lost; for, as the
current was on both sides the island, I knew in a few leagues distance
they must join again, and then I was irrecoverably gone; nor did I see
any possibility of avoiding it; so that I had no prospect before me but
of perishing; not by the sea, for that was calm enough, but of starving
for hunger. I had indeed found a tortoise on the shore, as big almost as
I could lift, and had tossed it into the boat; and I had a great jar of
fresh water, that is to say, one of my earthen pots; but what was all
this to being driven into the vast ocean, where, to be sure, there was
no shore, no main land or island, for a thousand leagues at least?
And now I saw how easy it was for the providence of God to make the most
miserable condition that mankind could be in, worse. Now I looked back
upon my desolate solitary island, as the most pleasant place in the
world, and all the happiness my heart could wish for, was to be there
again: I stretched out my hands to it with eager wishes; "O happy
desert!" said I, "I shall never see thee more! O miserable creature!"
said I, "whither am I going!" Then I reproached myself with my
unthankful temper, and how I had repined at my solitary condition; and
now what would I give to be on shore there again? Thus we never see the
true state of our condition, till it is illustrated to us by its
contraries; nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by the want of it.
It is scarce possible to imagine the consternation I was now in, being
driven from my beloved island (for so it appeared to me now to be) into
the wide ocean, almost two leagues, and in the utmost despair of ever
recovering it again: however, I worked hard, till indeed my strength was
almost exhausted; and kept my boat as much to the northward, that is,
towards the side of the current which the eddy lay on, as possibly I
could; when about noon, as the sun passed the meridian, I thought I felt
a little breeze of wind in my face, springing up from the S.S.E. This
cheered my heart a little, and especially when in about half an hour
more it blew a pretty small gentle gale. By this time I was gotten at a
frightful distance from the island; and, had the least cloud or hazy
weather intervened, I had been undone another way too; for I had no
compass on board, and should never have known how to have steered
towards the island, if I had but once lost sight of it; but the weather
continuing clear, I applied myself to get up my mast again, and spread
my sail, standing away to the north as much as possible, to get out of
the current.
Just as I had set my mast and sail, and the boat began to stretch away,
I saw even by the clearness of the water, some alteration of the current
was near; where the current was so strong, the water was foul; but
perceiving the water clear, I found the current abate, and presently I
found to the east, at about half a mile, a breach of the sea upon some
rocks: these rocks I found caused the current to part again; and as the
main stress of it ran away more southerly, leaving the rocks to the
north-east, so the other returned by the repulse of the rock, and made a
strong eddy, which ran back again to the north-west with a very
sharp stream.
They who know what it is to have a reprieve brought to them upon the
ladder, or to be rescued from thieves just going to murder them, or who
have been in such like extremities, may guess what my present surprise
of joy was, and how gladly I put my boat into the stream of this eddy;
and the wind also freshening, how gladly I spread my sail to it, running
cheerfully before the wind, and with a strong tide or eddy under foot.
This eddy carried me about a league in my way back again directly
towards the island, but about two leagues more towards the northward
than the current lay, which carried me away at first; so that when I
came near the island, I found myself open to the northern shore of it,
that is to say, the other end of the island, opposite to that which I
went out from.
When I had made something more than a league of way by the help of this
current or eddy, I found it was spent, and served me no farther. However
I found, that being between the two great currents, viz. that on the
south side which had hurried me away, and that on the north which lay
about two leagues on the other side; I say, between these two, in the
west of the island, I found the water at least still, and running no
way; and having still a breeze of wind fair for me, I kept on steering
directly for the island, though not making such fresh way as I
did before.
About four o'clock in the evening, being then within about a league of
the island, I found the point of the rocks which occasioned this
distance stretching out as is described before, to the southward, and
casting off the current more southwardly, had of course made another
eddy to the north; and this I found very strong, but directly setting
the way my course lay, which was due west, but almost full north.
However, having a fresh gale, I stretched across this eddy slanting
north-west, and in about an hour came within about a mile of the shore,
where, it being smooth water, I soon got to land.
When I was on shore, I fell on my knees, and gave God thanks for my
deliverance, resolving to lay aside all thoughts of my deliverance by my
boat; and refreshing myself with such things as I had, I brought my boat
close to the shore, in a little cove that I had espied under some trees,
and laid me down to sleep, being quite spent with the labour and fatigue
of the voyage.
I was now at a great loss which way to get home with my boat; I had run
so much hazard, and knew too much the case to think of attempting it by
the way I went out; and what might be at the other side (I mean the west
side) I knew not, nor had I any mind to run any more ventures; so I only
resolved in the morning to make my way westward along the shore, and to
see if there was no creek where I might lay up my frigate in safety, so
as to have her again if I wanted her. In about three miles, or
thereabouts, coasting the shore, I came to a very good inlet, or bay,
about a mile over, which narrowed till it came to a very little rivulet,
or brook, where I found a convenient harbour for my boat, and where she
lay as if she had been in a little dock made on purpose for her: here I
put in, and having stowed my boat very safe, I went on shore to look
about me, and see where I was.
I soon found I had but a little passed by the place where I had been
before when I travelled on foot to that shore; so taking nothing out of
my boat but my gun and my umbrella, for it was exceeding hot, I began my
march: the way was comfortable enough after such a voyage as I had been
upon, and I reached my old bower in the evening, where I found every
thing standing as I left it; for I always kept it in good order, being,
as I said before, my country-house.
I got over the fence, and laid me down in the shade to rest my limbs,
for I was very weary, and fell asleep: but judge you if you can, that
read my story, what a surprise I must be in when I was awaked out of my
sleep by a voice calling me by my name several times, "Robin, Robin,
Robin Crusoe, poor Robin Crusoe! Where are you, Robin Crusoe? Where are
you? Where have you been?"
I was so dead asleep at first, being fatigued with rowing, or paddling,
as it is called, the first part of the day, and walking the latter part,
that I did not awake thoroughly; and dozing between sleeping and waking,
thought I dreamed that somebody spoke to me: but as the voice continued
to repeat Robin Crusoe, Robin Crusoe; at last I began to awake more
perfectly, and was at first dreadfully frighted, and started up in the
utmost consternation: but no sooner were my eyes open, but I saw my Pol
sitting on the top of the hedge, and immediately knew that this was he
that spoke to me; for just in such bemoaning language I had used to talk
to him, and teach him; and he had learnt it so perfectly, that he would
sit upon my finger, and lay his bill close to my face, and cry, "Poor
Robin Crusoe, where are you? Where have you been? How came you here?"
and such things as I had taught him.
However, even though I knew it was the parrot, and that indeed it could
be nobody else, it was a good while before I could compose myself.
First, I was amazed how the creature got thither, and then how he should
just keep about the place, and no where else: but as I was well
satisfied it could be nobody but honest Poll, I got it over; and
holding out my Hand, and calling him by his Name Poll, the sociable
Creature came to me, and sat upon my Thumb, as he used to do, and
continued talking to me, Poor Robin Crusoe, and how did I come here? and
where had I been? just as if he had been overjoyed to see me again; and
so I carried him Home along with me.
I had now had enough of rambling to sea for some time, and had enough to
do for many days to sit still, and reflect upon the danger I had been
in: I would have been very glad to have had my boat again on my side of
the island; but I knew not how it was practicable to get it about as to
the east side of the island, which I had gone round; I knew well enough
there was no venturing that way; my very heart would shrink, and my very
blood run chill but to think of it: and as to the other side of the
island, I did not know how it might be there; but supposing the current
ran with the same force against the shore at the east as it passed by it
on the other, I might run the same risk of being driven down the stream,
and carried by the island, as I had been before, of being carried away
from it; so with these thoughts I contented my self to be without any
boat, though it had been the product of so many months labour to make
it, and of so many more to get it unto the sea.
In this government of my temper, I remained near a year, lived a very
sedate retired life, as you may well suppose; and my thoughts being very
much composed as to my condition, and fully comforted in resigning my
self to the dispositions of Providence, I thought I lived really very
happily in all things, except that of society.
I improved my self in this time in all the mechanic exercises which my
necessities put me upon applying my self to, and I believe could, upon
occasion, make a very good carpenter, especially considering how few
tools I had.
Besides this, I arrived at an unexpected perfection in my earthen ware,
and contrived well enough to make them with a wheel, which I found
infinitely easier and better; because I made things round and shapeable,
which before were filthy things indeed to look on. But I think I was
never more vain of my own performance, or more joyful for any thing I
found out, than for my being able to make a tobacco-pipe. And tho it was
a very ugly clumsy thing, when it was done, and only burnt red like
other earthen ware, yet as it was hard and firm, and would draw the
smoke, I was exceedingly comforted with it, for I had been always used
to smoke, and there were pipes in the ship, but I forgot them at first,
not knowing that there was tobacco in the island; and afterwards, when I
searched the ship again, I could not come at any pipes at all.
In my wicker ware also I improved much, and made abundance of necessary
baskets, as well as my invention shewed me, tho not very handsome, yet
they were such as were very handy and convenient for my laying things up
in, or fetching things home in. For example, if I killed a goat abroad,
I could hang it up in a tree, flea it, and dress it, and cut it in
pieces, and bring it home in a basket, and the like by a turtle, I could
cut it up, take out the eggs, and a piece or two of the flesh, which was
enough for me, and bring them home in a basket, and leave the rest
behind me. Also large deep baskets were my receivers for my corn, which
I always rubbed out as soon as it was dry, and cured, and kept it in
great baskets.
I began now to perceive my powder abated considerably, and this was a
want which it was impossible for me to supply, and I began seriously to
consider what I must do when I should have no more powder; that is to
say, how I should do to kill any goat. I had, as is observed in the
third year of my being here, kept a young kid, and bred her up tame, and
I was in hope of getting a he-goat, but I could not by any means bring
it to pass, 'till my kid grew an old goat; and I could never find in my
heart to kill her, till she dyed at last of mere age.
But being now in the eleventh year of my residence, and, as I have
said, my ammunition growing low, I set myself to study some art to trap
and snare the goats, to see whether I could not catch some of them
alive; and particularly I wanted a she-goat great with young.
To this purpose I made snares to hamper them; and believe they were more
than once taken in them; but my tackle was not good, for I had no wire,
and always found them broken, and my bait devoured.
At length I resolved to try a pitfall; so I dug several large pits in
the earth, in places where I had observed the goats used to feed, and
over these pits I placed hurdles of my own making too, with a great
weight upon them; and several times I put ears of barley, and dry rice,
without setting the trap; and I could easily perceive, that the goats
had gone in, and eaten up the corn, that I could see the mark of their
feet: at length, I set three traps in one night, and going the next
morning, I found them all standing, and yet the bait eaten and gone.
This was very discouraging; however, I altered my trap; and, not to
trouble you with particulars, going one morning to see my traps, I found
in one of them a large old he-goat; and, in one of the other, three
kids, a male and two females.
As to the old one, I knew not what to do with him; he was so fierce I
durst not go into the pit to him; that is to say, to go about to bring
him away alive, which was what I wanted; I could have killed him, but
that was not my business, nor would it answer my end; so I e'en let him
out, and he ran away as if he had been frightened out of his wits; but I
did not then know what I afterwards learnt, that hunger would tame a
lion: if I had let him stay there three or four days without food, and
then have carried him some water to drink, and then a little corn, he
would have been as tame as one of the kids; for they are mighty
sagacious tractable creatures, where they are well used.
However, for the present I let him go, knowing no better at that time;
then I went to the three kids; and, taking them one by one, I tied them
with strings together; and with some difficulty brought them all home.
It was a good while before they would feed; but throwing them some sweet
corn, it tempted them, and they began to be tame: and now I found, that
if I expected to supply myself with goat's flesh, when I had no powder
or shot left, breeding some up tame was my only way, when perhaps I
might have them about my house like a flock of sheep.
But then it presently occurred to me, that I must keep the tame from the
wild, or else they would always run wild when they grew up; and the only
way for this was to have some enclosed piece of ground, well fenced
either with hedge or pale, to keep them up so effectually, that those
within might not break out, or those without break in.
This was a great undertaking for one pair of hands; yet as I saw there
was an absolute necessity of doing it, my first piece of work was to
find out a proper piece of ground; viz. where there was likely to be
herbage for them to eat, water for them to drink, and cover to keep them
from the sun.
Those who understand such enclosures, will think I had very little
contrivance, when I pitched upon a place very proper for all these,
being a plain open piece of meadow-land or savanna (as our people call
it in the western colonies) which had two or three little drills of
fresh water in it, and at one end was very woody; I say they will smile
at my forecast, when I shall tell them I began my enclosing of this
piece of ground in such a manner, that my hedge or pale must have been
at least two miles about; nor was the madness of it so great as to the
compass; for if it was ten miles about, I was like to have time enough
to do it in; but I did not consider; that my goats would be as wild in
so much compass, as if they had had the whole island; and I should have
so much room to chase them in, that I should never catch them.
My hedge was begun and carried on, I believe, about fifty yards, when
this thought occurred to me; so I presently stopped short, and for the
first beginning I resolved to enclose a piece of about one hundred and
fifty yards in length, and one hundred yards in breadth, which as it
would maintain as many as I should have in any reasonable time, so, as
my flock increased, I could add more ground to my enclosure.
This was acting with some prudence, and I went to work with courage. I
was about three months hedging in the first piece; and, till I had done
it, I tethered the three kids in the best part of it, and used them to
feed as near me as possible, to make them familiar; and very often I
would go and carry them some ears of barley, or a handful of rice, and
feed them out of my hand; so that after my enclosure was finished, and I
let them loose, they would follow me up and down, bleating after me for
a handful of corn.
This answered my end, and in about a year and a half I had a flock of
about twelve goats, kids and all; and in two years more I had
three-and-forty, besides several that I took and killed for my food; and
after that I enclosed five several pieces of ground to feed them in,
with little pens to drive them into, to take them as I wanted them; and
gates out of one piece of ground into another.
But this was not all; for now I not only had goat's flesh to feed on
when I pleased, but milk too, a thing which indeed in my beginning I did
not so much as think of, and which, when it came into my thoughts, was
really an agreeable surprise; for now I set up my dairy, and had
sometimes a gallon or two of milk in a day. And as nature, who gives
supplies of food to every creature, dictates even naturally how to make
use of it; so I, that never milked a cow, much less a goat, or saw
butter or cheese made, very readily and handily, though after a great
many essays and miscarriages, made me both butter and cheese at last,
and never wanted it afterwards.
How mercifully can our great Creator treat his creatures, even in those
conditions in which they seemed to be overwhelmed in destruction! How
can he sweeten the bitterest providences, and give us cause to praise
him for dungeons and prisons! What a table was here spread for me in a
wilderness, where I saw nothing at first but to perish for hunger!
It would have made a stoic smile, to have seen me and my little family
sit down to dinner: there was my majesty, the prince and lord of the
whole island; I had the lives of all my subjects at absolute command; I
could hang, draw, give life and liberty, and take it away, and no rebels
among all my subjects.
Then to see how like a king I dined too, all alone, attended by my
servants! Pol, as if he had been my favourite, as the only person
permitted to talk to me; my dog, which was now grown very old and crazy,
and found no species to multiply his kind upon, sat always at my right
hand; and two cats, one on one side the table, and one on the other,
expecting now and then a bit from my hand, as a mark of special favour.
But these were not the two cats which I brought on shore at first; for
they were both of them dead, and had been interred near my habitation by
my own hands; but one of them having multiplied by I know not what kind
of creature, these were two which I preserved tame, whereas the rest ran
wild into the woods, and became indeed troublesome to me at last; for
they would often come into my house, and plunder me too, till at last I
was obliged to shoot them, and did kill a great many: at length they
left me. With this attendance, and in this plentiful manner, I lived;
neither could I be said to want any thing but society, and of that, in
some time after this, I was like to have too much.
I was something impatient, as I had observed, to have the use of my
boat, though very loath to run any more hazard; and therefore sometimes
I sat contriving ways to get her about the island, and at other times I
sat myself down contented enough without her. But I had a strange
uneasiness in my mind to go down to the point of the island, where, as I
have said in my last ramble, I went up the hill to see how the shore
lay, and how the current set, that I might see what I had to do. This
inclination increased upon me every day, and at length I resolved to
travel thither by land, and following the edge of the shore, I did so;
but had any one in England been to meet such a man as I was, it must
either have frighted them, or raised a great deal of laughter; and as I
frequently stood still to look at myself, I could not but smile at the
notion of my travelling through Yorkshire with such an equipage, and in
such a dress. Be pleased to take a sketch of my figure as follows:
I had a great high shapeless cap, made of goat's skin, with a flap
hanging down behind, as well to keep the sun from me, as to shoot the
rain off from running into my neck; nothing being so hurtful in these
climates, as the rain upon the flesh under the clothes.
I had a short jacket of goat's skin, the skirts coming down to about the
middle of my thighs; and a pair of open-kneed breeches of the same; the
breeches were made of a skin of an old he-goat, whose hair hung down
such a length on either side, that, like pantaloons, it reached to the
middle of my legs. Stockings and shoes I had none; but I had made me a
pair of something, I scarce knew what to call them, like buskins, to
flap over my legs, and lace on either side like spatterdashes; but of a
most barbarous shape, as indeed were all the rest of my clothes.
I had on a broad belt of goat's skin dried, which I drew together with
two thongs of the same, instead of buckles; and in a kind of a frog on
either side of this, instead of a sword and dagger, hung a little saw
and a hatchet; one on one side, one on the other: I had another belt not
so broad, and fastened in the same manner, which hung over my shoulder;
and at the end of it, under my left arm, hung two pouches, both made of
goat's skin too; in one of which hung my powder, in the other my shot:
at my back I carried my basket, on my shoulder my gun, and over my head
a great clumsy ugly goat's skin umbrella; but which, after all, was the
most necessary thing I had about me, next to my gun. As for my face, the
colour of it was really not so Mulatto-like as one might expect from a
man not at all careful of it, and living within nine or ten degrees of
the equinox. My beard I had once suffered to grow till it was about a
quarter of a yard long; but as I had both scissars and razors
sufficient, I had cut it pretty short, except what grew on my upper lip,
which I had trimmed into a large pair of Mahometan whiskers, such as I
had seen worn by some Turks whom I saw at Sallee; for the Moors did not
wear such, though the Turks did: of these mustachios, or whiskers, I
will not say they were long enough to hang my hat upon them; but they
were of length and shape monstrous enough, and such as in England would
have passed for frightful.
But all this is by the by; for as to my figure, I had so few to observe
me, that it was of no manner of consequence; so I say no more to that
part. In this kind of figure I went my new journey, and was out five or
six days. I travelled first along the sea shore, directly to the place
where I first brought my boat to an anchor, to get up upon the rocks;
and, having no boat now to take care of, I went over the land a nearer
way, to the same height that I was upon before; when looking forward to
the point of the rock which lay out, and which I was to double with my
boat, as I said above, I was surprised to see the sea all smooth and
quiet; no rippling, no motion, no current, any more there than in
other places.
I was at a strange loss to understand this, and resolved to spend some
time in the observing of it, to see if nothing from the sets of the tide
had occasioned it: but I was presently convinced how it was; viz. that
the tide of ebb setting from the west, and joining with the current of
waters from some great river on the shore, must be the occasion of this
current, and that according as the wind blew more forcible from the
west, or from the north, this current came near, or went farther from
the shore; for, waiting thereabouts till evening, I went up to the rock
again, and then the tide of the ebb being made, I plainly saw the
current again as before, only that it ran farther off, being near half a
league from the shore; whereas, in my case, it set close upon the shore,
and hurried me in my canoe along with it, which at another time it would
not have done.
This observation convinced me, that I had nothing to do but to observe
the ebbing and the flowing of the tide, and I might very easily bring my
boat about the island again: but when I began to think of putting it in
practice, I had such a terror upon my spirits at the remembrance of the
danger I had been in, that I could not think of it again with any
patience; but on the contrary, I took up another resolution, which was
more safe, though more laborious; and this was, that I would build, or
rather make me another periagua, or canoe; and so have one for one side
of the island, and one for the other.
You are to understand, that now I had, as I may call it, two plantations
in the island; one my little fortification or tent, with the wall about
it under the rock, with the cave behind me, which by this time I had
enlarged into several apartments or caves, one within another. One of
these, which was the driest and largest, and had a door out beyond my
wall or fortification, that is to say, beyond where my wall joined to
the rock, was all filled up with large earthen pots, of which I have
given an account, and with fourteen or fifteen great baskets, which
would hold five or six bushels each, where I laid up my stores of
provision, especially my corn, some in the ear cut off short from the
straw, and the other rubbed out with my hands.
As for my wall, made as before, with long stakes or piles, those piles
grew all like trees, and were by this time grown so big, and spread so
very much, that there was not the least appearance, to any one's view,
of any habitation behind them.
Near this dwelling of mine, but a little farther within the land, and
upon lower ground, lay my two pieces of corn-ground; which I kept duly
cultivated and sowed, and which duly yielded me their harvest in its
season: and whenever I had occasion for more corn, I had more land
adjoining as fit as that.
Besides this I had my country-seat, and I had now a tolerable plantation
there also; for first, I had my little bower, as I called it, which I
kept in repair; that is to say, I kept the hedge which circled it in
constantly fitted up to its usual height, the ladder standing always in
the inside; I kept the trees, which at first were no more than my
stakes, but were now grown very firm and tall; I kept them always so
cut, that they might spread and grow thick and wild, and make the more
agreeable shade, which they did effectually to my mind. In the middle of
this I had my tent always standing, being a piece of a sail spread over
poles set up for that purpose, and which never wanted any repair or
renewing; and under this I had made me a squab or couch, with the skins
of the creatures I had killed, and with other soft things, and a blanket
laid on them, such as belonged to our sea-bedding, which I had saved,
and a great watch-coat to cover me; and here, whenever I had occasion to
be absent from my chief seat, I took up my country habitation.
Adjoining to this I had my enclosures for my cattle, that is to say, my
goats: and as I had taken an inconceivable deal of pains to fence and
enclose this ground, I was so uneasy to see it kept entire, lest the
goats should break through, that I never left off, till with infinite
labour I had stuck the outside of the hedge so full of small stakes, and
so near to one another, that it was rather a pale than a hedge, and
there was scarce room to put a hand through between them, which
afterwards, when those stakes grew, as they all did in the next rainy
season, made the enclosure strong, like a wall, indeed stronger than
any wall.
This will testify for me that I was not idle, and that I spared no pains
to bring to pass whatever appeared necessary for my comfortable support;
for I considered the keeping up a breed of tame creatures thus at my
hand, would be a living magazine of flesh, milk, butter, and cheese, for
me as long as I lived in the place, if it were to be forty years; and
that keeping them in my reach, depended entirely upon my perfecting my
enclosures to such a degree, that I might be sure of keeping them
together; which by this method indeed I so effectually secured, that
when these little stakes began to grow, I had planted them so very
thick, I was forced to pull some of them up again.
In this place also I had my grapes growing, which I principally depended
on for my winter store of raisins, and which I never failed to preserve
very carefully, as the best and most agreeable dainty of my whole diet;
and indeed they were not agreeable only, but physical, wholesome,
nourishing, and refreshing to the last degree.
As this was also about half way between my other habitation and the
place where I had laid up my boat, I generally staid and lay here in my
way thither; for I used frequently to visit my boat, and I kept all
things about or belonging to her in very good order: sometimes I went
out in her to divert myself, but no more hazardous voyages would I go,
nor scarce ever above a stone's cast or two from the shore, I was so
apprehensive of being hurried out of my knowledge again by the currents,
or winds, or any other accident. But now I come to a new scene of
my life.
It happened one day about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly
surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, which was
very plain to be seen in the sand: I stood like one thunder-struck, or
as if I had seen an apparition; I listened, I looked round me, I could
hear nothing, nor see any thing; I went up to a rising ground to look
farther: I went up the shore, and down the shore, but it was all one, I
could see no other impression but that one; I went to it again to see if
there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but
there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a
foot, toes, heel, and every part of a foot; how it came thither I knew
not, nor could in the least imagine. But after innumerable fluttering
thoughts, like a man perfectly confused, and out of myself, I came home
to my mortification, not feeling, as we say, the ground I went on, but
terrified to the last degree, looking behind me at every two or three
steps, mistaking every bush and tree, and fancying every stump at a
distance to be a man; nor is it possible to describe how many various
shapes an affrighted imagination represented things to me in; how many
wild ideas were formed every moment in my fancy, and what strange
unaccountable whimsies came into my thoughts by the way.
When I came to my castle, for so I think I called it ever after this, I
fled into it like one pursued; whether I went over by the ladder, as
first contrived, or went in at the hole in the rock, which I called a
door, I cannot remember; for never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox
to earth, with more terror of mind than I to this retreat.
I had no sleep that night: the farther I was from the occasion of my
fright, the greater my apprehensions were; which is something contrary
to the nature of such things, and especially to the usual practice of
all creatures in fear. But I was so embarrassed with my own frightful
ideas of the thing, that I formed nothing but dismal imaginations to
myself, even though I was now a great way off it. Sometimes I fancied it
must be the devil; and reason joined in with me upon this supposition.
For how should any other thing in human shape come into the place? Where
was the vessel that brought them? What marks were there of any other
footsteps? And how was it possible a man should come there? But then to
think that Satan should take human shape upon him in such a place where
there could be no manner of occasion for it, but to leave the print of
his foot behind him, and that even for no purpose too (for he could not
be sure I should see it:) this was an amazement the other way: I
considered that the devil might have found out abundance of other ways
to have terrified me, than this of the single print of a foot; that as I
lived quite on the other side of the island, he would never have been so
simple to leave a mark in a place where it was ten thousand to one
whether I should ever see it or not, and in the sand too, which the
first surge of the sea upon an high wind would have defaced entirely.
All this seemed inconsistent with the thing itself, and with all notions
we usually entertain of the subtlety of the devil.
Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue me out of all
apprehensions of its being the devil. And I presently concluded that it
must be some more dangerous creature; viz. that it must be some of the
savages of the main land over-against me, who had wandered out to sea in
their canoes, and, either driven by the currents, or by contrary winds,
had made the island, and had been on shore, but were gone away again to
sea, being as loath, perhaps, to have staid in this desolate island, as
I would have been to have had them.
While these reflections were rolling upon my mind, I was very thankful
in my thought, that I was so happy as not to be thereabouts at that
time, or that they did not see my boat, by which they would have
concluded, that some inhabitants had been in the place, and perhaps have
searched farther for me. Then terrible thoughts racked my imaginations
about their having found my boat, and that there were people here; and
that if so, I should certainly have them come again in greater numbers,
and devour me; that if it should happen so that they should not find me,
yet they would find my enclosure, destroy all my corn, carry away all
my flock of tame goats, and I should perish at last for mere want.
Thus my fear banished all my religious hope; all that former confidence
in God, which was founded upon such wonderful experience as I had had of
his goodness, now vanished; as if he that had fed me by miracle
hitherto, could not preserve by his power the provision which he had
made for me by his goodness. I reproached myself with my uneasiness,
that I would not sow any more corn one year, than would just serve me
till the next season, as if no accident could intervene, to prevent my
enjoying the crop that was upon the ground. And this I thought so just a
reproof, that I resolved for the future to have two or three years corn
beforehand, so that, whatever might come, I might not perish for want
of bread.
How strange a chequer-work of Providence is the life of man! And by what
secret differing springs are the affections hurried about, as differing
circumstances present! To-day we love what to-morrow we hate; to-day we
seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what to-morrow we fear;
nay, even tremble at the apprehensions of. This was exemplified in me at
this time in the most lively manner imaginable; for I, whose only
affliction was, that I seemed banished from human society, that I was
alone, circumscribed by the boundless ocean, cut off from mankind, and
condemned to what I call a silent life; that I was as one whom Heaven
thought not worthy to be numbered among the living, or to appear among
the rest of his creatures; that to have seen one of my own species,
would have seemed to me a raising me from death to life, and the
greatest blessing that Heaven itself, next to the supreme blessing of
salvation, could bestow; I say, that I should now tremble at the very
apprehensions of seeing a man, and was ready to sink into the ground, at
but the shadow, or silent appearance of a man's having set his foot on
the island.
Such is the uneven state of human life; and it afforded me a great many
curious speculations afterwards, when I had a little recovered my first
surprise: I considered that this was the station of life the infinitely
wise and good providence of God had determined for me; that as I could
not foresee what the ends of divine wisdom might be in all this, so I
was not to dispute his sovereignty, who, as I was his creature, had an
undoubted right by creation to govern and dispose of me absolutely as he
thought fit; and who, as I was a creature who had offended him, had
likewise a judicial right to condemn me to what punishment he thought
fit; and that it was my part to submit to bear his indignation, because
I had sinned against him.
I then reflected, that God, who was not only righteous, but omnipotent,
as he had thought fit thus to punish and afflict me, so he was able to
deliver me; that if he did not think fit to do it, it was my
unquestioned duty to resign myself absolutely and entirely to his will;
and, on the other hand, it was my duty also to hope in him, pray to him,
and quietly to attend the dictates and directions of his daily
providence.
These thoughts took me up many hours, days, nay, I may say, weeks and
months; and one particular effect of my cogitations on this occasion I
cannot omit; viz. one morning early, lying in my bed, and filled with
thoughts about my danger from the appearance of savages, I found it
discomposed me very much; upon which those words of the Scripture came
into my thoughts, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
Upon this, rising cheerfully out of my bed, my heart was not only
comforted, but I was guided and encouraged to pray earnestly to God for
deliverance. When I had done praying, I took up my Bible, and opening it
to read, the first words that presented to me were, "Wait on the Lord,
and be of good cheer, and he shall strengthen thy heart: Wait, I say, on
the Lord." It is impossible to express the comfort this gave me; and in
return, I thankfully laid down the book, and was no more sad, at least,
not on that occasion.
In the middle of these cogitations, apprehensions, and reflections, it
came into my thoughts one day, that all this might be a mere chimera of
my own, and that this foot might be the print of my own foot, when I
came on shore from my boat. This cheered me up a little too, and I began
to persuade myself it was all a delusion; that it was nothing else but
my own foot; and why might not I come that way from the boat, as well as
I was going that way to the boat? Again, I considered also, that I could
by no means tell for certain where I had trod, and where I had not; and
that if at last this was only the print of my own foot, I had played the
part of those fools, who strive to make stories of spectres and
apparitions, and then are themselves frighted at them more than any
body else.
Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad again; for I had not
stirred out of my castle for three days and nights, so that I began to
starve for provision; for I had little or nothing within doors, but some
barley-cakes and water. Then I knew that my goats wanted to be milked
too, which usually was my evening diversion; and the poor creatures were
in great pain and inconvenience for want of it; and indeed it almost
spoiled some of them, and almost dried up their milk.
Heartening myself therefore with the belief, that this was nothing but
the print of one of my own feet (and so I might be truly said to start
at my own shadow), I began to go abroad again, and went to my
country-house to milk my flock: but to see with what fear I went
forward, how often I looked behind me, how I was ready, every now and
then, to lay down my basket, and run for my life; it would have made any
one have thought I was haunted with an evil conscience, or that I had
been lately most terribly frighted; and so indeed I had.
However, as I went down thus two or three days, and having seen nothing,
I began to be a little bolder, and to think there was really nothing in
it but my own imagination; but I could not persuade myself fully of
this, till I should go down to the shore again, and see this print of a
foot, and measure it by my own, and see if there was any similitude or
fitness, that I might be assured it was my own foot. But when I came to
the place first, it appeared evidently to me, that when I laid up my
boat, I could not possibly be on shore any where thereabouts. Secondly,
when I came to measure the mark with my own foot, I found my foot not so
large by a great deal. Both these things filled my head with new
imaginations, and gave me the vapours again to the highest degree; so
that I shook with cold, like one in an ague, and I went home again,
filled with the belief, that some man or men had been on shore there;
or, in short, that the island was inhabited, and I might be surprised
before I was aware; and what course to take for my security, I knew not.
O what ridiculous resolutions men take, when possessed with fear! It
deprives them of the use of those means which reason offers for their
relief. The first thing I proposed to myself was, to throw down my
enclosures, and turn all my tame cattle wild into the woods, that the
enemy might not find them, and then frequent the island in prospect of
the same, or the like booty; then to the simple thing of digging up my
two corn fields, that they might not find such a grain there, and still
to be prompted to frequent the island; then to demolish my bower and
tent, that they might not see any vestiges of my habitation, and be
prompted to look farther, in order to find out the persons inhabiting.
These were the subjects of the first night's cogitation, after I was
come home again, while the apprehensions which had so over-run my mind
were fresh upon me, and my head was full of vapours, as above. Thus fear
of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself, when
apparent to the eyes; and, we find the burden of anxiety greater by
much than the evil which we are anxious about; but, which was worse than
all this, I had not that relief in this trouble from the resignation I
used to practise, that I hoped to have. I looked, I thought, like Saul,
who complained not only that the Philistines were upon him, but that God
had forsaken him; for I did not now take due ways to compose my mind, by
crying to God in my distress, and resting upon his providence, as I had
done before, for my defence and deliverance; which if I had done, I had,
at least, been more cheerfully supported under this new surprise, and
perhaps carried through it with more resolution.
This confusion of my thoughts kept me waking all night; but in the
morning I fell asleep, and having by the amusement of my mind been, as
it were, tired, and my spirits exhausted, I slept very soundly, and I
awaked much better composed than I had ever been before. And now I began
to think sedately; and, upon the utmost debate with myself, I concluded,
that this island, which was so exceeding pleasant, fruitful, and no
farther from the main land than as I had seen, was not so entirely
abandoned as I might imagine: that although there were no stated
inhabitants who lived on the spot; yet that there might sometimes come
boats off from the shore, who either with design, or perhaps never but
when they were driven by cross winds, might come to this place.
That I had lived here fifteen years now, and had not met with the
least-shadow or figure of any people before; and that if at any time
they should be driven here, it was probable they went away again as soon
as ever they could, seeing they had never thought fit to fix there upon
any occasion, to this time.
That the most I could suggest any danger from, was, from any such casual
accidental landing of straggling people from the main, who, as it was
likely, if they were driven hither, were here against their wills; so
they made no stay here, but went off again with all possible speed,
seldom staying one night on shore, lest they should not have the help of
the tides and daylight back again; and that therefore I had nothing to
do but to consider of some safe retreat, in case I should see any
savages land upon the spot.
Now I began sorely to repent that I had dug my cave so large, as to
bring a door through again, which door, as I said, came out beyond where
my fortification joined to the rock. Upon maturely considering this,
therefore, I resolved to draw me a second fortification, in the manner
of a semicircle, at a distance from my wall, just where I had planted a
double row of trees about twelve years before, of which I made mention:
these trees having been planted so thick before, there wanted but a few
piles to be driven between them, that they should be thicker and
stronger, and my wall would be soon finished.
So that I had now a double wall, and my outer wall was thickened with
pieces of timber, old cables, and every thing I could think of to make
it strong; having in it seven little holes, about as big as I might put
my arm out at. In the inside of this I thickened my wall to about ten
feet thick, continually bringing earth out of my cave, and laying it at
the foot of the wall, and walking upon it; and through the seven holes I
contrived to plant the muskets, of which I took notice that I got seven
on shore out of the ship; these, I say, I planted like my cannon, and
fitted them into frames that held them like a carriage, that so I could
fire all the seven guns in two minutes time. This wall I was many a
weary month in finishing, and yet never thought myself safe till it
was done.
When this was done, I stuck all the ground without my wall, for a great
way every way, as full with stakes or sticks of the osier-like wood,
which I found so apt to grow, as they could well stand; insomuch that I
believe I might set in near twenty thousand of them, leaving a pretty
large space between them and my wall, that I might have room to see an
enemy, and they might have no shelter from the young trees, if they
attempted to approach my outer wall.
Thus in two years time I had a thick grove; and in five or six years
time I had a wood before my dwelling, grown so monstrous thick and
strong, that it was indeed perfectly impassable; and no man of what kind
soever would ever imagine that there was any thing beyond it, much less
an habitation: as for the way I proposed myself to go in and out (for I
left no avenue), it was by setting two ladders; one to a part of the
rock which was low, and then broke in, and left room to place another
ladder upon that; so when the two ladders were taken down, no man living
could come down to me without mischiefing himself; and if they had come
down, they were still on the outside of my outer wall.
Thus I took all the measures human prudence could suggest for my own
preservation; and it will be seen at length, that they were not
altogether without just reason; though I foresaw nothing at that time
more than my mere fear suggested.
While this was doing, I was not altogether careless of my other affairs;
for I had a great concern upon me for my little herd of goats; they were
not only a present supply to me upon every occasion, and began to be
sufficient for me, without the expense of powder and shot, but also
abated the fatigue of my hunting after the wild ones; and I was loath to
lose the advantage of them, and to have them all to nurse up over again.
To this purpose, after long consideration, I could think but of two ways
to preserve them: one was to find another convenient place to dig a cave
under ground, and to drive them into it every night; and the other was
to enclose two or three little bits of land, remote from one another,
and as much concealed as I could, where I might keep about half a dozen
young goats in each place; so that if any disaster happened to the flock
in general, I might be able to raise them again with little trouble and
time: and this, though it would require a great deal of time and labour,
I thought was the most rational design.
Accordingly I spent some time, to find out the most retired parts of the
island; and I pitched upon one, which was as private indeed as my heart
could wish; for it was a little damp piece of ground in the middle of
the hollow and thick woods, where, as is observed, I almost lost myself
once before, endeavouring to come back that way from the eastern part of
the island: here I found a clear piece of land near three acres, so
surrounded with woods, that it was almost an enclosure by nature; at
least it did not want near so much labour to make it so, as the other
pieces of ground I had worked so hard at.
I immediately went to work with this piece of ground, and in less than a
month's time I had so fenced it round, that my flock or herd, call it
which you please, which were not so wild now as at first they might be
supposed to be, were well enough secured in it. So without any farther
delay, I removed ten she-goats and two he-goats to this piece; and when
there, I continued to perfect the fence, till I had made it as secure as
the other, which, however, I did at more leisure, and it took me up more
time by a great deal.
All this labour I was at the expense of, purely from my apprehensions on
the account of the print of a man's foot which I had seen; for as yet, I
never saw any human creature come near the island, and I had now lived
two years under these uneasinesses, which indeed made my life much less
comfortable than it was before; as may well be imagined, by any who know
what it is to live in the constant snare of the fear of man; and this I
must observe with grief too, that the discomposure of my mind had too
great impressions also upon the religious part of my thoughts; for the
dread and terror of falling into the hands of savages and cannibals lay
so upon my spirits, that I seldom found myself in a due temper for
application to my Maker; at least, not with the sedate calmness and
resignation of soul which I was wont to do. I rather prayed to God as
under great affliction and pressure of mind, surrounded with danger, and
in expectation every night of being murdered and devoured before the
morning; and I must testify from my experience, that a temper of peace,
thankfulness, love, and affection, is much more the proper frame for
prayer than that of terror and discomposure; and that under the dread of
mischief impending, a man is no more fit for a comforting performance of
the duty of praying to God, than he is for repentance on a sick bed; for
these discomposures affect the mind as the others do the body; and the
discomposure of the mind must necessarily be as great a disability as
that of the body, and much greater; praying to God being properly an act
of the mind, not of the body.
But to go on: after I had thus secured one part of my little living
stock, I went about the whole island, searching for another private
place, to make such another deposit; when wandering more to the west
point of the island than I had ever done yet, and looking out to sea, I
thought I saw a boat upon the sea at a great distance; I had found a
perspective glass or two in one of the seamen's chests, which I saved
out of our ship; but I had it not about me, and this was so remote, that
I could not tell what to make of it, though I looked at it till my eyes
were not able to look any longer: whether it was a boat, or not, I do
not know; but as I descended from the hill, I could see no more of it,
so I gave it over; only I resolved to go no more without a perspective
glass in my pocket.
When I was come down the hill, to the end of the island, where indeed I
had never been before, I was presently convinced, that the seeing the
print of a man's foot, was not such a strange thing in the island as I
imagined; and, but that it was a special providence that I was cast upon
the side of the island where the savages never came, I should easily
have known, that nothing was more frequent than for the canoes from the
main, when, they happened to be a little too far out at sea, to shoot
over to that side of the island for harbour; likewise, as they often
met, and fought in their canoes, the victors, having taken any
prisoners, would bring them over to this shore, where, according to
their dreadful customs, being all cannibals, they would kill and eat
them: of which hereafter.
When I was come down the hill to the shore, as I said above, being the
S.W. point of the island, I was perfectly confounded and amazed; nor is
it possible for me to express the horror of my mind, at seeing the shore
spread with skulls, hands, feet, and other bones of human bodies; and
particularly I observed a place where there had been a fire made, and a
circle dug in the earth, like a cock-pit, where it is supposed the
savage wretches had sat down to their inhuman feastings upon the bodies
of their fellow-creatures.
I was so astonished with the sight of these things, that I entertained
no notions of any danger to myself from it, for a long while; all my
apprehensions were buried in the thoughts of such a pitch of inhuman,
hellish brutality, and the horror of the degeneracy of human nature;
which, though I had heard of often, yet I never had so near a view of
before: in short, I turned away my face from the horrid spectacle; my
stomach grew sick, and I was just at the point of fainting, when nature
discharged the disorder from my stomach, and, having vomited with an
uncommon violence, I was a little relieved, but could not bear to stay
in the place a moment; so I got me up the hill again with all the speed
I could, and walked on towards my own habitation.
When I came a little out of that part of the island, I stood still a
while as amazed; and then recovering myself, I looked up with the utmost
affection of my soul, and, with a flood of tears in my eyes, gave God
thanks, that had cast my first lot in a part of the world where I was
distinguished from such dreadful creatures as these; and that though I
had esteemed my present condition very miserable, had yet given me so
many comforts in it, that I had still more to give thanks for than to
complain of; and this above all, that I had, even in this miserable
condition, been comforted with the knowledge of himself, and the hope of
his blessing, which was a felicity more than sufficiently equivalent to
all the misery which I had suffered, or could suffer.
In this frame of thankfulness I went home to my castle, and began to be
much easier now, as to the safety of my circumstances, than ever I was
before; for I observed, that these wretches never came to this island in
search of what they could get; perhaps not seeking, not wanting, or not
expecting, any thing here, and having often, no doubt, been up in the
covered woody part of it, without finding any thing to their purpose. I
knew I had been here now almost eighteen years, and never saw the least
footsteps of a human creature there before; and might be here eighteen
more as entirely concealed as I was now, if I did not discover myself to
them, which I had no manner of occasion to do, it being my only business
to keep myself entirely concealed where I was, unless I found a better
sort of creatures than cannibals to make myself known to.
Yet I entertained such an abhorrence of the savage wretches that I have
been speaking of, and of the wretched inhuman custom of their devouring
and eating one another up, that I continued pensive and sad, and kept
close within my own circle for almost two years after this: when I say
my own circle, I mean by it my three plantations, viz. my castle, my
country-seat, which I called my bower, and my enclosure in the woods;
nor did I look after this for any other use than as an enclosure for my
goats; for the aversion which nature gave me to these hellish wretches
was such, that I was as fearful of seeing them as of seeing, the devil
himself; nor did I so much as go to look after my boat in all this time,
but began rather to think of making me another; for I could not think
of ever making any more attempts to bring the other boat round the
island to me, lest I should meet with some of those creatures at sea, in
which, if I had happened to have fallen into their hands, I knew what
would have been my lot.
Time, however, and the satisfaction I had, that I was in no danger of
being discovered by these people, began to wear off my uneasiness about
them; and I began to live just in the same composed manner as before;
only with this difference, that I used more caution, and kept my eyes
more about me than I did before, lest I should happen to be seen by any
of them; and particularly, I was more cautious of firing my gun, lest
any of them on the island should happen to hear it; and it was therefore
a very good providence to me, that I had furnished myself with a tame
breed of goats, that I had no need to hunt any more about the woods, or
shoot at them; and if I did catch any more of them after this, it was by
traps and snares, as I had done before; so that for two years after
this, I believe I never fired my gun once off, though I never went out
without it; and, which was more, as I had saved three pistols out of the
ship, I always carried them out with me, or at least two of them,
sticking them in my goat-skin belt: I likewise furbished up one of the
great cutlasses that I had out of the ship, and made me a belt to put it
in also; so that I was now a most formidable fellow to look at when I
went abroad, if you add to the former description of myself, the
particular of two pistols, and a great broad-sword, hanging at my side
in a belt, but without a scabbard.
Things going on thus, as I have said, for some time, I seemed, excepting
these cautions, to be reduced to my former calm sedate way of living.
All these things tended to shew me more and more how far my condition
was from being miserable, compared to some others; nay, to many other
particulars of life, which it might have pleased God to have made my
lot. It put me upon reflecting, how little repining there would be
among mankind, at any condition of life, if people would rather compare
their condition with those that are worse, in order to be thankful, than
be always comparing them with those which are better, to assist their
murmurings and complainings.
As in my present condition there were not really many things which I
wanted, so indeed I thought that the frights I had been in about these
savage wretches, and the concern I had been in for my own preservation,
had taken off the edge of my invention for my own conveniences, and I
had dropped a good design, which I had once bent my thoughts upon; and
that was, to try if I could not make some of my barley into malt, and
then try to brew myself some beer: this was really a whimsical thought,
and I reproved myself often for the simplicity of it; for I presently
saw there would be the want of several things necessary to the making my
beer, that it would be impossible for me to supply; as, first, casks to
preserve it in, which was a thing that, as I have observed already, I
could never compass; no, though I spent not many days, but weeks, nay
months, in attempting it, but to no purpose. In the next place, I had no
hops to make it keep, no yeast to make it work, no copper or kettle to
make it boil; and yet, had not all these things intervened, I mean the
frights and terrors I was in about the savages, I had undertaken it, and
perhaps brought it to pass too; for I seldom gave any thing over without
accomplishing it, when I once had it in my head enough to begin it.
But my invention now ran quite another way; for night and day I could
think of nothing, but how I might destroy some of these monsters in
their cruel bloody entertainment, and, if possible, save the victim they
should bring hither to destroy. It would take up a larger volume than
this whole work is intended to be, to set down all the contrivances I
hatched, or rather brooded upon in my thoughts, for the destroying these
creatures, or at least frightening them, so as to prevent their coming
hither any more; but all was abortive; nothing could be possible to take
effect, unless I was to be there to do it myself; and what could one man
do among them, when perhaps there might be twenty or thirty of them
together, with their darts, or their bows and arrows, with which they
could shoot as true to a mark as I could with my gun?
Sometimes I contrived to dig a hole under the place where they made
their fire, and put in five or six pounds of gunpowder, which, when they
kindled their fire, would consequently take fire, and blow up all that
was near it; but, as in the first place I should be very loath to waste
so much powder upon them, my store being now within the quantity of a
barrel, so neither could I be sure of its going off at any certain time,
when it might surprise them; and, at best, that it would do little more
than just blow the fire about their ears, and fright them, but not
sufficient to make them forsake the place; so I laid it aside, and then
proposed, that I would place myself in ambush in some convenient place,
with my three guns all double-loaded, and in the middle of their bloody
ceremony let fly at them, when I should be sure to kill or wound perhaps
two or three at every shoot; and then falling in upon them with my three
pistols, and my sword, I made no doubt but that, if there were twenty, I
should kill them all: this fancy pleased my thoughts for some weeks, and
I was so full of it that I often dreamed of it; and sometimes, that I
was just going to let fly at them in my sleep.
I went so far with it in my indignation, that I employed myself several
days to find out proper places to put myself in ambuscade, as I said, to
watch for them; and I went frequently to the place itself, which was now
grown more familiar to me; and especially while my mind was thus filled
with thoughts of revenge, and of a bloody putting twenty or thirty of
them to the sword, as I may call it; but the horror I had at the place,
and at the signals of the barbarous wretches devouring one another,
abated my malice.
Well, at length I found a place in the side of the hill, where I was
satisfied I might securely wait till I saw any of the boats coming, and
might then, even before they would be ready to come on shore, convey
myself unseen into thickets of trees, in one of which there was an
hollow large enough to conceal me entirely; and where I might sit, and
observe all their bloody doings, and take my full aim at their heads,
when they were so close together, as that it would be next to impossible
that I should miss my shoot, or that I could fail wounding three or four
of them at the first shoot.
In this place then I resolved to fix my design; and accordingly I
prepared two muskets and my ordinary fowling-piece. The two muskets I
loaded with a brace of slugs each, and four or five smaller bullets,
about the size of pistol-bullets, and the fowling-piece I loaded with
near an handful of swan-shot, of the largest size; I also loaded my
pistols with about four bullets each: and in this posture, well provided
with ammunition for a second and third charge, I prepared myself for my
expedition.
After I had thus laid the scheme for my design, and in my imagination
put it in practice, I continually made my tour every morning up to the
top of the hill, which was from my castle, as I called it, about three
miles or more, to see if I could observe any boats upon the sea, coming
near the island, or standing over towards it; but I began to tire of
this hard duty, after I had for two or three months constantly kept my
watch; but came always back without any discovery, there having not in
all that time been the least appearance, not only on or near the shore,
but not on the whole ocean, so far as my eyes or glasses could reach
every way.
As long as I kept up my daily tour to the hill to look out, so long also
I kept up the vigour of my design, and my spirits seemed to be all the
while in a suitable frame for so outrageous an execution, as the killing
twenty or thirty naked savages for an offence, which I had not at all
entered into a discussion of in my thoughts, any further than my
passions were at first fired by the horror I conceived at the unnatural
custom of the people of that country, who, it seems, had been suffered
by Providence, in his wise disposition of the world, to have no other
guide than that of their own abominable and vitiated passions; and
consequently were left, and perhaps had been for some ages, to act such
horrid things, and receive such dreadful customs, as nothing but nature,
entirely abandoned of Heaven, and actuated by some hellish degeneracy,
could have run them into; but now, when, as I have said, I began to be
weary of the fruitless excursion which I had made so long, and so far,
every morning in vain; so my opinion of the action itself began to
alter, and I began, with cooler and calmer thoughts, to consider what it
was I was going to engage in; what authority or call I had to pretend to
be judge and executioner upon these men as criminals, whom Heaven had
thought fit for so many ages to suffer, unpunished, to go on, and to be,
as it were, the executioners of his judgments upon one another; also,
how far these people were offenders against me, and what right I had to
engage in the quarrel of that blood, which they shed promiscuously one
upon another. I debated this very often with myself thus: How do I know
what God himself judges in this particular case? It is certain these
people do not commit this as a crime; it is not against their own
consciences reproving, or their light reproaching them. They do not know
it to be an offence, and then commit it in defiance of divine justice,
as we do in almost all the sins we commit. They think it no more a crime
to kill a captive taken in war, than we do to kill an ox; nor to eat
human flesh, than we do to eat mutton.
When I had considered this a little, it followed necessarily, that I was
certainly in the wrong in it; that these people were not murderers in
the sense that I had before condemned them in my thoughts, any more than
those Christians were murderers, who often put to death the prisoners
taken in battle; or more frequently, upon many occasions, put whole
troops of men to the sword, without giving quarter, though they threw
down their arms and submitted.
In the next place, it occurred to me, that albeit the usage they gave
one another was thus brutish and inhuman, yet it was really nothing to
me: these people had done me no injury: that if they attempted me, or I
saw it necessary for my immediate preservation to fall upon them,
something might be said for it; but that I was yet out of their power,
and they had really no knowledge of me, and consequently no design upon
me; and therefore it could not be just for me to fall upon them: that
this would justify the conduct of the Spaniards, in all their
barbarities practised in America, where they destroyed millions of these
people, who, however they were idolaters and barbarians, and had several
bloody and barbarous rites in these customs, such as sacrificing human
bodies to their idols, were yet, as to the Spaniards, very innocent
people; and that the rooting them out of the country is spoken of with
the utmost abhorrence and detestation, even by the Spaniards themselves,
at this time, and by all other Christian nations of Europe, as a mere
butchery, a bloody and unnatural piece of cruelty, unjustifiable either
to God or man; and such, as for which the very name of a Spaniard is
reckoned to be frightful and terrible to all people of humanity, or of
Christian compassion: as if the kingdom of Spain were particularly
eminent for the product of a race of men, who were without principles of
tenderness, or the common bowels of pity to the miserable, which is
reckoned to be a mark of a generous temper in the mind.
These considerations really put me to a pause, and to a kind of a full
stop; and I began by little and little to be off of my design, and to
conclude I had taken a wrong measure in my resolutions to attack the
savages; that it was not my business to meddle with them, unless they
first attacked me, and this it was my business, if possible, to prevent;
but that, if I were discovered and attacked, then I knew my duty.
On the other hand, I argued with myself that this really was the way not
to deliver myself, but entirely to ruin and destroy myself; for unless I
was sure to kill every one that not only should be on shore at that
time, but that should ever come on shore afterwards, if but one of them
escaped to tell their country-people what had happened, they would come
over again by thousands to revenge the death of their fellows; and I
should only bring upon myself a certain destruction, which at present I
had no manner of occasion for.
Upon the whole, I concluded, that neither in principles nor in policy, I
ought one way or other to concern myself in this affair: that my
business was, by all possible means to conceal myself from them, and not
to leave the least signal to them to guess by, that there were any
living creatures upon the island, I mean of human shape.
Religion joined in with this prudential, and I was convinced now many
ways that I was perfectly out of my duty, when I was laying all my
bloody schemes for the destruction of innocent creatures, I mean
innocent as to me; as to the crimes they were guilty of towards one
another, I had nothing to do with them; they were national punishments
to make a just retribution for national offences; and to bring public
judgments upon those who offend in a public manner, by such ways as best
please God.
This appeared so clear to me now, that nothing was a greater
satisfaction to me, than that I had not been suffered to do a thing
which I now saw so much reason to believe would have been no less a sin
than that of wilful murder, if I had committed it; and I gave most
humble thanks on my knees to God, that had thus delivered me from
blood-guiltiness; beseeching him to grant me the protection of his
Providence, that I might not fall into the hands of barbarians; or that
I might not lay my hands upon them, unless I had a more clear call from
Heaven to do it, in defence of my own life.
In this disposition I continued for near a year after this: and so far
was I from desiring an occasion for falling upon these wretches, that in
all that time I never once went up the hill to see whether there were
any of them in sight, or to know whether any of them had been on shore
there, or not; that I might not be tempted to renew any of my
contrivances against them, or be provoked, by any advantage which might
present itself, to fall upon them; only this I did, I went and removed
my boat, which I had on the other side of the island, and carried it
down to the east end of the whole island, where I ran it into a little
cove which I found under some high rocks, and where I knew, by reason of
the currents, the savages durst not, at least would not, come with their
boats upon any account whatsoever.
With my boat I carried away every thing that I had left there belonging
to her, though not necessary for the bare going thither; viz. a mast and
sail, which I had made for her, and a thing like an anchor, but indeed
which could not be called either anchor or grappling; however, it was
the best I could make of its kind. All these I removed, that there might
not be the least shadow of any discovery, or any appearance of any boat,
or of any habitation upon the island.
Besides this, I kept myself, as I said, more retired than ever, and
seldom went from my cell, other than upon my constant employment, viz.
to milk my she-goats, and manage my little flock in the wood, which, as
it was quite on the other part of the island, was quite out of danger:
for certain it is, that these savage people, who sometimes haunted this
island, never came with any thoughts of finding any thing here, and
consequently never wandered off from the coast; and I doubt not but they
might have been several times on shore, after my apprehensions of them
had made me cautious, as well as before; and indeed I looked back with
some horror upon the thoughts of what my condition would have been, if I
had chopped upon them, and been discovered before that, when naked and
unarmed, except with one gun, and that loaded often only with small
shot. I walked every where, peeping and peering about the island, to see
what I could get: what a surprise should I have been in, if, when I
discovered the print of a man's foot, I had instead of that seen fifteen
or twenty savages, and found them pursuing me, and, by the swiftness of
their running, no possibility of my escaping them!
The thoughts of this sometimes sunk my very soul within me, and
distressed my mind so much, that I could not soon recover it; to think
what I should have done, and how I not only should not have been able to
resist them, but even should not have had presence of mind enough to do
what I might have done; much less what now, after so much consideration
and preparation, I might be able to do. Indeed, after serious thinking
of these things, I would be very melancholy, and sometimes it would last
a great while; but I resolved it at last all into thankfulness to that
Providence which had delivered me from so many unseen dangers, and had
kept me from those mischiefs, which I could no way have been the agent
in delivering myself from; because I had not the least notion of any
such thing depending, or the least supposition of its being possible.
This renewed a contemplation, which often had come to my thoughts in
former time, when first I began to see the merciful dispositions of
Heaven, in the dangers we run through in this life; how wonderfully we
are delivered when we know nothing of it: how, when we are in a
quandary, (as we call it) a doubt or hesitation, whether to go this way,
or that way, a secret hint shall direct us this way, when we intended to
go another way; nay, when sense, our own inclination, and perhaps
business, has called to go the other way, yet a strange impression upon
the mind, from we know not what springs, and by we know not what power,
shall over-rule us to go this way; and it shall afterwards appear, that
had we gone that way which we would have gone, and even to our
imagination ought to have gone, we should have been ruined and lost;
upon these, and many like reflections, I afterwards made it a certain
rule with me, that whenever I found those secret hints, or pressings of
my mind, to doing or not doing any thing that presented, or to going
this way or that way, I never failed to obey the secret dictate; though
I new no other reason for it, than that such a pressure, or such an
hint, hung upon my mind: I could give many examples of the success of
this conduct in the course of my life; but more especially in the latter
part of my inhabiting this unhappy island; besides many occasions which
it is very likely I might have taken notice of, if I had seen with the
same eyes then that I saw with now: but 'tis never too late to be wise;
and I cannot but advise all considering men, whose lives are attended
with such extraordinary incidents as mine, or even though not so
extraordinary, not to slight such secret intimations of Providence, let
them come from what invisible intelligence they will; that I shall not
discuss, and perhaps cannot account for; but certainly they are a proof
of the converse of spirits, and the secret communication between those
embodied, and those unembodied; and such a proof as can never be
withstood: of which I shall have occasion to give some very remarkable
instances, in the remainder of my solitary residence in this
dismal place.
I believe the reader of this will not think it strange, if I confess
that these anxieties, these constant dangers I lived in, and the concern
that was now upon me, put an end to all invention, and to all the
contrivances that I had laid for my future accommodations and
conveniences. I had the care of my safety more now upon my hands than
that of my food. I cared not to drive a nail, or chop a stick of wood
now, for fear the noise I should make should be heard; much less would I
fire a gun, for the same reason; and, above all, I was very uneasy at
making any fire, lest the smoke, which is visible at a great distance in
the day, should betray me; and for this reason I removed that part of my
business which required fire, such as burning of pots and pipes, &c.
into my new apartment in the wood; where, after I had been some time, I
found, to my unspeakable consolation, a mere natural cave in the earth,
which went in a vast way, and where, I dare say, no savage, had he been
at the mouth of it, would be so hardy as to venture in, nor indeed would
any man else, but one who, like me, wanted nothing so much as a
safe retreat.
The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of a great rock, where, by
mere accident, (I would say, if I did not see an abundant reason to
ascribe all such things now to Providence,) I was cutting down some
thick branches of trees to make charcoal; and before I go on, I must
observe the reason of my making this charcoal, which was thus:
I was afraid of making a smoke about my habitation, as I said before;
and yet I could not live there without baking my bread, cooking my meat,
&c.; so I contrived to burn some wood here, as I had seen done in
England under turf, till it became chark, or dry coal; and then putting
the fire out, I preserved the coal to carry home, and perform the other
services, which fire was wanting for at home, without danger or smoke.
But this by the by: while I was cutting down some wood here, I perceived
that behind a very thick branch of low brushwood, or underwood, there
was a kind of hollow place: I was curious to look into it, and getting
with difficulty into the mouth of it, I found it was pretty large, that
is to say, sufficient for me to stand upright in it, and perhaps another
with me; but I must confess to you, I made more haste out than I did in,
when, looking further into the place, which was perfectly dark, I saw
two broad shining eyes of some creature, whether devil or man I knew
not, which twinkled like two stars, the dim light from the cave's mouth
shining directly in and making the reflection.
However, after some pause, I recovered myself, and began to call myself
a thousand fools, and tell myself, that he that was afraid to see the
devil, was not fit to live twenty years in an island all alone, and that
I durst to believe there was nothing in this cave that was more
frightful than myself: upon this, plucking up my courage, I took up a
large firebrand, and in I rushed again, with the stick flaming in my
hand: I had not gone three steps in, but I was almost as much frightened
as I was before; for I heard a very loud sigh, like that of a man in
some pain; and it was followed by a broken noise, as if of words
half-expressed, and then a deep sigh again: I stepped back, and was
indeed struck with such a surprise, that it put me into a cold sweat;
and if I had had an hat on my head, I will not answer for it that my
hair might not have lifted it off. But still plucking up my spirits as
well as I could, and encouraging myself a little, with considering that
the power and presence of God was every where, and was able to protect
me; upon this I stepped forward again, and by the light of the
firebrand, holding it up a little over my head, I saw lying on the
ground a most monstrous frightful old he-goat, just making his will, as
we say, gasping for life, and dying indeed of a mere old age.
I stirred him a little to see if I could get him out, and he essayed to
get up, but was not able to raise himself; and I thought with myself, he
might even lie there; for if he had frightened me so, he would certainly
fright, any of the savages, if any of them should be so hardy as to come
in there, while he had any life in him.
I was now recovered from my surprise, and began to look round me, when I
found the cave was but very small; that is to say, it might be about
twelve feet over, but in no manner of shape, either round or square, no
hands having ever been employed in making it but those of mere nature: I
observed also, that there was a place at the farther side of it that
went in farther, but so low, that it required me to creep upon my hands
and knees to get into it, and whither it went I knew not; so having no
candle, I gave it over for some time, but resolved to come again the
next day, provided with candles and a tinder-box, which I had made of
the lock of one of the muskets, with some wildfire in the pan.
Accordingly, the next day, I came provided with six large candles of my
own making, for I made very good candles now of goats tallow; and going
into this low place, I was obliged to creep upon all fours, as I have
said, almost ten yards; which, by the way, I thought was a venture bold
enough, considering that I knew not how far it might go, or what was
beyond it. When I was got through the streight, I found the roof rose
higher up, I believe near twenty feet; but never was such a glorious
sight seen in the island, I dare say, as it was, to look round the sides
and roof of this vault or cave. The walls reflected an hundred thousand
lights to me from my two candles; what it was in the rock, whether
diamonds, or any other precious stones, or gold, which I rather supposed
it to be, I knew not.
The place I was in was a most delightful cavity, or grotto, of its kind,
as could be expected, though perfectly dark; the floor was dry and
level, and had a sort of small loose gravel upon it; so that there was
no nauseous creature to be seen; neither was there any damp or wet on
the sides of the roof: the only difficulty in it was the entrance,
which, however, as it was a place of security, and such a retreat as I
wanted, I thought that was a convenience; so that I was really rejoiced
at the discovery, and resolved, without any delay, to bring some of
those things which I was most anxious about to this place; particularly,
I resolved to bring hither my magazine of powder, and all my spare arms,
viz. two fowling-pieces (for I had three in all) and three muskets; (for
of them I had eight in all) so I kept at my castle only five, which
stood ready mounted, like pieces of cannon, on my utmost fence, and
were ready also to take out upon any expedition.
Upon this occasion of removing my ammunition, I was obliged to open the
barrel of powder which I took up out of the sea, and which had been wet;
and I found, that the water had penetrated about three or four inches
into the powder on every side, which, caking and growing hard, had
preserved the inside like a kernel in a shell; so that I had near sixty
pounds of very good powder in the centre of the cask; and this was an
agreeable discovery to me at that time; so I carried all away thither,
never keeping above two or three pounds of powder with me in my castle,
for fear of a surprise of any kind; I also carried thither all the lead
I had left for bullets.
I fancied myself now like one of the ancient giants, which were said to
live in caves and holes in the rocks, where none could come at them; for
I persuaded myself while I was here, if five hundred savages were to
hunt me, they could never find me out; or if they did, they would not
venture to attack me here.
The old goat, which I found expiring, died in the mouth of the cave the
next day after I made this discovery; and I found it much easier to dig
a great hole there, and throw him in, and cover him with earth, than to
drag him out: so I interred him there, to prevent offence to my nose.
I was now in my twenty-third year of residence in this island, and was
so naturalized to the place, and to the manner of living, that could I
have but enjoyed the certainty that no savages would come to the place
to disturb me, I could have been content to have capitulated for
spending the rest of my time there, even to the last moment, till I had
laid me down and died, like the old goat, in the cave: I had also
arrived to some little diversions and amusements, which made the time
pass more pleasantly with me a great deal than it did before; as, first,
I had taught my Pol, as I noted before, to speak; and he did it so
familiarly, and talked so articulately and plain, that it was very
pleasant to me; and he lived with me no less than six-and-twenty years:
how long he might live afterwards I knew not; though I know they have a
notion in the Brasils, that they live an hundred years; perhaps some of
my Polls may be alive there still, calling after poor Robin Crusoe to
this day; I wish no Englishman the ill luck to come there and hear them;
but if he did, he would certainly believe it was the devil. My dog was a
very pleasant and loving companion to me for no less than sixteen years
of my time, and then died of mere old age; as for my cats, they
multiplied, as I have observed, to that degree, that I was obliged to
shoot several of them at first, to keep them from devouring me, and all
I had; but at length, when the two old ones I brought with me were gone,
and after some time continually driving them from me, and letting them
have no provision with me, they all ran wild into the woods, except two
or three favourites, which I kept tame, and whose young, when they had
any, I always drowned, and these were part of my family: besides these,
I always kept two or three household kids about me, which I taught to
feed out of my hand; and I had also more parrots which talked pretty
well, and would all call Robin Crusoe, but none like my first; nor,
indeed, did I take the pains with any of them that I had done with him:
I had also several tame sea-fowls, whose names I know not, which I
caught upon the shore, and cut their wings; and the little stakes, which
I had planted before my castle wall, being now grown up to a good thick
grove, these fowls all lived among these low trees, and bred there,
which was very agreeable to me; so that, as I said above, I began to be
very well contented with the life I led, if it might but have been
secured from the dread of savages.
But it was otherwise directed; and it might not be amiss for all people
who shall meet with my story to make this just observation from it, viz.
How frequently, in the course of our lives, the evil, which in itself
we seek most to shun, and which, when we are fallen into, is the most
dreadful to us, is oftentimes the very means or door of our deliverance,
by which alone we can be raised again from the affliction we are fallen
into. I could give many examples of this in the course of my
unaccountable life; but in nothing was it more particularly remarkable,
than in the circumstances of my last years of solitary residence in
this island.
It was now the month of December, as I said above, in my twenty-third
year; and this being the southern solstice, for winter I cannot call it,
was the particular time of my harvest, and required my being pretty much
abroad in the fields; when going out pretty early in the morning, even
before it was thorough daylight, I was surprised with seeing a light of
some fire upon the shore, at a distance from me of about two miles,
towards the end of the island, where I had observed some savages had
been, as before; but not on the other side; but, to my great affliction,
it was on my side of the island.
I was indeed terribly surprised at the sight, and stopped short within
my grove, not daring to go out, lest I might be surprised; and yet I had
no more peace within, from the apprehensions I had, that if these
savages, in rambling over the island, should find my corn standing, or
cut, or any of my works and improvements, they would immediately
conclude that there were people in the place, and would then never give
over till they found me out. In this extremity I went back directly to
my castle, pulled up the ladder after me, having made all things without
look as wild and natural as I could.
Then I prepared myself within, putting myself in a posture of defence; I
loaded all my cannon, as I called them, that is to say, my muskets,
which were mounted upon my new fortification, and all my pistols, and
resolved to defend myself to the last gasp; not forgetting seriously to
recommend myself to the divine protection, and earnestly to pray to God
to deliver me out of the hands of the barbarians; and in this posture I
continued about two hours, but began to be mighty impatient for
intelligence abroad, for I had no spies to send out.
After sitting awhile longer, and musing what I should do in this case, I
was not able to bear sitting in ignorance longer; so setting up my
ladder to the side of the hill, where there was a flat place, as I
observed before, and then pulling the ladder up after me, I set it up
again, and mounted to the top of the hill; and pulling out my
perspective glass, which I had taken on purpose, I laid me down flat on
my belly on the ground, and began to look for the place. I presently
found there were no less than nine naked savages sitting round a small
fire they had made; not to warm them, for they had no need of that, the
weather being extreme hot; but, as I supposed, to dress some of their
barbarous diet of human flesh which they had brought with them, whether
alive or dead I could not know.
They had two canoes with them, which they had haled up upon the shore;
and as it was then tide of ebb, they seemed to me to wait the return of
the flood to go away again. It is not easy to imagine what confusion
this sight put me into, especially seeing them come on my side the
island, and so near me too; but when I observed their coming must be
always with the current of the ebb, I began afterwards to be more sedate
in my mind, being satisfied that I might go abroad with safety all the
time of tide of flood, if they were not on shore before; and having made
this observation, I went abroad about my harvest work with the more
composure.
As I expected, so it proved; for as soon as the tide made to the
westward, I saw them all take boat, and row (or paddle, as we call it)
all away: I should have observed, that for an hour and more before they
went off, they went to dancing, and I could easily discern their
postures and gestures by my glasses; I could only perceive, by my nicest
observation, that they were stark naked, and had not the least covering
upon them; but whether they were men or women, that I could not
distinguish.
As soon as I saw them shipped and gone, I took two guns upon my
shoulders, and two pistols at my girdle, and my great sword by my side,
without a scabbard; and with all the speed I was able to make, I went
away to the hill, where I had discovered the first appearance of all. As
soon as I got thither, which was not less than two hours, (for I could
not go apace, being so loaded with arms as I was,) I perceived there had
been three canoes more of savages on that place; and looking out
further, I saw they were all at sea together, making over for the main.
This was a dreadful sight to me, especially when, going down to the
shore, I could see the marks of horror which the dismal work they had
been about had left behind it, viz. the blood, the bones, and part of
the flesh of human bodies, eaten and devoured by those wretches with
merriment and sport. I was so filled with indignation at the sight, that
I began now to premeditate the destruction of the next that I saw there,
let them be who or how many soever.
It seemed evident to me, that the visits which they thus made to this
island were not very frequent; for it was above fifteen months before
any more of them came on shore there again; that is to say, I never saw
them, or any footsteps or signals of them, in all that time; for as to
the rainy seasons, then they are sure not to come abroad, at least not
so far; yet all this while I lived uncomfortably, by reason of the
constant apprehensions I was in of their coming upon me by surprise;
from whence I observe, that the expectation of evil is more bitter than
the suffering, especially if there is no room to shake off that
expectation or those apprehensions.
During all this time, I was in the murdering humour; and took up most of
my hours, which should have been better employed, in contriving how to
circumvent and fall upon them the very next time I should see them;
especially if they should be divided, as they were the last time, into
two parties; nor did I consider at all, that if I killed one party,
suppose ten or a dozen, I was still the next day, or week, or mouth, to
kill another, and so another, even _ad infinitum_, till I should be at
length no less a murderer than they were in being men-eaters, and
perhaps much more so.
I spent my days now in great perplexity and anxiety of mind, expecting
that I should one day or other fall into the hands of those merciless
creatures; if I did at any time venture abroad, it was not without
looking round me with the greatest care and caution imaginable; and now
I found, to my great comfort, how happy it was that I had provided a
tame flock or herd of goats; for I durst not, upon any account, fire my
gun especially near that side of the island, where they usually came,
lest I should alarm the savages; and if they had fled from me now, I was
sure to have them come back again, with perhaps two or three hundred
canoes with them in a few days, and then I knew what to expect.
However, I wore out a year and three months more before I ever saw any
more of the savages, and then I found them again, as I shall soon
observe. It is true, they might have been there once or twice, but
either they made no stay, or, at least, I did not hear them; but in the
month of May, as near as I could calculate, and in my four-and-twentieth
year, I had a very strange encounter with them, of which in its place.
The perturbation of my mind, during this fifteen or sixteen months
interval, was very great; I slept unquiet, dreamed always frightful
dreams, and often started out of my sleep in the night; in the day great
troubles overwhelmed my mind; in the night I dreamed often of killing
the savages, and the reasons why I might justify the doing of it. But to
wave all this for awhile, it was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth
day, I think, as well as my poor wooden calendar would reckon, for I
marked all upon, the post still; I say, it was on the sixteenth of May
that it blew a great storm of wind all day, with a great deal of
lightning and thunder, and a very foul night was after it: I know not
what was the particular occasion of it; but as I was reading in the
Bible, and taken up with serious thoughts about my present condition, I
was surprised with the noise of a gun, as I thought, fired at sea.
This was, to be sure, a surprise of a quite different nature from any I
had met with before; for the notions this put into my thoughts were
quite of another kind: I started up in the greatest haste imaginable;
and in a trice clapped up my ladder to the middle place of the rock, and
pulled it after me, and mounting it the second time, got to the top of
the hill; that very moment a flash of fire bade me listen for a second
gun, which accordingly in about half a moment I heard, and by the sound
knew that it was from that part of the sea where I was driven out with
the current in my boat.
I immediately considered that this must be some ship in distress, and
that they had some comrade, or some other ship in company, and fired
these guns for signals of distress, and to obtain help. I had this
presence of mind at that minute as to think, that though I could not
help them, it may be they might help me; so I brought together all the
dry wood I could get at hand, and making a good handsome pile, I set it
on fire upon the hill; the wood was dry, and blazed freely, and though
the wind blew very hard, yet it burnt fairly out, so that I was certain,
if there was any such thing as a ship, they must need see it, and no
doubt they did; for as soon as ever my fire blazed up, I heard another
gun, and after that several others, all from the same quarter. I plied
my fire all night long, till day broke; and when it was broad day, and
the air cleared up, I saw something at a great distance at sea, full
east of the island, whether a sail, or an hull, I could not distinguish,
no not with my glasses, the distance was so great, and the weather
still something hazy also; at least it was so out at sea.
I looked frequently at it all that day, and soon perceived that it did
not move; so I presently concluded that it was a ship at anchor; and
being eager, you may be sure, to be satisfied, I took my gun in my hand,
and ran towards the south-east side of the island, to the rocks, where I
had been formerly carried away with the current; and getting up there,
the weather by this time being perfectly clear, I could plainly see, to
my great sorrow, the wreck of a ship cast away in the night upon those
concealed rocks which I found when I was out in my boat; and which
rocks, as they checked the violence of the stream, and made a kind of
counter-stream, or eddy, were the occasion of my recovering then from
the most desperate hopeless condition that ever I had been in all
my life.
Thus, what is one man's safety is another man's destruction; for it
seems these men, whoever they were, being out of their knowledge, and
the rocks being wholly under water, had been driven upon them in the
night, the wind blowing hard at E. and E.N.E. Had they seen the island,
as I must necessarily suppose they did not, they must, as I thought,
have endeavoured to have saved themselves on shore by the help of their
boat; but the firing of their guns for help, especially when they saw,
as I imagined, my fire, filled me with many thoughts: first, I imagined,
that, upon seeing my light, they might have put themselves into their
boat, and have endeavoured to make the shore; but that the sea going
very high, they might have been cast away; other times I imagined, that
they might have lost their boat before, as might be the case many ways;
as particularly, by the breaking of the sea upon their ship, which many
times obliges men to stave, or take in pieces their boat; and sometimes
to throw it overboard with their own hands; other times I imagined, they
had some other ship or ships in company, who, upon the signals of
distress they had made, had taken them up, and carried them off: other
whiles I fancied they were all gone off to sea in their boat, and being
hurried away by the current that I had been formerly in, were carried
out into the great ocean, where there was nothing but misery and
perishing; and that perhaps they might by this time think of starving,
and of being in a condition to eat one another.
All these were but conjectures at best, so, in the condition I was in, I
could do no more than look upon the misery of the poor men, and pity
them; which had still this good effect on my side, that it gave me more
and more cause to give thanks to God, who had so happily and comfortably
provided for me in my desolate condition; and that of two ships'
companies, who were now cast away upon this part of the world, not one
life should be spared but mine. I learnt here again to observe, that it
is very rare that the providence of God casts us into any condition of
life so low, or any misery so great, but we may see something or other
to be thankful for, and may see others in worse circumstances than
our own.
Such certainly was the case of these men, of whom I could not so much as
see room to suppose any of them were saved; nothing could make it
rational, so much as to wish or expect that they did not all perish
there, except the possibility only of their being taken up by another
ship in company: and this was but mere possibility indeed; for I saw not
the least signal or appearance of any such thing.
I cannot explain, by any possible energy of words, what a strange
longing, or hankering of desire, I felt in my soul upon this sight;
breaking out sometimes thus: "O that there had been but one or two, nay,
but one soul saved out of the ship, to have escaped to me, that I might
but have had one companion, one fellow-creature to have spoken to me,
and to have conversed with!" In all the time of my solitary life, I
never felt so earnest, so strong a desire after the society of my
fellow-creatures, or so deep a regret at want of it.
There are some secret moving springs in the affections, which, when
they are set a going by some object in view, or be it some object though
not in view, yet rendered present to the mind by the power of
imagination, that motion carries out the soul by its impetuosity to such
violent eager embracings of the object, that the absence of it is
insupportable.
Such were these earnest wishings, "That but one man had been saved! O
that it had been but one!" I believe I repeated the words, "O that it
had been but one!" a thousand times; and my desires were so moved by it,
that when I spoke the words, my hands would clinch together, and my
fingers press the palms of my hands, that if I had had any soft thing in
my hand, it would have crushed it involuntarily; and my teeth in my head
would strike together, and set against one another so strong, that for
some time I could not part them again.
Let the naturalists explain these things, and the reason and manner of
them: all I can say of them is, to describe the fact, which was ever
surprising to me when I found it, though I knew not from what it should
proceed; it was doubtless the effect of ardent wishes, and of strong
ideas formed in my mind, realizing the comfort which the conversation of
one of my fellow-christians would have been to me.
But it was not to be; either their fate, or mine, or both, forbad it;
for till the last year of my being on this island, I never knew whether
any were saved out of that ship, or no; and had only the affliction some
days after to see the corpse of a drowned boy come on shore, at the end
of the island which was next the shipwreck: he had on no clothes but a
seaman's waistcoat, a pair of open kneed linen drawers, and a blue linen
shirt; but nothing to direct me so much as to guess what nation he was
of: he had nothing in his pocket but two pieces of eight, and a
tobacco-pipe; the last was to me of ten times more value than the first.
It was now calm, and I had a great mind to venture out in my boat to
this wreck, not doubting but I might find something on board that might
be useful to me; but that did not altogether press me so much, as the
possibility that there might be yet some living creature on board, whose
life I might not only save, but might, by saving that life, comfort my
own to the last degree: and this thought clung so to my heart, that I
could not be quiet night nor day, but I must venture out in my boat on
board this wreck; and committing the rest to God's providence, I thought
the impression was so strong upon my mind, that it could not be
resisted, that it must come from some invisible direction, and that I
should be wanting to myself if I did not go.
Under the power of this impression, I hastened back to my castle,
prepared every thing for my voyage, took a quantity of bread, a great
pot for fresh water, a compass to steer by, a bottle of rum, (for I had
still a great deal of that left) a basket full of raisins: and thus
loading myself with every thing necessary, I went down to my boat, got
the water out of her, and got her afloat, loaded all my cargo in her,
and then went home again for more: my second cargo was a great bag full
of rice, the umbrella to set up over my head for shade, another large
pot full of lush water, and about two dozen of my small loaves, or
barley-cakes, more than before, with a bottle of goat's milk, and a
cheese: all which, with great labour and sweat, I brought to my boat;
and praying to God to direct my voyage, I put out, and rowing or
paddling the canoe along the shore, I came at last to the utmost point
of the island, on that side, viz. N.E. And now I was to launch out into
the ocean, and either to venture, or not to venture; I looked on the
rapid currents which ran constantly on both sides of the island, at a
distance, and which were very terrible to me, from the remembrance of
the hazard I had been in before, and my heart began to fail me; for I
foresaw, that if I was driven into either of those currents, I should
be carried a vast way out to sea and perhaps out of my reach, or sight
of the island again; and that then, as my boat was but small, if any
little gale of wind should rise, I should be inevitably lost.
These thoughts so oppressed my mind, that I began to give over my
enterprise, and having haled my boat into a little creek on the shore, I
stepped out, and sat me down upon a little spot of rising ground, very
pensive and anxious, between fear and desire, about my voyage; when, as
I was musing, I could perceive that the tide was turned, and the flood
came on, upon which my going was for so many hours impracticable: upon
this it presently occurred to me, that I should go up to the highest
piece of ground I could find, and observe, if I could, how the sets of
the tide or currents lay, when the flood came in, that I might judge
whether, if I was driven one way out, I might not expect to be driven
another way home, with the same rapidness of the currents. This thought
was no sooner in my head, but I cast my eye upon a little hill which
sufficiently overlooked the sea both ways, and from whence I had a clear
view of the currents, or sets of the tide, and which way I was to guide
myself in my return: here I found, that as the current of the ebb set
out close by the south point of the island, so the current of the flood
set in close by the shore of the north side; and that I had nothing to
do but to keep to the north of the island in my return, and I should do
well enough.
Encouraged with this observation, I resolved the next morning to set out
with the first of the tide; and reposing myself for that night in the
canoe, under the great watch-coat I mentioned, I launched out. I made
first a little out to sea full north, till I began to feel the benefit
of the current, which sat eastward, and which carried me at a great
rate, and yet did not so hurry me as the southern side current had done
before, and so as to take from me all government of the boat; but having
a strong steerage with my paddle, I went, I say, at a great rate,
directly for the wreck, and in less than two hours I came up to it.
It was a dismal sight to took at: the ship, which by its building was
Spanish, stuck fast, jambed in between two rocks; all the stern and
quarter of her was beaten to pieces with the sea; and as her forecastle,
which stuck in the rocks, had run on with great violence, her main-mast
and fore-mast were brought by the board, that is to say, broken short
off, but her boltsprit was sound, and the head and bow appeared firm.
When I came close to her, a dog appeared upon her, which, seeing me
coming, yelped and cried, and as soon as I called him, jumped into the
sea to come to me: and I took him into the boat, but found him almost
dead for hunger and thirst: I gave him a cake of my bread, and he ate
like a ravenous wolf that had been starving a fortnight in the snow: I
then gave the poor creature some fresh water, with which, if I would
have let him, he would have burst himself.
After this I went on board. The first sight I met with was two men
drowned in the cook-room, or forecastle of the ship, with their arms
fast about one another. I concluded, as is indeed probable, that when
the ship struck, it being in a storm, the sea broke so high, and so
continually over her, that the men were not able to bear it, and were
strangled with the constant rushing in of the water, as much as if they
had been under water. Besides the dog, there was nothing left in the
ship that had life, nor any goods that I could see, but what were
spoiled by the water: there were some casks of liquor, whether wine or
brandy I knew not, which lay lower in the hold, and which, the water
being ebbed out, I could see; but they were too big to meddle with: I
saw several chests, which I believed belonged to some of the seamen, and
I got two of them into the boat without examining what was in them.
Had the stern of the ship been fixed, and the fore part broken off, I am
persuaded I might have made a good voyage; for by what I found in these
two chests, I had room to suppose the ship had a great deal of wealth
on board; and if I may guess by the course she steered, she must have
been bound from the Buenos Ayres, or the Rio de la Plata, in the south
part of America, beyond the Brasils, to the Havanna, in the Gulf of
Mexico, and so perhaps to Spain: she had, no doubt, a great treasure in
her, but of no use at that time to any body; and what became of the rest
of her people I then knew not.
I found, besides these chests, a little cask full of liquor, of about
twenty gallons, which I got into my boat with much difficulty. There
were several muskets in a cabin, and a great powder-horn, with about
four pounds of powder in it: as for the muskets, I had no occasion for
them, so I left them, but took the powder-horn. I took a fire-shovel and
tongs, which I wanted extremely; as also two little brass kettles, a
copper pot to make chocolate, and a gridiron; and with this cargo, and
the dog, I came away, the tide beginning to make home again; and the
same evening, about an hour within night, I reached the island again,
weary and fatigued to the last degree.
I reposed that night in the boat, and in the morning I resolved to
harbour what I had gotten in my new cave, not to carry it home to my
castle. After refreshing myself, I got all my cargo on shore, and began
to examine the particulars: the cask of liquor I found to be a kind of
rum, but not such as we had at the Brasils; and, in a word, not at all
good; but when I came to open the chests, I found several things which I
wanted: for example, I found in one a fine case of bottles, of an
extraordinary kind, and filled with cordial waters, fine, and very good;
the bottles held about three pints each, and were tipped with silver: I
found two pots of very good succades, or sweetmeats, so fastened also on
the top, that the salt water had not hurt them; and two more of the
same, which the water had spoiled: I found some very good shirts, which
were very welcome to me, and about a dozen and a half of white linen
handkerchiefs and coloured neckcloths; the former were also very
welcome, being exceeding refreshing to wipe my face in a hot day.
Besides this, when I came to the till in the chests, I found there three
great bags of pieces of eight, which held about eleven hundred pieces in
all; and in one of them, wrapt up in a paper, six doubloons of gold, and
some small bars or wedges of gold; I suppose they might all weigh near
a pound.
The other chest I found had some clothes in it, but of little value; but
by the circumstances, it must have belonged to the gunner's mate, as
there was no powder in it, but about two pounds of glazed powder in the
three flasks, kept, I suppose, for charging their fowling-pieces on
occasion. Upon the whole, I got very little by this voyage that was of
much use to me; for, as to the money, I had no manner of occasion for
it; it was to me as the dirt under my feet; and I would have given it
all for three or four pair of English shoes and stockings, which were
things I greatly wanted, but had not had on my feet now for many years:
I had, indeed, got two pair of shoes now, which I took off the feet of
the two drowned men whom I saw in the wreck; and I found two pair more
in one of the chests, which were very welcome to me; but they were not
like our English shoes, either for case or service, being rather what we
call pumps than shoes. I found in the seaman's chest about fifty pieces
of eight in royals, but no gold: I suppose this belonged to a poorer man
than the other, which seemed to belong to some officer.
Well, however, I lugged the money home to my cave, and laid it up, as I
had done that before, which I brought from our own ship; but it was
great pity, as I said, that the other part of the ship had not come to
my share, for I am satisfied I might have loaded my canoe several times
over with money, which, if I had ever escaped to England, would have
lain here safe enough till I might have come again and fetched it.
Having now brought all my things on shore, and secured them, I went back
to my boat, and rowed or paddled her along the shore to her old
harbour, where I laid her up, and made the best of my way to my old
habitation, where I found every thing safe and quiet; so I began to
repose myself, live after my old fashion, and take care of my family
affairs; and for awhile I lived easy enough; only that I was more
vigilant than I used to be, looked out oftener, and did not go abroad so
much; and if at any time I did stir with any freedom, it was always to
the east part of the island, where I was pretty well satisfied the
savages never came, and where I could go without so many precautions,
and such a load of arms and ammunition as I always carried with me, if I
went the other way.
I lived in this condition near two years more; but my unlucky head, that
was always to let me know it was born to make my body miserable, was all
these two years filled with projects and designs, how, if it were
possible, I might get away from this island; for sometimes I was for
making another voyage to the wreck, though my reason told me, that there
was nothing left there worth the hazard of my voyage; sometimes for a
ramble one way, sometimes another; and I believe verity, if I had had
the boat that I went from Sallee in, I should have ventured to sea,
bound any where, I knew not whither.
I have been, in all my circumstances, a memento to those who are touched
with that general plague of mankind, whence, for aught I know, one half
of their miseries flow; I mean, that of not being satisfied with the
station wherein God and nature hath placed them; for, not to look back
upon my primitive condition, and the excellent advice of my father, the
opposition to which was, as I may call it, my original sin, my
subsequent mistakes of the same kind have been the means of my coming
into this miserable condition; for had that Providence, which so happily
had seated me at the Brasils as a planter, blessed me with confined
desires, and could I have been contented to have gone on gradually, I
might have been by this time, I mean in the time of my being on this
island, one of the most considerable planters in the Brasils; nay, I am
persuaded, that by the improvements I had made in that little time I
lived there, and the increase I should probably have made if I had
stayed, I might have been worth a hundred thousand moidores; and what
business had I to leave a settled fortune, well-stocked plantation,
improving and increasing, to turn supercargo to Guinea, to fetch
Negroes, when patience and time would have so increased our stock at
home, that we could have bought them at our own doors, from those whose
business it was to fetch them? And though it had cost us something more,
yet the difference of that price was by no means worth saving at so
great a hazard.
But as this is ordinarily the fate of young heads, so reflection upon
the folly of it is as ordinarily the exercise of more years, or of the
dear-bought experience of time; and so it was with me now; and yet, so
deep had the mistake taken root in my temper, that I could not satisfy
myself in my station, but was continually poring upon the means and
possibility of my escape from this place; and that I may, with the
greater pleasure to the reader, bring on the remaining part of my story,
it may not be improper to give some account of my first conceptions on
the subject of this foolish scheme for my escape; and how, and upon what
foundation, I acted.
I am now to be supposed to be retired into my castle, after my late
voyage to the wreck, my frigate laid up, and secured under water as
usual, and my condition restored to what it was before: I had more
wealth, indeed, than I had before, but was not at all the richer; for I
had no more use for it than the Indians of Peru had before the Spaniards
came thither.
It was one of the nights in the rainy season in March, the
four-and-twentieth year of my first setting foot in this island of
solitariness, I was lying in my bed or hammock, awake, and very well in
health, had no pain, no distemper, no uneasiness of body, no, nor any
uneasiness of mind more than ordinary, but could by no means close my
eyes, that is, so as to sleep; no, not a wink all night long, otherwise
than as follows:
It is as impossible as needless to set down the innumerable crowd of
thoughts that whirled through that great thoroughfare of the brain, the
memory, in this night's time: I ran over the whole history of my life in
miniature, or by abridgment, as I may call it, to my coming to this
island; and also of that part of my life since I came to this island; in
my reflections upon the state of my case, since I came on shore on this
island; I was comparing the happy posture of my affairs, in the first
years of my habitation here, to that course of anxiety, fear, and care,
which I had lived in ever since I had seen the print of a foot in the
sand; not that I did not believe the savages had frequented the island
even all the while, and might have been several hundreds of them at
times on the shore there; but as I had never known it, and was incapable
of any apprehensions about it, my satisfaction was perfect, though my
danger was the same; and I was as happy in not knowing my danger, as if
I had never really been exposed to it; this furnished my thoughts with
many very profitable reflections, and particularly this one: How
infinitely good that Providence is, which has settled in its government
of mankind such narrow bounds to his sight and knowledge of things; and
though he walks in the midst of so many thousand dangers, the sight of
which, if discovered to him, would distract his mind and sink his
spirits, he is kept serene and calm, by having the events of things hid
from his eyes, and knowing nothing of the dangers which surround him.
After these thoughts had for some time entertained me, I came to reflect
seriously upon the real danger I had been in for so many years in this
very island; and how I had walked about in the greatest security, and
with all possible tranquillity, even perhaps when nothing but a brow on
a hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night, had been between
me and the worst kind of destruction, viz. that of falling into the
hands of cannibals, and savages, who would have seized on me with the
same view, as I did of a goat, or a turtle; and have thought it no more
a crime to kill and devour me, than I did of a pigeon, or a curlieu: I
would unjustly slander my self, if I should say I was not sincerely
thankful to my great Preserver, to whose singular protection I
acknowledged, with great humility, that all these unknown deliverances
were due; and without which, I must inevitably have fallen into their
merciless hands.
When these thoughts were over, my head was for some time taken up in
considering the nature of these wretched creatures; I mean, the savages;
and how it came to pass in the world, that the wise governour of all
things should give up any of his creatures to such inhumanity; nay, to
something so much below, even brutality it self, as to devour its own
kind; but as this ended in some (at that time fruitless) speculations,
it occurred to me to enquire, what part of the world these wretches
lived in; how far off the coast was from whence they came; what they
ventured over so far from home for; what kind of boats they had; and why
I might not order my self, and my business so, that I might be as able
to go over thither, as they were to come to me.
I never so much as troubled my self to consider what I should do with my
self, when I came thither; what would become of me, if I fell into the
hands of the savages; or how I should escape from them, if they
attempted me; no, nor so much as how it was possible for me to reach the
coast, and not be attempted by some or other of them, without any
possibility of delivering my self; and if I should not fall into their
hands, what I should do for provision, or whither I should bend my
course; none of these thoughts, I say, so much as came in my way; but my
mind was wholly bent upon the notion of my passing over in my boat, to
the main land: I looked back upon my present condition as the most
miserable that could possibly be; that I was not able to throw myself
into any thing but death that could be called worse; that if I reached
the shore of the main, I might, perhaps, meet with relief; or I might
coast along, as I did on the shore of Africa, till I came to some
inhabited country, and where I might find some relief; and after all,
perhaps, I might fall in with some Christian ship that might take me in:
and if the worst came to the worst, I could but die, which would put an
end to all these miseries at once. Pray, note all this was the fruit of
a disturbed mind, an impatient temper, made, as it were, desperate by
the long continuance of my troubles, and the disappointments I had met
in the wreck I had been on board of, and where I had been so near the
obtaining of what I so earnestly longed for, viz. somebody to speak to,
and to learn some knowledge from of the place where I was, and of the
probable means of my deliverance; I say, I was agitated wholly by these
thoughts. All my calm of mind in my resignation to Providence, and
waiting the issue of the dispositions of Heaven, seemed to be suspended;
and I had, as it were, no power to turn my thoughts to any thing but the
project of a voyage to the main; which came upon me with such force, and
such an impetuosity of desire, that it was not to be resisted.
When this had agitated my thoughts for two hours or more, with such
violence that it set my very blood into a ferment, and my pulse beat as
high as if I had been in a fever, merely with the extraordinary fervour
of my mind about it; nature, as if I had been fatigued and exhausted
with the very thought of it, threw me into a sound sleep: one would have
thought I should have dreamed of it; but I did not, nor of any thing
relating to it; but I dreamed, that as I was going out in the morning,
as usual, from my castle, I saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven
savages coming to land, and that they brought with them another savage,
whom they were going to kill, in order to eat him; when on a sudden, the
savage that they were going to kill jumped away, and ran for his life:
then I thought in my sleep, that he came running into my little thick
grove, before my fortification, to hide himself; and that I seeing him
alone, and not perceiving that the others sought him that way, shewed
myself to him, and, smiling upon him, encouraged him: that he kneeled
down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him; upon which I shewed my
ladder, made him go up it, and carried him into my cave, and he became
my servant; and that as soon as I had got this man, I said to myself,
"Now I may certainly venture to the main land; for this fellow will
serve me as a pilot, and will tell me what to do, and whither to go for
provisions, and whither not to go for fear of being devoured; what
places to venture into, and what to escape." I waked with this thought,
and was under such inexpressible impressions of joy at the prospect of
my escape in my dream, that the disappointments which I felt upon coming
to myself, and finding it was no more than a dream, were equally
extravagant the other way, and threw me into a very great dejection
of spirit.
Upon this, however, I made this conclusion, that my only way to go about
an attempt for an escape, was, if possible, to get a savage in my
possession; and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners whom
they had condemned to be eaten, and should bring hither to kill: but
these thoughts still were attended with this difficulty, that it was
impossible to effect this, without attacking a whole caravan of them,
and killing them all; and this was not only a very desperate attempt,
and might miscarry; but, on the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the
lawfulness of it to me, and my heart trembled at the thoughts of
shedding so much blood, though it was for my deliverance: I need not
repeat the arguments which occurred to me against this, they being the
same mentioned before: but though I had other reasons to offer now, viz.
that those men were enemies to my life, and would devour me, if they
could; that it was self-preservation, in the highest degree, to deliver
myself from this death of a life, and was acting in my own defence, as
much as if they were actually assaulting me, and the like; I say, though
these things argued for it, yet the thoughts of shedding human blood for
my deliverance were very terrible to me, and such as I could by no means
reconcile myself to a great while.
However, at last, after many secret disputes with myself, and after
great perplexities about it, (for all these arguments, one way and
another, struggled in my head a long time,) the eager prevailing desire
of deliverance at length mastered all the rest, and I resolved, if
possible, to get one of these savages into my hands, cost what it would:
the next thing then was to contrive how to do it; and this indeed was
very difficult to resolve on: but as I could pitch upon no probable
means for it, so I resolved to put myself upon the watch to see them
when they came on shore, and leave the rest to the event, taking such
measures as the opportunity should present, let it be what it would.
With these resolutions in my thoughts, I set myself upon the scout as
often as possible, and indeed so often, till I was heartily tired of it;
for it was above a year and a half that I waited, and for a great part
of that time went out to the west end, and to the south-west corner of
the island, almost every day, to see the canoes, but none appeared. This
was very discouraging, and began to trouble me much; though I can't say
that it did in this case, as it had done some time before that, viz.
wear off the edge of my desire to the thing; but the longer it seemed to
be delayed, the more eager I was for it: in a word, I was not at first
more careful to shun the sight of these savages, and avoid being seen by
them, than I was now eager to be upon them.
Besides, I fancied myself able to manage one, nay, two or three savages,
if I had them, so as to make them entirely slaves to me, to do whatever
I should direct them, and to prevent their being able, at any time, to
do me any hurt. It was a great while that I pleased myself with this
affair, but nothing still presented; all my fancies and schemes came to
nothing, for no savages came near me for a great while.
About a year and a half after I had entertained these notions, and, by
long musing, had, as it were, resolved them all into nothing, for want
of an occasion to put them in execution, I was surprised one morning
early, with seeing no less than five canoes all on shore together, on my
side the island, and the people who belonged to them all landed, and out
of my sight: the number of them broke all my measures; for seeing so
many, and knowing that they always came four, or six, or sometimes more,
in a boat, I could not tell what to think of it, or how to take my
measures, to attack twenty or thirty men single-handed; so I lay still
in my castle, perplexed and discomforted; however, I put myself into all
the same postures for an attack that I had formerly provided, and was
just ready for action, if any thing had presented. Having waited a good
while, listening to hear if they made any noise; at length being very
impatient, I set my guns at the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to
the top of the hill by my two stages, as usual, standing so, however,
that my head did not appear above the hill, so that they could not
perceive me by any means. Here I observed, by the help of my perspective
glass, that they were no less than thirty in number; that they had a
fire kindled, and that they had had meat dressed; how they cooked it,
that I knew not, or what it was; but they were all dancing in I know not
how many barbarous gestures and figures, their own way, round the fire.
When I was thus looking on them, I perceived by my perspective two
miserable wretches dragged from the boats, where, it seems, they were
laid by, and were now brought out for the slaughter: I perceived one of
them immediately fall, being knocked down, I suppose, with a club or
wooden sword, for that was their way; and two or three others were at
work immediately, cutting him open for their cookery, while the other
victim was left standing by himself, till they should be ready for him.
In that very moment this poor wretch, seeing himself a little at
liberty, nature inspired him with hopes of life, and he started away
from them, and ran with incredible swiftness along the sands, directly
towards me, I mean towards that part of the coast where my
habitation was.
I was dreadfully frighted (that I must acknowledge) when I perceived him
to run my way; and especially when, as I thought, I saw him pursued by
the whole body; and now I expected that part of my dream was coming to
pass, and that he would certainly take shelter in my grove; but I could
not depend, by any means, upon my dream for the rest of it, viz. that
the other savages would not pursue him thither, and find him there.
However, I kept my station, and my spirits began to recover, when I
found that there were not above three men that followed him; and still
more was I encouraged, when I found that he out-stript them exceedingly
in running, and gained ground of them, so that if he could but hold it
for half an hour, I saw easily he would fairly get away from them all.
There was between them and my castle the creek, which I mentioned often
at the first part of my story, when I landed my cargoes out of the ship;
and this I knew he must necessarily swim over, or the poor wretch would
be taken there: but when the savage escaping came thither, he made
nothing of it, though the tide was then up; but plunging in, swam
through in about thirty strokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran on with
exceeding strength and swiftness. When the three pursuers came to the
creek, I found that two of them could swim, but the third could not, and
that he, standing on the other side, looked at the other, but went no
farther; and soon after went softly back again, which, as it happened,
was very well for him in the main.
I observed, that the two who swam were yet more than twice as long
swimming over the creek than the fellow was that fled from them. It
came now very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now
was my time to get a servant, and perhaps a companion, or assistant, and
that I was called plainly by Providence to save this poor creature's
life. I immediately got down the ladders with all possible expedition,
fetched my two guns, for they were both at the foot of the ladder, as I
observed above; and getting up again with the same haste to the top of
the hill, I crossed towards the sea; and having a very short cut, and
all down hill, clapped myself in the way between the pursuers and the
pursued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, who, looking back, was at
first perhaps as much frighted at me as at them; but I beckoned with my
hand to him to come back; and in the meantime I slowly advanced towards
the two that followed; then rushing at once upon the foremost, I knocked
him down with the stock of my piece; I was loath to fire, because I
would not have the rest hear, though at that distance it would not have
been easily heard; and being out of sight of the smoke too, they would
not have easily known what to make of it. I having knocked this fellow
down, the other who pursued him stopped, as if he had been frightened,
and I advanced apace towards him; but as I came nearer, I perceived
presently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at me; so
I was then necessitated to shoot at him first; which I did, and killed
him at the first shot. The poor savage who fled, but had stopped, though
he saw both his enemies fallen, and killed, (as he thought) yet was so
frighted with the fire and noise of my piece, that he stood stock-still,
and neither came forward, nor went backward, though he seemed rather
inclined to fly still, than to come on. I hallooed again to him, and
made signs to come forward, which he easily understood, and came a
little way, then stopped again, and then a little farther, and stopped
again; and I could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had
been taken prisoner, and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies
were. I beckoned him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of
encouragement that I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer,
kneeling down every ten or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for
saving his life. I smiled at him, and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to
him to come still nearer. At length he came close to me, and then he
kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and laid his head upon the
ground, and taking me by the foot, set my foot upon his head. This, it
seems, was in token of swearing to be my slave for ever. I took him up,
and made much of him, and encouraged him all I could. But there was more
work to do yet; for I perceived the savage, whom I knocked down, was not
killed, but stunned with the blow, and began to come to himself: so I
pointed to him, and showed him the savage, that he was not dead: upon
this he spoke some words to me; and though I could not understand them,
yet I thought they were pleasant to hear, for they were the first sound
of a man's voice that I had heard, my own excepted, for above
five-and-twenty years. But there was no time for such reflections now:
the savage, who was knocked down, recovered himself so far as to sit up
upon the ground; and I perceived that my savage began to be afraid; but
when I saw that, I presented my other piece at the man, as if I would
shoot him: upon this my savage, for so I call him now, made a motion to
me to lend him my sword, which hung naked in a belt by my side: so I
did: he no sooner had it, but he runs to his enemy, and at one blow cut
off his head so cleverly, no executioner in Germany could have done it
sooner or better; which I thought very strange for one, who, I had
reason to believe, never saw a sword in his life before, except their
own wooden swords: however, it seems, as I learnt afterwards, they make
their wooden swords so sharp, so heavy, and the wood is so hard, that
they will cut off heads even with them, nay, and arms, and that at one
blow too. When he had done this, he comes laughing to me in sign of
triumph, and brought me the sword again, and, with abundance of
gestures, which I did not understand, laid it down, with the head of the
savage that he had killed, just before me.
But that which astonished him most was, to know how I had killed the
other Indian so far off; so pointing to him, he made signs to me to let
him go to him: so I bade him go, as well as I could. When he came to
him, he stood like one amazed, looking at him; turned him first on one
side, then on t'other; looked at the wound the bullet had made, which it
seems was just in his breast, where it had made a hole, and no great
quantity of blood had followed; but he had bled inwardly, for he was
quite dead. Then he took up his bow and arrows, and came back; so I
turned to go away, and beckoned him to follow me, making signs to him
that more might come after them.
Upon this he signed to me, that he should bury them with sand, that they
might not be seen by the rest, if they followed; and so I made signs
again to him to do so. He fell to work, and in an instant he had scraped
a hole in the sand with his hands, big enough to bury the first in, and
then dragged him into it, and covered him, and did so also by the other;
I believe he had buried them both in a quarter of an hour: then calling
him away, I carried him not to my castle, but quite away to my cave, on
the farther part of the island; so I did not let my dream come to pass
in that part; viz. that he came into my grove for shelter.
Here I gave him bread and a bunch of raisins to eat, and a draught of
water, which I found he was indeed in great distress for, by his
running; and having refreshed him, I made signs for him to go lie down
and sleep, pointing to a place where I had laid a great parcel of
rice-straw, and a blanket upon it, which I used to sleep upon myself
sometimes; so the poor creature lay down, and went to sleep.
He was a comely handsome fellow, perfectly well made, with straight long
limbs, not too large, tall, and well-shaped, and, as I reckon, about
twenty-six years of age. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce
and surly aspect, but seemed to have something very manly in his face,
and yet he had all the sweetness and softness of an European in his
countenance too, especially when he smiled: his hair was long and black,
not curled like wool; his forehead very high and large, and a great
vivacity and sparkling sharpness in his eyes. The colour of his skin was
not quite black, but very tawny, and yet not of an ugly yellow nauseous
tawny, as the Brasilians and Virginians, and other natives of America
are, but of a bright kind of a dun olive colour, that had in it
something very agreeable, though not very easy to describe. His face was
round and plump, his nose small, not flat like the Negroe's, a very good
mouth, thin lips, and his teeth fine, well-set, and white as ivory.
After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half an hour, he waked
again, and comes out of the cave to me, for I had been milking my goats,
which I had in the enclosure just by: when he espied me, he came running
to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible
signs of an humble thankful disposition, making many, antic gestures to
shew it. At last he lays his head flat upon the ground, close to my
foot, and sets my other foot upon his head, as he had done before; and
after this, made all the signs to me of subjection, servitude, and
submission imaginable, to let me know how much he would serve me as long
as he lived. I understood him in many things, and let him know I was
very well pleased with him. In a little time I began to speak to him,
and teach him to speak to me; and first, I made him know his name should
be Friday, which was the day I saved his life; and I called him so for
the memory of the time; I likewise taught him to say Master, and then
let him know that was to be my name; I likewise taught him to say Yes
and No, and to know the meaning of them. I gave him some milk in an
earthen pot, and let him see me drink it before him, and sop my bread in
it; and I gave him a cake of bread to do the like, which he quickly
complied with, and made signs that it was very good for him.
I kept there with him all that night; but as soon as it was day, I
beckoned him to come with me, and let him know I would give him some
clothes; at which he seemed very glad, for he was stark-naked. As we
went by the place where he had buried the two men, he pointed exactly to
the spot, and shewed me the marks that he had made to find them again,
making signs to me that we should dig them up again, and eat them: at
this I appeared very angry, expressed my abhorrence of it, made as if I
would vomit at the thoughts of it, and beckoned with my hand to him to
come away, which he did immediately, with great submission. I then led
him up to the top of the hill, to see if his enemies were gone, and
pulling out my glass, I looked, and saw plainly the place where they had
been, but no appearance of them, or of their canoes; so that it was
plain that they were gone, and had left their two comrades behind them,
without, any search after them.
But I was not content with this discovery; but having now more courage,
and consequently more curiosity, I took my man Friday with me, giving
him the sword in his hand, with the bow and arrows at his back, which I
found he could use very dexterously, making him carry one gun for me,
and I two for myself, and away we marched to the place where these
creatures had been; for I had a mind now to get some further
intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my very blood ran chill
in my veins, and my heart sunk within me at the horror of the spectacle:
indeed it was a dreadful sight, at least it was so to me, though Friday
made nothing of it: the place was covered with human bones, the ground
dyed with the blood, great pieces of flesh left here and there,
half-eaten, mangled, and scorched; and, in short, all the tokens of the
triumphant feast they had been making there, after a victory over their
enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands, and the bones of three or four
legs and feet, and abundance of other parts of the bodies; and Friday,
by his signs, made me understand that they brought over four prisoners
to feast upon; that three of them were eaten up, and that he, pointing
to himself, was the fourth; that there had been a great battle between
them and their next king, whose subjects, it seems, he had been one of;
and that they had taken a great number of prisoners, all which were
carried to several places by those that had taken them in the flight, in
order to feast upon them, as was done here by these wretches upon those
they brought hither.
I caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever
remained, and lay them together on an heap, and make a great fire upon
it, and burn them all to ashes. I found Friday had still a hankering
stomach after some of the flesh, and was still a cannibal in his nature;
but I discovered so much abhorrence at the very thoughts of it, and at
the least appearance of it, that he durst not discover it; for I had, by
some means, let him know that I would kill him if he offered it.
When we had done this, we came back to our castle, and there I fell to
work for my man Friday; and first of all, I gave him a pair of linen
drawers, which I had out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, and
which I found in the wreck; and which, with a little alteration, fitted
him very well; then I made him a jerkin of goat's skin as well as my
skill would allow, and I was now grown a tolerable good tailor; and I
gave him a cap, which I had made of a hare-skin, very convenient, and
fashionable enough: and thus he was dressed, for the present, tolerably
well, and mighty well was he pleased to see himself almost as well
clothed as his master. It is true, he went awkwardly in these things at
first; wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of
the waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a
little easing them, where he complained they hurt him, and using himself
to them, at length he took to them very well.
The next day after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to
consider where I should lodge him; and that I might do well for him, and
yet be perfectly easy myself, I made a little tent for him in the vacant
place between my two fortifications, in the inside of the last, and in
the outside of the first: and as there was a door or entrance there into
my cave, I made a formal framed door-case, and a door to it of boards,
and set it up in the passage, a little within the entrance: and causing
the door to open on the inside, I barred it up in the night, taking in
my ladders too; so that Friday could no way come at me in the inside of
my innermost wall, without making so much noise in getting over, that it
must needs awaken me; for my first wall had now a complete roof over it
of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up to the side of the
hill, which was again laid cross with small sticks instead of laths, and
then thatched over a great thickness with the rice straw, which was
strong like reeds; and at the hole or place which was left to go in or
out by the ladder, I had placed a kind of trapdoor, which if it had been
attempted on the outside, would not have opened at all, but would have
fallen down, and made a great noise; and as to weapons, I took them all
in to my side every night.
But I needed none of all this precaution; for never man had a more
faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me; without
passions, sullenness, or designs; perfectly obliging and engaging; his
very affections were tied to me, like those of a child to a father; and
I dare say, he would have sacrificed his life for the saving mine, upon
any occasion whatsoever: the many testimonies he gave me of this put it
out of doubt; and soon convinced me, that I needed to use no precautions
as to my safety on his account.
This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and that with wonder, that,
however it had pleased God in his providence, and in the government of
the works of his hands, to take from so great a part of the world of his
creatures the best uses to which their faculties, and the powers of
their souls, are adapted; yet that he has bestowed upon them the same
powers, the same reason, the same affections, the same sentiments of
kindness and obligation, the same passions and resentments of wrongs,
the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities
of doing good, and receiving good, that he has given to us; and that
when he pleases to offer them occasions of exerting these, they are as
ready, nay more ready, to apply them to the right uses for which they
were bestowed, than we are. And this made me very melancholy sometimes,
in reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we
make of all these, even though we have these powers enlightened by the
great lamp of instruction, the Spirit of God, and by the knowledge of
his word, added to our understanding; and why it has pleased God to hide
the life saving knowledge from so many millions of souls, who, if I
might judge by this poor savage, would make a much better use of it
than we did.
From hence I sometimes was led too far to invade the sovereignty of
Providence; and, as it were, arraign the justice of so arbitrary a
disposition of things, that should hide that light from some, and reveal
it to others, and yet expect a like duty from both: but I shut it up,
and checked my thoughts with this conclusion: first, that we do not know
by what light and law these should be condemned; but that as God was
necessarily, and by the nature of his being, infinitely holy and just,
so it could not be, but that if these creatures were all sentenced to
absence from himself, it was on account of sinning against that light,
which, as the Scripture says, was a law to themselves, and by such rules
as their consciences would acknowledge to be just, though the foundation
was not discovered to us: and, secondly, that still, as we are all clay
in the hand of the potter, no vessel could say to him, "Why hast thou
formed me thus?"
But to return to my new companion: I was greatly delighted with him, and
made it my business to teach him every thing that was proper to make
him useful, handy, and helpful; but especially to make him speak, and
understand me when I spake: and he was the aptest scholar that ever was;
and particularly was so merry, so constantly diligent, and so pleased
when he could but understand me, or make me understand him, that it was
very pleasant to me to talk to him. And now my life began to be so easy,
that I began to say to myself, that could I but have been safe from more
savages, I cared not if I was never to remove from the place while
I lived.
After I had been two or three days returned to my castle, I thought,
that, in order to bring Friday off from his horrid way of feeding, and
from the relish of a cannibal's stomach, I ought to let him taste other
flesh; so I took him out with me one morning to the woods: I went,
indeed, intending to kill a kid out of my own flock, and bring it home
and dress it: but as I was going, I saw a she goat lying down in the
shade, and two young kids sitting by her. I catched hold of Friday:
"Hold," said I, "stand still;" and made signs to him not to stir.
Immediately I presented my piece, shot and killed one of the kids. The
poor creature, who had, at a distance indeed, seen me kill the savage
his enemy, but did not know, or could imagine how it was done, was
sensibly surprised, trembled and shook, and looked so amazed, that I
thought he would have sunk down: he did not see the kid I had shot at,
or perceive I had killed it, but ripped up his waistcoat to feel if he
was not wounded; and, as I found, presently thought I was resolved to
kill him: for he came and kneeled down to me, and, embracing my knees,
said a great many things I did not understand but I could easily see
that his meaning was to pray me not to kill him.
I soon found a way to convince him, that I would do him no harm; and
taking him up by the hand, laughed at him, and pointing to the kid which
I had killed, beckoned to him to run and fetch it, which he did: and
while he was wondering and looking to see how the creature was killed,
I loaded my gun again, and by and by I saw a great fowl, like a hawk,
sit upon a tree within shot; so, to let Friday understand a little what
I would do, I called him to me again, pointing at the fowl, which was
indeed a parrot, though I thought it had been a hawk: I say, pointing to
the parrot, and to my gun, and to the ground under the parrot, to let
him see I would make him fall, I made him understand that I would shoot
and kill that bird; accordingly I fired, and bid him look, and
immediately he saw the parrot fall; he stood like one frighted again,
notwithstanding all that I had said to him; and I found he was the more
amazed, because he did not see me put any thing into the gun; but
thought there must be some wonderful fund of death and destruction in
that thing, able to kill man, beast, bird, or any thing near or far off;
for the astonishment this created in him was such, as could not wear off
for a long time; and I believe, if I would have let him, he would have
worshipped me and my gun; as for the gun itself, he would not so much as
touch it for several days over; but would speak to it, and talk to it,
as if it had answered him, when he was by himself; which, as I
afterwards learnt of him, was to desire it not to kill him.
Well; after his astonishment was a little over at this, I pointed to him
to run and fetch the bird I had shot, which he did, but staid some time;
for the parrot, not being quite dead, had fluttered a good way off from
the place where she fell; however, he found her, took her up, and
brought her to me; and, as I had perceived his ignorance about the gun
before, I took this advantage to charge the gun again, and not let him
see me do it, that I might be ready for any other mark that might
present; but nothing more offered at that time; so I brought home the
kid; and the same evening I took the skin off, and cut it out as well as
I could, and having a pot for that purpose, I boiled or stewed some of
the flesh, and made some very good broth; after I had begun to eat some,
I gave some to my man, who seemed very glad of it, and liked it very
well; but that which was strangest to him, was, to see me eat salt with
it. He made a sign to me that the salt was not good to eat; and putting
a little into his own month, he seemed to nauseate it, and would spit
and sputter at it, washing his mouth with fresh water after it. On the
other hand, I took some meat in my mouth without salt, and I pretended
to spit and sputter for want of salt, as fast as he had done at the
salt; but it would not do, he would never care for salt with meat, or in
his broth; at least, not a great while, and then but a very little.
Having thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, I was resolved to feast
him the next day with roasting a piece of the kid: this I did by hanging
it before the fire in a string, as I had seen many people do in England,
setting two poles up, one on each side the fire, and one cross on the
top, and tying the string to the cross stick, letting the meat turn
continually: this Friday admired very much; but when he came to taste
the flesh, he took so many ways to tell me how well he liked it, that I
could not but understand him; and at last he told me he would never eat
man's flesh any more, which I was very glad to hear.
The next day I set him to work to beating some corn out, and sifting it
in the manner I used to do, as I observed before; and he soon understood
how to do it as well as I, especially after he had seen what the meaning
of it was, and that it was to make bread of; for after that I let him
see me make my bread, and bake it too; and in a little time Friday was
able to do all the work for me, as well as I could do it myself.
I began now to consider, that, having two mouths to feed instead of one,
I must provide more ground for my harvest, and plant a larger quantity
of corn, than I used to do; so I marked out a larger piece of land, and
began the fence in the same manner as before, in which Friday not only
worked very willingly and very hard, but did it very cheerfully; and I
told him what it was for, that it was for corn to make more bread,
because he was now with me, and that I might have enough for him and
myself too: he appeared very sensible of that part, and let me know,
that he thought I had much more labour upon me on his account, than I
had for myself, and that he would work the harder for me, if I would
tell him what to do.
This was the pleasantest year of all the life I led in this place.
Friday began to talk pretty well, and understand the names of almost
every thing I had occasion to call for, and of every place I had to send
him to, and talk a great deal to me; so that, in short, I began now to
have some use for my tongue again, which indeed I had very little
occasion for before; that is to say, about speech. Besides the pleasure
of talking to him, I had a singular satisfaction in the fellow himself;
his simple unfeigned honesty appeared to me more and more every day, and
I began really to love the creature; and on his side, I believe, he
loved me more than it was possible for him ever to love any
thing before.
I had a mind once to try if he had any hankering inclination to his own
country again; and having learnt him English so well, that he could
answer me almost any questions, I asked him, whether the nation that he
belonged to never conquered in battle? At which he smiled, and said,
"Yes, yes, we always fight the better;" that is, he meant, always get
the better in fight; and so we began the following discourse. "You
always fight the better!" said I: "how came you to be taken prisoner
then, Friday?"
_Friday._ My nation beat much for all that.
_Master_. How beat? if your nation beat them, how came you to be taken?
_Friday_. They more than my nation in the place where me was; they take
one, two, three, and me: my nation over-beat them in the yonder place,
where me no was; there my nation take one two great thousand.
_Master_. But why did not your side recover you from the hands of your
enemies then?
_Friday_. They run one, two, three, and me, and make go in the canoe; my
nation have no canoe that time.
_Master_. Well, Friday, and what does your nation do with the men they
take? Do they carry them away, and eat them as these did?
_Friday._ Yes, my nation eat mans too, eat all up.
_Master_. Where do they carry them?
_Friday_. Go to other place where they think.
_Master_. Do they come hither?
_Friday_. Yes, yes, they come hither; come other else place.
_Master_. Have you been here with them?
_Friday_. Yes, I been here [points to the N.W. side of the island,
which, it seems, was their side.]
By this I understood, that my man Friday had formerly been among the
savages, who used to come on shore on the farther part of the island, on
the said man eating occasions that he was now brought for; and some time
after, when I took the courage to carry him to that side, being the same
I formerly mentioned, he presently knew the place, and told me, he was
there once when they ate up twenty men, two women, and one child: he
could not tell twenty in English, but he numbered them by laying so many
stones in a row, and pointing to me to tell them over.
I have told this passage, because it introduces what follows; that after
I had had this discourse with him, I asked him, how far it was from our
island to the shore, and whether the canoes were not often lost? He told
me there was no danger, no canoes ever lost; but that after a little way
out to sea, there was a current, and a wind always one way in the
morning, the other in the afternoon.
This I understand to be no more than the sets of the tide, as going out,
or coming in; but I afterwards understood it was occasioned by the great
draught and reflux of the mighty river Oroonoque; in the mouth of which
river, as I thought afterwards, our island lay; and that this land,
which I perceived to the W. and N.W. was the great island Trinidad, on
the north point of the mouth of the river. I asked Friday a thousand
questions about the country, the inhabitants, the sea, the coast, and
what nations were near: he told me all he knew with the greatest
openness imaginable. I asked him the names of the several nations of his
sort of people, but could get no other name than Caribs; from whence I
easily understood, that these were the Caribees, which our maps place on
that part of America which reaches from the mouth of the river Oroonoque
to Guinea, and onwards to St. Martha. He told me, that up a great way
beyond the moon, that was, beyond the setting of the moon, which must be
W. from their country, there dwelt white-bearded men, like me, and
pointed to my great whiskers, which I mentioned before; and that they
had killed much mans, that was his word: by which I understood he meant
the Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had been spread over the whole
countries, and were remembered by all the nations from father to son.
I inquired if he could tell me how I might come from this island, and
get among those white men; he told me, Yes, yes, I might go in two
canoe; I could not understand what he meant by two canoe; till at last,
with great difficulty, I found he meant, that it must be in a large
great boat as big as two canoes.
This part of Friday's discourse began to relish with me very well; and
from this time I entertained some hopes, that one time or other I might
find an opportunity to make my escape from this place, and that this
poor savage might be a means to help me to do it.
During the long time that Friday had now been with me, and that he began
to speak to me, and understand me, I was not wanting to lay a foundation
of religious knowledge in his mind; particularly I asked him one time,
Who made him? The poor creature did not understand me at all, but
thought I had asked who was his father: but I took it by another handle,
and asked him, Who made the sea, the ground he walked on, and the hills
and woods? He told me, it was one old Benamuckee that lived beyond all:
he could describe nothing of this great person, but that he was very
old; much older, he said, than the sea or the land, than the moon or the
stars. I asked him then, if this old person had made all things, why did
not all things worship him? He looked very grave, and with a perfect
look of innocence said, All things said O! to him. I asked him, if the
people who die in his country, went away any where? He said, Yes, they
all went to Benamuckee. Then I asked him, whether those they ate up,
went thither too? he said, Yes.
From these things I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the true
God. I told him, that the great Maker of all things lived there,
pointing up towards heaven; that he governs the world by the same power
and providence by which he made it; that he was omnipotent, could do
every thing for us, give every thing to us, take every thing from us:
and thus, by degrees, I opened his eyes. He listened with great
attention, and received with pleasure the notion of Jesus Christ being
sent to redeem us, and of the manner of making our prayers to God, and
his being able to hear us, even into heaven: he told me one day, that if
our God could hear us up beyond the sun, he must needs be a greater God
than their Benamuckee, who lived but a little way off, and yet could not
hear, till they went up to the great mountains, where he dwelt, to speak
to him. I asked him, if ever he went thither to speak to him? He said,
No, they never went that were young men; none went thither but the old
men; whom he called their Oowookakee, that is, as I made him explain it
to me, their religious, or clergy; and that they went to say O! (so he
called saying prayers,) and then came back, and told them what
Benamuckee said. By this I observed, that there is priestcraft even
amongst the most blinded ignorant Pagans in the world; and the policy of
making a secret religion, in order to preserve the veneration of the
people to the clergy, is not only to be found in the Roman, but perhaps
among all religious in the world, even among the most brutish and
barbarous savages.
I endeavoured to clear up this fraud to my man Friday; and told him,
that the pretence of their old men going up to the mountains to say O!
to their god Benamuckee, was a cheat; and their bringing word from
thence what he said, was much more so; that if they met with any answer,
or spoke with any one there, it must be with an evil spirit: and then I
entered into a long discourse with him about the devil, the original of
him, his rebellion against God, his enmity to man, the reason of it, his
setting himself up in the dark parts of the world to be worshipped
instead of God, and as God, and the many stratagems he made use of, to
delude mankind to their ruin; how he had a secret access to our passions
and to our affections, to adapt his snares so to our inclinations, as to
cause us even to be our own tempters, and to run upon our own
destruction by our own choice.
I found it was not so easy to imprint right notions in his mind about
the devil, as it was about the being of a God: nature assisted all my
arguments to evidence to him even the necessity of a great First Cause,
and over-ruling governing Power, a secret directing Providence, and of
the equity and justice of paying homage to Him that made us, and the
like: but there appeared nothing of all this in the notion of an evil
spirit, of his original, his being, his nature, and, above all, of his
inclination to do evil, and to draw us in to do so too: and the poor
creature puzzled me once in such a manner, by a question merely natural
and innocent, that I scarce knew what to say to him. I had been talking
a great deal to him of the power of God, his omnipotence, his dreadful
aversion to sin, his being a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity;
how, as he had made as all, he could destroy us, and all the world, in
a moment; and he listened with great seriousness to me all the while.
After this, I had been telling; him how the devil was God's enemy in the
hearts of men, and used all his malice and skill to defeat the good
designs of Providence, and to ruin the kingdom of Christ in the world,
and the like: "Well," says Friday, "but you say God is so strong, so
great, is he not much strong, much might, as the devil?"--"Yes, yes,"
said I, Friday, "God is stronger than the devil, God is above the devil,
and therefore we pray to God to tread him under our feet, and enable us
to resist his temptations, and quench his fiery darts."--"But," says he
again, "if God much strong, much might, as the devil, why God not kill
the devil, so make him no more wicked?"
I was strangely surprised at his question; and after all, though I was
now an old man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill enough qualified
for a casuist, or a solver of difficulties: and, at first, I could not
tell what to say; so I pretended not to hear him, and asked him what he
said; but he was too earnest for an answer to forget his question; so
that he repeated it in the very same broken words, as above. By this
time I had recovered myself a little, and I said, "God will at last
punish him severely; he is reserved for the judgment, and is to be cast
into the bottomless pit, to dwell with everlasting fire." This did not
satisfy Friday; but he returns upon me, repeating my words, "Reserve at
last! me no understand: but why not kill the devil now, not kill great
ago?"--"You may as well ask me," said I, "why God does not kill you and
me, when we do wicked things here that offend him: we are preserved to
repent and be pardoned." He muses awhile at this; "Well, well," says he,
mighty affectionately, "that well; so you I, devil, all wicked, all
preserve, repent, God pardon all." Here I was run down again by him to
the last degree, and it was a testimony to me, how the mere notions of
nature, though they will guide reasonable creatures to the knowledge of
a God, and of a worship or homage due to the supreme being of God, as
the consequence of our nature; yet nothing but divine revelation can
form the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and of a redemption purchased for
us; of a Mediator; of a new covenant; and of an Intercessor at the
footstool of God's throne; I say, nothing but a revelation from Heaven
can form these in the soul; and that therefore the Gospel of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean the word of God, and the Spirit of God,
promised for the guide and sanctifier of his people, are the absolutely
necessary instructors of the souls of men in the saving knowledge of
God, and the means of salvation.
I therefore diverted the present discourse between me and my man, rising
up hastily, as upon some sudden occasion of going out; then sending him
for some thing a great way off, I seriously prayed to God, that he would
enable me to instruct savingly this poor savage, assisting, by his
Spirit, the heart of the poor ignorant creature to receive the light of
the knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling him to himself, and would
guide me to speak so to him from the word of God, as his conscience
might be convinced, his eyes opened, and his soul saved. When he came
again to me, I entered into a long discourse with him upon the subject
of the redemption of man by the Saviour of the world, and of the
doctrine of the Gospel preached from Heaven, viz. of the repentance
towards God, and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus: I then explained to
him, as well as I could, why our blessed Redeemer took not on him the
nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham, and how, for that reason, the
fallen angels had no share in the redemption; that he came only to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel, and the like.
I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge, in all the methods I
took for this poor creature's instruction; and must acknowledge, what I
believe all that act upon the same principle will find, that in laying
things open to him, I really informed and instructed myself in many
things that either I did not know, or had not fully considered before;
but which occurred naturally to my mind, upon my searching into them for
the information of this poor savage; and I had more affection in my
inquiry after things upon this occasion, than ever I felt before; so
that whether this poor wild wretch was the better for me or no, I had
great reason to be thankful that ever he came to me: my grief sat
lighter upon me, my habitation grew comfortable to me beyond measure;
and when I reflected, that in this solitary life, which I had been
confined to, I had not only been moved myself to look up to Heaven, and
to seek to the Hand that brought me thither, but was now to be made an
instrument, under Providence, to save the life, and for aught I knew the
soul, of a poor savage, and bring him to the true knowledge of religion,
and of the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, to know
whom is life eternal; I say, when I reflected upon all these things, a
secret joy ran through every part of my soul, and I frequently rejoiced
that ever I was brought to this place, which I had often thought the
most dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have befallen me.
In this thankful frame I continued all the remainder of my time; and the
conversation which employed the hours between Friday and me was such, as
made the three years which we lived there together perfectly and
completely happy, if any such thing as complete happiness can be found
in a sublunary state. The savage was now a good Christian, a much better
than I; though I have reason to hope, and bless God for it, that we were
equally penitent, and comforted restored penitents: we had here the Word
of God to read, and no farther off from his Spirit to instruct than if
we had been in England.
I always applied myself to reading the Scripture, and to let him know as
well as I could the meaning of what I read; and he again, by his serious
inquiries and questions, made me, as I said before, a much better
scholar in the Scripture knowledge, than I should ever have been by my
own private reading. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing here,
also from experience, in this retired part of my life; viz. how infinite
and inexpressible a blessing it is, that the knowledge of God, and of
the doctrine of salvation by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in
the Word of God, so easy to be received and understood, that as the bare
reading the Scripture made me capable of understanding enough of my duty
to carry me directly on to the great work of sincere repentance for my
sins, and laying hold of a Saviour for life and salvation, to a stated
reformation in practice, and obedience to all God's commands, and this
without any teacher or instructor (I mean, human;) so the plain
instruction sufficiently served to the enlightening this savage
creature, and bringing him to be such a Christian, as I have known few
equal to him in my life.
As to the disputes, wranglings, strife, and contention, which has
happened in the world about religion, whether niceties in doctrines, or
schemes of church-government, they were all perfectly useless to us, as,
for aught I can yet see, they have been to all the rest in the world: we
had the sure guide to heaven, viz. the Word of God; and we had, blessed
be God! comfortable views of the Spirit of God, teaching and instructing
us by his Word, leading us into all truth, and making us both willing
and obedient to His instruction of his Word; and I cannot see the least
use that the greatest knowledge of the disputed points in religion,
which have made such confusions in the world, would have been to us, if
we could have obtained it. But I must go on with the historical part of
things, and take every part in its order.
After Friday and I became more intimately acquainted, and that he could
understand almost all I said to him, and speak fluently, though in
broken English, to me, I acquainted him with my own story, or at least
so much of it as related to my coming into the place, how I had lived
there, and how long: I let him into the mystery (for such it was to him)
of gunpowder and bullets, and taught him how to shoot: I gave him a
knife, which he was wonderfully delighted with; and I made him a belt
with a frog hanging to it, such as in England we wear hangers in; and in
the frog, instead of a hanger, I gave him a hatchet, which was not only
as good a weapon in some cases, but much more useful upon many
occasions.
I described to him the countries of Europe, and particularly England,
which I came from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, how we behaved
to one another, and how we traded in ships to all the parts of the
world. I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on board of,
and shewed him as near as I could, the place where she lay; but she was
all beaten in pieces long before, and quite gone.
I shewed him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we escaped, and
which I could not stir with my whole strength then, but was now fallen
almost all to pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood musing a great
while, and said nothing; I asked him what it was he studied upon? At
last, says he, "Me see such boat like come to place at my nation."
I did not understand him a good while; but at last, when I had examined
further into it, I understood by him, that a boat, such as that had
been, came on shore upon the country where he lived; that is, as he
explained it, was driven thither by stress of weather. I presently
imagined, that some European ship must have been cast away upon their
coast, and the boat might get loose, and drive ashore; but was so dull,
that I never once thought of men making escape from a wreck thither,
much less whence they might come; so I only inquired after a description
of the boat.
Friday described the boat to me well enough; but brought me better to
understand him, when he added, with some warmth, "We save the white mans
from drown." Then I presently asked him, if there, were white mans, as
he called them, in the boat? "Yes," he said, "the boat full of while
mans." I asked him, how many! he told upon his fingers seventeen. I
asked him then, what became of them? he told me, "They live, they dwell
at my nation."
This put new thoughts into my head again; for I presently imagined, that
these might be the men belonging to the ship that was cast away in sight
of my island, as I now call it; and who, after the ship was struck on
the rock, and they saw her inevitably lost, had saved themselves in
their boat, and were landed upon that wild shore among the savages.
Upon this I inquired of him more critically, what was become of them? He
assured me they lived still there, that they had been there about four
years, that the savages let them alone, and gave them victuals to live.
I asked him, how it came to pass they did not kill them, and eat them?
He said, "No, they make brother with them:" that is, as I understood
him, a truce: and then he added, "They eat no mans but when make the war
fight:" that is to say, they never eat any men, but such as come to
fight with them, and are taken in battle.
It was after this, some considerable time, that being on the top of the
hill, at the east side of the island, from whence, as I have said, I had
in a clear day discovered the main or continent of America; Friday, the
weather being very serene, looks very earnestly towards the main land,
and in a kind of surprise falls a-jumping and dancing, and calls out to
me, for I was at some distance from him: I asked him what was the
matter? "O joy!" says he, "O glad! there see my country, there
my nation!"
I observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure appeared in his face, and
his eyes sparkled, and his countenance discovered a strange eagerness,
as if he had a mind to be in his own country again; and this observation
of mine put a great many thoughts into me; which made me at first not so
easy about my new man Friday as I was before; and I made no doubt, but
that if Friday could get back to his own nation again, he would not
only forget all his religion, but all his obligations to me; and would
be forward enough to give his countrymen an account of me, and come
back, perhaps, with an hundred or two of them, and make a feast upon me,
at which he might be as merry as he used to be with those of his
enemies, when they were taken in war.
But I wronged the poor honest creature very much, for which I was very
sorry afterwards: however, as my jealousy increased, and held me some
weeks, I was a little more circumspect, and not so familiar and kind to
him as before; in which I was certainly in the wrong too, the honest
grateful creature having no thought about it, but what consisted of the
best principles, both as a religious Christian and as a grateful friend,
as appeared afterwards to my full satisfaction.
Whilst my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure I was every day
pumping him, to see if he would discover any of the new thoughts which I
suspected were in him; but I found every thing he said was so honest and
so innocent, that I could find nothing to nourish my suspicion; and, in
spite of all my uneasiness, he made me at last entirely his own again;
nor did he in the least perceive that I was uneasy; and therefore I
could not suspect him of deceit.
One day, walking up the same hill, but the weather being hazy at sea, so
that we could not see the continent, I called to him, and said, "Friday,
do not you wish yourself in your own country, your own nation"--"Yes,"
he said, "I be much O glad to be at my own nation."--"What would you do
there?" said I: "would you turn wild again, eat men's flesh again, and
be a savage as you were before?" He looked full of concern, and shaking
his head, said, "No, no, Friday tell them to live good; tell them to
pray God; tell them to eat corn-bread, cattle-flesh, milk, no eat man
again."--"Why, then," said I to him, "they will kill you." He looked
grave at that, and then said, "No, they no kill me, they willing love
learn:" he meant by this, they would be willing to learn. He added,
they learnt much of the bearded mans that came in the boat. Then I asked
him, if he would go back to them? He smiled at that, and told me he
could not swim so far. I told him I would make a canoe for him. He told
me he would go, if I would so with him. "I go!" said I, "why, they will
eat me if I come there."--"No, no," says he, "me make them no eat you,
me make they much love you:" he meant he would tell them how I had
killed his enemies and saved his life, and so he would make them love
me. Then he told me, as well as he could, how kind they were to
seventeen white men, or bearded men, as he called them, who came on
shore in distress.
From this time, I confess, I had a mind to venture over, and see if I
could possibly join with these bearded men, who, I made no doubt, were
Spaniards or Portuguese; not doubting but, if I could, we might find
some method to escape from thence, being upon the continent, and a good
company together, better than I could from an island forty miles off the
shore, and alone without help. So, after some days, I took Friday to
work again, by way of discourse; and told him, I would give him a boat
to go back to his own nation; and accordingly I carried him to my
frigate, which lay on the other side of the island; and having cleared
it of water (for I always kept it sunk in the water), I brought it out,
shewed it him, and we both went into it.
I found he was a most dexterous fellow at managing it, would make it go
almost as swift and fast again as I could; so when he was in, I said to
him, "Well, now, Friday, shall we go to your nation?" He looked very
dull at my saying so, which, it seems, was because he thought the boat
too small to go so far. I told him then I had a bigger; so the next day
I went to the place where the first boat lay which I had made, but which
I could not get into the water; he said that was big enough; but then,
as I had taken no care of it, and it had lain two or three and twenty
years there, the sun had split and dried it, that it was in a manner
rotten. Friday told me, such a boat would do very well, and would carry
"much enough vittle, drink, bread:" that was his way of talking.
Upon the whole, I was by this time so fixed upon my design of going over
with him to the continent, that I told him we would go and make one as
big as that, and he should go home in it. He answered not one word, but
looked very, grave and sad. I asked him, what was the matter with him?
He asked me again thus, "Why you angry mad with Friday? what me done?" I
asked him, what he meant? I told him I was not angry with him at all:
"No angry! no angry!" says he, repeating the words several times, "why
send Friday home away to my nation?"--"Why," said I, "Friday, did you
not say you wished you were there?"--"Yes, yes," says he, "wish be both
there; no wish Friday there, no master there." In a word, he would not
think of going there without me. "I go there, Friday!" said I; "what
should I do there?" He turned very quick upon me at this; "You do great
deal much good," says he; "you teach wild mans be good, sober, tame
mans; you tell them know God, pray God, and live new life."--"Alas,
Friday," said I, "thou knowest not what thou sayest; I am but an
ignorant man myself."--"Yes, yes," says he, "you teechee me good, you
teechee them good."--"No, no, Friday," said I, "you shall go without me;
leave me here to live by myself, as I did before." He looked confused
again at that word, and running to one of the hatchets which he used to
wear, he takes it up hastily, and gives it me. "What must I do with
this?" said I to him. "You take kill Friday," says he. "What must I kill
you for?" said I again, He returns very quick, "What you send Friday
away for? Take kill Friday, no send Friday away." This he spoke so
earnestly, that I saw tears stand in his eyes. In a word, I so plainly
discovered the utmost affection in him to me, and a firm resolution in
him, that I told him then, and often after, that I would never send him
away from me, if he was willing to stay with me.
Upon the whole, as I found by all his discourse a settled affection to
me, and that nothing should part him from me, so I found all the
foundation of his desire to go to his own country was laid in his ardent
affection to the people, and his hopes of my doing them good; a thing,
which as I had no notion of myself, so I had not the least thought, or
intention, or desire of undertaking it. But still I found a strong
inclination to my attempting an escape, as above, founded on the
supposition gathered from the former discourse; viz. that there were
seventeen bearded men there; and therefore, without any delay, I went to
work with Friday, to find out a great tree proper to fell, and make a
large periagua or canoe, to under take the voyage: there were trees
enough in the island to have built a little fleet, not of periaguas and
canoes only, but even of good large vessels: but the main thing I looked
at, was to get one so near the water, that we might launch it when it
was made, to avoid the mistake I committed at first.
At last Friday pitched upon a tree; for I found he knew much better than
I what kind of wood was fittest for it; nor can I tell to this day what
wood to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very like the tree
we call tustick, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, for it was much
of the same colour and smell. Friday was for burning the hollow or
cavity of this tree out, to make it into a boat: but I shewed him how
rather to cut it out with tools, which after I shewed him how to use, he
did very handily; and in about a month's hard labour we finished it, and
made it very handsome, especially, when, with our axes, which I shewed
him how to handle, we cut and hewed the outside into the true shape of a
boat; after this, however, it cost us near a fortnight's time to get her
along, as it were inch by inch, upon great rollers, into the water: but
when she was in, she would have carried twenty men with great ease.
When she was in the water, and though she was so big, it amazed me to
see with what dexterity and how swift my man Friday could manage her,
turn her, and paddle her along; so I asked him if he would, and if we
might venture over in her? "Yes," he said, "he venture over in her very
well, though great blow wind." However, I had a farther design that he
knew nothing of, and that was, to make a mast and sail, and to fit her
with an anchor and cable. As to a mast, that was easy enough to get; so
I pitched upon a straight young cedar-tree, which I found near the
place, and which there was a great plenty of in the island; and I set
Friday to work to cut it down, and gave him directions how to shape and
order it: but as to the sail, that was my particular care; I knew I had
old sails, or rather pieces of old sails enough; but as I had had them
now twenty-six years by me, and had not been very careful to preserve
them, not imagining that I should ever have this kind of use for them, I
did not doubt but they were all rotten; and indeed most of them were so;
however, I found two pieces which appeared pretty good, and with these I
went to work, and with a great deal of pains, and awkward tedious
stitching (you may be sure) for want of needles, I at length made a
three-cornered ugly thing, like what we call in England a
shoulder-of-mutton sail, to go with a boom at bottom, and a little short
sprit at the top, such as usually our ships' long-boats sail with, and
such as I best knew how to manage; because it was such a one as I used
in the boat in which I made my escape from Barbary, as related in the
first part of my story.
I was near two months performing this last work, viz. rigging and
fitting my mast and sails; for I finished them very complete, making a
small stay, and a sail or foresail to it, to assist, if we should turn
to windward; and, which was more than all, I fixed a rudder to the stern
of her, to steer with; and though I was but a bungling shipwright, yet
as I knew the usefulness, and even necessity of such a thing, I applied
myself with so much pains to do it, that at last I brought it to pass,
though, considering the many dull contrivances I had for it that failed,
I think it cost me almost as much labour as making the boat.
After all this was done, I had my man Friday to teach as to what
belonged to the navigation of my boat; for though he knew very well how
to paddle the canoe, he knew nothing what belonged to a sail and a
rudder, and was the more amazed when he saw me work the boat to and
again in the sea by the rudder, and how the sail gibed, and filled this
way or that way, as the course we sailed changed; I say, when he saw
this, he stood like one astonished and amazed: however, with a little
use, I made all these things familiar to him, and he became an expert
sailor, except that as to the compass I could make him understand very
little of that: on the other hand, as there was very little cloudy
weather, and seldom or never any fogs in those parts, there was the less
occasion for a compass, seeing the stars were always to be seen by
night, and the shore by day, except in the rainy seasons; and then
nobody cared to stir abroad, either by land or sea.
I was now entered on the seven-and-twentieth year of my captivity in
this place; though the three last years that I had this creature with
me, ought rather to be left out of the account, my habitation being
quite of another kind than in all the rest of my time. I kept the
anniversary of my landing here with the same thankfulness to God for his
mercies as at first; and if I had such cause of acknowledgment at first,
I had much more so now, having such additional testimonies of the care
of Providence over me, and the great hopes I had of being effectually
and speedily delivered; for I had an invincible impression upon my
thoughts, that my deliverance was at hand, and that I should not be
another year in this place. However, I went on with my husbandry,
digging, planting, and fencing, as usual; I gathered and cured my
grapes, and did every necessary thing, as before.
The rainy season was in the mean time upon me, when I kept more within
doors than at other times; so I had stowed our now vessel as secure as
we could, bringing her up into the creek, where, as I said in the
beginning, I landed my rafts from the ship; and haling her up to the
shore, at high water mark, I made my man Friday dig a little dock, just
big enough for her to float in; and then, when the tide was out, we made
a strong dam cross the end of it, to keep the water out; and so she lay
dry, as to the tide, from the sea; and to keep the rain off, we laid a
great many boughs of trees so thick, that she was as well thatched as a
house; and thus we waited for the months of November and December, in
which I designed to make my adventure.
When the settled season began to come in, as the thought of my design
returned with the fair weather, I was preparing daily for the voyage;
and the first thing I did was to lay up a certain quantity of provision,
being the store for the voyage; and intended, in a week or a fortnight's
time, to open the dock, and launch out our boat. I was busy one morning
upon something of this kind, when I called to Friday, and bid him go to
the sea-shore, and see if he could find a turtle or tortoise, a thing
which we generally got once a week, for the sake of the eggs, as well as
the flesh. Friday had not been long gone, when he came running back, and
flew over my outward wall, or fence, like one that felt not the ground,
or the steps he set his feet on; and before I had time to speak to him,
he cried out to me, "O master! O master! O sorrow! O bad!"--"What's the
matter, Friday?" said I. "O yonder there," says he, "one, two, three,
canoe! one, two, three!" By this way of speaking I concluded there were
six; but on inquiry I found there were but three. "Well, Friday," said
I, "do not be frighted;" so I heartened him up as well as I could.
However, I saw the poor fellow most terribly scared; for nothing ran in
his head, but that they were come to look for him, and would cut him in
pieces, and eat him; the poor fellow trembled so, that I scarce knew
what to do with him; I comforted him as well as I could, and told him I
was in as much danger as he, and that they would eat me as well as him.
"But," said I, "Friday, we must resolve to fight them: can you fight,
Friday?" "Me shoot," says he, "but there come many great number." "No
matter for that," said I again; "our guns will fright them that we do
not kill." So I asked him, whether, if I resolved to defend him, he
would defend me, and stand by me, and do just as I bade him? He said,
"Me die, when you bid die, master;" so I went and fetched a good dram of
rum, and gave him; for I had been so good a husband of my rum, that I
had a great deal left. When he had drank it, I made him take the two
fowling-pieces which we always carried, and load them with large
swan-shot as big as small pistol bullets; then I took four muskets, and
loaded them with two slugs and five small bullets each; and my two
pistols I loaded with a brace of bullets each: I hung my great sword, as
usual, naked by my side, and gave Friday his hatchet.
When I had thus prepared myself, I took my perspective-glass, and went
up to the side of the hill, to see what I could discover; and I found
quickly, by my glass, that there were one and twenty savages, three
prisoners, and three canoes; and that their whole business seemed to be
the triumphant banquet upon these three human bodies; a barbarous feast
indeed, but nothing more than as I had observed was usual with them.
I observed also, that they were landed, not where they had done when
Friday made his escape, but nearer to my creek, where the shore was low,
and where a thick wood came close almost down to the sea: this, with the
abhorrence of the inhuman errand these wretches came about, so filled me
with indignation, that I came down again to Friday, and told him, I was
resolved to go down to them, and kill them all; and asked him if he
would stand by me. He was now gotten over his fright, and his spirits
being a little raised with the dram I had given him, he was very
cheerful; and told me, as before, he would die when I bid die.
In this fit of fury, I took first and divided the arms which I had
charged, as before, between us: I gave Friday one pistol to stick in his
girdle, and three guns upon his shoulder; and I took one pistol, and the
other three, myself; and in this posture we marched out. I took a small
bottle of rum in my pocket, and gave Friday a large bag with more powder
and bullet; and as to orders, I charged him to keep close behind me, and
not to stir, shoot, or do any thing till I bid him; and in the mean
time, not to speak a word. In this posture I fetched a compass to my
right hand of near a mile, as well to get over the creek as to get into
the wood; so that I might come within shot of them before I could be
discovered, which I had seen by my glass it was easy to do.
While I was making this march, my former thoughts returning, I began to
abate my resolution; I do not mean, that I entertained any fear of their
number; for as they were naked, unarmed wretches, it is certain I was
superior to them; nay, though I had been alone: but it occurred to my
thoughts, what call, what occasion, much less what necessity, I was in
to go and dip my hands in blood, to attack people who had neither done
or intended me any wrong, who, as to me, were innocent, and whose
barbarous customs were their own disaster, being in them a token indeed
of God's having left them, with the other nations of that part of the
world, to such stupidity and to such inhuman courses; but did not call
me to take upon me to be a judge of their actions, much less an
executioner of his justice; that whenever he thought fit, he would take
the cause into his own hands, and by national vengeance punish them for
national crimes; but that in the mean time, it was none of my business;
that it was true, Friday might justify it, because he was a declared
enemy, and in a state of war with those very particular people, and it
was lawful for him to attack them; but I could not say the same with
respect to me. These things were so warmly pressed upon my thoughts all
the way as I went, that I resolved I would only go place myself near
them, that I might observe their barbarous feast, and that I would act
then as God should direct; but that unless something offered that was
more a call to me than yet I knew of, I would not meddle with them.
With this resolution I entered the wood, and with all possible wariness
and silence (Friday following close at my heels) I marched till I came
to the skirt of the wood, on the side which was next to them; only that
one corner of the wood lay between me and them: here I called softly to
Friday, and shewing him a great tree, which was just at the corner of
the wood, I bade him go to the tree, and bring me word if he could see
there plainly what they were doing: he did so, and came immediately back
to me, and told me they might be plainly viewed there; that they were
all about the fire, eating the flesh of one of their prisoners; and that
another lay bound upon the sand, a little from them, whom he said they
would kill next, and which fired the very soul within me. He told me, it
was not one of their nation, but one of the bearded men whom he had told
me of, who came to their country in the boat. I was filled with horror
at the very naming the white-bearded man, and, going to the tree, I saw
plainly, by my glass, a white man, who lay upon the beach of the sea,
with his hands and his feet tied with flags, or things like rushes; and
that he was an European, and had clothes on.
There was another tree, and a little thicket beyond it, about fifty
yards nearer to them than the place where I was, which, by going a
little way about, I saw I might come at undiscovered, and that then I
should be within half-shot of them; so I withheld my passion, though I
was indeed enraged to the highest degree; and going back about twenty
paces, I got behind some bushes, which held all the way till I came to
the other tree, and then I came to a little rising ground, which gave me
a full view of them, at the distance of about eighty yards.
I had now not a moment to lose; for nineteen of the dreadful wretches
sat upon the ground all close huddled together, and had just sent the
other two to butcher the poor Christian, and bring him, perhaps limb by
limb, to their fire; and they were stooped down to untie the bands at
his feet. I turned to Friday; "Now, Friday," said I, "do as I bid thee."
Friday said, he would. "Then, Friday," said I, "do exactly as you see me
do; fail in nothing." So I set down one of the muskets and the
fowling-piece upon the ground, and Friday did the like by his; and with
the other musket I took my aim at the savages, bidding him do the like.
Then asking him if he was ready, he said, "Yes." "Then fire at them,"
said I; and the same moment I fired also.
Friday took his aim so much better than I, that on the side that he
shot, he killed two of them, and wounded three more; and on my side, I
killed one, and wounded two. They were, you may be sure, in a dreadful
consternation; and all of them, who were not hurt, jumped up upon their
feet immediately, but did not know which way to run, or which way to
look; for they knew not from whence their destruction came. Friday kept
his eyes close upon me, that, as I had bid him, he might observe what I
did; so as soon as the first shot was made, I threw down the piece, and
took up the fowling-piece, and Friday did the like; he sees me cock, and
present; he did the same again. "Are you ready, Friday?" said I. "Yes,"
says he. "Let fly then," said I, "in the name of God;" and with that I
fired again among the amazed wretches, and so did Friday; and as our
pieces were now loaden with what I call swan shot, or small
pistol-bullets, we found only two drop; but so many were wounded, that
they ran about yelling and screaming like mad creatures, all bloody, and
miserably wounded most of them; whereof three more fell quickly after,
though not quite dead.
"Now, Friday," said I, laying down the discharged pieces, and taking up
the musket, which was yet loaden, "follow me," said I; which he did,
with a deal of courage; upon which I rushed, out of the wood, and shewed
myself, and Friday close at my foot: as soon as I perceived they saw me,
I shouted as loud as I could, and bade Friday do so too; and running as
fast as I could, which by the way was not very fast, being loaded with
arms as I was, I made directly towards the poor victim, who was, as I
said, lying upon the beach, or shore, between the place where they sat
and the sea; the two butchers, who were just going to work with him, had
left him, at the surprise of our first fire, and fled in a terrible
fright to the sea-side, and had jumped into a canoe, and three more of
the rest made the same way: I turned to Friday, and bade him step
forwards, and fire at them; he understood me immediately, and running
about forty yards to be near them, he shot at them, and I thought he had
killed them all; for I saw them all fall on an heap into the boat;
though I saw two of them up again quickly: however, he killed two of
them, and wounded the third, so that he lay down in the bottom of the
boat, as if he had been dead.
While my man Friday fired at them, I pulled out my knife, and cut the
flags that bound the poor victim; and loosing his hands and feet I
lifted him up, and asked him in the Portuguese tongue, what he was? He
answered in Latin, _Christianus;_ but was so weak and faint, that he
could scarce stand, or speak; I took my bottle out of my pocket, and
gave it him, making signs that he should drink, which he did; and I gave
him a piece of bread, which he ate; then I asked him, what countryman he
was? and he said, _Espagnole_; and, being a little recovered, let me
know, by all the signs he could possibly make, how much he was in my
debt for his deliverance. "Seignior," said I, with as much Spanish as I
could make up, "we will talk afterwards, but we must fight now: if you
have any strength left, take this pistol and sword, and lay about you."
He took them very thankfully, and no sooner had he the arms in his
hands, but as if they had put new vigour into him, he flew upon his
murderers like a fury, and had cut two of them in pieces in an instant;
for the truth is, as the whole was a surprise to them, so the poor
creatures were so much frighted with the noise of our pieces, that they
fell down for mere amazement and fear, and had no more power to attempt
their own escape, than their flesh had to resist our shot; and that was
the case of those five that Friday shot in the boat; for as three of
them fell with the hurt they received, so the other two fell with
the fright.
I kept my piece in my hand still, without firing, being willing to keep
my charge ready, because I had given the Spaniard my pistol and sword;
so I called to Friday, and bade him run up to the tree from whence we
first fired, and fetch the arms which lay there, that had been
discharged, which he did with great swiftness; and then giving him my
musket, I sat down myself to load all the rest again, and bade them come
to me when they wanted. While I was loading these pieces, there happened
a fierce engagement between the Spaniard and one of the savages, who
made at him with one of their great wooden swords, the same weapon that
was to have killed him before, if I had not prevented it: the Spaniard,
who was as bold and as brave as could be imagined, though weak, had
fought this Indian a good while, and had cut him two great wounds on his
head; but the savage, being a stout lusty fellow, closing in with him,
had thrown him down, (being faint) and was wringing my sword out of his
hand, when the Spaniard, though undermost, wisely quitting his sword,
drew the pistol from his girdle, shot the savage through the body, and
killed him upon the spot, before I, who was running to help, could
come near him.
Friday, being now left at his liberty, pursued the flying wretches with
no weapon in his hand but his hatchet; and with that he dispatched those
three, who, as I said before, were wounded at first, and fallen, and all
the rest he could come up with; and the Spaniard coming to me for a gun,
I gave him one of the fowling-pieces, with which he pursued two of the
savages, and wounded them both; but as he was not able to run, they both
got from him into the wood, where Friday pursued them, and killed one of
them; but the other was too nimble for him; and though he was wounded,
yet he plunged into the sea, and swam with all his might off to those
who were left in the canoe; which three in the canoe, with one wounded,
who we know not whether he died or no, were all that escaped our hands
of one-and-twenty. The account of the rest is as follows:
3 Killed at our shot from the tree.
2 Killed at the next shot.
2 Killed by Friday in the boat.
2 Killed by ditto, of those at first wounded.
1 Killed by ditto, in the wood.
3 Killed by the Spaniard.
4 Killed, being found dropt here and there of their
wounds, or killed by Friday in his chase of
them.
4 Escaped in the boat, whereof one wounded, if
not dead.
------
21 in all.
Those that were in the canoe worked hard to get out of gun-shot; and
though Friday made two or three shot at them, I did not find that he hit
any of them: Friday would fain have had me take one of their canoes, and
pursue them; and indeed I was very anxious about their escape, lest,
carrying the news home to their people, they should come back, perhaps,
with two or three hundred of their canoes, and devour us by mere
multitudes; so I consented to pursue them by sea; and running to one of
their canoes, I jumped in, and bade Friday follow me; but when I was in
the canoe, I was surprised to find another poor creature lie there
alive, bound hand and foot, as the Spaniard was, for the slaughter, and
almost dead with fear, not knowing what the matter was; for he had not
been able to look up over the side of the boat, he was tied so hard,
neck and heels, and had been tied so long, that he had really little
life in him.
I immediately cut the twisted flags, or rushes, which they had bound him
with, and would have helped him up; but he could not stand, or speak,
but groaned most piteously, believing, it seems still, that he was only
unbound in order to be killed.
When Friday came to him, I bade him speak to him, and tell him of his
deliverance; and pulling out my bottle, made him give the poor wretch a
dram, which, with the news of his being delivered, revived him, and he
sat up in the boat; but when Friday came to hear him speak, and looked
in his face, it would have moved any one to tears, to have seen how
Friday kissed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, laughed, hallooed,
jumped about, danced, sung, then cried again, wrung his hands, beat his
own face and head, and then sung and jumped about again like a
distracted creature. It was a good while before I could make him speak
to me, or tell me what was the matter; but when he came a little to
himself, he told me that it was his father.
It was not easy for me to express how it moved me, to see what ecstasy
and filial affection had worked in this poor savage, at the sight of his
father, and of his being delivered from death; nor indeed can I describe
half the extravagances of his affection after this; for he went into the
boat and out of the boat a great many times: when he went in to him, he
would sit down by him, open his breast, and hold his father's head
close to his bosom, half an hour together, to nourish it: then he took
his arms and ankles, which were numbed and stiff with the binding, and
chafed and rubbed them with his hands; and I, perceiving what the case
was, gave him some rum out of my bottle to rub them with, which did them
a great deal of good.
This action put an end to our pursuit of the canoe with the other
savages, who were now gotten almost out of sight; and it was happy for
us that we did not; for it blew so hard within two hours after, and
before they could be gotten a quarter of their way, and continued
blowing so hard all night, and that from the north-west, which was
against them, that I could not suppose their boat could live, or that
they ever reached to their own coast.
But to return to Friday: he was so busy about his father, that I could
not find in my heart to take him off for some time: but after I thought
he could leave him a little, I called him to me, and he came jumping and
laughing, and pleased to the highest extreme. Then I asked him, if he
had given his father any bread? He shook his head, and said, "None: ugly
dog eat all up self." So I gave him a cake of bread out of a little
pouch I carried on purpose; I also gave him a dram for himself, but he
would not taste it, but carried it to his father: I had in my pocket
also two or three bunches of my raisins, so I gave him a handful of them
for his father. He had no sooner given his father these raisins, but I
saw him come out of the boat, and run away as if he had been bewitched.
He ran at such a rate (for he was the swiftest fellow of his feet that
ever I saw)--I say, he ran at such a rate, that he was out of sight, as
it were, in an instant; and though I called and hallooed too after him,
it was all one; away he went, and in a quarter of an hour I saw him come
back again, though not so fast as he went; and as he came nearer, I
found his pace was slacker, because he had something in his hand.
When he came up to me, I found he had been quite home for an earthen
jug, or pot, to bring his father some fresh water; and that he had get
two more cakes or loaves of bread. The bread he gave me, but the water
he carried to his father: however, as I was very thirsty too, I took a
little sip of it: this water revived his father more than all the rum or
spirits I had given him; for he was just fainting with thirst.
When his father had drank, I called him, to know if there was any water
left? he said, "Yes;" and I bade him give it to the poor Spaniard, who
was in as much want of it as his father; and I sent one of the cakes,
that Friday brought, to the Spaniard too, who was indeed very weak, and
was reposing himself upon a green place, under the shade of a tree, and
whose limbs were also very stiff, and very much swelled with the rude
bandage he had been tied with: when I saw that, upon Friday's coming to
him with the water, he sat up and drank, and took the bread, and began
to eat, I went to him, and gave him a handful of raisins: he looked up
in my face with all the tokens of gratitude and thankfulness that could
appear in any countenance; but was so weak, notwithstanding he had so
exerted himself in the fight, that he could not stand upon his feet; he
tried to do it two or three times, but was really not able, his ankles
were so swelled and so painful to him; so I bade him sit still, and
caused Friday to rub his ankles, and bathe them with rum, as he had done
his father's.
I observed the poor affectionate creature every two minutes, or perhaps
less, all the while he was here, turned his head about, to see if his
father was in the same place and posture as he left him sitting; and at
last he found he was not to be seen; at which he started up, and,
without speaking a word, flew with that swiftness to him, that one could
scarce perceive his feet to touch the ground as he went: but when he
came, he only found he had laid himself down to ease his limbs: so
Friday came back to me presently, and I then spoke to the Spaniard to
let Friday help him up, if he could, and load him to the boat, and then
he should carry him to our dwelling, where I would take care of him: but
Friday, a lusty young fellow, took the Spaniard quite up upon his back,
and carried him away to the boat, and set him down softly upon the side
or gunnel of the canoe, with his feet in the inside of it, and then
lifted them quite in, and set him close to his father, and presently
stepping out again, launched the boat off, and paddled it along the
shore faster than I could walk, though the wind blew pretty hard too; so
he brought them both safe into our creek; and leaving them in the boat,
runs away to fetch the other canoe. As he passed me, I spoke to him, and
asked him whither he went? He told me, "Go fetch more boat;" so away he
went, like the wind; for sure never man or horse ran like him, and he
had the other canoe in the creek almost as soon as I got to it by land;
so he wafted me over, and then went to help our new guests out of the
boat, which he did; but they were neither of them able to walk; so that
poor Friday knew not what to do.
To remedy this, I went to work in my thought, and calling to Friday to
bid them sit down on the bank while he came to me, I soon made a kind of
hand-barrow to lay them on, and Friday and I carried them up both
together upon it between us; but when we got them to the outside of our
wall or fortification, we were at a worse loss than before; for it was
impossible to get them over; and I was resolved not to break it down: so
I set to work again; and Friday and I, in about two hours time, made a
very handsome tent, covered with old sails, and above that with boughs
of trees, being in the space without our outward fence, and between that
and the grove of young wood which I had planted: and here we made two
beds of such things as I had; viz. of good rice-straw, with blankets
laid upon it to lie on, and another to cover them on each bed.
My island was now peopled, and I thought myself very rich in subjects;
and it was a merry reflection which I frequently made, how like a king
I looked: first of all, the whole country was my own mere property; so
that I had an undoubted right of dominion: 2dly, My people were
perfectly subjected: I was absolute lord and lawgiver; they all owed
their lives to me, and were ready to lay down their lives, if there had
been occasion for it, for me: it was remarkable too, I had but three
subjects, and they were of three different religions. My man Friday was
a Protestant, his father a Pagan and a cannibal; and the Spaniard was a
Papist: however, I allowed liberty of conscience throughout my
dominions: but this by the way.
As soon as I had secured my two weak rescued prisoners, and given them
shelter, and a place to rest them upon, I began to think of making some
provision for them; and the first thing I did, I ordered Friday to take
a yearling goat, betwixt a kid and a goat, out of my particular flock,
to be killed: then I cut off the hind quarter, and, chopping it into
small pieces, I set Friday to work to boiling and stewing, and made them
a very good dish, I assure you, of flesh and broth; having put some
barley and rice also into the broth; and as I cooked it without doors,
(for I made no fire within my inner wall) so I carried it all into the
new tent; and having set a table there for them, I sat down and ate my
dinner also with them; and, as well as I could, cheered them and
encouraged them, Friday being my interpreter, especially to his father,
and indeed to the Spaniard too; for the Spaniard spoke the language of
the savages pretty well.
After we had dined, or rather supped, I ordered Friday to take one of
the canoes, and go and fetch our muskets and other fire-arms, which, for
want of time, we had left upon the place of battle; and the next day I
ordered him to go and bury the dead bodies of the savages, which lay
open to the sun, and, would presently be offensive; and I also ordered
him to bury the horrid remains of their barbarous feast, which I knew
were pretty much, and which I could not think of doing myself; nay, I
could not, bear to see them, if I went that way: all which he
punctually performed, and defaced the very appearance of the savages
being there; so that when I went again, I could scarce know where it
was, otherwise than by the corner of the wood pointing to the place.
I then began to enter into a little conversation with my two new
subjects; and first I set Friday to inquire of his father, what he
thought of the escape of the savages in that canoe? and whether he might
expect a return of them with a power too great for us to resist? His
first opinion was, that the savages in the boat never could live out the
storm which blew that night they went off, but must of necessity be
drowned or driven south to those other shores, where they were as sure
to be devoured, as they were to be drowned if they were cast away; but
as to what they would do if they came safe on shore, he said, he knew
not; but it was his opinion, that they were so dreadfully frighted with
the manner of being attacked, the noise, and the fire, that he believed
they would tell their people they were all killed by thunder and
lightning, and not by the hand of man; and that the two which appeared
(viz. Friday and I) were two heavenly spirits or furies come down to
destroy them, and not men with weapons. This, he said, he knew, because
he heard them all cry out so in their language to one another; for it
was impossible for them to conceive that a man should dart fire, and
speak thunder, and kill at a distance, without lifting up the hand, as
was done now. And this old savage was in the right; for, as I understood
since by other hands, the savages of that part never attempted to go
over to the island afterwards. They were so terrified with the accounts
given by these four men, (for it seems they did escape the sea) that
they believed, whoever went to that enchanted island, would be destroyed
with fire from the gods.
This, however, I knew not, and therefore was under continual
apprehensions for a good while, and kept always upon my guard, I and all
my army; for as there were now four of us, I would have ventured a
hundred of them fairly in the open field at any time.
In a little time, however, no more canoes appearing, the fear of their
coming wore off, and I began to take my former thoughts of a voyage to
the main into consideration, being likewise assured by Friday's father,
that I might depend upon good usage from their nation on his account, if
I would go.
But my thoughts were a little suspended, when I had a serious discourse
with the Spaniard, and when I understood, that there were sixteen more
of his countrymen and Portuguese, who having been cast away, and made
their escape to that side, lived there at peace indeed with the savages,
but were very sore put to it for necessaries, and indeed for life: I
asked him all the particulars of their voyage; and found they were a
Spanish ship, bound from the Rio de la Plata to the Havanna, being
directed to leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides and
silver, and to bring back what European goods they could meet with
there; that they had five Portuguese seamen on board, whom they took out
of another wreck; that five of their own men were drowned when first the
ship was lost; and that these escaped through infinite dangers and
hazards, and arrived almost starved on the cannibal coast, where they
expected to have been devoured every moment.
He told me, they had some arms with them, but they were perfectly
useless, for that they had neither powder nor ball, the washing of the
sea having spoiled all their powder, but a little which they used at
their first landing to provide themselves some food.
I asked him what he thought would become of them there; and if they had
formed no design of making any escape? He said, they had many
consultations about it, but that having neither vessel, nor tools to
build one, or provisions of any kind, their counsels always ended in
tears and despair.
I asked him, how he thought they would receive a proposal from me,
which might tend towards an escape; and whether, if they were all here,
it might not be done? I told him with freedom, I feared mostly their
treachery and ill usage of me, if I put my life in their hands; for that
gratitude was no inherent virtue in the nature of man; nor did men
always square their dealings by the obligations they had received, so
much as they did by the advantages they expected: I told him, it would
be very hard, that I should be the instrument of their deliverance, and
that they should afterwards make me their prisoner in New Spain, where
an Englishman was certain to be made a sacrifice, what necessity, or
what accident soever, brought him thither; and that I had rather be
delivered up to the savages, and be devoured alive, than fall into the
merciless claws of the priests, and be carried into the Inquisition. I
added, that otherwise I was persuaded, if they were all here, we might,
with so many hands, build a bark large enough to carry us all away
either to the Brasils southward, or to the islands or Spanish coast
northward: but that if in requital they should, when I had put weapons
into their hands, carry me by force among their own people, I might be
ill used for my kindness to them, and make my case worse than it
was before.
He answered, with a great deal of candour and ingenuity, that their
condition was so miserable, and they were so sensible of it, that he
believed they would abhor the thought of using any man unkindly that
should contribute to their deliverance; and that, if I pleased, he would
go to them with the old man, and discourse with them about it, and
return again, and bring me their answer: that he would make conditions
with them upon their solemn oath, that they would be absolutely under my
leading, as their commander and captain; and that they should swear upon
the holy Sacraments and Gospel, to be true to me, and go to such
Christian country as I should agree to, and no other; and to be directed
wholly and absolutely by my orders, till they were landed safely in
such country as I intended; and that he would bring a contract from
them under their hands for that purpose.
Then he told me, he would first swear to me himself, that he would never
stir from me as long as he lived, till I gave him order; and that he
would take my side to the last drop of blood, if there should happen the
least breach of faith among his countrymen.
He told me, they were all of them very civil honest men, and they were
under the greatest distress imaginable, having neither weapons or
clothes, nor any food, but at the mercy and discretion of the savages;
out of all hopes of ever returning to their own country: and that he was
sure, if I would undertake their relief, they would live and die by me.
Upon these assurances, I resolved to venture to relieve them, if
possible, and to send the old savage and the Spaniard over to them to
treat: but when he had gotten all things in readiness to go, the
Spaniard himself started an objection, which had so much prudence in it
on one hand, and so much sincerity on the other hand, that I could not
but be very well satisfied in it; and, by his advice, put off the
deliverance of his comrades for at least half a year. The case was thus:
He had been with us now about a month; during which time I had let him
see in what manner I had provided, with the assistance of Providence,
for my support; and he saw evidently what stock of corn and rice I had
laid up; which, as it was more, than sufficient for myself, so it was
not sufficient, at least without good husbandry, for my family, now it
was increased to number four: but much less would it be sufficient, if
his countrymen, who were, as he said, fourteen still alive, should come
over; and least of all would it be sufficient to victual our vessel, if
we should build one, for a voyage to any of the Christian colonies of
America. So he told me, he thought it would be more adviseable, to let
him and the other two dig and cultivate some more land, as much as I
could spare seed to sow; and that we should wait another harvest, that
we might have a supply of corn for his countrymen when they should come;
for want might be a temptation to them to disagree, or not to think
themselves delivered, otherwise than out of one difficulty into another:
"You know," says he, "The children of Israel, though they rejoiced at
first at their being delivered out of Egypt, yet rebelled even against
God himself, that delivered them, when they came to want bread in the
wilderness."
His caution was so seasonable, and his advice so good, that I could not
but be very well pleased with his proposal, as well as I was satisfied
with his fidelity. So we fell to digging, all four of us, as well as the
wooden tools we were furnished with permitted; and in about a month's
time, by the end of which it was seed time, we had gotten as much land
cured and trimmed up as we sowed twenty-two bushels of barley on, and
sixteen jars of rice, which was, in short, all the seed we had to spare;
nor indeed did we leave ourselves barley sufficient for our own food for
the six months that we had to expect our crop, that is to say, reckoning
from the time we set our seed aside for sowing; for it is not to be
supposed it is six months in the ground in that country.
Having now society enough, and our number being sufficient to put us out
of fear of the savages, if they had come, unless their number had been
very great, we went freely all over the island, wherever we found
occasion; and as here we had our escape or deliverance upon our
thoughts, it was impossible, at least for me, to have the means of it
out of mine; to this purpose, I marked out several trees, which I
thought fit for our work, and I set Friday and his father to cutting
them down; and then I caused the Spaniard, to whom I imparted my
thoughts on that affair, to oversee and direct their work: I showed them
with what indefatigable pains I had hewed a large tree into single
planks, and I caused them to do the like, till they had about a dozen
large planks of good oak, near two feet broad, thirty-five feet long,
and from two inches to four inches thick: what prodigious labour it took
up, any one may imagine.
At the same time I contrived to increase my little flock of tame goats
as much as I could; and to this purpose I made Friday and the Spaniard
to go out one day, and myself with Friday, the next day, for we took our
turns: and by this means we got about twenty young kids to breed up with
the rest; for whenever we shot the dam, we saved the kids, and added
them to our flock: but above all, the season for curing the grapes
coming on, I caused such a prodigious quantity to be hung up in the sun,
that I believe, had we been at Alicant, where the raisins of the sun are
cured, we should have filled sixty or eighty barrels; and these, with
our bread, was a great part of our food, and very good living too, I
assure you; for it is an exceeding nourishing food.
It was now harvest, and our crop in good order; it was not the most
plentiful increase I had seen in the island, but, however, it was enough
to answer our end; for from twenty two bushels of barley, we brought in
and threshed out above two hundred and twenty bushels, and the like in
proportion of the rice, which was store enough for our food to the next
harvest, though all the sixteen Spaniards had been on shore with me; or,
if we had been ready for a voyage, it would very plentifully have
victualled our ship, to have carried us to any part of the world, that
is to say, of America. When we had thus housed and secured our magazine
of corn, we fell to work to make more wicker-work; viz., great baskets,
in which we kept it; and the Spaniard was very handy and dexterous at
this part, and often blamed me, that I did not make some things for
defence of this kind of work; but I saw no need of it. And now having a
full supply of food for all the guests expected, I gave the Spaniard
leave to go over to the main, to see what he could do with those he left
behind him there: I gave him a strict charge in writing not to bring any
man with him, who would not first swear, in the presence of himself and
of the old savage, that he would no way injure, fight with, or attack
the person he should find in the island, who was so kind to send for
them in order to their deliverance; but that they would stand by and
defend him against all such attempts; and wherever they went, would be
entirely under, and subjected to his command; and that this should be
put in writing, and signed with their hands: how we were to have this
done, when I knew they had neither pen or ink, that indeed was a
question which we never asked.
Under these instructions, the Spaniard, and the old savage, (the father
of Friday) went away in one of the canoes, which they might be said to
come in, or rather were brought in, when they came as prisoners to be
devoured by the savages.
I gave each of them a musket with a firelock on it, and about eight
charges of powder and ball, charging them to be very good husbands of
both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent occasions.
This was a cheerful work, being the first measures used by me in view of
my deliverance for now twenty-seven years and some days. I gave them
provisions of bread, and of dried grapes, sufficient for themselves for
many days, and sufficient for their countrymen for about eight days
time; and wishing them a good voyage, I let them go, agreeing with them
about a signal they should hang out at their return, by which I should
know them again, when they came back, at a distance, before they came
on shore.
They went away with a fair gale on the day that the moon was at the
full; by my account in the month of October; but as for the exact
reckoning of days, after I had once lost it, I could never recover it
again; nor had I kept even the number of years so punctually, as to be
sure that I was right, though, as it proved when I afterwards examined
my account, I found I had kept a true reckoning of years.
It was no less than eight days I waited for them, when a strange and
unforeseen accident intervened, of which the like has not, perhaps, been
heard of in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning, when my
man Friday came running in to me, and called aloud, "Master, master,
they are come, they are come."
I jumped up, and, regardless of danger, I went out as soon as I could
get my clothes on, through my little grove, which (by the way) was by
this time grown to be a very thick wood; I say, regardless of danger, I
went without my arms, which was not my custom to do; but I was
surprised, when, turning my eyes to the sea, I presently saw a boat at
about a league and a half's distance, standing in for the shore, with a
shoulder of mutton sail, as they call it, and the wind blowing pretty
fair to bring them in. Also I observed presently, that they did not come
from that side which the shore lay on, but from the southernmost end of
the island. Upon this I called Friday in, and bid him be close, for
these were not the people we looked for, and that we did not know yet
whether they were friends or enemies.
In the next place, I went in to fetch my perspective glass, to see what
I could make of them; and having taken the ladder out, I climbed up to
the top of the hill, as I used to do when I was apprehensive of any
thing, and to take my view the plainer without being discovered.
I had scarce set my foot on the hill, when my eye plainly discovered a
ship lying at an anchor, at about two leagues and a half's distance from
me, S.S.E. but not above a league and a half from the shore. By my
observation it appeared plainly to be an English ship, and the boat
appeared to be an English long-boat.
I cannot express the confusion I was in, though the joy of seeing a
ship, and one whom I had reason to believe was manned by my own
countrymen, and consequently friends, was such as I cannot describe; but
yet I had some secret doubts hung about me, I cannot tell from whence
they came, bidding me keep upon my guard. In the first place, it
occurred to me to consider what business an English ship could have in
that part of the world; since it was not the way to or from any part of
the world where the English had any traffic; and I knew there had been
no storms to drive them in there, as in distress; and that if they were
English really, it was most probable that they were here upon no good
design; and that I had better continue as I was, than fall into the
hands of thieves and murderers.
Let no man despise the secret hints and notices of danger, which
sometimes are given him when he may think there is no possibility of its
being real. That such hints and notices are given us, I believe few that
have made any observation of things can deny; that they are certain
discoveries of an invisible world, and a converse of spirits, we cannot
doubt; and if the tendency of them seems to be to warn us of danger, why
should we not suppose they are from some friendly agent, (whether
supreme, or inferior and subordinate, is not the question,) and that
they are given for our good?
The present question abundantly confirms me in the justice of this
reasoning; for had I not been made cautious by this secret admonition,
come from whence it will, I had been undone inevitably, and in a far
worse condition than before, as you will see presently.
I had not kept myself long in this posture, but I saw the boat draw near
the shore, as if they looked for a creek to thrust in at for the
convenience of landing; however, as they did not come quite far enough,
they did not see the little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts, but
run their boat on shore upon the beach, at about half a mile from me,
which was very happy for me; for otherwise they would have landed just,
as I may say, at my door, and would have soon beaten me out of my
castle, and, perhaps, have plundered me of all I had.
When they were on shore, I was fully satisfied they were Englishmen, at
least most of them; one or two I thought were Dutch, but it did not
prove so. There were in all eleven men, whereof three of them I found
were unarmed, and (as I thought) bound; and when the first four or five
of them were jumped on shore, they took those three out of the boat as
prisoners: one of the three I could perceive using the most passionate
gestures of entreaty, affliction, and despair, even to a kind of
extravagance; the other two, I could perceive, lifted up their hands
sometimes, and appeared concerned indeed, but not to such a degree as
the first.
I was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not what the meaning
of it should be; Friday called out to me in English, as well as he
could, "O master! you see English mans eat prisoners as well as savage
mans."--"Why," said I, "Friday, do you think they are going to eat them
then"--"Yes," says Friday, "they will eat them."--"No, no," said I,
"Friday; I am afraid they will murder them indeed; but you may be sure
they will not eat them."
All this while I had no thought of what the matter really was, but stood
trembling with the horror of the sight, expecting every moment when the
three prisoners should be killed; nay, once I saw one of the villains
lift up his arm with a great cutlass (as the seamen call it) or sword,
to strike one of the poor men; and I expected to see him fall every
moment, at which all the blood in my body seemed to run chill in
my veins.
I wished heartily now for our Spaniard, and the savage that was gone
with him; or that I had any way to have come undiscovered within shot of
them, that I might have rescued the three men; for I saw no fire-arms
they had among them; but it fell out to my mind another way.
After I had observed the outrageous usage of the three men by the
insolent seamen, I observed the fellows ran scattering about the land,
as if they wanted to see the country. I observed also, that the three
other men had liberty to go where they pleased; but they sat down all
three upon the ground very pensive, and looked like men in despair.
This put me in mind of the finest time when I came on shore, and began
to look about me; how I gave myself over for lost, how wildly I looked
round me, what dreadful apprehensions I had, and how I lodged in the
tree all night for fear of being devoured by wild beasts.
As I knew nothing that night of the supply I was to receive by the
providential driving of the ship nearer the land, by the storms and
tides, by which I have since been so long nourished and supported; so
these three poor desolate men knew nothing how certain of deliverance
and supply they were, how near it was to them, and how effectually and
really they were in a condition of safety, at the same time they thought
themselves lost, and their case desperate.
So little do we see before us in the world, and so much reason have we
to depend cheerfully upon the great Maker of the world, that he does not
leave his creatures so absolutely destitute, but that in the worst
circumstances they have always something to be thankful for, and
sometimes are nearer their deliverance than they imagine; nay, are even
brought to their deliverance by the means by which they seem to be
brought to their destruction.
It was just at the top of high water when these people came on shore,
and while, partly they stood parleying with the prisoners they brought,
and partly while they rambled about to see what kind of place they were
in, they had carelessly staid till the tide was spent, and the water was
ebbed considerably away, leaving their boat aground.
They had left two men in the boat, who, as I found afterwards, having
drank a little too much brandy, fell asleep; however, one of them waking
sooner than the other, and finding the boat too fast aground for him to
stir it, hallooed for the rest who were straggling about, upon which
they all soon came to the boat but it was past all their strength to
launch her, the boat being very heavy, and the shore on that side being
a soft oozy sand, almost like a quicksand.
In this condition, like true seamen, who are, perhaps, the least of all
mankind given to fore-thought, they gave it over, and away they strolled
about the country again; and I heard one of them say aloud to another,
(calling them off from the boat) "Why, let her alone, Jack, can't ye?
she'll float next tide." By which I was fully confirmed in the main
inquiry, of what countrymen they were.
All this while I kept myself close, not once daring to stir out of my
castle, any further than to my place of observation, near the top of the
hill; and very glad I was, to think how well it was fortified. I know it
was no less then ten hours before the boat could be on float again, and
by that time it would be dark and I might be more at liberty to see
their motions, and to hear their discourse, if they had any.
In the meantime I fitted myself up for a battle, as before, though with
more caution, knowing I had to do with another kind of enemy than I had
at first: I ordered Friday also, whom I had made an excellent marksman
with his gun, to load himself with arms: I took myself two
fowling-pieces, and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, was
very fierce; I had my formidable goat-skin coat on, with the great cap I
mentioned, a naked sword, two pistols in my belt, and a gun upon
each shoulder.
It was my design, as I said above, not to have made any attempt till it
was dark; but about two o'clock, being the heat of the day, I found that
in short they were all gone straggling into the woods, and, as I
thought, were all laid down to sleep. The three poor distressed men, too
anxious for their condition to get any sleep, were however set down
under the shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter of a mile from me,
and, as I thought, out of sight of any of the rest.
Upon this I resolved to discover myself to them, and learn something of
their condition. Immediately I marched in the figure above, my man
Friday at a good distance behind me, as formidable for his arms as I,
but not making quite so staring a spectre-like figure as I did.
I came as near them undiscovered as I could, and then before any of them
saw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish, "What are ye gentlemen?"
They started up at the noise, but were ten times more confounded when
they saw me, and the uncouth figure that I made. They made no answer at
all, but I thought I perceived them just going to fly from me, when I
spoke to them in English, "Gentlemen," said I, "do not be surprized at me;
perhaps you may have a friend near you when you did not expect it."--"He
must be sent directly from Heaven then," said one of them very gravely to
me, and pulling off his hat at the same time to me, "for our condition is
past the help of man."--"All help is from Heaven, Sir," said I: "but can
you put a stranger in the way how to help you, for you seem to me to be
in some great distress: I saw you when you landed, and when you seemed
to make applications to the brutes that came with you, I saw one of them
lift up his sword to kill you."
The poor man with tears running down his face, and trembling, looking
like one astonished, returned, "Am I talking to God, or man! Is it a real
man, or an angel?"--"Be in no fear about that, Sir," said I: "if God had
sent an angel to relieve you, he would have come better cloathed, and
armed after another manner than you see me in; pray lay aside your fears,
I am a man, an Englishman, and disposed to assist you, you see; I have
one servant only; we have arms and ammunition; tell us freely, can we
serve you?--What is your case?"
"Our case," said he, "Sir, is too long to tell you, while our murtherers
are so near; but in short, sir, I was commander of that ship, my men
have mutinied against me; they have been hardly prevailed on not to
murther me, and at last have set me on shore in this desolate place,
with these two men with me; one my mate, the other a passenger, where we
expected to perish, believing the place to be uninhabited, and know not
yet what to think of it."
"Where are those brutes, your enemies," said I; "do you know where they are
gone?"--"There they are, Sir," said he, pointing to a thicket of trees; "my
heart trembles, for fear they have seen us, and heard you speak, if they
have, they will certainly murder us all."
"Have they any fire-arms?" said I. He answered, "They had only two pieces,
and one which they left in the boat."--"Well then," said I, "leave the rest
to me; I see they are all asleep, it is an easy thing to kill them all;
but shall we rather take them prisoners?" He told me there were two
desperate villains among them, that it was scarce safe to shew any mercy
to; but if they were secured, he believed all the rest would return to
their duty. I asked him, which they were? He told me he could not at
that distance describe them; but he would obey my orders in any thing I
would direct. "Well," says I, "let us retreat out of their view or hearing,
least they awake, and we will resolve further;" so they willingly went
back with me, till the woods covered us from them.
"Look you, Sir," said I, "if I venture upon your deliverance, are you
willing to make two conditions with me?" He anticipated my proposals, by
telling me, that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be wholly
directed and commanded by me in every thing; and if the ship was not
recovered, he would live and dye with me in what part of the world
soever I would send him; and the two other men said the same.
"Well," says I, "my conditions are but two. 1. That while you stay on this
island with me, you will not pretend to any authority here; and if I put
arms into your hands, you will upon all occasions give them up to me,
and do no prejudice to me or mine, upon this island, and in the mean
time be governed by my orders.
"2. That if the ship is or may be recovered, you will carry me and my
man to England, passage free."
He gave me all the assurance that the invention and faith of a man could
devise, that he would comply with these most reasonable demands, and
besides would owe his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occasions
as long as he lived.
"Well then," said I, "here are three muskets for you, with powder and
ball; tell me next what you think is proper to be done." He shewed all
the testimony of his gratitude that he was able; but offered to be
wholly guided by me: I told him, I thought it was hard venturing any
thing, but the best method I could think of, was to fire upon them at
once, as they lay; and if any were not killed at the first volley, and
offered to submit, we might save them, and so put it wholly upon God's
providence to direct the shot.
He said, very modestly, that he was loath to kill them, if he could help
it; but that those two were incorrigible villains, and had been the
authors of all the mutiny in the ship; and if they escaped, we should be
undone still; for they would go on board, and bring the whole ship's
company, and destroy us all. "Well then," said I, "necessity legitimates
my advice; for it is the only way to save our lives." However, seeing
him still cautious of shedding blood, I told him, they should go
themselves, and manage as they found convenient.
In the middle of this discourse we heard some of them awake, and soon
after we saw two of them on their feet. I asked him, if either of them
were the men who he had said were the heads of the mutiny? He said, No.
"Well then," said I, "you may let them escape, and Providence seems to
have wakened them on purpose to save themselves."--"Now," said I, "if
the rest escape you, it is your fault."
Animated with this, he took the musket I had given him in his hand, and
pistol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with each man a piece
in his hand: the two men, who were with him, going first, made some
noise, at which one of the seamen, who was awake, turned about, and
seeing them coming, cried out to the rest; but it was too late then; for
the moment he cried out, they fired, I mean the two men, the captain
wisely reserving his own piece: they had so well aimed their shot at the
men they knew, that one of them was killed on the spot, and the other
very much wounded; but not being dead he started up on his feet, and
called eagerly for help to the other; but the captain, stepping to him,
told him it was too late to cry for help; he should call upon God to
forgive his villany; and with that word knocked him down with the stock
of his musket, so that he never spoke more: there were three more in the
company, and one of them was also slightly wounded. By this time I was
come; and when they saw their danger, and that it was in vain to resist,
they begged for mercy. The captain told them, he would spare their
lives, if they would give him any assurance of their abhorrence of the
treachery they had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful to him
in recovering the ship, and afterwards in carrying her back to Jamaica,
from whence they came. They gave him all the protestations of their
sincerity that could be desired, and he was willing to believe them, and
spare their lives, which I was not against; only I obliged him to keep
them bound hand and foot while they were upon the island.
While this was doing, I sent Friday with the captain's mate to the boat,
with orders to secure her, and bring away the oars and sail, which they
did; and by and by, three straggling men, that were (happily for them)
parted from the rest, came back upon hearing the guns fired; and seeing
their captain, who before was their prisoner, now their conqueror, they
submitted to be bound also; and so our victory was complete.
It now remained, that the captain and I should inquire into one
another's circumstances: I began first, and told him my whole history,
which he heard with an attention even to amazement, and particularly at
the wonderful manner of my being furnished with provisions and
ammunition; and indeed, as my story is a whole collection of wonders, it
affected him deeply; but when he reflected from thence upon himself, and
how I seemed to have been preserved there on purpose to save his life,
the tears ran down his face, and he could not speak a word more.
After this communication was at an end, I carried him and his two men
into my apartments, leading them in just where I came out, viz. at the
top of the house; where I refreshed them with such provisions as I had,
and shewed them all the contrivances I had made during my long, long
inhabiting that place.
All I shewed them, all I said to them, was perfectly amazing; but, above
all, the captain admired my fortification; and how perfectly I had
concealed my retreat with a grove of trees, which, having now been
planted near twenty years, and the trees growing much faster than in
England, was become a little wood, and so thick, that it was impassable
in any part of it, but at that one side where I had reserved my little
winding passage into it: this I told him was my castle, and my
residence; but that I had a seat in the country, as most princes have,
whither I could retreat upon occasion, and I would shew him that too
another time; but at present our business was to consider how to recover
the ship. He agreed with me as to that; but told me, he was perfectly at
a loss what measure to take; for that there were still six-and-twenty
hands on board, who having entered into a cursed conspiracy, by which
they had all forfeited their lives to the law, would be hardened in it
now by desperation; and would carry it on, knowing that, if they were
reduced, they should be brought to the gallows as soon as they came to
England, or to any of the English colonies; and that therefore there
would be no attacking them with so small a number as we were.
I mused for some time upon what he had said, and found it was a very
rational conclusion, and that therefore something was to be resolved on
very speedily, as well to draw the men on board into some snare for
their surprise, as to prevent their landing upon us, and destroying us.
Upon this it presently occurred to me, that in a little while the ship's
crew, wondering what was become of their comrades, and of the boat,
would certainly come on shore in their other boat to see for them; and
that then perhaps they might come armed, and be too strong for us: this
he allowed was rational.
Upon this I told him, the first thing we had to do was to stave the
boat, which lay upon the beach, so that they might not carry her off;
and taking every thing out of her, leaving her so far useless as not to
be fit to swim; accordingly we went on board, took the arms which were
left on board out of her, and whatever else we found there, which was a
bottle of brandy, and another of rum, a few biscuit cakes, an horn of
powder, and a great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas; the sugar was
five or six pounds; all which was very welcome to me, especially the
brandy and sugar, of which I had had none left for many years.
When we had carried all these things on shore, (the oars, mast, sail,
and rudder of the boat were carried before as above,) we knocked a great
hole in her bottom, that if they had come strong enough to master us,
yet they could not carry off the boat.
Indeed it was not much in my thoughts, that we could be capable to
recover the ship; but my view was, that if they went away without the
boat, I did not much question to make her fit again to carry us away to
the Leeward Islands, and call upon our friends the Spaniards in my way,
for I had them still in my thoughts.
While we were thus preparing our designs, and had first by main strength
heaved the boat up upon the beach, so high that the tide would not float
her off at high water mark; and, besides, had broken a hole in her
bottom too big to be quickly stopped, and were sat down musing what we
should do; we heard the ship fire a gun, and saw her make a waft with
her ancient, as a signal for the boat to come on board; but no boat
stirred; and they fired several times, making other signals for
the boat.
At last, when all their signals and firings proved fruitless, and they
found the boat did not stir, we saw them (by the help of our glasses)
hoist another boat out, and row towards the shore; and we found, as they
approached, that there were no less than ten men in her, and that they
had fire-arms with them.
As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore, we had a full view of
them as they came, and a plain sight of the men, even of their faces;
because the tide having set them a little to the east of the other boat,
they rowed up under shore, to come to the same place where the other had
landed, and where the boat lay.
By this means, I say, we had a full view of them, and the captain knew
the persons and characters of all the men in the boat; of whom he said
that there were three very honest fellows, who he was sure were led into
this conspiracy by the rest, being overpowered and frighted: but that
for the boatswain, who, it seems, was the chief officer among them, and
all the rest, they were as outrageous as any of the ship's crew; and
were, no doubt, made desperate in their new enterprise; and terribly
apprehensive he was, that they would be too powerful for us.
I smiled at him, and told him, that men in our circumstances were past
the operations of fear: that seeing almost every condition that could be
was better than that we were supposed to be in, we ought to expect that
the consequence, whether death or life, would be sure to be a
deliverance: I asked him, what he thought of the circumstances of my
life, and whether a deliverance were not worth venturing for? "And
where, Sir," said I, "is your belief of my being preserved here on
purpose to save your life, which elevated you a little while ago? For my
part," said I, "there seems to be but one thing amiss in all the
prospect of it."--"What's that?" says he. "Why," said I, "'tis that as
you say, there are three or four honest fellows among them, which should
be spared; had they been all of the wicked part of the crew, I should
have thought God's providence had singled them out to deliver them into
your hands; for, depend upon it, every man of them that comes ashore,
are our own, and shall die or live as they behave to us."
As I spoke this with a raised voice and cheerful countenance, I found it
greatly encouraged him; so we set vigorously to our business. We had,
upon the first appearance of the boat's coming from the ship, considered
of separating our prisoners, and had indeed secured them effectually.
Two of them, of whom the captain was less assured than ordinary, I sent
with Friday, and one of the three (delivered men) to my cave, where they
were remote enough, and out of danger of being heard or discovered, or
of finding their way out of the woods, if they could have delivered
themselves; here they left them bound, but gave them provisions, and
promised them, if they continued there quietly, to give them their
liberty in a day or two; but that if they attempted their escape, they
should be put to death without mercy. They promised faithfully to bear
their confinement with patience, and were very thankful that they had
such good usage as to have provisions and a light left them; for Friday
gave them candles (such as we made ourselves) for their comfort; and
they did not know but that he stood centinel over them at the entrance.
The other prisoners had better usage; two of them were kept pinioned
indeed, because the captain was not free to trust them; but the other
two were taken into my service upon their captain's recommendation, and
upon their solemnly engaging to live and die with us; so, with them and
the three honest men, we were seven men well armed; and I made no doubt
we should be able to deal well enough with the ten that were a-coming,
considering that the captain had said, there were three or four honest
men among them also.
As soon as they got to the place where their other boat lay, they ran
their boat into the beach, and came all on shore, hauling the boat up
after them, which I was glad to see; for I was afraid they would rather
have left the boat at an anchor, some distance from the shore, with some
hands in her to guard her; and so we should not be able to seize
the boat.
Being on shore, the first thing they did, they ran all to the other
boat; and it was easy to see they were under a great surprise to find
her stripped as above, of all that was in her, and a great hole in
her bottom.
After they had mused awhile upon this, they set up two or three great
shouts, hallooing with all their might, to try if they could make their
companions hear; but all was to no purpose: then they came all close in
a ring, and fired a volley of their small arms, which indeed we heard,
and the echoes made the woods ring; but it was all one: those in the
cave, we were sure, could not hear; and those in our keeping, though
they heard it well enough, yet durst give no answer to them.
They were so astonished at the surprise of this, that, as they told us
afterwards, they resolved to go all on board again to their ship, and
let them know there, that the men were all murdered, and the long-boat
staved; accordingly, they immediately launched the boat again, and got
all of them on board.
The captain was terribly amazed, and even confounded at this, believing
they would go on board the ship again and set sail, giving their
comrades up for lost, and so he should still lose the ship, which he was
in hopes we should have recovered; but he was quickly as much frighted
the other way.
They had not been long put off with the boat, but we perceived them all
coming on shore again; but with this new measure in their conduct, which
it seems they consulted together upon; viz. to leave three men in the
boat, and the rest to go on shore, and go up into the country to look
for their fellows.
This was a great disappointment to us; for now we were at a loss what to
do; for our seizing those seven men on shore would be no advantage to us
if we let the boat escape, because they would then row away to the ship;
and then the rest of them would be sure to weigh, and set sail, and so
our recovering the ship would be lost.
However, we had no remedy but to wait and see what the issue of things
might present. The seven men came on shore, and the three who remained
in the boat put her off to a good distance from the shore, and came to
an anchor to wait for them; so that it was impossible for us to come at
them in the boat.
Those that came on shore kept close together, marching towards the top
of the little hill, under which my habitation lay; and we could see them
plainly, though they could not perceive us; we could have been very glad
they would have come nearer to us, so that we might have fired at them;
or that they would have gone farther off, that we might have
come abroad.
But when they were come to the brow of the hill, where they could see a
great way in the valley and woods, which lay towards the north-east
part, and where the island lay lowest, they shouted and hallooed till
they were weary; and not caring, it seems, to venture far from the
shore, nor far from one another, they sat down together under a tree, to
consider of it: had they thought fit to have gone to sleep there, as the
other party of them had done, they had done the job for us; but they
were too full of apprehensions of danger, to venture to go to sleep,
though they could not tell what the danger was they had to fear neither.
The captain made a very just proposal to me upon this consultation of
theirs; viz. that perhaps they would all fire a volley again, to
endeavour to make their fellows hear, and that we should all sally upon
them, just at the juncture when their pieces were all discharged, and
they would certainly yield, and we should have them without bloodshed: I
liked the proposal, provided it was done while we heard, when they were
presently stopped by the creek, where the water being up, they could not
get over, and called for the boat to come up, and set them over, as
indeed I expected.
When they had set themselves over, I observed, that the boat being gone
up a good way into the creek, and as it were, in a harbour within the
land, they took one of the three men out of her to go along with them,
and left only two in the boat, having fastened her to the stump of a
little tree on the shore.
This was what I wished for, and immediately leaving Friday and the
captain's mate to their business, I took the rest with me, and crossing
the creek out of their sight, we surprized the two men before they were
aware; one of them lying on shore, and the other being in the boat; the
fellow on shore, was between sleeping and waking, and going to start up,
the captain who was foremost, ran in upon him, and knocked him down, and
then called out to him in the boat, to yield, or he was a dead man.
There needed very few arguments to persuade a single man to yield, when
he saw five men upon him, and his comrade knocked down; besides, this
was it seems one of the three who were not so hearty in the mutiny as
the rest of the crew, and therefore was easily persuaded, not only to
yield, but afterwards to join very sincere with us.
In the mean time, Friday and the captain's mate so well managed their
business with the rest, that they drew them by hollooing and answering,
from one hill to another, and from one wood to another, till they not
only heartily tired them but left them, where they were very sure they
could not reach back to the boat, before it was dark; and indeed they
were heartily tired themselves also by the time they came back to us.
We had nothing now to do, but to watch for them, in the dark, and to
fall upon them, so as to make sure work with them.
It was several hours after Friday came back to me before they came back
to their boat; and we could hear the foremost of them, long before they
came quite up, calling to those behind to come along; and could also
hear them answer, and complain how lame and tired they were, and not
being able to come any faster, which was very welcome news to us.
At length they came up to the boat; but it is impossible to express
their confusion, when they found the boat fast aground in the creek, the
tide ebbed out, and their two men gone: we could hear them call to one
another in a most lamentable manner, telling one another they were
gotten into an enchanted island; that either there were inhabitants in
it, and they should all be murdered; or else there were devils or
spirits in it, and they should be all carried away and devoured.
They hallooed again, and called their two comrades by their names a
great many times, but no answer: after some time, we could see them, by
the little light there was, run about wringing their hands, like men in
despair; and that sometimes they would go and sit down in the boat to
rest themselves, then come ashore, and walk about again, and so the same
thing over again.
My men would fain have had me given them leave to fall upon them at once
in the dark; but I was willing to take them at some advantage, so to
spare them, and kill as few of them as I could; and especially I was
unwilling to hazard the killing any of our men, knowing the other men
were very well armed: I resolved to wait to see if they did not
separate; and therefore, to make sure of them, I drew my ambuscade
nearer; and ordered Friday and the captain to creep upon their hands and
feet as close to the ground as they could, that they might not be
discovered, and get as near them as they could possibly, before they
offered to fire.
They had not been long in that posture, till the boatswain, who was the
principal ringleader of the mutiny, and had now shewn himself the most
dejected and dispirited of all the rest, came walking towards them with
two more of the crew; the captain was so eager, at having the principal
rogue so much in his power, that he could hardly have patience to let
him come so near as to be sure of him; for they only heard his tongue
before: but when they came nearer, the captain and Friday, starting up
on their feet, let fly at them.
The boatswain was killed upon the spot; the next man was shot in the
body, and fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour or two
after; and the third ran for it.
At the noise of the fire, I immediately advanced with my whole army,
which was now eight men; viz. myself generalissimo; Friday my
lieutenant-general; the captain and his two men, and the three prisoners
of war, whom he had trusted with arms.
We came upon them indeed in the dark, so that they could not see our
number; and I made the man they had left in the boat, who was now one of
us, to call them by name, to try if I could bring them to a parley, and
so might perhaps reduce them to terms; which fell out just as we
desired: for indeed it was easy to think, as their condition then was,
they would be very-willing to capitulate; so he calls out, as loud as he
could, to one of them, "Tom Smith, Tom Smith." Tom Smith answered
immediately, "Who's that? Robinson?" For it seems he knew his voice. The
other answered, "Ay, ay; for God's sake, Tom Smith, throw down your
arms, and yield, or you are all dead men this moment."
"Who must we yield to? where are they?" says Smith again. "Here they
are," says he; "here is our captain and fifty men with him, have been
hunting you this two hours; the boatswain is killed, Will Frye is
wounded, and I am a prisoner; and if you do not yield, your are
all lost."
"Will they give us quarter then?" says Tom Smith, "and we will
yield."--"I'll go and ask, if you promise to yield," says Robinson. So
he asked the captain, and the captain himself then calls out, "You
Smith, you know my voice, if you lay down your arms immediately, and
submit, you shall have your lives, all but Will Atkins."
Upon this Will Atkins cried out, "For God's sake, captain, give me
quarter: what have I done? they have been all as bad us I," (which by
the way was not true, either; for it seems this Will Atkins was the
first man that laid hold of the captain when they first mutinied, and
used him barbarously, in tying his hands, and giving him injurious
language:) however, the captain told him he must lay down his arms at
discretion, and trust to the governor's mercy, by which he meant me; for
they all called me governor.
In a word, they all laid down their arms, and begged their lives; and I
sent the man that had parleyed with them, and two more, who bound them
all; and then my great army of fifty men, which, particularly with those
three, were all but eight, came up and seized upon them all, and upon
their boat, only that I kept myself and one more out of sight, for
reasons of state.
Our next work was to repair the boat, and to think of seizing the ship;
and as for the captain, now he had leisure to parley with them, he
expostulated with them upon the villany of their practices with him, and
at length, upon the farther wickedness of their design; and how
certainly it must bring them to misery and distress in the end, and
perhaps to the gallows.
They all appeared very penitent, and begged hard for their lives: as for
that, he told them they were none of his prisoners, but the commander's
of the island; that they thought they had set him on shore in a barren
uninhabited island; but it had pleased God so to direct them, that the
island was inhabited, and that the governor was an Englishman: that he
might hang them all there, if he pleased; but as he had given them all
quarter, he supposed he would send them to England, to be dealt with
there as justice required, except Atkins, whom he was commanded by the
governor to advise to prepare for death; for that he would be hanged in
the morning.
Though this was all a fiction of his own, yet it had its desired effect.
Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the captain to intercede with the
governor for his life; and all the rest begged of him for God's sake,
that they might not be sent to England.
It now occurred to me, that the time of our deliverance was come, and
that it would be a most easy thing to bring these fellows in to be
hearty in getting possession of the ship; so I retired in the dark from
them, that they might not see what kind of a governor they had, and
called the captain to me: when I called, as at a good distance, one of
the men was ordered to speak again, and say to the captain, "Captain,
the commander calls for you;" and presently the captain replied, "Tell
his excellency I am just a-coming." This more perfectly amused them; and
they all believed that the commander was just by with his fifty men.
Upon the captain's coming to me, I told him my project for seizing the
ship, which he liked wonderfully well, and resolved to put it in
execution the next morning.
But, in order to execute it with more art, and to be secure of success,
I told him we must divide the prisoners, and that he should go and take
Atkins, and two more of the worst of them, and send them pinioned to the
cave where the others lay: this was committed to Friday, and the two men
who came on shore with the captain.
They conveyed them to the cave, as to a prison; and it was indeed a
dismal place, especially to men in their condition.
The others I ordered to my bower, as I called it, of which I have given
a full description; and as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, the
place was secure enough, considering they were upon their behaviour.
To these in the morning I sent the captain, who was to enter into a
parley with them; in a word, to try them, and tell me, whether he
thought they might be trusted or no, to go on board, and surprise the
ship. He talked to them of the injury done him, of the condition they
were brought to; and that though the governor had given them quarter for
their lives, as to the present action, yet that if they were sent to
England, they would all be hanged in chains, to be sure; but that if
they would join in such an attempt as to recover the ship, he would have
the governor's engagement for their pardon.
Any one may guess how readily such a proposal would be accepted by men
in their condition: they fell down on their knees to the captain, and
promised with the deepest imprecations, that they would be faithful to
him to the last drop, and that they should owe their lives to him, and
would go with him all over the world; that they would own him for a
father to them as long as they lived.
"Well," says the captain, "I must go and tell the governor what you say,
and see what I can do to bring him to consent to it." So he brought me
an account of the temper he found them in; and that he verily believed
they would be faithful.
However, that we might be very secure, I told him he should go back
again, and choose out five of them, and tell them, that they should see
that they did not want men; but he would take out those five to be his
assistants, and that the governor would keep the other two, and the
three that were sent prisoners to the castle, (my cave) as hostages for
the fidelity of those five; and that if they proved unfaithful in the
execution, the five hostages should be hanged in chains alive upon
the shore.
This looked severe, and convinced them that the governor was in earnest;
however, they had no way left them but to accept it; and it was now the
business of the prisoners, as much as of the captain, to persuade the
other five to do their duty.
Our strength was now thus ordered for the expedition: 1. The captain,
his mate, and passenger. 2. Then the two prisoners of the first gang, to
whom, having their characters from the captain, I had given their
liberty, and trusted them with arms. 3. The other two whom I kept till
now in my bower pinioned; but, upon the captain's motion, had now
released. 4. These five released at last; so that they were twelve in
all, besides five we kept prisoners in the cave for hostages.
I asked the captain if he was willing to venture with these hands on
board the ship: for, as for me, and my man Friday, I did not think it
was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind; and it was
employment enough for us to keep them asunder, and supply them
with victuals.
As to the five in the cave, I resolved to keep them fast; but Friday
went twice a day to them, to supply them with necessaries; and I made
the other two carry provisions to a certain distance, where Friday was
to take it.
When I shewed myself to the two hostages, it was with the captain, who
told them, I was the person the governor had ordered to look after them,
and that it was the governor's pleasure that they should not stir any
where but by my direction; that if they did, they should be fetched into
the castle, and be laid in irons; so that as we never suffered them to
see me as governor, so I now appeared as another person, and spoke of
the governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like, upon all
occasions.
The captain now had no difficulty before him, but to furnish his two
boats, stop the breach of one, and man them: he made his passenger
captain of one, with four other men; and himself, and his mate, and five
more, went in the other: and they contrived their business very well;
for they came up to the ship about midnight. As soon as they came
within call of the ship, he made Robinson hail them, and tell them he
had brought off the men and the boat, but that it was a long time before
they had found them, and the like; holding them in a chat, till they
came to the ship's side; when the captain and the mate, entering first
with their arms, immediately knocked down the second mate and carpenter
with the but end of their muskets; being very faithfully seconded by
their men, they seemed all the rest that were upon the main and quarter
decks, and began to fasten the hatches to keep them down who were below;
when the other boat and their men, entering at the fore chains, secured
the forecastle of the ship, and the skuttle which went down into the
cook-room, making three men they found there prisoners.
When this was done, and all safe upon the deck, the captain ordered the
mate with three men to break into the round-house, where the new rebel
captain lay, and, having taken the alarm, was gotten up, and with two
men and a boy had gotten fire arms in their hands; and when the mate
with a crow split upon the door, the new captain and his men fired
boldly among them, and wounded the mate with a musket-ball, which broke
his arm, and wounded two more of the men, but killed nobody.
The mate, calling for help, rushed, however, into the round-house,
wounded as he was, and with his pistol shot the new captain through the
head, the bullets entering at his mouth, and came out again behind one
of his ears; so that he never spoke a word; upon which the rest yielded,
and the ship was taken effectually without any more lives being lost.
As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven guns to
be fired, which was the signal agreed upon with me, to give me notice of
his success; which you may be sure I was very glad to hear, having sat
watching upon the shore for it, till near two of the clock in
the morning.
Having thus heard the signal plainly, I laid me down; and it having
been a day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound, till I was
something surprised with the noise of a gun; and presently starting up,
I heard a man call me by the name of governor, governor; and presently I
knew the captain's voice; when climbing up to the top of the hill, there
he stood, and pointing to the ship, he embraced me in his arms: "My dear
friend and deliverer," says he, "there's your ship, for she is all
yours, and so are we, and all that belong to her." I cast my eyes to the
ship, and there she rode within a little more than half a mile of the
shore; for they had weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters of
her; and the weather being fair, had brought her to an anchor just
against the mouth of a little creek; and the tide being up, the captain
had brought the pinnace in near the place where I first landed my rafts,
and so landed just at my door.
I was, at first, ready to sink down with the surprise; for I saw my
deliverance indeed visibly put into my hands, all things easy, and a
large ship just ready to carry me away whither I pleased to go; at
first, for some time, I was not able to answer one word; but as he had
taken me in his arms, I held fast by him, or I should have fallen to
the ground.
He perceived the surprise, and immediately pulled a bottle out of his
pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial, which he had brought on purpose
for me: after I drank it, I sat down upon the ground, and though it
brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before I could speak a
word to him.
All this while the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not
under any surprise, as I was; and he said a thousand kind tender things
to me, to compose and bring me to myself; but such was the flood of joy
in my breast, that it put all my spirits into confusion; at last it
broke into tears, and in a little while after I recovered my speech.
Then I took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer; and we rejoiced
together; I told him, I looked upon him as a man sent from Heaven to
deliver me, and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain of
wonders; that such things as these were the testimonies we had of a
secret hand of Providence governing the world, and an evidence, that the
eyes of an infinite Power could search into the remotest corner of the
world, and send help to the miserable whenever he pleased.
I forgot not to lift up my heart in thankfulness to Heaven; and what
heart could forbear to bless Him, who had not only in a miraculous
manner provided for one in such a wilderness, and in such a desolate
condition, but from whom every deliverance must always be acknowledged
to proceed?
When we had talked awhile, the captain told me, he had brought me some
little refreshments, such as the ship afforded, and such as the wretches
who had been so long his masters, had not plundered him of. Upon this he
called aloud to the boat, and bids his men bring the things ashore that
were for the governor; and indeed it was a present, as if I had been
one, not that I was to be carried along with them, but as if I had been
to dwell upon the island still, and they were to go without me.
First, he had brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial
waters; six large bottles of Madeira wine, the bottles held two quarts
apiece; two pounds of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the
ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, and about a
hundred weight of biscuit.
He brought me also a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of lemons,
and two bottles of lime-juice, and abundance of other things: but
besides these, and what was a thousand times more useful to me, he
brought me six clean new shirts, six very good neckcloths, two pair of
gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings, and a very
good suit of clothes of his own, which had been worn but very little. In
a word, he clothed me from head to foot.
It was a very kind and agreeable present, as any one may imagine, to
one in my circumstances; but never was any thing in the world of that
kind so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy, as it was to me to wear such
clothes at their first putting on.
After these ceremonies passed, and after all his things were brought
into my little apartment, we began to consult what was to be done with
the prisoners we had; for it was worth considering whether we might
venture to take them away with us or no, especially two of them, whom we
knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the last degree; and the
captain said, he knew they were such rogues, that there was no obliging
them; and if he did carry them away, it must be in irons, as
malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the first English colony
he could come at; and I found that the captain himself was very
anxious about it.
Upon this, I told him, that, if he desired it, I durst undertake to
bring the two men he spoke of to make their own request that he should
leave them upon the island; "I should be very glad of that," says the
captain, "with all my heart."
"Well," said I, "I will send for them, and talk with them for you:" so I
caused Friday and the two hostages, for they were now discharged, their
comrades having performed their promise; I say, I caused them to go to
the cave, and bring up the five men, pinioned as they were, to the
bower, and keep them there till I came.
After some time, I came thither dressed in my new habit, and now I was
called governor again. Being all met, and the captain with me, I caused
the men to be brought before me, and I told them, I had had a full
account of their villanous behaviour to the captain, and how they had
run away with the ship, and were preparing to commit farther robberies;
but that Providence, had ensnared them in their own ways, and that they
were fallen into the pit which they had digged for others.
I let them know, that by my direction the ship had been seized, that
she lay now in the road, and they might see by and by, that their new
captain had received the reward of his villany; for that they might see
him hanging at the yard-arm: that as to them, I wanted to know what they
had to say, why I should not execute them as pirates taken in the fact,
as by my commission they could not doubt I had authority to do.
One of them answered in the name of the rest, that they had nothing to
say but this, that when they were taken, the captain promised them their
lives, and they humbly implored my mercy: but I told them I knew not
what mercy to shew them; for, as for myself, I had resolved to quit the
island with all my men, and had taken passage with the captain to go for
England: and as for the captain, he could not carry them to England,
other than as prisoners in irons to be tried for mutiny, and running
away with the ship; the consequence of which they must needs know, would
be the gallows; so that I could not tell which was best for them, unless
they had a mind to take their fate in the island; if they desired that,
I did not care, as I had liberty to leave it; I had some inclination to
give them their lives, if they thought they could shift on shore. They
seemed very thankful for it; said they would much rather venture to stay
there, than to be carried to England to be hanged; so I left it on
that issue.
However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he
durst not leave them there: upon this I seemed to be a little angry with
the captain, and told him, that they were my prisoners, not his; and
that seeing I had offered them so much favour, I would be as good as my
word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to it, I would set
them at liberty as I found them; and if he did not like that, he might
take them again if he could catch them.
Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at
liberty, and bade them retire into the woods, to the place whence they
came, and I would leave them some fire-arms, some ammunition, and some
directions how they should live very well, if they thought fit.
Upon this, I prepared to go on board the ship; but told the captain,
that I would stay that night to prepare my things; and desired him to go
on board in the meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send the
boat on shore the next day for me; ordering him in the meantime to cause
the new captain who was killed, to be hanged at the yard-arm, that these
men might see him.
When the captain was gone, I sent for the men up to me to my apartment,
and entered seriously into discourse with them of their circumstances: I
told them, I thought they had made a right choice; that if the captain
carried them away, they would certainly be hanged: I shewed them their
captain hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, and told them they had
nothing less to expect.
When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I then told them,
I would let them into the story of my living there, and put them into
the way of making it easy to them: accordingly I gave them the whole
history of the place, and of my coming to it: shewed them my
fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my
grapes; and, in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy. I told
them the story of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be expected; for
whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat them in common with
themselves.
I left them my fire-arms; viz. five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and
three swords: I had about a barrel of powder left; for after the first
year or two I used but little, and wasted none. I gave them a
description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to milk and
fatten them, to make both butter and cheese.
In a word, I gave them every part of my own story; and I told them, I
would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder
more, and some garden-seed, which I told them I would have been very
glad of; also I gave them the bag of peas which the captain had brought
me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and increase them.
Having done all this, I left them the next day, and went on board the
ship: we prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that night: the
next morning early, two of the five men came swimming to the ship's
side, and making a most lamentable complaint of the other three, begged
to be taken into the ship for God's sake, for they should be murdered;
and begged the captain to take them on board though he hanged them
immediately.
Upon this the captain pretended to have no power without me; but after
some difficulty, and after their solemn promises of amendment, they were
taken on board, and were some time after soundly whipped and pickled;
after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows.
Some time after this, I went with the boat on shore, the tide being up,
with the things promised to the men, to which the captain, at my
intercession, caused their chests and clothes to be added, which they
took, and were very thankful for: I also encouraged them, by telling
them, that if it lay in my way to send a vessel to take them in, I would
not forget them.
When I took leave of this island, I carried on board for relics the
great goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and one of my parrots; also
I forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by
me so long useless that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could
hardly pass for silver, till it had been a little rubbed and handled;
and also the money I found in the wreck of the Spanish ship.
And thus I left the island the nineteenth of December, as I found by the
ship's account, in the year 1686, after I had been upon it
eight-and-twenty years, two months, and nineteen days: being delivered
from the second captivity the same day of the month that I first made
my escape in the barco-longo, from among the Moors of Sallee.
In this vessel, after a long voyage, I arrived in England the eleventh
of June, in the year 1687; having been thirty and five years absent.
When I came to England, I was a perfect stranger to all the world, as if
I had never been known there: my benefactor, and faithful steward, whom
I had left in trust with my money, was alive, but had had great
misfortunes in the world, was become a widow the second time, and very
low in the world: I made her easy as to what she owed me, assuring her I
would give her no trouble; but on the contrary, in gratitude to her
former care and faithfulness to me, I relieved her as my little stock
would afford, which at that time would indeed allow me to do but little
for her: but I assured her, I would never forget her former kindness to
me; nor did I forget her, when I had sufficient to help her; as shall be
observed in its place.
I went down afterwards into Yorkshire; but my father was dead, and my
mother and all the family extinct; except that I found two sisters, and
two of the children of one of my brothers: and as I had been long ago
given over for dead, there had been no provision made for me, so that,
in a word, I found nothing to relieve or assist me; and that little
money I had, would not do much for me as to settling in the world.
I met with one piece of gratitude indeed, which I did not expect; and
this was, that the master of the ship, whom I had so happily delivered,
and by the same means saved the ship and cargo, having given a very
handsome account to the owners, of the manner how I had saved the lives
of the men, and the ship, they invited me to meet them and some other
merchants concerned, and all together made me a very handsome compliment
upon that subject, and a present of almost two hundred pounds sterling.
But after making several reflections upon the circumstances of my life,
and how little way this would go towards settling me in the world, I
resolved to go to Lisbon, and see if I might not come by some
information of the state of my plantation in the Brasils, and what was
become of my partner, who, I had reason to suppose, had some years now
given me over for dead.
With this view I took shipping for Lisbon, where I arrived in April
following; my man Friday accompanying me very honestly in all these
ramblings, and proving a most faithful servant upon all occasions.
When I came to Lisbon, I found out, by inquiry, and to my particular
satisfaction, my old friend the captain of the ship, who first took me
up at sea, off the shore of Africa: he was now grown old, and had left
off the sea, having put his son, who was far from a young man, into his
ship; and who still used the Brasil trade. The old man did not know me,
and, indeed, I hardly knew him; but I soon brought myself to his
remembrance, when I told him who I was.
After some passionate expressions of our old acquaintance, I inquired,
you may be sure, after my plantation and my partner; the old man told
me, he had not been in the Brasils for about nine years; but that he
could assure me, that when he came away, my partner was living; but the
trustees, whom I had joined with him, to take cognizance of my part,
were both dead; that, however, he believed that I would have a very good
account of the improvement of the plantation; for that, upon the general
belief of my being cast away and drowned, my trustees had given in the
account of the produce of my part of the plantation, to the procurator
fiscal; who had appropriated it, in case I never came to claim it, one
third to the king, and two thirds to the monastery of St. Augustine, to
be expended for the benefit of the poor, and for the conversion of the
Indians to the Catholic faith; but that if I appeared, or any one for
me, to claim the inheritance, it would be restored; only that the
improvement, or annual production, being distributed to charitable uses,
could not be restored; but he assured me, that the steward of the
king's revenue, (from lands) and the provedore, or steward of the
monastery, had taken great care all along, that the incumbent, that is
to say, my partner, gave every year a faithful account of the produce,
of which they received duly my moiety.
I asked him, if he knew to what height of improvement he had brought the
plantation; and whether he thought it might be worth looking after; or
whether, on my going thither, I should meet with no obstruction to my
possessing my just right in the moiety.
He told me, he could not tell exactly to what degree the plantation was
improved; but this he knew, that my partner was growing exceeding rich
upon the enjoying but one half of it; and that, to the best of his
remembrance, he had heard, that the king's third of my part, which was,
it seems, granted away to some other monastery, or religious house,
amounted to above two hundred moidores a year; that, as to my being
restored to a quiet possession of it, there was no question to be made
of that, my partner being alive to witness my title, and my name being
also enrolled in the register of the county. Also he told me, that the
survivors of my two trustees were very fair, honest people, and very
wealthy, and he believed I would not only have their assistance for
putting me in possession, but would find a very considerable sum of
money in their hands for my account, being the produce of the farm,
while their fathers held the trust, and before it was given up, as
above, which, as he remembered, was about twelve years.
I shewed myself a little concerned and uneasy at this account, and
inquired of the old captain, how it came to pass, that the trustees
should thus dispose of my effects, when he knew that I had made my will,
and had made him, the Portuguese captain, my universal heir, &c.
He told me that was true; but that, as there was no proof of my being
dead, he could not act as executor, until some certain account should
come of my death; and that, besides, he was not willing to intermeddle
with a thing so remote: that it was true, he had registered my will, and
put in his claim; and could he have given any account of my being dead
or alive, he would have acted by procuration, and taken possession of
the _ingenio_, (so they called the sugarhouse) and had given his son,
who was now at the Brasils, order to do it.
"But," says the old man, "I have one piece of news to tell you, which
perhaps may not be so acceptable to you as the rest; and that is, that
believing you were lost, and all the world believing so also, your
partner and trustees did offer to account to me in your name, for six or
eight of the first years of profit, which I received; but there being at
that time," says he, "great disbursements for increasing the works,
building an _ingenio_ and buying slaves, it did not amount to near so
much as afterwards it produced: however," says the old man, "I shall
give you a true account of what I have received in all, and how I have
disposed of it."
After a few days farther conference with this ancient friend, he brought
me an account of the six first years income of my plantation, signed by
my partner, and the merchants' trustees, being always delivered in
goods; viz. tobacco in roll, and sugar in chests, besides rum, molasses,
&c. which is the consequence of a sugar-work; and I found by this
account, that every year the income considerably increased: but, as
above, the disbursement being large, the sum at first was small:
however, the old man let me see, that he was debtor to me four hundred
and seventy moidores of gold, besides sixty chests of sugar, and fifteen
double rolls of tobacco, which were lost in his ship, he having been
shipwrecked coming home to Lisbon, about eleven years after my leaving
the place.
The good man then began to complain of his misfortunes, and how he had
been obliged to make use of my money to recover his losses, and buy him
a share in a new ship; "however, my old friend," says he, "you shall
not want a supply in your necessity; and as soon as my son returns, you
shall be fully satisfied."
Upon this he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me two hundred Portugal
moidores in gold; and giving me the writings of his title to the ship
which his son was gone to the Brasils in, of which he was a quarter part
owner, and his son another, he puts them both in my hands for security
of the rest.
I was too much moved with the honesty and kindness of the poor man, to
be able to bear this; and remembering what he had done for me, how he
had taken me up at sea, and how generously he had used me on all
occasions, and particularly how sincere a friend he was now to me, I
could hardly refrain weeping at what he said to me: therefore, first I
asked him if his circumstances admitted him to spare so much money at
that time, and if it would not straiten him? He told me he could not say
but it might straiten him a little; but, however, it was my money, and I
might want it more than he.
Every thing the good man said was full of affection, and I could hardly
refrain from tears while he spake. In short, I took one hundred of the
moidores, and called for a pen and ink to give him a receipt for them;
then I returned him the rest, and told him, if ever I had possession of
the plantation, I would return the other to him also, as indeed I
afterwards did; and then, as to the bill of sale of his part in his
son's ship, I would not take it by any means; but that if I wanted the
money, I found he was honest enough to pay me; and if I did not, but
came to receive what he gave me reason to expect, I would never have a
penny more from him.
When this was past, the old man began to ask me if he should put me in a
method to make my claim to my plantation. I told him, I thought to go
over to it myself. He said, I might do so if I pleased; but that if I
did not, there were ways enough to secure my right, and immediately to
appropriate the profits to my use; and as there were ships in the river
of Lisbon, just ready to go away to Brasil, he made me enter my name in
a public register, with his affidavit, affirming upon oath that I was
alive, and that I was the same person who took up the land for the
planting the said plantation at first.
This being regularly attested by a notary, and the procuration affixed,
he directed me to send it with a letter of his writing, to a merchant of
his acquaintance at the place; and then proposed my staying with him
till an account came of the return.
Never any thing was more honourable than the proceedings upon this
procuration; for in less than seven months I received a large packet
from the survivors of my trustees, the merchants, on whose account I
went to sea, in which were the following particular letters and
papers enclosed.
First, There was the account current of the produce of my farm, or
plantation, from the year when their fathers had balanced with my old
Portugal captain, being for six years; the balance appeared to be 1171
moidores in my favour.
Secondly, There was the account of four years more while they kept the
effects in their hands, before the government claimed the
administration, as being the effects of a person not to be found, which
they call _civil-death_; and the balance of this, the value of
plantation increasing, amounted to 38892 crusadoes, which made 3241 moidores.
Thirdly, There was the prior of the Augustines account, who had received
the profits for above fourteen years; but not being able to account for
what was disposed to the hospital, very honestly declared he had 872
moidores not distributed, which he acknowledged to my account. As to the
king's part, that refunded nothing.
There was also a letter of my partner's, congratulating me very
affectionately upon my being alive; giving me an account how the estate
was improved, and what it produced a year, with a particular of the
number of squares or acres that it contained; how planted, how many
slaves there were upon it, and making two and twenty crosses for
blessings, told me he had said so many Ave Marias to thank the Blessed
Virgin that I was alive; inviting me very passionately to come over and
take possession of my own; and in the mean time to give him orders to
whom he should deliver my effects, if I did not come my self; concluding
with a hearty tender of his friendship, and that of his family, and sent
me, as a present, seven fine leopard's skins, which he had it seems
received from Africa, by some other ship which he had sent thither, and
who it seems had made a better voyage than I: he sent me also five
chests of excellent sweetmeats, and an hundred pieces of gold uncoined,
not quite so large as moidores.
By the same fleet, my two merchant trustees shipped me 1,200 chests of
sugar, 800 rolls of tobacco, and the rest of the whole Account in gold.
I might well say, now indeed, that the latter end of Job was better than
the beginning. It is impossible to express here the flutterings of my
very heart, when I looked over these letters, and especially when I
found all my wealth about me; for as the Brasil ships come all in
fleets, the same ships which brought my letters, brought my goods; and
the effects were safe in the river before the letters came to my hand.
In a word, I turned pale, and grew sick; and had not the old man run and
fetched me a cordial, I believe the sudden surprize of joy had overset
nature, and I had died upon the spot.
Nay after that, I continued very ill, and was so some hours, 'till a
physician being sent for, and something of the real cause of my illness
being known, he ordered me to be let blood; after which, I had relief,
and grew well: but I verily believe, if it had not been eased by a vent
given in that manner, to the spirits, I should have died.
I was now master, all on a sudden, of above 5000_l_. sterling in money,
and had an estate, as I might well call it, in the Brasils, of above a
thousand pounds a year, as sure as an estate of lands in England: and in
a word, I was in a condition which I scarce knew how to understand, or
how to compose my self, for the enjoyment of it.
The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefactor, my good
old captain, who had been first charitable to me in my distress, kind to
me in my beginning, and honest to me at the end: I shewed him all that
was sent me, I told him, that next to the Providence of Heaven, which
disposes all things, it was owing to him; and that it now lay on me to
reward him, which I would do a hundred fold: so I first returned to him
the hundred moidores I had received of him, then I sent for a notary,
and caused him to draw up a general release or discharge for the 470
moidores, which he had acknowledged he owed me in the fullest and
firmest manner possible; after which, I caused a procuration to be
drawn, impowering him to be my receiver of the annual profits of my
plantation, and appointing my partner to account to him, and make the
returns by the usual fleets to him in my name; and a clause in the end,
being a grant of 100 moidores a year to him, during his life, out of the
effects, and 50 moidores a year to his son after him, for his life: and
thus I requited my old man.
I was now to consider which way to steer my course next, and what to do
with the estate that Providence had thus put into my hands; and indeed I
had more care upon my head now, than I had in my silent state of life in
the island, where I wanted nothing but what I had, and had nothing but
what I wanted: whereas I had now a great charge upon me, and my business
was how to secure it. I had ne'er a cave now to hide my money in, or a
place where it might lie without lock or key, 'till it grew mouldy and
tarnished before any body would meddle with it: on the contrary, I knew
not where to put it, or who to trust with it. My old patron, the
captain, indeed was honest, and that was the only refuge I had.
In the next place, my interest in the Brasils seemed to summon me
thither, but now I could not tell, how to think of going thither, 'till
I had settled my affairs, and left my effects in some safe hands behind
me. At first I thought of my old friend the widow, who I knew was
honest, and would be just to me; but then she was in years, and but
poor, and for ought I knew, might be in debt; so that in a word, I had
no way but to go back to England my self, and take my effects with me.
It was some months however before I resolved upon this; and therefore,
as I had rewarded the old captain fully, and to his satisfaction, who
had been my former benefactor, so I began to think of my poor widow,
whose husband had been my first benefactor, and she, while it was in her
power, my faithful steward and instructor. So the first thing I did, I
got a merchant in Lisbon to write to his correspondent in London, not
only to pay a bill, but to go find her out, and carry her in money, an
hundred pounds from me, and to talk with her, and comfort her in her
poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, have a further supply:
at the same time I sent my two sisters in the country, each of them an
hundred pounds, they being, though not in want, yet not in very good
circumstances; one having been married, and left a widow; and the other
having a husband not so kind to her as he should be.
But among all my relations, or acquaintances, I could not yet pitch upon
one, to whom I durst commit the gross of my stock, that I might go away
to the Brasils, and leave things safe behind me; and this greatly
perplexed me.
I had once a mind to have gone to the Brasils, and have settled my self
there; for I was, as it were, naturalized to the place; but I had some
little scruple in my mind about religion, which insensibly drew me back,
of which I shall say more presently. However, it was not religion that
kept me from going thither for the present; and as I had made no scruple
of being openly of the religion of the country, all the while I was
among them, so neither did I yet; only that now and then having of late
thought more of it than formerly, when I began to think of living and
dying among them, I began to regret my having professed myself a Papist,
and thought it might not be the best religion to die in.
But, as I have said, this was not the main thing that kept me from going
to the Brasils, but that really I did not know with whom to leave my
effects behind me; so I resolved at last to go to England with them,
where if I arrived, I concluded I should make some acquaintance, or find
some relations, that would be faithful to me; and accordingly I prepared
to go for England with all my wealth.
In order to prepare things for my going home, I first (the Brasil fleet
being just going away) resolved to give answers suitable to the just and
faithful account of things I had from thence; and first to the prior of
St. Augustine I wrote a letter full of thanks for his just dealings, and
the offer of the eight hundred and seventy-two moidores, which was
undisposed of, which I desired might be given, five hundred to the
monastery, and three hundred and seventy-two to the poor, as the prior
should direct, desiring the good Padre's prayers for me, and the like.
I wrote next a letter of thanks to my two trustees, with all the
acknowledgment that so much justice and honesty called for; as for
sending them any present, they were far above having any occasion of it.
Lastly, I wrote to my partner, acknowledging his industry in the
improving the plantation, and his integrity in increasing the stock of
the works, giving him instructions for his future government of my part
according to the powers I had left with my old patron, to whom I desired
him to send whatever became due to me, till he should hear from me more
particularly; assuring him, that it was my intention, not only to come
to him, but to settle myself there for the remainder of my life. To this
I added a very handsome present of some Italian silks for his wife and
two daughters, for such the captain's son informed me he had; with two
pieces of fine English broad-cloth, the best I could get in Lisbon, five
pieces of black bays, and some Flanders lace of a good value.
Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and turned all my effects
into good bills of exchange, my next difficulty was, which way to go to
England. I had been accustomed enough to the sea, and yet I had a
strange aversion to go to England by sea at that time; and though I
could give no reason for it, yet the difficulty increased upon me so
much, that though I had once shipped my baggage in order to go, yet I
altered my mind, and that not once, but two or three times.
It is true, I had been very unfortunate by sea, and this might be one of
the reasons. But let no man slight the strong impulses of his own
thoughts in cases of such moment. Two of the ships which I had singled
out to go in, I mean more particularly singled out than any other, that
is to say, so as in one of them to put my things on board, and in the
other to have agreed with the captain; I say, two of these ships
miscarried, viz. one was taken by the Algerines, and the other was cast
away on the Start, near Torbay, and all the people drowned except three;
so that in either of those vessels I had been made miserable, and in
which most, it was hard to say.
Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I
communicated every thing, pressed me earnestly not to go to sea; but
either to go by land to the Groyne, and cross over the Bay of Biscay to
Rochelle, from whence it was but an easy and safe journey by land to
Paris, and so to Calais and Dover; or to go up to Madrid, and so all the
way by land through France.
In a word, I was so prepossessed against my going by sea at all, except
from Calais to Dover, that I resolved to travel all the way by land;
which, as I was not in haste, and did not value the charge, was by much
the pleasanter way; and to make it more so, my old captain brought an
English gentleman, the son of a merchant in Lisbon, who was willing to
travel with me; after which, we picked up two who were English, and
merchants also, and two young Portuguese gentlemen, the last going to
Paris only; so that we were in all six of us, and five servants, the two
merchants and the two Portuguese contenting themselves with one servant
between two, to save the charge; and as for me, I got an English sailor
to travel with me as a servant, besides my man Friday, who was too much
a stranger to be capable of supplying the place of a servant upon
the road.
In this manner I set out from Lisbon; and our company being all very
well mounted and armed, we made a little troop whereof they did me the
honour to call me captain, as well because I was the oldest man, as
because I had two servants, and indeed was the original of the
whole journey.
As I have troubled you with none of my sea journals, so shall I trouble
you with none of my land journals. But some adventures that happened to
us in this tedious and difficult journey, I must not omit.
When we came to Madrid, we, being all of us strangers to Spain, were
willing to stay some time to sec the court of Spain, and to see what was
worth observing; but it being the latter part of the summer, we hastened
away, and set out from Madrid about the middle of October. But when we
came to the edge of Navarre, we were alarmed at several towns on the
way, with an account that so much snow was fallen on the French side of
the mountains, that several travellers were obliged to come back to
Pampeluna, after having attempted, at an extreme hazard, to pass on.
When we came to Pampeluna itself, we found it so indeed; and to me that
had been always used to a hot climate, and indeed to countries where we
could scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insufferable; nor,
indeed, was it more painful than it was surprising: to come but ten days
before out of the Old Castile, where the weather was not only warm, but
very hot, and immediately to feel a wind from the Pyrenees mountains, so
very keen, so severely cold, as to be intolerable, and to endanger
benumbing and perishing of our fingers and toes, was very strange.
Poor Friday was really frighted when he saw the mountains all covered
with snow, and felt cold weather, which he had never seen or felt before
in his life.
To mend the matter, after we came to Pampeluna, it continued snowing
with so much violence, and so long, that the people said, winter was
come before its time; and the roads, which were difficult before, were
now quite impassable: in a word, the snow lay in some places too thick
for us to travel; and being not hard frozen, as is the case in northern
countries, there was no going without being in danger of being buried
alive every step. We staid no less than twenty days at Pampeluna; when
(seeing the winter coming on, and no likelihood of its being better, for
it was the severest winter all over Europe that had been known in many
years) proposed that we should all go away to Fontarabia, and there take
shipping for Boardeaux, which was a very little voyage.
But while we were considering this, there came in four French gentlemen,
who, having been stopped on the French side of the passes, as we were on
the Spanish, had found out a guide, who traversing the country near the
head of Languedoc, had brought them over the mountains by such ways,
that they were not much incommoded with the snow; and where they met
with snow in any quantity, they said it was frozen hard enough to bear
them and their horses.
We sent for this guide, who told us, he would undertake to carry us the
same way, with no hazard from the snow, provided we were armed
sufficiently to protect us from wild beasts: for he said, upon these
great snows, it was frequent for some wolves to show themselves at the
foot of the mountains, being made ravenous for want of food, the ground
being covered with snow. We told him we were well enough prepared for
such creatures as they were, if he would ensure us from a kind of
two-legged wolves, which we were told we were in most danger from,
especially on the French side of the mountains.
He satisfied us there was no danger of that kind in the way that we were
to go: so we readily agreed to follow him; as did also twelve other
gentlemen, with their servants, some French, some Spanish, who, as I
said, had attempted to go, and were obliged to come back again.
Accordingly we all set out from Pampeluna, with our guide, on the
fifteenth of November; and indeed I was surprised, when, instead of
going forward, he came directly back with us, on the same road that we
came from Madrid, above twenty miles; when having passed two rivers, and
come into the plain country, we found ourselves in a warm climate again,
where the country was pleasant, and no snow to be seen; but on a sudden,
turning to the left, he approached the mountains another way; and though
it is true, the hills and the precipices looked dreadfully, yet he made
so many tours, such meanders, and led us by such winding ways, we
insensibly passed the height of the mountains, without being much
encumbered with the snow; and all on a sudden he shewed us the pleasant
fruitful provinces of Languedoc and Gascoigne, all green and
flourishing; though indeed they were at a great distance, and we had
some rough way to pass yet.
We were a little uneasy, however, when we found it snowed one whole day
and a night, so fast, that we could not travel; but he bid us be easy,
we should soon be past it all: we found, indeed, that we began to
descend every day, and to come more north than before; and so, depending
upon our guide, we went on.
It was about two hours before night, when our guide being something
before us, and not just in sight, out rushed three monstrous wolves, and
after them a bear, out of a hollow way, adjoining to a thick wood. Two
of the wolves flew upon the guide, and had he been half a mile before
us, he had been devoured indeed, before we could have helped him; one of
them fastened upon his horse, and the other attacked the man with that
violence, that he had not time, or not presence of mind enough, to draw
his pistol, but hallooed and cried out to us most lustily. My man Friday
being next to me, I bid him ride up, and see what was the matter. As
soon as Friday came in sight of the man, he hallooed, as loud as the
other, "O master' O master!" But, like a bold fellow, rode directly up
to the man, and with his pistol shot the wolf that attacked him in
the head.
It was happy for the poor man that it was my man Friday; for he, having
been used to that kind of creature in his country, had no fear upon him,
but went close up to him, and shot him as above; whereas any of us would
have fired at a farther distance, and have perhaps either missed the
wolf, or endangered shooting the man.
But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man than I, and indeed it
alarmed all our company, when, with the noise of Friday's pistol, we
heard on both sides the dismallest howlings of wolves, and the noise
redoubled by the echo of the mountains, that it was to us as if there
had been a prodigious multitude of them; and perhaps indeed there was
not such a few, as that we had no cause of apprehensions.
However, as Friday had killed this wolf, the other, that had fastened
upon the horse, left him immediately, and fled, having happily fastened
upon his head, where the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his teeth, so
that he had not done him much hurt; the man, indeed, was most hurt; for
the raging creature had bit him twice, once on the arm, and the other
time a little above his knee; and he was just as it were tumbling down
by the disorder of the horse, when Friday came up and shot the wolf.
It is easy to suppose, that at the noise of Friday's pistol we all
mended our pace, and rid up as fast as the way (which was very
difficult) would give us leave, to see what was the matter. As soon as
we came clear of the trees which blinded us before, we saw plainly what
had been the case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide; though
we did not presently discern what kind of creature it was he had killed.
But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in such a surprising
manner, as that which followed between Friday and the bear, which gave
us all (though at first we were surprised and afraid for him) the
greatest diversion imaginable. As the bear is a heavy, clumsy creature,
and does not gallop as the wolf does, which is swift and light; so he
has two particular qualities, which generally are the rule of his
actions: first, as to men, who are not his proper prey, I say not his
proper prey, because though I can't say what excessive hunger might do,
which was now their case, the ground being all covered with snow; yet as
to men, he does not usually attempt them, unless they first attack him;
on the contrary, if you meet him in the woods, if you don't meddle with
him, he won't meddle with you; yet then you must take care to be very
civil to him, and give him the road; for he is a very nice gentleman, he
won't go a step out of the way for a prince; nay, if you are really
afraid, your best way is to look another way, and keep going on; for
sometimes, if you stop, and stand still, and look steadfastly at him, he
takes it for an affront; and if you throw or toss any thing at him, and
it hits him, though it were but a bit of stick as big as your finger, he
takes it for an affront, and sets all other business aside to pursue his
revenge; for he will have satisfaction in point of honour, and this is
his first quality; the next is, that if he be once affronted, he will
never leave you, night or day, till he has his revenge, but follow at a
good round rate till he overtakes you.
My man Friday had delivered our guide, and when we came up to him, he
was helping him off from his horse; for the man was both hurt and
frighted, and indeed the last more than the first; when, on a sudden, we
espied the bear come out of the wood, and a very monstrous one it was,
the biggest by far that ever I saw: we were all a little surprised when
we saw him; but when Friday saw him, it was easy to see joy and courage
in the fellow's countenance: "O! O! O!" says Friday, three times,
pointing to him, "O master! you give me te leave, me shakee te hand with
him, me makee you good laugh."
I was surprised to see the fellow so pleased: "You fool you," said I,
"he will eat you up."--"Eatee me up! eatee me up!" says Friday, twice
over again; "me eatee him up; me make you good laugh; you all stay here,
me shew you good laugh." So down he sits and gets his boots off in a
moment, and put on a pair of pumps, (as we call the flat shoes they
wear) and which he had in his pocket, and gives my other servant his
horse, and with his gun away he flew, swift like the wind.
The bear was walking softly on, and offered to meddle with nobody, till
Friday coming pretty near, calls to him, as if the bear could understand
him: "Hark ye, hark ye," says Friday, "me speakee wit you," We followed
at a distance; for now being come down to the Gascoigne side of the
mountains, we were entered a vast great forest, where the country was
plain, and pretty open, though many trees in it scattered here
and there.
Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with him
quickly, and takes up a great stone, and throws at him, and hit him just
on the head; but did him no more harm than if he had thrown it against a
wall; but it answered Friday's end; for the rogue was so void of fear,
that he did it purely to make the bear follow him, and shew us some
laugh, as he called it.
As soon as the bear felt the stone, and saw him, he turns about, and
comes after him, taking devilish long strides, and strolling along at a
strange rate, so as he would put a horse to a middling gallop. Away runs
Friday, and takes his course, as if he ran towards us for help; so we
all resolved to fire at once upon the bear, and deliver my man; though I
was angry at him heartily for bringing the bear back upon us, when he
was going about his own business another way; and especially I was angry
that he had turned the bear upon us, and then run away; and I called
out, "You dog," said I, "is this your making us laugh? Come away, and
take your horse, that we may shoot the creature." He hears me, and cries
out, "No shoot, no shoot, stand still, you get much laugh;" and as the
nimble creature ran two feet for the beast's one, he turned on a sudden,
on one side of us, and seeing a great oak tree, fit for his purpose, he
beckoned us to follow, and doubling his pace, he gets nimbly up the
tree, laying his gun down upon the ground, at about five or six yards
from the bottom of the tree.
The bear soon came to the tree, and we followed at a distance. The first
thing he did, he stopped at the gun, smelt to it, but let it lie, and up
he scrambles into the tree, climbing like a cat, though so monstrous
heavy. I was amazed at the folly, as I thought it, of my man, and could
not for my life see any thing to laugh at yet, till seeing the bear get
up the tree, we all rode nearer to him.
When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small of a
large limb of the tree, and the bear got about half way to him. As soon
as the bear got out to that part where the limb of the tree was weaker,
"Ha," says he to us, "now you see me teachee the bear dance;" so he
falls a-jumping, and shaking the bough, at which the bear began to
totter, but stood still, and began to look behind him, to see how he
should get back; then indeed we did laugh heartily. But Friday had not
done with him by a great deal: when he sees him stand still, he calls
out to him again, as if he had supposed the bear could speak English,
"What, you come no farther? Pray you come farther." So he left jumping
and shaking the bough; and the bear, just as if he understood what he
said, did come a little farther; then he fell a-jumping again, and the
bear stopped again.
We thought now was a good time to knock him on the head, and called to
Friday to stand still, and we would shoot the bear; but he cried out
earnestly, "O pray! O pray! no shoot, me shoot by and then;" he would
have said by and by. However, to shorten the story, Friday danced so
much, and the bear stood so ticklish, that we had laughing enough
indeed, but still could not imagine what the fellow would do; for first
we thought he depended upon shaking the bear off; and we found the bear
was too cunning for that too; for he would not get out far enough to be
thrown down, but clings fast with his great broad claws and feet, so
that we could not imagine what would be the end of it, and where the
jest would be at last.
But Friday put us out of doubt quickly; for seeing the bear cling fast
to the bough, and that he would not be persuaded to come any farther;
"Well, well," said Friday, "you no come farther, me go, me go; you no
come to me, me come to you;" and upon this he goes out to the smallest
end of the bough, where it would bend with his weight, and gently lets
himself down by it, sliding down the bough, till he came near enough to
jump down on his feet; and away he ran to his gun, takes it up, and
stands still.
"Well," said I to him, "Friday, what will you do now? Why don't you
shoot him?"--"No shoot," says Friday, "no yet; me shoot now me no kill;
me stay, give you one more laugh;" and indeed so he did, as you will see
presently; for when the bear saw his enemy gone, he comes back from the
bough where he stood, but did it mighty leisurely, looking behind him
every step, and coming backward till he got into the body of the tree;
then with the same hinder end foremost, he came down the tree; grasping
it with his claws, and moving one foot at a time, very leisurely. At
this juncture, and just before he could set his hind feet upon the
ground, Friday stepped close to him, clapped the muzzle of his piece
into his ear, and shot him as dead as a stone.
Then the rogue turned about to see if we did not laugh; and when he saw
we were pleased by our looks, he falls a-laughing himself very loud; "So
we kill bear in my country," says Friday. "So you kill them?" said I;
"why, you have no guns."--"No," says he, "no guns, but shoot great much
long arrow."
This was, indeed, a good diversion to us; but we were still in a wild
place, and our guide very much hurt, and what to do we hardly knew: the
howling of wolves ran much in my head; and indeed except the noise I
once heard on the shore of Africa, of which I have said something
already, I never heard any thing that filled me with so much horror.
These things, and the approach of night, called us off, or else, as
Friday would have had us, we should certainly have taken the skin of
this monstrous creature off, which was worth saving; but we had three
leagues to go, and our guide hastened us; so we left him, and went
forward on our journey.
The ground was still covered with snow, though not so deep and dangerous
as on the mountains; and the ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards,
were come down into the forest and plain country, pressed by hunger, to
seek for food, and had done a great deal of mischief in the villages,
where they surprised the country-people, killed a great many of their
sheep and horses, and some people too.
We had one dangerous place to pass, of which our guide told us, if there
were any more wolves in the country, we should find them there; and this
was a small plain, surrounded with woods on every side, and a long
narrow defile or lane, which we were to pass to get through the wood,
and then we should come to the village where we were to lodge.
It was within half an hour of sunset when we entered the first wood; and
a little after sunset, when we came into the plain. We met with nothing
in the first wood, except that in a little plain within the wood, which
was not above two furlongs over, we saw five great wolves cross the
road, full speed one after another, as if they had been in chase of some
prey, and had it in view: they took no notice of us, and were gone and
out of sight in a few moments.
Upon this our guide, who, by the way, was a wretched faint-hearted
fellow, bade us keep in a ready posture; for he believed there were more
wolves a-coming.
We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us; but we saw no more wolves
till we came through that wood, which was near half a league, and
entered the plain: as soon as we came into the plain, we had occasion
enough to look about us. The first object we met with was a dead horse,
that is to say, a poor horse which the wolves had killed, and at least a
dozen of them at work; we could not say eating of him, but picking of
his bones rather; for they had eaten up all the flesh before.
We did not think fit to disturb them at their feast, neither did they
take much notice of us: Friday would have let fly at them, but I would
not suffer him by any means; for I found we were like to have more
business upon our hands than we were aware of. We were not half gone
over the plain, but we began to hear the wolves howl in the woods, on
our left, in a frightful manner; and presently after we saw about a
hundred coming on directly towards us, all in a body, and most of them
in a line, as regularly as an army drawn up by experienced officers. I
scarce knew in what manner to receive them; but found to draw ourselves
in a close line was the only way; so we formed in a moment; but, that we
might not have too much interval, I ordered, that only every other man
should fire; and that the others, who had not fired, should stand ready
to give them a second volley immediately, if they continued to advance
upon us; and that then those who had fired at first, should not pretend
to load their fusils again, but stand ready, with every one a pistol,
for we were all armed with a fusil and a pair of pistols each man; so we
were, by this method, able to fire six vollies, half of us at a time;
however, at present we had no necessity; for, upon firing the first
volley, the enemy made a full stop, being terrified, as well with the
noise as with the fire; four of them being shot in the head, dropped;
several others were wounded, and went bleeding off, as we could see by
the snow. I found they stopped, but did not immediately retreat;
whereupon, remembering that I had been told, that the fiercest creatures
were terrified at the voice of a man, I caused all our company to halloo
as loud as we could, and I found the notion not altogether mistaken; for
upon our shout, they began to retire, and turn about; then I ordered a
second volley to be fired in their rear, which put them to the gallop,
and away they went to the woods.
This gave us leisure to charge our pieces again, and that we might lose
no time, we kept doing; but we had but little more than loaded our
fusils, and put ourselves into a readiness, when we heard a terrible
noise in the same wood on our left; only that it was farther onward the
same way we were to go.
The night was coming on, and the night began to be dusky, which made it
the worse on our side; but, the noise increasing, we could easily
perceive that it was the howling and yelling of those hellish creatures;
and, on a sudden, we perceived two or three troops of wolves on our
left, one behind us, and one on our front, so that we seemed to be
surrounded with them; however, as they did not fall upon us, we kept our
way forward, as fast as we could make our horses go, which, the way
being very rough, was only a good large trot; and in this manner we only
came in view of the entrance of the wood through which we were to pass,
at the farther side of the plain; but we were greatly surprised, when,
coming near the lane, or pass, we saw a confused number of wolves
standing just at the entrance.
On a sudden, at another opening of the wood, we heard the noise of a
gun; and, looking that way, out rushed a horse, with a saddle and a
bridle on him, flying like the wind, and sixteen or seventeen wolves
after him full speed: indeed the horse had the heels of them; but as we
supposed that he could not hold it at that rate, we doubted not but they
would get up with him at last; and no question but they did.
Here we had a most horrible sight; for, riding up to the entrance where
the horse came out, we found the carcass of another horse, and of two
men devoured by these ravenous creatures, and of one the man was no
doubt the same whom we heard fire a gun, for there lay a gun just by him
fired off; but as to the man, his head, and the upper part of his body,
were eaten up.
This filled us with horror, and we knew not what course to take; but the
creatures resolved us soon, for they gathered about us presently, in
hopes of prey; and I verily believe there were three hundred of them. It
happened very much to our advantage, that at the entrance into the wood,
but a little way from it, there by some large timber trees, which had
been cut down the summer before, and I suppose lay there for carriage: I
drew my little troop in among these trees, and placing ourselves in a
line behind one long tree, I advised them all to alight, and keeping
that tree before us for a breastwork, to stand in a triangle, or three
fronts, enclosing our horses in the centre.
We did so, and it was well we did; for never was a more furious charge
than the creatures made upon us in this place; they came on us with a
growling kind of a noise, and mounted the piece of timber (which, as I
said, was our breastwork,) as if they were only rushing upon their prey;
and this fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occasioned by their
seeing our horses behind us, which was the prey they aimed at. I ordered
our men to fire as before, every man; and they took their aim so sure,
that indeed they killed several of the wolves at the first volley; but
there was a necessity to keep a continual firing, for they came on like
devils, those behind pushing on those before.
When we had fired our second volley of fusils, we thought they stopped a
little, and I hoped they would have gone off, but it was but a moment,
for others came forward again; so we fired our vollies of pistols; and I
believe in these four firings we killed seventeen or eighteen of them,
and lamed twice as many; yet they came on again.
I was loath to spend our last shot too hastily; so I called my servant,
not my man Friday, for he was better employed; for, with the greatest
dexterity imaginable, he charged my fusil and his own, while we were
engaged; but, as I said, I called my other man; and giving him a horn of
powder, I bade him lay a train all along the piece of timber, and let it
be a large train; he did so, and had but time to get away, when the
wolves came up to it, and some were got up upon it; when I, snapping an
uncharged pistol close to the powder, set it on fire; and those that
were upon the timber were scorched with it, and six or seven of them
fell, or rather jumped in among us, with the force and fright of the
fire; we dispatched these in an instant, and the rest were so frighted
with the light, which the night, for now it was very near dark, made
more terrible, that they drew back a little.
Upon which I ordered our last pistols to be fired off in one volley, and
after that we gave a shout; upon this the wolves turned tail, and we
sallied immediately upon near twenty lame ones, which we found
struggling on the ground, and fell a-cutting them with our swords, which
answered our expectation; for the crying and howling they made were
better understood by their fellows; so that they fled and left us.
We had, first and last, killed about three score of them; and had it
been daylight, we had killed many more. The field of battle being thus
cleared, we made forward again; for we had still near a league to go. We
heard the ravenous creatures howl and yell in the woods as we went,
several times; and sometimes we fancied we saw some of them, but the
snow dazzling our eyes, we were not certain; so in about an hour more we
came to the town, where we were to lodge, which we found in a terrible
fright, and all in arms; for it seems, that, the night before, the
wolves and some bears had broken into that village, and put them in a
terrible fright; and they were obliged to keep guard night and day, but
especially in the night, to preserve their cattle, and indeed
their people.
The next morning our guide was so ill, and his limbs so swelled with the
rankling of his two wounds, that he could go no farther; so we were
obliged to take a new guide there, and go to Tholouse, where we found a
warm climate, a fruitful pleasant country, and no snow, no wolves, or
any thing like them; but when we told our story at Tholouse, they told
us it was nothing but what was ordinary in the great forest at the foot
of the mountains, especially when the snow lay on the ground; but they
inquired much what kind of a guide we had gotten, that would venture to
bring us that way in such a severe season; and told us, it was very much
we were not all devoured. When we told them how we placed ourselves, and
the horses in the middle, they blamed us exceedingly, and told us it was
fifty to one but we had been all destroyed; for it was the sight of the
horses that made the wolves so furious, seeing their prey; and that at
other times they are really afraid of a gun; but they being excessive
hungry, and raging on that account, the eagerness to come at the horses
had made them senseless of danger; and that if we had not by the
continued fire, and at last by the stratagem of the train of powder,
mastered them, it had been great odds but that we had been torn to
pieces; whereas, had we been content to have sat still on horseback, and
fired as horsemen, they would not have taken the horses so much for
their own, when men were on their backs, as otherwise; and withal they
told us, that at last, if we had stood all together, and left our
horses, they would have been so eager to have devoured them, that we
might have come off safe, especially having our fire-arms in our hands,
and being so many in number.
For my part, I was never so sensible of danger in my life; for seeing
above three hundred devils come roaring and open-mouthed to devour us,
and having nothing to shelter us, or retreat to, I gave myself over for
lost; and as it was, I believe, I shall never care to cross those
mountains again; I think I would much rather go a thousand leagues by
sea, though I were sure to meet with a storm once a week.
I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in my passage through France;
nothing but what other travellers have given an account of, with much
more advantage than I can. I travelled from Tholouse to Paris, and
without any considerable stay came to Calais, and landed safe at Dover,
the fourteenth of January, after having had a severe cold season to
travel in.
I was now come to the centre of my travels, and had in a little time all
my new-discovered estate safe about me, the bills of exchange, which I
brought with me, having been very currently paid.
My principal guide and privy-counsellor was my good ancient widow, who,
in gratitude for the money I had sent her, thought no pains too much, or
care too great, to employ for me; and I trusted her so entirely with
every thing, that I was perfectly easy as to the security of my effects;
and indeed I was very happy from my beginning, and now to the end, in
the unspotted integrity of this good gentlewoman.
And now I began to think of leaving my effects with this woman, and
setting out for Lisbon, and so to the Brasils. But now another scruple
came in the way, and that was religion; for as I had entertained some
doubts about the Roman religion, even while I was abroad, especially in
my state of solitude; so I knew there was no going to the Brasils for
me, much less going to settle there, unless I resolved to embrace the
Roman Catholic religion, without any reserve; except on the other hand I
resolved to be a sacrifice to my principles, be a martyr for religion,
and die in the Inquisition: so I resolved to stay at home, and, if I
could find means for it, to dispose of my plantation.
To this purpose I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, who in return gave
me notice, that he could easily dispose of it there: but that if I
thought fit to give him leave to offer it in my name to the two
merchants, the survivors of my trustees, who lived in the Brasils, who
must fully understand the value of it, who lived just upon the spot, and
who I knew to be very rich, so that he believed they would be fond of
buying it; he did not doubt, but I should make 4 or 5000 pieces of eight
the more of it.
Accordingly I agreed, gave him orders to offer it to them, and he did
so; and in about eight months more, the ship being then returned, he
sent me an account, that they had accepted the offer, and had remitted
33,000 pieces of eight to a correspondent of theirs at Lisbon, to
pay for it.
In return, I signed the instrument of sale in the form which they sent
from Lisbon, and sent it to my old man, who sent me the bills of
exchange for 32,800 pieces of eight for the estate; reserving the
payment of 100 moidores a year, to him (the old man) during his life,
and 50 moidores afterwards to his son for his life, which I had promised
them; and which the plantation was to make good as a rent charge. And
thus I have given the first part of a life of fortune and adventure, a
life of Providence's chequer-work, and of a variety which the world will
seldom be able to shew the like of: beginning foolishly, but closing
much more happily than any part of it ever gave me leave to much as
to hope for.
Any one would think, that in this state of complicated good fortune, I
was past running any more hazards, and so indeed I had been, if other
circumstances had concurred: but I was inured to a wandering life, had
no family, nor many relations; nor, however rich, had I contracted much
acquaintance; and though I had sold my estate in the Brasils, yet I
could not keep that country out of my head, and had a great mind to be
upon the wing again; especially I could not resist the strong
inclination I had to see my island, and to know if the poor Spaniards
were in being there; and how the rogues I left there had used them.
My true friend the widow earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so far
prevailed with me, that almost for seven years she prevented my running
abroad; during which time I took my two nephews, the children of one of
my brothers, into my care: the eldest having something of his own, I
bred up as a gentleman and gave him a settlement of some addition to his
estate, after my decease; the other I put out to a captain of a ship;
and after five years, finding him a sensible, bold, enterprising young
fellow, I put him into a good ship, and sent him to sea: and this young
fellow afterwards drew me in, as old as I was, to farther
adventures myself.
In the meantime, I in part settled myself here; for, first of all, I
married, and that not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction; and
had three children, two sons and one daughter: but my wife dying, and my
nephew coming home with good success from a voyage to Spain, my
inclination to go abroad, and his importunity, prevailed, and engaged me
to go in his ship as a private trader to the East Indies. This in the
year 1694.
In this voyage I visited my new colony in the island, saw my successors
the Spaniards, had the whole story of their lives, and of the villains I
left there; how at first they insulted the poor Spaniards, how they
afterwards agreed, disagreed, united, separated, and how at last the
Spaniards were obliged to use violence with them; how they were
subjected to the Spaniards; how honestly the Spaniards used them; an
history, if it were entered into, as full of variety and wonderful
accidents as my own part: particularly also as to their battles with the
Caribbeans, who landed several times upon the island, and as to the
improvement they made upon the island itself; and how five of them made
an attempt upon the main land, and brought away eleven men and five
women prisoners; by which, at my coming, I found about twenty young
children on the island.
Here I stayed about twenty days; left them supplies of all necessary
things, and particularly of arms, powder, shot, clothes, tools, and two
workmen, which I brought from England with me; viz. a carpenter and
a smith.
Besides this, I shared the lands into parts with them, reserved to
myself the property of the whole, but gave them such parts respectively,
as they agreed on; and, having settled all things with them, and engaged
them not to leave the place, I left them there.
From thence I touched at the Brasils, from whence I sent a bark, which I
bought there, with more people to the island; and in it, besides other
supplies, I sent seven women, being such as I found proper for service,
or for wives to such as would take them. As for the Englishmen, I
promised them to send them some women from England, with a good cargo of
necessaries, if they would apply themselves to planting; which I
afterwards could not perform: the fellows proved very honest and
diligent, after they were mastered, and had their properties set apart
for them, I sent them also from the Brasils five cows, three of them
being big with calf, some sheep, and some hogs, which, when I came
again, were considerably increased.
But all these things, with an account how three hundred Caribbees came
and invaded them, and ruined their plantations, and how they fought with
that whole number twice, and were at first defeated and some of them
killed; but at last a storm destroying their enemies' canoes, they
famished or destroyed almost all the rest, and renewed and recovered the
possession of their plantation, and still lived upon the island:--
All these things, with some very surprising incidents in some new
adventures of my own, for ten years more I may, perhaps, give a further
account of hereafter.
* * * * *
That homely proverb used on so many occasions in England, viz. "That
what is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh," was never more
verified than in the story of my Life. Any one would think, that after
thirty-five years affliction, and a variety of unhappy circumstances,
which few men, if any, ever went through before, and after near seven
years of peace and enjoyment in the fulness of all things; grown old,
and when, if ever, it might be allowed me to have had experience of
every state of middle life, and to know which was most adapted to make a
man completely happy; I say, after all this, any one would have thought
that the native propensity to rambling, which I gave an account of in my
first setting out into the world to have been so predominant in my
thoughts, should be worn out, the volatile part be fully evacuated, or
at least condensed, and I might at sixty-one years of age have been a
little inclined to stay at home, and have done venturing life and
fortune any more.
Nay farther, the common motive of foreign adventures was taken away in
me; for I had no fortune to make, I had nothing to seek: if I had gained
ten thousand pounds, I had been no richer; for I had already sufficient
for me, and for those I had to leave it to, and that I had was visibly
increasing; for having no great family, I could not spend the income of
what I had, unless I would set up for an expensive way of living, such
as a great family, servants, equipage, gaiety, and the like, which were
things I had no notion of, or inclination to; so that I had nothing
indeed to do, but to sit still, and fully enjoy what I had got, and see
it increase daily upon my hands.
Yet all these things, had no effect upon me, or at least not enough to
resist the strong inclination I had to go abroad again, which hung about
me like a chronical distemper; particularly the desire of seeing my new
plantation in the island, and the colony I left there, ran in my head
continually. I dreamed of it all night, and my imagination ran upon it
all day; it was uppermost in all my thoughts, and my fancy worked so
steadily and strongly upon it, that I talked of it in my sleep; in
short, nothing could remove it out of my mind; it even broke so
violently into all my discourses, that it made my conversation tiresome;
for I could talk of nothing else, all my discourse ran into it, even to
impertinence, and I saw it myself.
I have often heard persons of good judgment say, that all the stir
people make in the world about ghosts and apparitions, is owing to the
strength of imagination, and the powerful operation of fancy in their
minds; that there is no such thing as a spirit appearing, or a ghost
walking, and the like; that people's poring affectionately upon the past
conversation of their deceased friends so realizes it to them, that they
are capable of fancying upon some extraordinary circumstances that they
see them, talk to them, and are answered by them, when, in truth, there
is nothing but shadow and vapour in the thing; and they really know
nothing of the matter.
For my part, I know not to this hour whether there are any such things
as real apparitions, spectres, or walking of people after they are dead,
or whether there is any thing in the stories they tell us of that kind,
more than the product of vapours, sick minds, and wandering fancies. But
this I know, that my imagination worked up to such a height, and brought
me into such excess of vapours, or what else I may call it, that I
actually supposed myself oftentimes upon the spot, at my old castle
behind the trees, saw my old Spaniard, Friday's father, and the
reprobate sailors whom I left upon the island; nay, I fancied I talked
with them, and looked at them so steadily, though I was broad awake, as
at persons just before me; and this I did till I often frightened myself
with the images my fancy represented to me: one time in my sleep I had
the villany of the three pirate sailors so lively related to me, by the
first Spaniard and Friday's father, that it was surprising; they told me
how they barbarously attempted to murder all the Spaniards, and that
they set fire to the provisions they had laid up, on purpose to distress
and starve them; things that I had never heard of, and that were yet all
of them true in fact; but it was so warm in my imagination, and so
realized to me, that to the hour I saw them, I could not be persuaded
but that it was or would be true; also how I resented it when the
Spaniard complained to me, and how I brought them to justice, tried them
before me, and ordered them all three to be hanged. What there was
really in this, shall be seen in its place; for however I came to form
such things in my dream, and what secret converse of spirits injected
it, yet there was, I say, very much of it true. I own, that this dream
had nothing literally and specifically true; but the general part was so
true, the base and villanous behaviour of these three hardened rogues
was such, and had been so much worse than all I can describe, that the
dream had too much similitude of the fact; and as I would afterwards
have punished them severely, so if I had hanged them all, I had been
much in the right, and should have been justifiable both by the laws of
God and man.
But to return to my story.--In this kind of temper I had lived some
years, I had no enjoyment of my life, no pleasant hours, no agreeable
diversion but what had something or other of this in it; so that my
wife, who saw my mind so wholly bent upon it, told me very seriously one
night, that she believed there was some secret powerful impulse of
Providence upon me, which had determined me to go thither again; and
that she found nothing hindered my going, but my being engaged to a wife
and children. She told me, that it was true she could not think of
parting with me; but as she was assured, that if she was dead it would
be the first thing I would do; so, as it seemed to her that the thing
was determined above, she would not be the only obstruction; for if I
thought fit, and resolved to go--Here she found me very intent upon her
words, and that I looked very earnestly at her; so that it a little
disordered her, and she stopped. I asked her why she did not go on, and
say out what she was going to say? But I perceived her heart was too
full, and some tears stood in her eyes: "Speak out, my dear," said I;
"are you willing I should go?"--"No," says she, very affectionately, "I
am far from willing: but if you are resolved to go," says she, "and
rather than I will be the only hindrance, I will go with you; for though
I think it a preposterous thing for one of your years, and in your
condition, yet if it must be," said she again, weeping, "I won't leave
you; for if it be of Heaven, you must do it; there is no resisting it;
and if Heaven makes it your duty to go, he will also make it mine to go
with you, or otherwise dispose of me, that I may not obstruct it."
This affectionate behaviour of my wife brought me a little out of the
vapours, and I began to consider what I was doing; I corrected my
wandering fancy, and began to argue with myself sedately, what business
I had, after threescore years, and after such a life of tedious
sufferings and disasters, and closed in so happy and easy a manner, I
say, what business had I to rush into new hazards, and put myself upon
adventures, fit only for youth and poverty to run into?
With those thoughts, I considered my new engagement; that I had a wife,
one child born, and my wife then great with child of another; that I had
all the world could give me and had no need to seek hazards for gain;
that I was declining in years, and ought to think rather of leaving what
I had gained, than of seeking to increase it; that as to what my wife
had said, of its being an impulse from Heaven, and that it should be my
duty to go, I had no notion of that; so after many of these cogitations,
I struggled with the power of my imagination, reasoned myself out of it,
_as I believe people may always do in like cases, if they will_; and, in
a word, I conquered it; composed myself with such arguments as occurred
to my thoughts, and which my present condition furnished me plentifully
with; and particularly, as the most effectual method, I resolved to
divert myself with other things, and to engage in some business that
might effectually tie me up from any more excursions of this kind; for I
found the thing return upon me chiefly when I was idle, had nothing to
do, or any thing of moment immediately before me.
To this purpose I bought a little farm in the county of Bedford, and
resolved to remove myself thither. I had a little convenient house upon
it, and the land about it I found was capable of great improvement, and
that it was many ways suited to my inclination, which delighted in
cultivating, managing, planting, and improving of land; and
particularly, being an inland country, I was removed from conversing
among ships, sailors, and things relating to the remote part of
the world.
In a word, I went down to my farm, settled my family, bought me ploughs,
harrows, a cart, waggon, horses, cows, sheep; and setting seriously to
work, became in one half year a mere country gentleman; my thoughts were
entirely taken up in managing my servants, cultivating the ground,
enclosing, planting, &c.; and I lived, as I thought, the most agreeable
life that nature was capable of directing, or that a man always bred to
misfortunes was capable of being retreated to.
I farmed upon my own land, I had no rent to pay, was limited by no
articles; I could pull up or cut down as I pleased; what I planted was
for myself, and what I improved, was for my family; and having thus left
off the thoughts of wandering, I had not the least discomfort in any
part of my life, as to this world. Now I thought indeed, that I enjoyed
the middle state of life which my father so earnestly recommended to me,
a kind of heavenly life, something like what is described by the poet
upon the subject of a country life:
Free from vices, free from care,
Age has no pains, and youth no snare.
But in the middle of all this felicity, one blow from unforeseen
Providence unhinged me at once; and not only made a breach upon me,
inevitable and incurable, but drove me, by its consequence, upon a deep
relapse into the wandering disposition; which, as I may say, being born
in my very blood, soon recovered its hold of me, and, like the returns
of a violent distemper, came on with an irresistible force upon me; so
that nothing could make any more impression upon me. This blow was the
loss of my wife.
It is not my business here to write an elegy upon my wife, to give a
character of her particular virtues, and make my court to the sex by the
flattery of a funeral sermon. She was, in a few words, the stay of all
my affairs, the centre of all my enterprises, the engine that by her
prudence reduced me to that happy compass I was in, from the most
extravagant and ruinous project that fluttered in my head as above; and
did more to guide my rambling genius, than a mother's tears, a father's
instructions, a friend's counsel, or all my own reasoning powers could
do. I was happy in listening to her tears, and in being moved by her
entreaties, and to the last degree desolate and dislocated in the world
by the loss of her.
When she was gone the world looked awkwardly round me, I was as much a
stranger in it in my thoughts as I was in the Brasils when I went first
on shore there; and as much alone, except as to the assistance of
servants, as I was in my island. I knew neither what to do, or what not
to do; I saw the world busy round me, one part labouring for bread, and
the other part squandering in vile excesses or empty pleasures, equally
miserable, because the end they proposed still fled from them; for the
men of pleasure every day surfeited of their vice, and heaped up work
for sorrow and repentance, and the men of labour spent their strength in
daily strugglings for bread to maintain the vital strength they laboured
with; so living in a daily circulation of sorrow, living but to work,
and working but to live, as if daily bread were the only end of a
wearisome life, and a wearisome life the only occasion of daily bread.
This put me in mind of the life I lived in my kingdom the island, where
I suffered no more corn to grow, because I did not want it; and bred no
more goats, because I had no more use for them; where the money lay in
the drawer till it grew mildewed, and had scarce the favour to be looked
upon in twenty years.
All these things, had I improved them as I ought to have done, and as
reason and religion had dictated to me, would have taught me to search
farther than human enjoyments for a full felicity, and that there was
something which certainly was the reason and end of life, superior to
all these things, and which was either to be possessed, or at least
hoped for, on this side the grave.
But my sage counsellor was gone, I was like a ship without a pilot, that
could only run before the wind; my thoughts run all away again into the
old affair, my head was quite turned with the whimsies of foreign
adventures; and all the pleasing innocent amusements of my farm and my
garden, my cattle and my family, which before entirely possessed me,
were nothing to me, had no relish, and were like music to one that has
no ear, or food to one that has no taste: in a word, I resolved to leave
off housekeeping, let my farm, and return to London; and in a few months
after I did so.
When I came to London I was still as uneasy as before; I had no relish
to the place, no employment in it, nothing to do but to saunter about
like an idle person, of whom it may be said, he is perfectly useless in
God's creation, and it is not one farthing matter to the rest of his
kind whether he be dead or alive. This also was the thing which of all
circumstances of life was the most my aversion, who had been all my days
used to an active life; and I would often say to myself, "A state of
idleness is the very dregs of life;" and indeed I thought I was much
more suitably employed when I was twenty-six days making me a
deal board.
It was now the beginning of the year 1693, when my nephew, whom, as I
have observed before, I had brought up to the sea, and had made him
commander of a ship, was come home from a short voyage to Bilboa, being
the first he had made; he came to me, and told me, that some merchants
of his acquaintance had been proposing to him to go a voyage for them to
the East Indies and to China, as private traders; "And now, uncle," says
he, "if you will go to sea with me, I'll engage to land you upon your
old habitation in the island, for we are to touch at the Brasils."
Nothing can be a greater demonstration of a future state, and of the
existence of an invisible world, than the concurrence of second causes
with the ideas of things which we form in our minds, perfectly reserved,
and not communicated to any in the world.
My nephew knew nothing how far my distemper of wandering was returned
upon me, and I knew nothing of what he had in his thoughts to say, when
that very morning, before he came to me, I had, in a great deal of
confusion of thought, and revolving every part of my circumstances in my
mind, come to this resolution, viz. that I would go to Lisbon, and
consult with my old sea-captain; and so, if it was rational and
practicable, I would go and see the island again, and see what was
become of my people there. I had pleased myself also with the thoughts
of peopling the place, and carrying inhabitants from hence, getting a
patent for the possession, and I know not what; when in the middle of
all this, in comes my nephew, as I have said, with his project of
carrying me thither, in his way to the East Indies.
I paused awhile at his words, and looking steadily at him, "What devil,"
said I, "sent you of this unlucky errand?" My nephew startled, as if he
had been frighted at first; but perceiving I was not much displeased
with the proposal, he recovered himself. "I hope it may not be an
unlucky proposal, Sir," says he; "I dare say you would be pleased to see
your new colony there, where you once reigned with more felicity than
most of your brother-monarchs in the world."
In a word, the scheme hit so exactly with my temper, that is to say,
with the prepossession I was under, and of which I have said so much,
that I told him, in a few words, if he agreed with the merchants I would
go with him: but I told him I would not promise to go any farther than
my own island. "Why, Sir," says he, "you don't want to be left there
again, I hope?"--"Why," said I, "can you not take me up again in your
return?" He told me, it could not be possible that the merchants would
allow him to come that way with a loaden ship of such value, it being a
month's sail out of his way, and might be three or four: "Besides, Sir,
if I should miscarry," said he, "and not return at all, then you would
be just reduced to the condition you were in before."
This was very rational; but we both found out a remedy for it, which was
to carry a framed sloop on board the ship, which, being taken in pieces
and shipped on board the ship, might, by the help of some carpenters,
whom we agreed to carry with us, be set up again in the island, and
finished, fit to go to sea in a few days.
I was not long resolving; for indeed the importunities of my nephew
joined in so effectually with my inclination, that nothing could oppose
me: on the other hand, my wife being dead, I had nobody concerned
themselves so much for me, as to persuade me one way or other, except my
ancient good friend the widow, who earnestly struggled with me to
consider my years, my easy circumstances, and the needless hazard of a
long voyage; and, above all, my young children: but it was all to no
purpose; I had an irresistible desire to the voyage; and I told her I
thought there was something so uncommon in the impressions I had upon
my mind for the voyage, that it would be a kind of resisting Providence,
if I should attempt to stay at home; after which she ceased her
expostulations, and joined with me, not only in making provision for my
voyage, but also in settling my family affairs in my absence, and
providing for the education of my children.
In order to this I made my will, and settled the estate I had in such a
manner for my children, and placed in such hands, that I was perfectly
easy and satisfied they would have justice done them, whatever might
befal me; and for their education, I left it wholly to my widow, with a
sufficient maintenance to herself for her care: all which she richly
deserved; for no mother could have taken more care in their education,
or understood it better; and as she lived till I came home, I also lived
to thank her for it.
My nephew was ready to sail about the beginning of January 1694--5, and
I with my man Friday went on board in the Downs the 8th, having, besides
that sloop which I mentioned above, a very considerable cargo of all
kinds of necessary things for my colony, which if I did not find in good
condition, I resolved to leave so.
First, I carried with me some servants, whom I purposed to place there
as inhabitants, or at least to set on work there upon my own account
while I stayed, and either to leave them there, or carry them forward,
as they should appear willing; particularly, I carried two carpenters, a
smith, and a very handy, ingenious fellow, who was a cooper by trade,
but was also a general mechanic; for he was dexterous at making wheels,
and hand-mills to grind corn, was a good turner, and a good potmaker; he
also made any thing that was proper to make of earth, or of wood; in a
word, we called him our Jack of all Trades.
With these I carried a tailor, who had offered himself to go passenger
to the East Indies with my nephew, but afterwards consented to stay on
our new plantation, and proved a most necessary handy fellow as could
be desired, in many other businesses besides that of this trade; for, as
I observed formerly, necessity arms us for all employments.
My cargo, as near as I can recollect, for I have not kept an account of
the particulars, consisted of a sufficient quantity of linen, and some
thin English stuffs for clothing the Spaniards that I expected to find
there, and enough of them as by my calculation might comfortably supply
them for seven years: if I remember right, the materials which I carried
for clothing them, with gloves, hats, shoes, stockings, and all such
things as they could want for wearing, amounted to above two hundred
pounds, including some beds, bedding, and household-stuff, particularly
kitchen utensils, with pots, kettles, pewter, brass, &c. besides near a
hundred pounds more in iron-work, nails, tools of every kind, staples,
hooks, hinges, and every necessary thing I could think of.
I carried also a hundred spare arms, muskets, and fuzees, besides some
pistols, a considerable quantity of shot of all sizes, three or four
tons of lead, and two pieces of brass cannon; and because I knew not
what time and what extremities I was providing for, I carried an hundred
barrels of powder, besides swords, cutlasses, and the iron part of some
pikes and halberts; so that, in short, we had a large magazine of all
sorts of stores; and I made my nephew carry two small quarter-deck guns
more than he wanted for his ship, to leave behind if there was occasion;
that when they came there we might build a fort, and man it against all
sorts of enemies: and indeed I at first thought there would be need
enough of it all, and much more, if we hoped to maintain our possession
of the island, as shall be seen in the course of the story.
I had not such bad luck in this voyage as I had been used to meet with;
and therefore shall have the less occasion to interrupt the reader, who
perhaps may be impatient to hear how matters went with my colony; yet
some odd accidents, cross winds, and bad weather happened on this first
setting out, which made the voyage longer than I expected it at first;
and I, who had never made but one voyage, viz. my first voyage to
Guinea, in which I might be said to come back again as the voyage was at
first designed, began to think the same ill fate still attended me; and
that I was born to be never contented with being on shore, and yet to be
always unfortunate at sea.
Contrary winds first put us to the northward, and we were obliged to put
in at Galway, in Ireland, where we lay wind bound two-and-thirty days;
but we had this satisfaction with the disaster, that provisions were
here, exceeding cheap, and in the utmost plenty; so that while we lay
here we never touched the ship's stores, but rather added to them: here
also I took several hogs, and two cows with their calves, which I
resolved, if I had a good passage, to put on shore in my island; but we
found occasion to dispose otherwise of them.
We set out the 5th of February from Ireland, and had a very fair gale of
wind for some days; as I remember, it might be about the 20th of
February in the evening late, when the mate having the watch, came into
the round-house, and told us he saw a flash of fire, and heard a gun
fired; and while he was telling us of it, a boy came in, and told us the
boatswain heard another. This made us all run out upon the quarter-deck,
where for a while we heard nothing, but in a few minutes we saw a very
great light, and found that there was some very terrible fire at a
distance. Immediately we had recourse to our reckonings, in which we all
agreed that there could be no land that way in which the fire shewed
itself, no, not for five hundred leagues, for it appeared at W.N.W. Upon
this we concluded it must be some ship on fire at sea; and as by our
hearing the noise of guns just before, we concluded it could not be far
off, we stood directly towards it, and were presently satisfied we
should discover it, because the farther we sailed the greater the light
appeared, though the weather being hazy we could not perceive any thing
but the light for a while; in about half an hour's sailing, the wind
being fair for us, though not much of it, and the weather clearing up a
little, we could plainly discern that it was a great ship on fire in the
middle of the sea.
I was most sensibly touched with this disaster, though not at all
acquainted with the persons engaged in it; I presently recollected my
former circumstances, in what condition I was in when taken up by the
Portugal captain; and how much more deplorable the circumstances of the
poor creatures belonging to this ship must be if they had no other ship
in company with them: upon this I immediately ordered that five guns
should be fired, one soon after another, that, if possible, we might
give notice to them that there was help for them at hand, and that they
might endeavour to save themselves in their boat; for though we could
see the flame in the ship, yet they, it being night, could see
nothing of us.
We lay by some time upon this, only driving as the burning ship drove,
waiting for daylight; when on a sudden, to our great terror, though we
had reason to expect it, the ship blew up in the air, and immediately
sunk. This was terrible, and indeed an afflicting sight, for the sake of
the poor men, who, I concluded, must be either all destroyed in the
ship, or be in the utmost distress in their boats in the middle of the
ocean, which, at present, by reason it was dark, I could not see:
however, to direct them as well as I could, I caused lights to be hung
out in all the parts of the ship where we could, and which we had
lanterns for, and kept firing guns all the night long; letting them know
by this, that there was a ship not far off.
About eight o'clock in the morning we discovered the ship's boats, by
the help of our perspective-glasses; and found there were two of them,
both thronged with people, and deep in the water; we perceived they
rowed, the wind being against them; that they saw our ship, and did the
utmost to make us see them.
We immediately spread our ancient, to let them know we saw them; and
hung a waft out, as a signal for them to come on board; and then made
more sail, standing directly to them. In a little more than half an hour
we came up with them, and in a word took them all in, being no less than
sixty-four men, women, and children; for there were a great many
passengers.
Upon the whole, we found it was a French merchant-ship of three hundred
tons, homeward-bound from Quebec, in the river of Canada. The master
gave us a long account of the distress of his ship, how the fire began
in the steerage by the negligence of the steersman; but, on his crying
out for help, was, as everybody thought, entirely put out: but they soon
found that some sparks of the first fire had gotten into some part of
the ship, so difficult to come at, that they could not effectually
quench it; and afterwards getting in between the timbers, and within the
ceiling of the ship, it proceeded into the hold, and mastered all the
skill and all the application they were able to exert.
They had no more to do then but to get into their boats, which, to their
great comfort, were pretty large; being their long-boat, and a great
shallop, besides a small skiff, which was of no great service to them,
other than to get some fresh water and provisions into her, after they
had secured themselves from the fire. They had indeed small hope of
their lives by getting into these boats at that distance from any land;
only, as they said well, that they were escaped from the fire, and had a
possibility, that some ship might happen to be at sea, and might take
them in. They had sails, oars, and a compass; and were preparing to make
the best of their way to Newfoundland, the wind blowing pretty fair; for
it blew an easy gale at S.E. by E. They had as much provisions and
water, as, with sparing it so as to be next door to starving, might
support them about twelve days; in which, if they had no bad weather,
and no contrary winds, the captain said, he hoped he might get to the
banks of Newfoundland, and might perhaps take some fish to sustain them
till they might go on shore. But there were so many chances against them
in all these cases; such as storms to overset and founder them; rains
and cold to benumb and perish their limbs; contrary winds to keep them
out and starve them; that it must have been next to miraculous if they
had escaped.
In the midst of their consultations, every one being hopeless, and ready
to despair, the captain with tears in his eyes told me, they were on a
sudden surprised with the joy of hearing a gun fire, and after that four
more; these were the five guns which I caused to be fired at first
seeing the light: this revived their hearts, and gave them the notice
which, as above, I designed it should, viz. that there was a ship at
hand for their help.
It was upon the hearing these guns, that they took down their masts and
sails; and the sound coming from the windward, they resolved to lie by
till morning. Some time after this, hearing no more guns, they fired
three muskets, one a considerable while after another; but these, the
wind being contrary, we never heard.
Some time after that again, they were still more agreeably surprised
with seeing our lights, and hearing the guns, which, as I have said, I
caused to be fired all the rest of the night: this set them to work with
their oars to keep their boats ahead, at least that we might the sooner
come up with them; and at last, to their inexpressible joy, they found
we saw them.
It is impossible for me to express the several gestures, the strange
ecstasies, the variety of postures, which these poor delivered people
ran into, to express the joy of their souls at so unexpected a
deliverance; grief and fear are easily described; sighs, tears, groans,
and a very few motions of head and hands, make up the sum of its
variety: but an excess of joy, a surprise of joy, has a thousand
extravagances in it; there were some in tears, some raging and tearing
themselves, as if they had been in the greatest agonies of sorrow; some
stark raving and downright lunatic; some ran about the ship stamping
with their feet, others wringing their hands; some were dancing, several
singing, some laughing, more crying; many quite dumb, not able to speak
a word; others sick and vomiting, several swooning, and ready to faint;
and a few were crossing themselves and giving God thanks.
I would not wrong them neither; there might be many that were thankful
afterward; but the passion was too strong for them at first, and they
were not able to master it; they were thrown into ecstasies and a kind
of frenzy, and so there were but a very few who were composed and
serious in their joy.
Perhaps also the case may have some addition to it, from the particular
circumstance of the nation they belonged to; I mean the French, whose
temper is allowed to be more volatile, more passionate, and more
sprightly, and their spirits more fluid, than of other nations. I am not
philosopher to determine the cause, but nothing I had ever seen before
came up to it: the ecstasies poor Friday, my trusty savage, was in, when
he found his father in the boat, came the nearest to it; and the
surprise of the master, and his two companions, whom I delivered from
the two villains that set them on shore in the island, came a little way
towards it; but nothing was to compare to this, either that I saw in
Friday, or any where else in my life.
It is farther observable, that these extravagances did not shew
themselves in that different manner I have mentioned, in different
persons only: but all the variety would appear in a short succession of
moments, in one and the same person. A man that we saw this minute dumb,
and, as it were, stupid and confounded, should the next minute be
dancing and hallooing like an antic; and the next moment a-tearing his
hair, or pulling his clothes to pieces, and stamping them under his feet
like a madman; a few minutes after that, we should have him all in
tears, then sick, then swooning; and had not immediate help been had,
would in a few moments more have been dead; and thus it was, not with
one or two, or ten or twenty, but with the greatest part of them; and,
if I remember right, our surgeon was obliged to let above thirty of
them blood.
There were two priests among them, one an old man, and the other a young
man; and that which was strangest was, that the oldest man was
the worst.
As soon as he set his foot on board our ship, and saw himself safe, he
dropped down stone dead, to all appearance; not the least sign of life
could be perceived in him; our surgeon immediately applied proper
remedies to recover him; and was the only man in the ship that believed
he was not dead: and at length he opened a vein in his arm, having first
chafed and rubbed the part, so as to warm it as much as possible: upon
this the blood, which only dropped at first, flowed something freely; in
three minutes after the man opened his eyes; and about a quarter of an
hour after that he spoke, grew better, and, in a little time, quite
well; after the blood was stopped he walked about, told us he was
perfectly well, took a dram of cordial which the surgeon gave him, and
was, what we called, come to himself; about a quarter of an hour after
this they came running into the cabin to the surgeon, who was bleeding a
French woman that had fainted, and told him the priest was gone stark
mad. It seems he had begun to revolve the change of his circumstances in
his mind, and this put him into an ecstasy of joy: his spirits whirled
about faster than the vessels could convey them; the blood grew hot and
feverish; and the man was as fit for Bedlam as any creature that ever
was in it; the surgeon would not bleed him again in that condition, but
gave him something to doze and put him to sleep, which, after some time,
operated upon him, and he waked next morning perfectly composed
and well.
The younger priest behaved himself with great command of his passion,
and was really an example of a serious, well-governed mind; at his first
coming on board the ship, he threw himself flat on his face,
prostrating himself in thankfulness for his deliverance; in which I
unhappily and unseasonably disturbed him, really thinking he had been in
a swoon: but he spoke calmly; thanked me; told me he was giving God
thanks for his deliverance; begged me to leave him a few moments, and
that next to his Maker he would give me thanks also.
I was heartily sorry that I disturbed him, and not only left him, but
kept others from interrupting him also; he continued in that posture
about three minutes, or a little more, after I left him, then came to
me, as he had said he would, and with a great deal of seriousness and
affection, but with tears in his eyes, thanked me that had, under God,
given him and so many miserable creatures their lives: I told him, I had
no room to move him to thank God for it rather than me; for I had seen
that he had done that already: but I added, that it was nothing but what
reason and humanity dictated to all men, and that we had as much reason
as he to give thanks to God, who had blessed us so far as to make us the
instruments of his mercy to so many of his creatures.
After this the young priest applied himself to his country-folks;
laboured to compose them; persuaded, entreated, argued, reasoned with
them, and did his utmost to keep them within the exercise of their
reason; and with some he had success, though others were, for a time,
out of all government of themselves.
I cannot help committing this to writing, as perhaps it may be useful to
those into whose hands it may fall, in the guiding themselves in all the
extravagances of their passions; for if an excess of joy can carry men
out to such a length beyond the reach of their reason, what will not the
extravagances of anger, rage, and a provoked mind, carry us to? And,
indeed, here I saw reason for keeping an exceeding watch over our
passions of every kind, as well those of joy and satisfaction, as those
of sorrow and anger.
We were something disordered by these extravagances among our new
guests for the first day; but when they had been retired, lodgings
provided for them as well as our ship would allow, and they had slept
heartily, as most of them did, being fatigued and frightened, they were
quite another sort of people the next day.
Nothing of good manners, or civil acknowledgments for the kindness shown
them, was wanting; the French, it is known, are naturally apt enough to
exceed that way. The captain and one of the priests came to me the next
day; and, desiring to speak with me and my nephew, the commander, began
to consult with us what should be done with them; and first they told
us, that as we had saved their lives, so all they had was little enough
for a return to us for the kindness received. The captain said, they had
saved some money, and some things of value in their boats, catched
hastily out of the flames: and if we would accept it, they were ordered
to make an offer of it all to us; they only desired to be set on shore
somewhere in our way, where, if possible, they might get a passage
to France.
My nephew was for accepting their money at first word, and to consider
what to do with them afterwards; but I overruled him in that part; for I
knew what it was to be set on shore in a strange country; and if the
Portugal captain that took me up at sea had served me so, and took all I
had for my deliverance, I must have starved, or have been as much a
slave at the Brasils as I had been at Barbary, the being sold to a
Mahometan only excepted; and perhaps a Portuguese is not a much better
master than a Turk, if not, in some cases, a much worse.
I therefore told the French captain that we had taken them up in their
distress, it was true; but that it was our duty to do so, as we were
fellow-creatures, and as we would desire to be so delivered, if we were
in the like or any other extremity; that we had done nothing for them
but what we believed they would have done for us if we had been in their
case and they in ours; but that we took them up to serve them, not to
plunder them; and that it would be a most barbarous thing, to take that
little from them which they had saved out of the fire, and then set them
on shore and leave them; that this would be first to save them from
death and then kill them ourselves; save them from drowning and then
abandon them to starving; and therefore I would not let the least thing
be taken from them: as to setting them on shore, I told them indeed that
was an exceeding difficulty to us, for that the ship was bound to the
East Indies; and though we were driven out of our course to the westward
a very great way, which perhaps was directed by Heaven on purpose for
their deliverance, yet it was impossible for us wilfully to change our
voyage on this particular account; nor could my nephew, the captain,
answer it to the freighters, with whom he was under charter-party to
pursue his voyage by the way of Brasil; and all I knew he could do for
them was, to put ourselves in the way of meeting with other ships
homeward-bound from the West Indies, and get them passage, if possible,
to England or France.
The first part of the proposal was so generous and kind, they could not
but be very thankful for it; but they were in a great consternation,
especially the passengers, at the notion of being carried away to the
East Indies: they then entreated me, that seeing I was driven so far to
the westward before I met with them, I would at least keep on the same
course to the banks of Newfoundland, where it was possible I might meet
some ship or sloop that they might hire to carry them back to Canada,
from whence they came.
I thought this was but a reasonable request on their part, and therefore
I inclined to agree to it; for indeed I considered, that to carry this
whole company to the East Indies would not only be an intolerable
severity to the poor people, but would be ruining our voyage by
devouring all our provisions; so I thought it no breach of
charter-party, but what an unforeseen accident made absolutely necessary
to us; and in which no one could say we were to blame; for the laws of
God and nature would have forbid, that we should refuse to take up two
boats full of people in such a distressed condition; and the nature of
the thing, as well respecting ourselves as the poor people, obliged us
to see them on shore somewhere or other, for their deliverance; so I
consented that we would carry them to Newfoundland, if wind and weather
would permit; and, if not, that I would carry them to Martinico in the
West Indies.
The wind continued fresh easterly, but the weather pretty good; and as
it had blowed continually in the points between N.E. and S.E. a long
time, we missed several opportunities of sending them to France; for we
met several ships bound to Europe, whereof two were French, from St.
Christopher's; but they had been so long beating up against the wind,
that they durst take in no passengers for fear of wanting provisions for
the voyage, as well for themselves as for those they should take in; so
we were obliged to go on. It was about a week after this, that we made
the banks of Newfoundland, where, to shorten my story, we put all our
French people on board a bark, which they hired at sea there, to put
them on shore, and afterwards to carry them to France, if they could get
provisions to victual themselves with: when, I say, all the French went
on shore, I should remember that the young priest I spoke of, hearing we
were bound to the East Indies, desired to go the voyage with us, and to
be set on shore on the coast of Coromandel: I readily agreed to that;
for I wonderfully liked the man, and had very good reason, as will
appear afterwards; also four of the seamen entered themselves in our
ship, and proved very useful fellows.
From hence we directed our course for the West Indies, steering away S.
and S. by E. for about twenty days together, sometimes little or no wind
at all, when we met with another subject for our humanity to work upon,
almost as deplorable as that before.
It was in the latitude of 27 degrees 5 minutes N. and the 19th day of
March 1684--5, when we espied a sail, our course S.E. and by S. We soon
perceived it was a large vessel, and that she bore up to us; but could
not at first know what to make of her, till, after coming a little
nearer, we found she had lost her main-topmast, fore-mast, and bowsprit;
and presently she fires a gun as a signal of distress. The weather was
pretty good, wind at N.N.W. a fresh gale, and we soon came to speak
with her.
We found her a ship of Bristol bound home from Barbadoes, but had been
blown out of the road at Barbadoes, a few days before she was ready to
sail, by a terrible hurricane, while the captain and chief mate were
both gone on shore; so that beside the terror of the storm, they were
but in an indifferent case for good artists to bring the ship home; they
had been already nine weeks at sea, and had met with another terrible
storm after the hurricane was over, which had blown them quite out of
their knowledge to the westward, and in which they had lost their masts,
as above; they told us, they expected to have seen the Bahama Islands,
but were then driven away again to the south-east by a strong gale of
wind at N.N.W. the same that blew now, and having no sails to work the
ship with, but a main-course, and a kind of square sail upon a
jury-foremast, which they had set up, they could not lie near the wind,
but were endeavouring to stand away for the Canaries.
But that which was worst of all, was, that they were almost starved for
want of provisions, besides the fatigues they had undergone; their bread
and flesh was quite gone, they had not an ounce left in the ship, and
had had none for eleven days; the only relief they had, was, their water
was not all spent, and they had about half a barrel of flour left; they
had sugar enough; some succades or sweetmeats they had at first, but
they were devoured; and they had seven casks of rum.
There was a youth and his mother, and a maid-servant, on board, who were
going passengers, and thinking the ship was ready to sail, unhappily
came on board the evening before the hurricane began; and having no
provisions of their own left, they were in a more deplorable condition
than the rest; for the seamen, being reduced to such an extreme
necessity themselves, had no compassion, we may be sure, for the poor
passengers; and they were indeed in a condition that their misery is
very hard to describe.
I had perhaps not known this part, if my curiosity had not led me, the
weather being fair, and the wind abated, to go on board the ship: the
second mate, who upon this occasion commanded the ship, had been on
board our ship; and he told me indeed, that they had three passengers in
the great cabin, that they were in a deplorable condition; "Nay," says
he, "I believe they are dead, for I have heard nothing of them for above
two days; and I was afraid to inquire after them," said he, "for I had
nothing to relieve them with."
We immediately applied ourselves to give them what relief we could
spare; and indeed I had so far overruled things with my nephew, that I
would have victualled them, though we had gone away to Virginia, or any
part of the coast of America, to have supplied ourselves; but there was
no necessity for that.
But now they were in a new danger, for they were afraid of eating too
much, even of that little we gave them. The mate or commander brought
six men with him in his boat, but these poor wretches looked like
skeletons, and were so weak they could hardly sit to their oars; the
mate himself was very ill, and half-starved, for he declared he had
reserved nothing from the men, and went share and share alike with them
in every bit they ate.
I cautioned him to eat sparingly, but set meat before him immediately,
and he had not eaten three mouthfuls before he began to be sick, and out
of order; so he stopped awhile, and our surgeon mixed him up something
with some broth, which he said would be to him both food and physic; and
after he had taken it, he grew better: in the meantime I forgot not the
men; I ordered victuals to be given them, and the poor creatures rather
devoured than ate it; they were so exceeding hungry, that they were in a
manner ravenous, and had no command of themselves; and two of them ate
with so much greediness, that they were in danger of their lives the
next morning.
The sight of these people's distress was very moving to me, and brought
to mind what I had a terrible respect of at my first coming on shore in
my island, where I had not the least mouthful of food, or any hopes of
procuring it; besides the hourly apprehension I had of being made the
food of other creatures. But all the while the mate was thus relating to
me the miserable condition of the ship's company, I could not put out of
my thought the story he had told me of the three poor creatures in the
great cabin; viz. the mother, her son, and the maid-servant, whom he had
heard nothing of for two or three days; and whom he seemed to confess
they had wholly neglected, their own extremities being so great; by
which I understood that they had really given them no food at all; and
that therefore they must be perished, and be all lying dead perhaps on
the floor or deck of the cabin.
As I therefore kept the mate, whom we then called captain, on board with
his men to refresh them, so I also forgot not the starving crew that
were left on board, but ordered my own boat to go on board the ship and
with my mate and twelve men to carry them a sack of bread, and four or
five pieces of beef to boil. Our surgeon charged the men to cause the
meat to be boiled while they stayed, and to keep guard in the cook-room,
to prevent the men's taking it to eat raw, or taking it out of the pot
before it was well boiled, and then to give every man but a little at a
time; and by this caution he preserved the men, who would otherwise have
killed themselves with that very food that was given them on purpose to
save their lives.
At the same time I ordered the mate to go into the great cabin, and see
what condition the poor passengers were in, and, if they were alive, to
comfort them and give them what refreshment was proper; and the surgeon
gave him a large pitcher with some of the prepared broth which he had
given the mate that was on board, and which he did not question would
restore them gradually.
I was not satisfied with this; but, as I said above, having a great mind
to see the scene of misery, which I knew the ship itself would present
me with, in a more lively manner than I could have it by report, I took
the captain of the ship, as we now called him, with me, and went myself
a little after in their boat.
I found the poor men on board almost in a tumult to get the victuals out
of the boiler before it was ready; but my mate observed his order, and
kept a good guard at the cook-room door; and the man he placed there,
after using all possible persuasion to have patience, kept them off by
force: however, he caused some biscuit cakes to be dipped in the pot,
and softened them with the liquor of the meat, which they call brewis,
and gave every one one, to stay their stomachs, and told them it was for
their own safety that he was obliged to give them but little at a time.
But it was all in vain, and had I not come on board, and their own
commander and officers with me, and with good words, and some threats
also of giving them no more, I believe they would have broke into the
cook-room by force, and torn the meat out of the furnace; for words
indeed are of a very small force to an hungry belly: however, we
pacified them, and fed them gradually and cautiously for the first time,
and the next time gave them more, and at last filled their bellies, and
the men did well enough.
But the misery of the poor passengers in the cabin was of another
nature, and far beyond the rest; for as, first, the ship's company had
so little for themselves, it was but too true, that they had at first
kept them very low, and at last totally neglected them; so that for six
or seven days, it might be said, they had really had no food at all, and
for several days before, very little.
The poor mother, who, as the first mate reported, was a woman of good
sense and good breeding, had spared all she could get so affectionately
for her son, that at last she entirely sunk under it; and when the mate
of our ship went in, she sat upon the floor or deck, with her back up
against the sides, between two chairs, which were lashed fast, and her
head sunk in between her shoulders, like a corpse, though not quite
dead. My mate said all he could to revive and encourage her, and with a
spoon put some broth into her mouth; she opened her lips, and lifted up
one hand, but could not speak: yet she understood what he said, and made
signs to him, intimating, that it was too late for her; but pointed to
her child, as if she would have said, they should take care of him.
However, the mate, who was exceedingly moved with the sight, endeavoured
to get some of the broth into her mouth; and, as he said, got two or
three spoonfuls down, though I question whether he could be sure of it
or not; but it was too late, and she died the same night.
The youth, who was preserved at the price of his most affectionate
mother's life, was not so far gone; yet he lay in a cabin-bed as one
stretched out, with hardly any life left in him; he had a piece of an
old glove in his mouth, having eaten up the rest of it; however, being
young, and having more strength than his mother, the mate got something
down his throat, and he began sensibly to revive, though, by giving him
some time after but two or three spoonfuls extraordinary, he was very
sick, and brought it up again.
But the next care was the poor maid; she lay all along upon the deck
hard by her mistress, and just like one that had fallen down with an
apoplexy, and struggled for life: her limbs were distorted, one of her
hands was clasped round the frame of one chair, and she griped it so
hard, that we could not easily make her let it go; her other arm lay
over her head, and her feet lay both together, set fast against the
frame of the cabin-table; in short, she lay just like one in the last
agonies of death; and yet she was alive too.
The poor creature was not only starved with hunger, and terrified with
the thoughts of death, but, as the men told us afterwards, was
broken-hearted for her mistress, whom she saw dying two or three days
before, and whom she loved most tenderly.
We knew not what to do with this poor girl; for when our surgeon, who
was a man of very great knowledge and experience, and with great
application recovered her as to life, he had her upon his hand as to her
senses, for she was little less than distracted for a considerable time
after; as shall appear presently.
Whoever shall read these memorandums, must be desired to consider, that
visits at sea are not like a journey into the country, where sometimes
people stay a week or a fortnight at a place. Our business was to
relieve this distressed ship's crew, but not lie by for them; and though
they were willing to steer the same course with us for some days, yet we
could carry no sail to keep pace with a ship that had no masts: however,
as their captain begged of us to help him to set up a main-topmast, and
a kind of topmast to his jury-foremast, we did, as it were, lie by him
for three or four days, and then having given him five barrels of beef
and pork, two hogsheads of biscuit, and a proportion of peas, flour, and
what other things we could spare; and taking three casks of sugar and
some rum, and some pieces of eight of them for satisfaction, we left
them, taking on board with us, at their own earnest request, the youth
and the maid, and all their goods.
The young lad was about seventeen years of age, a pretty, well-bred,
modest, and sensible youth; greatly dejected with the loss of his
mother, and, as it happened had lost his father but a few months before
at Barbados. He begged of the surgeon to speak to me, to take him out of
the ship; for he said, the cruel fellows had murdered his mother; and
indeed so they had, that is to say, passively; for they might have
spared a small sustenance to the poor helpless widow, that might have
preserved her life, though it had been just to keep her alive. But
hunger knows no friend, no relation, no justice, no right; and therefore
is remorseless, and capable of no compassion.
The surgeon told him how far we were going, and how it would carry him
away from all his friends, and put him perhaps in as bad circumstance,
almost, as we found them in; that is to say, starving in the world. He
said it mattered not whither he went, if he was but delivered from the
terrible crew that he was among: that the captain (by which he meant me,
for he could know nothing of my nephew) had saved his life, and he was
sure would not hurt him; and as for the maid, he was sure, if she came
to herself, she would be very thankful for it, let us carry them whither
we would. The surgeon represented the case so affectionately to me, that
I yielded, and we took them both on board with all their goods, except
eleven hogsheads of sugar, which could not be removed, or come at; and
as the youth had a bill of lading for them, I made his commander sign a
writing, obliging him to go, as soon as he came to Bristol, to one Mr.
Rogers, a merchant there, to whom the youth said he was related, and to
deliver a letter which I wrote to him, and all the goods he had
belonging to the deceased widow; which I suppose was not done; for I
could never learn that the ship came to Bristol; but was, as is most
probable, lost at sea, being in so disabled a condition, and so far from
any land, that I am of opinion, the first storm she met with afterwards
she might founder in the sea; for she was leaky, and had damage in her
hold when I met with her.
I was now in the latitude of 19 deg. 32 min. and had hitherto had a
tolerable voyage as to weather, though at first the winds had been
contrary. I shall trouble nobody with the little incidents of wind,
weather, currents, &c. on the rest of our voyage; but, shortening my
story for the sake of what is to follow, shall observe, that I came to
my old habitation, the island, on the 10th of April, 1695. It was with
no small difficulty that I found the place; for as I came to it, and
went from it before, on the south and east side of the island, as coming
from the Brasils; so now coming in between the main and the island, and
having no chart for the coast, nor any land-mark, I did not know it when
I saw it, or know whether I saw it or no.
We beat about a great while, and went on shore on several islands in the
mouth of the great river Oroonoque, but none for my purpose: only this I
learnt by my coasting the shore, that I was under one great mistake
before, viz. that the continent which I thought I saw from the island I
lived in, was really no continent, but a long island, or rather a ridge
of islands reaching from one to the other side of the extended mouth of
that great river; and that the savages who came to my island, were not
properly those which we call Caribbees, but islanders, and other
barbarians of the same kind, who inhabited something nearer to our side
than the rest.
In short, I visited several of the islands to no purpose; some I found
were inhabited, and some were not. On one of them I found some
Spaniards, and thought they had lived there; but speaking with them,
found they had a sloop lay in a small creek hard by, and that they came
thither to make salt, and catch some pearl-muscles, if they could; but
they belonged to the Isle de Trinidad, which lay farther north, in the
latitude of 10 and 11 degrees.
Thus coasting from one island to another, sometimes with the ship,
sometimes with the Frenchman's shallop (which we had found a convenient
boat, and therefore kept her with their very good will,) at length I
came fair on the south side of my island, and I presently knew the very
countenance of the place; so I brought the ship safe to an anchor
broadside with the little creek where was my old habitation.
As soon as I saw the place, I called for Friday, and asked him, if he
knew where he was? He looked about a little, and presently clapping his
hands, cried, "O yes, O there, O yes, O there!" pointing to our old
habitation, and fell a-dancing and capering like a mad fellow; and I had
much ado to keep him from jumping into the sea, to swim ashore to
the place.
"Well, Friday," said I, "do you think we shall find any body here, or
no? and what do you think, shall we see your father?" The fellow stood
mute as a stock a good while; but when I named his father, the poor
affectionate creature looked dejected; and I could see the tears run
down his face very plentifully. "What is the matter, Friday?" said I;
"are you troubled because you may see your father"--"No, no," says he,
shaking his head, "no see him more, no ever more see again."--"Why so,"
said I, "Friday? how do you know that?"--"O no, O no," says Friday, "he
long ago die; long ago, he much old man."--"Well, well," said I,
"Friday, you don't know; but shall we see any one else then?" The
fellow, it seems, had better eyes than I, and he points just to the hill
above my old house; and though we lay half a league off, he cries out,
"Me see! me see! yes, yes, me see much man there, and there, and there."
I looked, but I could see nobody, no, not with a perspective-glass;
which was, I suppose, because I could not hit the place; for the fellow
was right, as I found upon inquiry the next day, and there were five or
six men all together stood to look at the ship, not knowing what to
think of us.
As soon as Friday had told me he saw people, I caused the English
ancient to be spread, and fired three guns, to give them notice we were
friends; and about half a quarter of an hour after, we perceived a smoke
rise from the side of the creek; so I immediately ordered a boat out,
taking Friday with me; and hanging out a white flag, or a flag of
truce, I went directly on shore, taking with me the young friar I
mentioned, to whom I had told the whole story of living there, and the
manner of it, and every particular both of myself and those that I left
there, and who was on that account extremely desirous to go with me, We
had besides about sixteen men very well armed, if we had found any new
guest there which we did not know of; but we had no need of weapons.
As we went on shore upon the tide of flood near high water, we rowed
directly into the creek; and the first man I fixed my eye upon was the
Spaniard whose life I had saved, and whom I knew by his face perfectly
well; as to his habit, I shall describe it afterwards. I ordered nobody
to go on shore at first but myself; but there was no keeping Friday in
the boat; for the affectionate creature had spied his father at a
distance, a good way off of the Spaniards, where indeed I saw nothing of
him; and if they had not let him go on shore he would have jumped into
the sea. He was no sooner on shore, but he flew away to his father like
an arrow out of a bow. It would have made any man shed tears in spite of
the firmest resolution to have seen the first transports of this poor
fellow's joy, when he came to his father; how he embraced him, kissed
him, stroked his face, took him in his arms, set him down upon a tree,
and lay down by him; then stood and looked at him as any one would look
at a strange picture, for a quarter of an hour together; then lay down
upon the ground, and stroked his legs, and kissed them, and then got up
again, and stared at him; one would have thought the fellow bewitched:
but it would have made a dog laugh to see how the next day his passion
run out another way: in the morning he walked along the shore to and
again, with his father, several hours, always leading him by the hand as
if he had been a lady and every now and then would come to fetch
something or other for him from the boat, either a lump of sugar, or a
dram, a biscuit, or something or other that was good. In the afternoon
his frolics ran another way; for then he would set the old man down upon
the ground, and dance about him, and made a thousand antic postures and
gestures; and all the while he did this he would be talking to him, and
telling him one story or another of his travels, and of what had
happened to him abroad, to divert him. In short, if the same filial
affection was to be found in Christians to their parents in our parts of
the world, one would be tempted to say there hardly would have been any
need of the fifth commandment.
But this is a digression; I return to my landing. It would be endless to
take notice of all the ceremonies and civilities that the Spaniards
received me with. The first Spaniard whom, as I said, I knew very well,
was he whose life I saved; he came towards the boat attended by one
more, carrying a flag of truce also; and he did not only not know me at
first, but he had no thoughts, no notion, of its being me that was come
til I spoke to him. "Seignior," said I, in Portuguese, "do you not know
me?" At which he spoke not a word; but giving his musket to the man
that was with him, threw his arms abroad, and saying something in
Spanish that I did not perfectly hear, came forward, and embraced me,
telling me, he was inexcusable not to know that face again that he had
once seen, as of an angel from Heaven sent to save his life: he said
abundance of very handsome things, as a well-bred Spaniard always knows
how: and then beckoning to the person that attended him, bade him go and
call out his comrades. He then asked me if I would walk to my old
habitation, where he would give me possession of my own house again, and
where I should see there, had been but mean improvements; so I walked
along with him; but alas! I could no more find the place again than if I
had never been there; for they had planted so many trees, and placed
them in such a posture, so thick and close to one another, in ten years
time they were grown so big, that, in short, the place was
inaccessible, except by such windings and blind ways as they themselves
only who made them could find.
I asked them, what put them upon all these fortifications? He told me, I
would say there was need enough of it, when they had given an account
how they had passed their time since their arriving in the island,
especially after they had the misfortune to find that I was gone: he
told me he could not but have some satisfaction in my good fortune, when
he heard that I was gone in a good ship, and to my satisfaction; and
that he had oftentimes a strong persuasion that one time or other he
should see me again: but nothing that ever befel him in his life, he
said, was so surprising and afflicting to him at first, as the
disappointment he was under when he came back to the island, and found I
was not there.
As to the three barbarians (so he called them) that were left behind,
and of whom he said he had a long story to tell me; the Spaniards all
thought themselves much better among the savages, only that their number
was so small. "And," says he, "had they been strong enough, we had been
all long ago in purgatory and with that he crossed himself upon the
breast. But, Sir," says he, "I hope you will not be displeased, when I
shall tell you how, forced by necessity, we were obliged, for our own
preservation, to disarm them, and making them our subjects, who would
not be content with being moderately our masters, but would be our
murderers." I answered, I was heartily afraid of it when I left them
there; and nothing troubled me at my parting from the island, but that
they were not come back, that I might have put them in possession of
every thing first, and left the other in a state of subjection, as they
deserved; but if they had reduced them to it, I was very glad, and
should be very far from finding any fault with it; for I knew they were
a parcel of refractory, ungovernable villains, and were fit for any
manner of mischief.
While I was saying this came the man whom he had sent back, and with
him eleven men more: in the dress they were in, it was impossible to
guess what nation they were of; but he made all clear both to them and
to me. First he turned to me, and pointing to them, said, "These, Sir,
are some of the gentlemen who owe their lives to you;" and then turning
to them, and pointing to me, he let them know who I was; upon which they
all came up one by one, not as if they had been sailors, and ordinary
fellows, and I the like, but really as if they had been ambassadors or
noblemen, and I a monarch or a great conqueror: their behaviour was to
the last degree obliging and courteous, and yet mixed with a manly
majestic gravity, which very well became them; and, in short, they had
so much more manners than I, that I scarce knew how to receive their
civilities, much less how to return them in kind.
The history of their coming to, and conduct in the island after my going
away, is so remarkable, and has so many incidents, which the former part
of my relation will help to understand, and which will, in most of the
particulars, refer to that account I have already given, that I cannot
but commit them with great delight to the reading of those that
come after me.
I shall no longer trouble the story with a relation in the first person,
which will put me to the expense of ten thousand Said I's, and Said
he's, and He told me's, and I told him's, and the like; but I shall
collect the facts historically as near as I can gather them out of my
memory from what they related to me, and from what I met with in my
conversing with them, and with the place.
In order to do this succinctly, and as intelligibly as I can, I must go
back to the circumstance in which I left the island, and which the
persons were in of whom I am to speak. At first it is necessary to
repeat, that I had sent away Friday's father and the Spaniard, the two
whose lives I had rescued from the savages; I say, I had sent them away
in a large canoe to the main, as I then thought it, to fetch over the
Spaniard's companions whom he had left behind him, in order to save them
from the like calamity that he had been in, and in order to succour them
for the present, and that, if possible, we might together find some way
for our deliverance afterward.
When I sent them away, I had no visible appearance of, or the least room
to hope for, my own deliverance, any more than I had twenty years
before; much less had I any foreknowledge of what after happened, I mean
of an English ship coming on shore there to fetch them off; and it could
not but be a very great surprise to them when they came back, not only
to find that I was gone, but to find three strangers left on the spot,
possessed of all that I had left behind me, which would otherwise have
been their own.
The first thing, however, which I inquired into, that I might begin
where I left off, was of their own part; and I desired he would give me
a particular account of his voyage back to his countrymen with the boat,
when I sent him to fetch them over. He told me there was little variety
in that part; for nothing remarkable happened to them on the way, they
having very calm weather and a smooth sea; for his countrymen it could
not be doubted, he said, but that they were overjoyed to see him (it
seems he was the principal man among them, the captain of the vessel
they had been shipwrecked in having been dead some time:) they were, he
said, the more surprised to see him, because they knew that he was
fallen into the hands of savages, who, they were satisfied, would devour
him, as they did all the rest of their prisoners; that when he told them
the story of the deliverance, and in what manner he was furnished for
carrying them away, it was like a dream to them; and their astonishment,
they said, was something like that of Joseph's brethren, when he told
them who he was, and told them the story of his exaltation in Pharaoh's
court; but when he shewed them the arms, the powder, the ball, and the
provisions that he brought them for their journey or voyage, they were
restored to themselves, took a just share of the joy of their
deliverance, and immediately prepared to come away with him.
Their first business was to get canoes; and in this they were obliged
not to stick so much upon the honest part of it, but to trespass upon
their friendly savages, and to borrow two large canoes or periaguas, on
pretence of going out a-fishing, or for pleasure.
In these they came away the next morning; it seems they wanted no time
to get themselves ready, for they had no baggage, neither clothes, or
provisions, or any thing in the world, but what they had on them, and a
few roots to eat, of which they used to make their bread.
They were in all three weeks absent, and in that time, unluckily for
them, I had the occasion offered for my escape, as I mentioned in my
other part, and to get off from the island; leaving three of the most
impudent, hardened, ungoverned, disagreeable villains behind me that any
man could desire to meet with, to the poor Spaniards' great grief and
disappointment you may be sure.
The only just thing the rogues did, was, that when the Spaniards came on
shore, they gave my letter to them, and gave them provisions and other
relief, as I had ordered them to do; also they gave them the long paper
of directions, which I had left with them, containing the particular
methods which I took for managing every part of my life there; the way
how I baked my bread, bred up my tame goats, and planted my corn; how I
cured my grapes, made my pots, and, in a word, every thing I did; all
this being written down, they gave to the Spaniards, two of whom
understood English well enough; nor did they refuse to accommodate the
Spaniards with any thing else, for they agreed very well for some time;
they gave them an equal admission into the house, or cave, and they
began to live very sociably; and the head Spaniard, who had seen pretty
much of my method, and Friday's father together, managed all their
affairs; for as for the Englishmen, they did nothing but ramble about
the island, shoot parrots, and catch tortoises, and when they came home
at night, the Spaniards provided their suppers for them.
The Spaniards would have been satisfied with this would the other but
have left them alone; which however, they could not find in their hearts
to do long; but, like the dog in the manger, they would not eat
themselves, and would not let others eat neither: the differences,
nevertheless, were at first but trivial and such as are not worth
relating: but at last it broke out into open war, and it began with all
the rudeness and insolence that can be imagined, without reason, without
provocation, contrary to nature, and indeed to common sense; and though,
it is true, the first relation of it came from the Spaniards themselves,
whom I may call the accusers, yet when I came to examine the fellows,
they could not deny a word of it.
But before I come to the particulars of this part, I must supply a
defect in my former relation; and this was, that I forgot to set down
among the rest, that just as we were weighing the anchor to set sail,
there happened a little quarrel on board our ship, which I was afraid
once would turn to a second mutiny; nor was it appeased till the
captain, rousing up his courage, and taking us all to his assistance,
parted them by force, and making two of the most refractory fellows
prisoners, he laid them in irons; and as they had been active in the
former disorders, and let fall some ugly dangerous words the second
time, he threatened to carry them in irons to England, and have them
hanged there for mutiny, and running away with the ship.
This, it seems, though the captain did not intend to do it, frighted
some other men in the ship; and some of them had put it in the heads of
the rest, that the captain only gave them good words for the present
till they should come to some English port, and that then they should
be all put into a gaol, and tried for their lives.
The mate got intelligence of this, and acquainted us with it; upon which
it was desired that I, who still passed for a great man among them,
should go down with the mate and satisfy the men, and tell them, that
they might be assured, if they behaved well the rest of the voyage, all
they had done for the time past should be pardoned. So I went, and after
passing my honour's word to them they appeared easy, and the more so,
when I caused the two men who were in irons to be released and forgiven.
But this mutiny had brought us to an anchor for that night, the wind
also falling calm. Next morning we found that our two men who had been
laid in irons, had stole each of them a musket and some other weapons;
what powder or shot they had we knew not; and had taken the ship's
pinnace, which was not yet haled up, and run away with her to their
companions in roguery on shore.
As soon as we found this, I ordered the long-boat on shore, with twelve
men and the mate, and away they went to seek the rogues; but they could
neither find them, nor any of the rest; for they all fled into the woods
when they saw the boat coming on shore. The mate was once resolved, in
justice to their roguery, to have destroyed their plantations, burnt all
their household stuff and furniture, and left them to shift without it;
but having no order, he let all alone, left every thing as they found
it, and bringing the pinnace away, came on board without them.
These two men made their number five: but the other three villains were
so much wickeder than these, that after they had been two or three days
together, they turned their two new-comers out of doors to shift for
themselves, and would have nothing to do with them; nor could they, for
a good while, be persuaded to give them any food: as for the Spaniards,
they were not yet come.
When the Spaniards came first on shore, the business began to go
forward; the Spaniards would have persuaded the three English brutes to
have taken in their two countrymen again, that, as they said, they might
be all one family; but they would not hear of it: so the two poor
fellows lived by themselves, and finding nothing but industry and
application would make them live comfortable, they pitched their tents
on the north shore of the island, but a little more to the west, to be
out of the danger of the savages, who always landed on the east parts of
the island.
Here they built two huts, one to lodge in, and the other to lay up their
magazines and stores in; and the Spaniards having given them some corn
for seed, and especially some of the peas which I had left them, they
dug and planted, and enclosed, after the pattern I had set for them all,
and began to live pretty well; their first crop of corn was on the
ground, and though it was but a little bit of land which they had dug up
at first, having had but a little time, yet it was enough to relieve
them, and find them with bread or other eatables; and one of the
fellows, being the cook's mate of the ship, was very ready at making
soup, puddings, and such other preparations, as the rice and the milk,
and such little flesh as they got, furnished him to do.
They were going on in a little thriving posture, when the three
unnatural rogues, their own countrymen too, in mere humour, and to
insult them, came and bullied them, and told them the island was theirs;
that the governor, meaning me, had given them possession of it, and
nobody else had any right to it; and, damn them, they should build no
houses upon their ground, unless they would pay them rent for them.
The two men thought they had jested at first, and asked them to come and
sit down, and see what fine houses they were that they had built, and
tell them what rent they demanded: and one of them merrily told them, if
they were ground-landlords, he hoped if they built tenements upon the
land and made improvements, they would, according to the custom of all
landlords, grant them a long lease; and bid them go fetch a scrivener to
draw the writings. One of the three, damning and raging, told them they
should see they were not in jest; and going to a little place at a
distance, where the honest men had made a fire to dress their victuals,
he takes a firebrand and claps it to the outside of their hut, and very
fairly set it on fire; and it would have been all burnt down in a few
minutes, if one of the two had not run to the fellow, thrust him away,
and trod the fire out with his feet, and that not without some
difficulty too.
The fellow was in such a rage at the honest man's thrusting him away,
that he turned upon him with a pole he had in his hand; and had not the
man avoided the blow very nimbly, and run into the hut, he had ended his
days at once. His comrade, seeing the danger they were both in, ran in
after him, and immediately they came both out with their muskets; and
the man that was first struck at with the pole knocked the fellow down
who began the quarrel with the stock of his musket, and that before the
other two could come to help him; and then seeing the rest come at them,
they stood together, and presenting the other ends of their pieces to
them, bade them stand off.
The others had fire-arms with them too; but one of the two honest men,
bolder than his comrade, and made desperate by his danger, told them if
they offered to move hand or foot they were all dead men, and boldly
commanded them to lay down their arms. They did not indeed lay down
their arms; but seeing him resolute, it brought them to a parley, and
they consented to take their wounded man with them, and be gone; and,
indeed, it seems the fellow was wounded sufficiently with the blow:
however, they were much in the wrong, since they had the advantage, that
they did not disarm them effectually, as they might have done, and have
gone immediately to the Spaniards, and given them an account how the
rogues treated them; for the three villains studied nothing but
revenge, and every day gave them some intimation that they did so.
But not to crowd this part with an account of the lesser part of their
rogueries, such as treading down their corn, shooting three young kids
and a she-goat, which the poor men had got to breed up tame for their
store; and in a word, plaguing them night and day in this manner, it
forced the two men to such a desperation, that they resolved to fight
them all three the first time they had a fair opportunity. In order to
this they resolved to go to the castle, as they called it, that was my
old dwelling, where the three rogues and the Spaniards all lived
together at that time, intending to have a fair battle, and the
Spaniards should stand by to see fair play. So they got up in the
morning before day, and came to the place, and called the Englishmen by
their names, telling a Spaniard that answered, that they wanted to speak
with them.
It happened that the day before two of the Spaniards, having been in the
woods, had seen one of the two Englishmen, whom, for distinction, I call
the honest men; and he had made a sad complaint to the Spaniards, of the
barbarous usage they had met with from their three countrymen, and how
they had ruined their plantation, and destroyed their corn, that they
had laboured so hard to bring forward, and killed the milch-goat, and
their three kids, which was all they had provided for their sustenance;
and that if he and his friends, meaning the Spaniards, did not assist
them again, they should be starved. When the Spaniards came home at
night, and they were all at supper, he took the freedom to reprove the
three Englishmen, though in gentle and mannerly terms, and asked them,
how they could be so cruel, they being harmless inoffensive fellows, and
that they were putting themselves in a way to subsist by their labour,
and that it had cost them a great deal of pains to bring things to such
perfection as they had?
One of the Englishmen returned very briskly, "What had they to do there?
That they came on shore without leave, and that they should not plant
or build upon the island; it was none of their ground."--"Why," says the
Spaniard, very calmly, "Seignior Inglese, they must not starve." The
Englishman replied, like a true rough-hewn tarpaulin, "they might starve
and be d--ed, they should not plant nor build in that place."--"But what
must they do then, Seignior?" says the Spaniard. Another of the brutes
returned, "Do! d--n them, they should be servants, and work for
them."--"But how can you expect that of them? They are not bought with
your money; you have no right to make them servants." The Englishman
answered, "The island was theirs, the governor had given it to them, and
no man had any thing to do there but themselves;" and with that swore by
his Maker, that he would go and burn all their new huts; they should
build none upon their land.
"Why, Seignior," says the Spaniard, "by the same rule, we must be your
servants too."--"Ay," says the bold dog, "and so you shall too, before
we have done with you;" mixing two or three G--d d--mme's in the proper
intervals of his speech. The Spaniard only smiled at that, and made him
no answer. However, this little discourse had heated them; and starting
up, one says to the other, I think it was he they called Will Atkins,
"Come, Jack, let us go and have the other brush with them; we will
demolish their castle, I will warrant you; they shall plant no colony in
our dominions."
Upon this they were all trooping away, with every man a gun, a pistol,
and a sword, and muttered some insolent things among themselves, of what
they would do to the Spaniards too, when opportunity offered; but the
Spaniards, it seems, did not so perfectly understand them as to know all
the particulars; only that, in general, they threatened them hard for
taking the two Englishmen's part.
Whither they went, or how they bestowed their time that evening, the
Spaniards said they did not know; but it seems they wandered about the
country part of the night; and then lying down in the place which I
used to call my bower, they were weary, and overslept themselves. The
case was this: they had resolved to stay till midnight, and so to take
the poor men when they were asleep; and they acknowledged it afterwards,
intending to set fire to their huts while they were in them, and either
burn them in them, or murder them as they came out: and, as malice
seldom sleeps very sound, it was very strange they should not have been
kept waking.
However, as the two men had also a design upon them, as I have said,
though a much fairer one than that of burning and murdering, it
happened, and very luckily for them all, that they were up, and gone
abroad, before the bloody-minded rogues came to their huts.
When they came thither, and found the men gone, Atkins, who it seems was
the forwardest man, called out to his comrades, "Ha! Jack, here's the
nest; but d--n them, the birds are flown." They mused awhile to think
what should be the occasion of their being gone abroad so soon, and
suggested presently, that the Spaniards had given them notice of it; and
with that they shook hands, and swore to one another, that they would be
revenged of the Spaniards. As soon as they had made this bloody bargain,
they fell to work with the poor men's habitation; they did not set fire
indeed to any thing, but they pulled down both their houses, and pulled
them so limb from limb, that they left not the least stick standing, or
scarce any sign on the ground where they stood; they tore all their
little collected household-stuff in pieces, and threw every thing about
in such a manner, that the poor men found, afterwards, some of their
things a mile off from their habitation.
When they had done this, they pulled up all the young trees which the
poor men had planted; pulled up the enclosure they had made to secure
their cattle and their corn; and, in a word, sacked and plundered every
thing, as completely as a herd of Tartars would have done.
The two men were at this juncture gone to find them out, and had
resolved to fight them wherever they had been, though they were but two
to three; so that, had they met, there certainly would have been
bloodshed among them; for they were all very stout, resolute fellows, to
give them their due.
But Providence took more care to keep them asunder, than they themselves
could do to meet; for, as they had dogged one another, when the three
were gone thither, the two were here; and afterwards, when the two went
back to find them, the three were come to the old habitation again: we
shall see their differing conduct presently. When the three came back,
like furious creatures, flushed with the rage which the work they had
been about put them into, they came up to the Spaniards, and told them
what they had done, by way of scoff and bravado; and one of them
stepping up to one of the Spaniards, as if they had been a couple of
boys at play, takes hold of his hat, as it was upon his head, and giving
it a twirl about, jeering in his face, says he to him, "And you,
Seignior Jack Spaniard, shall have the same sauce, if you do not mend
your manners." The Spaniard, who, though quite a civil man, was as brave
as a man could desire to be, and withal a strong well-made man, looked
steadily at him for a good while; and then, having no weapon in his
hand, stepped gravely up to him, and with one blow of his fist knocked
him down, as an ox is felled with a pole-axe; at which one of the
rogues, insolent as the first, fixed his pistol at the Spaniard
immediately; he missed his body indeed, for the bullets went through his
hair, but one of them touched the tip of his ear, and he bled pretty
much. The blood made the Spaniard believe he was more hurt than he
really was, and that put him into some heat, for before he acted all in
a perfect calm; but now resolving to go through with his work, he
stooped and took the fellow's musket whom he had knocked down, and was
just going to shoot the man who had fired at him; when the rest of the
Spaniards, being in the cave, came out, and calling to him not to
shoot, they stepped in, secured the other two, and took their arms
from them.
When they were thus disarmed, and found they had made all the Spaniards
their enemies, as well as their own countrymen, they began to cool; and
giving the Spaniards better words, would have had their arms again; but
the Spaniards, considering the feud that was between them and the other
two Englishmen, and that it would be the best method they could take to
keep them from one another, told them they would do them no harm; and if
they would live peaceably they would be very willing to assist and
associate with them, as they did before; but that they could not think
of giving them their arms again, while they appeared so resolved to do
mischief with them to their own countrymen, and had even threatened them
all to make them their servants.
The rogues were now more capable to hear reason than to act reason; but
being refused their arms, they went raving away, and raging like madmen,
threatening what they would do, though they had no fire-arms: but the
Spaniards, despising their threatening, told them they should take care
how they offered any injury to their plantation or cattle; for if they
did, they would shoot them, as they would do ravenous beasts, wherever
they found them; and if they fell into their hands alive, they would
certainly be hanged. However, this was far from cooling them; but away
they went, swearing and raging like furies of hell. As soon as they were
gone, came back the two men in passion and rage enough also, though of
another kind; for, having been at their plantation, and finding it all
demolished and destroyed, as above, it will easily be supposed they had
provocation enough; they could scarce have room to tell their tale, the
Spaniards were so eager to tell them theirs; and it was strange enough
to find, that three men should thus bully nineteen, and receive no
punishment at all.
The Spaniards indeed despised them, and especially having thus disarmed
them, made light of their threatenings; but the two Englishmen resolved
to have their remedy against them, what pains soever it cost to
find them out.
But the Spaniards interposed here too, and told them, that they were
already disarmed: they could not consent that they (the two) should
pursue them with fire-arms, and perhaps kill them: "But," said the grave
Spaniard, who was their governor, "we will endeavour to make them do you
justice, if you will leave it to us; for, as there is no doubt but they
will come to us again when their passion is over, being not able to
subsist without our assistance, we promise you to make no peace with
them, without having full satisfaction for you; and upon this condition
we hope you will promise to use no violence with them, other than in
your defence."
The two Englishmen; yielded to this very awkwardly and with great
reluctance; but the Spaniards protested, they did it only to keep them
from bloodshed, and to make all easy at last; "For," said they, "we are
not so many of us; here is room enough for us all, and it is great pity
we should not be all good friends." At length they did consent, and
waited for the issue of the thing, living for some days with the
Spaniards; for their own habitation was destroyed.
In about five days time the three vagrants, tired with wandering, and
almost starved with hunger, having chiefly lived on turtles' eggs all
that while, came back to the grove: and finding my Spaniard, who, as I
have said, was the governor, and two more with him, walking by the side
of the creek; they came up in a very submissive humble manner, and
begged to be received again into the family. The Spaniards used them
civilly, but told them, they had acted so unnaturally by their
countrymen, and so very grossly by them, (the Spaniards) that they could
not come to any conclusion without consulting the two Englishmen, and
the rest; but however they would go to them and discourse about it, and
they should know in half-an-hour. It may be guessed that they were very
hard put to it; for, as they were to wait this half-hour for an answer,
they begged they would send them out some bread in the meantime, which
they did, sending at the same time a large piece of goat's flesh and a
boiled parrot, which they ate very eagerly.
After half-an-hour's consultation they were called in, and a long debate
ensued, their two countrymen charging them with the ruin of all their
labour, and a design to murder them; all which they owned before, and
therefore could not deny now. Upon the whole, the Spaniards acted the
moderators between them; and as they had obliged the two Englishmen not
to hurt the three while they were naked and unarmed, so they now obliged
the three to go and rebuild their fellows' two huts, one to be of the
same and the other of larger dimensions than they were before; to fence
their ground again, plant trees in the room of those pulled up, dig up
the land again for planting corn, and, in a word, to restore everything
to the same state as they found it, that is, as near as they could.
Well, they submitted to all this; and as they had plenty of provisions
given them all the while, they grew very orderly, and the whole society
began to live pleasantly and agreeably together again; only that these
three fellows could never be persuaded to work--I mean for
themselves--except now and then a little, just as they pleased. However,
the Spaniards told them plainly that if they would but live sociably and
friendly together, and study the good of the whole plantation, they
would be content to work for them, and let them walk about and be as
idle as they pleased; and thus, having lived pretty well together for a
month or two, the Spaniards let them have arms again, and gave them
liberty to go abroad with them as before.
It was not above a week after they had these arms, and went abroad,
before the ungrateful creatures began to be as insolent and troublesome
as ever. However, an accident happened presently upon this, which
endangered the safety of them all, and they were obliged to lay by all
private resentments, and look to the preservation of their lives.
It happened one night that the governor, the Spaniard whose life I had
saved, who was now the governor of the rest, found himself very uneasy
in the night, and could by no means get any sleep: he was perfectly well
in body, only found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon men
fighting and killing one another; but he was broad awake, and could not
by any means get any sleep; in short, he lay a great while, but growing
more and more uneasy, he resolved to rise. As they lay, being so many of
them, on goat-skins laid thick upon such couches and pads as they made
for themselves, so they had little to do, when they were willing to
rise, but to get upon their feet, and perhaps put on a coat, such as it
was, and their pumps, and they were ready for going any way that their
thoughts guided them. Being thus got up, he looked out; but being dark,
he could see little or nothing, and besides, the trees which I had
planted, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his sight, so that
he could only look up, and see that it was a starlight night, and
hearing no noise, he returned and lay down again; but to no purpose; he
could not compose himself to anything like rest; but his thoughts were
to the last degree uneasy, and he knew not for what.
Having made some noise with rising and walking about, going out and
coming in, another of them waked, and, calling, asked who it was that
was up? The governor told him how it had been with him. "Say you so?"
says the other Spaniard; "such things are not to be slighted, I assure
you; there is certainly some mischief working," says he, "near us;" and
presently he asked him, "Where are the Englishmen?" "They are all in
their huts," says he, "safe enough." It seems, the Spaniards had kept
possession of the main apartment, and had made a place, where the three
Englishmen, since their last mutiny, always quartered by themselves, and
could not come at the rest. "Well," says the Spaniard, "there is
something in it, I am persuaded from my own experience; I am satisfied
our spirits embodied have converse with, and receive intelligence from,
the spirits unembodied, and inhabiting the invisible world; and this
friendly notice is given for our advantage, if we know how to make use
of it. Come," says he, "let us go out and look abroad; and if we find
nothing at all in it to justify our trouble, I'll tell you a story of
the purpose, that shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it."
In a word, they went out to go to the top of the hill, where I used to
go; but they, being strong, and in good company, nor alone, as I was,
used none of my cautions to go up by the ladder, and then pulling it up
after them, to go up a second stage to the top but were going round
through the grove unconcerned and unwary, when they were surprised with
seeing a light as of fire, a very little way off from them, and hearing
the voices of men, not of one or two, but of a great number.
In all the discoveries I had made of the savage landing on the island,
it was my constant care to prevent them making the least discovery of
there being any inhabitant upon the place; and when by any necessity
they came to know it, they felt it so effectively, that they that got
away, were scarce able to give any account of it, for we disappeared as
soon as possible, nor did ever any that had seen me, escape to tell any
one else, except it were the three savages in our last encounter, who
jumped into the boat, of whom I mentioned that I was afraid they should
go home, and bring more help.
Whether it was the consequence of the escape of those men, that so great
a number came now together; or whether they came ignorantly, and by
accident, on their usual bloody errand, the Spaniards could not, it
seems, understand: but whatever it was, it had been their business,
either to have: concealed themselves, and not have seen them at all;
much less to have let the savages have seen, that there were any
inhabitants in the place; but to have fallen upon them so effectually,
as that not a man of them should have escaped, which could only have
been by getting in between them and their boats: but this presence of
mind was wanting to them; which was the ruin of their tranquillity for a
great while.
We need not doubt but that the governor, and the man with him, surprised
with this sight, ran back immediately, and raised their fellows, giving
them an account of the imminent danger they were all in; and they again
as readily took the alarm, but it was impossible to persuade them to
stay close within where they were, but that they must all run out to see
how things stood.
While it was dark indeed, they were well enough, and they had
opportunity enough, for some hours, to view them by the light of three
fires they had made at some distance from one another; what they were
doing they knew not, and what to do themselves they knew not; for,
first, the enemy were too many; and, secondly, they did not keep
together, but were divided into several parties, and were on shore in
several places.
The Spaniards were in no small consternation at this sight; and as they
found that the fellows ran straggling all over the shore, they made no
doubt, but, first or last, some of them would chop in upon their
habitation, or upon some other place, where they would see the tokens of
inhabitants; and they were in great perplexity also for fear of their
flock of goats, which would have been little less than starving them, if
they should have been destroyed; so the first thing they resolved upon,
was to dispatch three men away before it was light, viz. two Spaniards
and one Englishman, to drive all the goats away to the great valley
where the cave was, and, if need were, to drive them into the very
cave itself.
Could they have seen the savages all together in one body, and at a
distance from their canoes, they resolved, if there had been an hundred
of them, to have attacked them; but that could not be obtained, for
there were some of them two miles off from the other, and, as it
appeared afterwards, were of two different nations.
After having mused a great while on the course they should take, and
beaten their brains in considering their present circumstances, they
resolved, at last while it was dark, to send the old savage (Friday's
father) out as a spy, to learn if possible something concerning them, as
what they came for, and what they intended to do, and the like. The old
man readily undertook it, and stripping himself quite naked, as most of
the savages were, away he went. After he had been gone an hour or two,
he brings word that he had been among them undiscovered, that he found
they were two parties, and of two several nations who had war with one
another, and had had a great battle in their own country, and that both
sides having had several prisoners taken in the fight, they were by mere
chance landed in the same island for the devouring their prisoners, and
making merry; but this coming so by chance to the same place had spoiled
all their mirth; that they were in a great rage at one another, and were
so near, that he believed they would fight again as soon as daylight
began to appear; he did not perceive that they had any notion of
anybody's being on the island but themselves. He had hardly made an end
of telling the story, when they could perceive, by the unusual noise
they made, that the two little armies were engaged in a bloody fight.
Friday's father used all the arguments he could to persuade our people
to lie close, and not be seen; he told them their safety consisted in
it, and that they had nothing to do but to lie still, and the savages
would kill one another to their hands, and the rest would go away; and
it was so to a tittle. But it was impossible to prevail, especially upon
the Englishmen, their curiosity was so importunate upon their
prudentials, that they must run out and see the battle; however, they
used some caution, viz. they did not go openly just by their own
dwelling, but went farther into the woods, and placed themselves to
advantage, where they might securely see them manage the fight, and, as
they thought, not to be seen by them; but it seems the savages did see
them, as we shall find hereafter.
The battle was very fierce, and if I might believe the Englishmen, one
of them said he could perceive that some of them were men of great
bravery, of invincible spirits, and of great policy in guiding the
fight. The battle, they said, held two hours before they could guess
which party would be beaten; but then that party which was nearest our
people's habitation began to appear weakest, and, after some time more,
some of them began to fly; and this put our men again into a great
consternation, lest any of those that fled should run into the grove
before their dwelling for shelter, and thereby involuntarily discover
the place, and that by consequence the pursuers should do the like in
search for them. Upon this they resolved, that they would stand armed
within the wall, and whoever came into the grove they should sally out
over the wall, and kill them, so that if possible not one should return
to give an account of it; they ordered also, that it should be done with
their swords, or by knocking them down with the stock of the musket,
not by shooting them, for fear of raising an alarm by the noise.
As they expected it fell out: three of the routed army fled for life,
and crossing the creek ran directly into the place, not in the least
knowing whither they went, but running as into a thick wood for shelter.
The scout they kept to look abroad gave notice of this within, with this
addition to our men's great satisfaction, viz. that the conquerors had
not pursued them, or seen which way they were gone. Upon this the
Spaniard governor, a man of humanity, would not suffer them to kill the
three fugitives; but sending three men out by the top of the hill,
ordered them to go round and come in behind them, surprise and take them
prisoners; which was done: the residue of the conquered people fled to
their canoes, and got off to sea; the victors retired, and made no
pursuit, or very little, but drawing themselves into a body together,
gave two great screaming shouts, which they suppose were by way of
triumph, and so the fight ended; and the same day, about three o'clock
in the afternoon, they also marched to their canoes. And thus the
Spaniards had their island again free to themselves, their fright was
over, and they saw no savages in several years after.
After they were all gone, the Spaniards came out of their den, and
viewing the field of battle, they found about two-and-thirty dead men
upon the spot; some were killed with great long arrows, several of which
were found sticking in their bodies, but most of them were killed with
their great wooden swords, sixteen or seventeen of which they found in
the field of battle, and as many bows, with a great many arrows. These
swords were great unwieldy things, and they must be very strong men that
used them; most of those men that were killed with them had their heads
mashed to pieces, as we may say, or, as we call it in English, their
brains knocked out, and several of their arms and legs broken; so that
it is evident they fight with inexpressible rage and fury. They found
not one wounded man that was not stone dead; for either they stay by
their enemy till they have quite killed them, or they carry all the
wounded men, that are not quite dead, away with them.
This deliverance tamed our Englishmen for a great while; the sight had
filled them with horror, and the consequence appeared terrible to the
last degree; especially upon supposing that some time or other they
should fall into the hands of those creatures, who would not only kill
them as enemies, but kill them for food as we kill our cattle. And they
professed to me, that the thoughts of being eaten up like beef or
mutton, though it was supposed it was not to be till they were dead, had
something in it so horrible that it nauseated their very stomachs, made
them sick when they thought of it, and filled their minds with unusual
terror, that they were not themselves for some weeks after.
This, as I said, tamed even the three English brutes I have been
speaking of, and for a great while after they were very tractable, and
went about the common business of the whole society well enough;
planted, sowed, reaped, and began to be all naturalized to the country;
but some time after this they fell all into such simple measures again
as brought them into a great deal of trouble.
They had taken three prisoners, as I had observed; and these three being
lusty stout young fellows, they made them servants, and taught them to
work for them; and as slaves they did well enough; but they did not take
their measures with them as I did by my man Friday, viz. to begin with
them upon the principle of having saved their lives, and then instructed
them in the rational principles of life, much less of religion,
civilizing and reducing them by kind usage and affectionate arguings;
but as they gave them their food every day, so they gave them their work
too, and kept them fully employed in drudgery enough; but they failed in
this by it, that they never had them to assist them and fight for them
as I had my man Friday, who was as true to me as the very flesh upon
my bones.
But to come to the family part: Being all now good friends (for common
danger, as I said above, had effectually reconciled them,) they began to
consider their general circumstances; and the first thing that came
under their consideration was, whether, seeing the savages particularly
haunted that side of the island, and that there were more remote and
retired parts of it equally adapted to their way of living, and
manifestly to their advantage, they should not rather remove their
habitation, and plant in some more proper place for their safety, and
especially for the security of their cattle and corn.
Upon this, after long debate, it was conceived that they should not
remove their habitation, because that some time or other they thought
they might hear from their governor again, meaning me; and if I should
send any one to seek them, I would be sure to direct them on that side,
where if they should find the place demolished they would conclude the
savages had killed us all, and we were gone, and so our supply would
go away too.
But as to their corn and cattle, they agreed to remove them into the
valley where my cave was, where the land was as proper to both, and
where indeed there was land enough; however, upon second thoughts they
altered one part of that resolution too, and resolved only to remove
part of their cattle thither, and plant part of their corn there; and
so, if one part was destroyed, the other might be saved; and one piece
of prudence they used, which it was very well they did; viz. that they
never trusted these three savages, which they had taken prisoners, with
knowing any thing of the plantation they had made in that valley, or of
any cattle they had there; much less of the cave there, which they kept
in case of necessity as a safe retreat; and thither they carried also
the two barrels of powder which I had left them at my coming away.
But however they resolved not to change their habitation; yet they
agreed, that as I had carefully covered it first with a wall and
fortification, and then with a grove of trees; so seeing their safety
consisted entirely in their being concealed, of which they were now
fully convinced, they set to work to cover and conceal the place yet
more effectually than before: to this purpose, as I had planted trees
(or rather thrust in stakes which in time all grew to be trees) for some
good distance before the entrance into my apartment, they went on in the
same manner, and filled up the rest of that whole space of ground, from
the trees I had set quite down to the side of the creek, where, as I
said, I landed my floats, and even into the very ooze where the tide
flowed, not so much as leaving any place to land, or any sign that there
had been any landing thereabout. These stakes also being of a wood very
forward to grow, as I had noted formerly, they took care to have
generally very much larger and taller than those which I had planted,
and placed them so very thick and close, that when they had been three
or four years grown there was no piercing with the eye any considerable
way into the plantation. As for that part which I had planted, the trees
were grown as thick as a man's thigh; and among them they placed so many
other short ones, and so thick, that, in a word, it stood like a
palisado a quarter of a mile thick, and it was next to impossible to
penetrate it but with a little army to cut it all down; for a little dog
could hardly get between the trees, they stood so close.
But this was not all; for they did the same by all the ground to the
right hand, and to the left, and round even to the top of the hill,
leaving no way, not so much as for themselves to come out, but by the
ladder placed up to the side of the hill, and then lifted up and placed
again from the first stage up to the top; which ladder, when it was
taken down, nothing but what had wings or witchcraft to assist it, could
come at them.
This was excellently well contrived, nor was it less than what they
afterwards found occasion for; which served to convince me, that as
human prudence has authority of Providence to justify it, so it has,
doubtless, the direction of Providence to set it to work, and, would we
listen carefully to the voice of it, I am fully persuaded we might
prevent many of the disasters which our lives are now by our own
negligence subjected to: but this by the way.
I return to the story: They lived two years after this in perfect
retirement, and had no more visits from the savages; they had indeed an
alarm given them one morning, which put them in a great consternation
for some of the Spaniards being out early one morning on the west side,
or rather end of the island which, by the way, was that end where I
never went, for fear of being discovered, they were surprised with
seeing above twenty canoes of Indians just coming on shore.
They made the best of their way home in hurry enough, and, giving the
alarm to their comrades, they kept close all that day and the next,
going out only at night to make observation; but they had the good luck
to be mistaken, for wherever the savages went, they did not land at that
time on the island, but pursued some other design.
And now they had another broil with the three Englishmen, one of which,
a most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one of the three slaves
which I mentioned they had taken, because the fellow had not done
something right which he bid him do, and seemed a little untractable in
his shewing him, drew a hatchet out of a frog-belt, in which he bore it
by his side, and fell upon him, the poor savage, not to correct him but
to kill him. One of the Spaniards who was by, seeing him give the fellow
a barbarous cut with the hatchet which he aimed at his head, but struck
into his shoulder, so that he thought he had cut the poor creature's arm
off, ran to him, and entreating him not to murder the poor man, clapt
in between him and the savage to prevent the mischief.
The fellow being enraged the more at this, struck at the Spaniard with
his hatchet, and swore he would serve him as he intended to serve the
savage; which the Spaniard perceiving, avoided the blow, and with a
shovel which he had in his hand (for they were working in the field
about the corn-land) knocked the brute down; another of the Englishmen
running at the same time to help his comrade, knocked the Spaniard down,
and then two Spaniards more came to help their man, and a third
Englishman fell upon them. They had none of them any fire-arms, or any
other weapons but hatchets and other tools, except the third Englishman;
he had one of my old rusty cutlasses, with which he made at the last
Spaniards, and wounded them both. This fray set the whole family in an
uproar, and more help coming in, they took the three Englishmen
prisoners. The next question was, what should be done with them? they
had been so often mutinous, and were so furious, so desperate, and so
idle withal, that they knew not what course to take with them, for they
were mischievous to the highest degree, and valued not what hurt they
did any man; so that, in short, it was not safe to live with them.
The Spaniard who was governor, told them in so many words, that if they
had been his own countrymen he would have hanged them all; for all laws
and all governors were to preserve society, and those who were dangerous
to the society ought to be expelled out of it; but as they were
Englishmen, and that it was to the generous kindness of an Englishman
that they all owed their preservation and deliverance, he would use them
with all possible lenity, and would leave them to the judgment of the
other two Englishmen, who were their countrymen.
One of the two honest Englishmen stood up, and said they desired it
might not be left to them; "For," says he, "I am sure we ought to
sentence them to the gallows," and with that gives an account how Will
Atkins, one of the three, had proposed to have all the five Englishmen
join together, and murder all the Spaniards when they were in
their sleep.
When the Spanish governor heard this, he calls to Will Atkins: "How,
Seignior Atkins," says he, "will you murder us all? What have you to say
to that?" That hardened villain was so far from denying it, that he said
it was true, and G-d d-mn him they would do it still before they had
done with them. "Well, but Seignior Atkins," said the Spaniard, "what
have we done to you that you will kill us? And what would you get by
killing us? And what must we do to prevent your killing us? Must we kill
you, or will you kill us? Why will you put us to the necessity of this,
Seignior Atkins?" says the Spaniard very calmly and smiling.
Seignior Atkins was in such a rage at the Spaniard's making a jest of
it, that had he not been held by three men, and withal had no weapons
with him, it was thought he would have attempted to have killed the
Spaniard in the middle of all the company.
This harebrained carriage obliged them to consider seriously what was to
be done. The two Englishmen and the Spaniard who saved the poor savage,
were of the opinion that they should hang one of the three for an
example to the rest; and that particularly it should be he that had
twice attempted to commit murder with his hatchet; and indeed there was
some reason to believe he had done it, for the poor savage was in such a
miserable condition with the wound he had received, that it was thought
he could not live.
But the governor Spaniard still said, no, it was an Englishman that had
saved all their lives, and he would never consent to put an Englishman
to death though he had murdered half of them; nay, he said if he had
been killed himself by an Englishman, and had time left to speak, it
should be that they should pardon him.
This was so positively insisted on by the governor Spaniard, that there
was no gainsaying it; and as merciful counsels are most apt to prevail,
where they are so earnestly pressed, so they all came into it; but then
it was to be considered what should be done to keep them from the
mischief they designed; for all agreed, governor and all, that means
were to be used for preserving the society from danger. After a long
debate it was agreed, first, that they should be disarmed, and not
permitted to have either gun, or powder, or shot, or sword, or any
weapon, and should be turned out of the society, and left to live where
they would, and how they could by themselves; but that none of the rest,
either Spaniards or English, should converse with them, speak with them,
or have any thing to do with them; that they should be forbid to come
within a certain distance of the place where the rest dwelt; and that if
they offered to commit any disorder, so as to spoil, burn, kill, or
destroy any of the corn, plantings, buildings, fences, or cattle
belonging to the society, that they should die without mercy, and would
shoot them wherever they could find them.
The governor, a man of great humanity, musing upon the sentence,
considered a little upon it, and turning to the two honest Englishmen,
said, "Hold, you must reflect, that it will be long ere they can raise
corn and cattle of their own, and they must not starve; we must
therefore allow them provisions." So he caused to be added, that they
should have a proportion of corn given them to last them eight months,
and for seed to sow, by which time they might be supposed to raise some
of their own; that they should have six milch-goats, four he-goats, and
six kids given them, as well for present subsistence as for a store; and
that they should have tools given them for their work in the field; such
as six hatchets, an axe, a saw, and the like: but they should have none
of these tools or provisions unless they would swear solemnly that they
would not hurt or injure any of the Spaniards with them, or of their
fellow Englishmen.
Thus they dismissed them the society, and turned them out to shift for
themselves. They went away sullen and refractory, as neither contented
to go away or to stay; but as there was no remedy they went, pretending
to go and choose a place where they should settle themselves, to plant
and live by themselves; and some provisions were given, but no weapons.
About four or five days after they came again for some victuals, and
gave the governor an account where they had pitched their tents, and
marked themselves out an habitation or plantation: it was a very
convenient place indeed, on the remotest part of the island, N.E. much
about the place where I providentially landed in my first voyage when I
was driven out to sea, the Lord alone knows whither, in my foolish
attempt to surround the island.
Here they built themselves two handsome huts, and contrived them in a
manner like my first habitation being close under the side of a hill,
having some trees growing already to the three sides of it; so that by
planting others it would be very easily covered from the sight, unless
narrowly searched for. They desired some dry goat-skins for beds and
covering, which were given them; and upon their giving their words that
they would not disturb the rest, or injure any of their plantations,
they gave them hatchets, and what other tools they could spare; some
peas, barley, and rice, for sowing, and, in a word, any thing they
wanted but arms and ammunition.
They lived in this separate condition about six months, and had got in
their first harvest, though the quantity was but small, the parcel of
land they had planted being but little; for indeed having all their
plantation to form, they had a great deal of work upon their hands; and
when they came to make boards, and pots, and such things, they were
quite out of their element, and could make nothing of it; and when the
rainy season came on, for want of a cave in the earth, they could not
keep their grain dry, and it was in great danger of spoiling: and this
humbled them much; so they came and begged the Spaniards to help them,
which they very readily did; and in four days worked a great hole in
the side of the hill for them, big enough to secure their corn and other
things from the rain: but it was but a poor place at best compared to
mine; and especially as mine was then; for the Spaniards had greatly
enlarged it, and made several new apartments in it.
About three quarters of a year after this separation a new frolic took
these rogues, which, together with the former villany they had
committed, brought mischief enough upon them, and had very near been the
ruin of the whole colony. The three new associates began, it seems, to
be weary of the laborious life they led, and that without hope of
bettering their circumstances; and a whim took them that they would make
a voyage to the continent from whence the savages came, and would try if
they could not seize upon some prisoners among the natives there, and
bring them home, so as to make them do the laborious part of the
work for them.
The project was not so preposterous if they had gone no farther; but
they did nothing and proposed nothing but had either mischief in the
design or mischief in the event; and if I may give my opinion, they
seemed to be under a blast from Heaven; for if we will not allow a
visible curse to pursue visible crimes, how shall we reconcile the
events of things with divine justice? It was certainly an apparent
vengeance on their crime of mutiny and piracy that brought them to the
state they were in; and as they shewed not the least remorse for the
crime, but added new villanies to it, such as particularly that piece of
monstrous cruelty of wounding a poor slave because he did not, or
perhaps could not understand to do what he was directed, and to wound
him in such a manner as, no question, made him a cripple all his life,
and in a place where no surgeon or medicine could be had for his cure;
and what was still worse, the murderous intent, or, to do justice to the
crime, the intentional murder, for such to be sure it was, as was
afterwards the formed design they all laid to murder the Spaniards in
cold blood, and in their sleep.
But I leave observing, and return to the story: The three fellows came
down to the Spaniards one morning, and in very humble terms desired to
be admitted to speak with them; the Spaniards very readily heard what
they had to say, which was this, that they were tired of living in the
manner they did, that they were not handy enough to make the necessaries
they wanted; and that, having no help, they found they should be
starved; but if the Spaniards would give them leave to take one of the
canoes which they came over in, and give them arms and ammunition
proportioned for their defence, they would go over to the main, and seek
their fortune, and so deliver them from the trouble of supplying them
with any other provisions.
The Spaniards were glad enough to be rid of them; but yet very honestly
represented to them the certain destruction they were running into; told
them they had suffered such hardships upon that very spot, that they
could, without any spirit of prophecy, tell them that they would be
starved or murdered, and bade them consider of it.
The men replied audaciously, they should be starved if they stayed here,
for they could not work, and would not work; and they could but be
starved abroad; and if they were murdered, there was an end of them,
they had no wives or children to cry after them; and, in short, insisted
importunately upon their demand, declaring that they would go, whether
they would give them any arms or no.
The Spaniards told them with great kindness, that if they were resolved
to go, they should not go like naked men, and be in no condition to
defend themselves, and that though they could ill spare their fire-arms,
having not enough for themselves, yet they would let them have two
muskets, a pistol, and a cutlass, and each man a hatchet, which they
thought sufficient for them.
In a word, they accepted the offer, and having baked them bread enough
to serve them a month, and given them as much goat's flesh as they could
eat while it was sweet, and a great basket full of dried grapes, a pot
full of fresh water, and a young kid alive to kill, they boldly set out
in a canoe for a voyage over the sea, where it was at least forty
miles broad.
The boat was indeed a large one, and would have very well carried
fifteen or twenty men, and therefore was rather too big for them to
manage; but as they had a fair breeze and the flood-tide with them, they
did well enough; they had made a mast of a long pole, and a sail of four
large goat-skins dried, which they had sewed or laced together; and away
they went merrily enough; the Spaniards called after them, "Bon veajo;"
and no man ever thought of seeing them any more.
The Spaniards would often say to one another, and the two honest
Englishmen who remained behind, how quietly and comfortably they lived
now those three turbulent fellows were gone; as for their ever coming
again, that was the remotest thing from their thoughts could be
imagined; when, behold, after twenty-two days absence, one of the
Englishmen being abroad upon his planting work, sees three strange men
coming towards him at a distance, two of them with guns upon their
shoulders.
Away runs the Englishman, as if he was bewitched, and became frighted
and amazed, to the governor Spaniard, and tells him they were all
undone, for there were strangers landed upon the island, he could not
tell who. The Spaniard pausing a while, says to him, "How do you mean,
you cannot tell who? They are savages to be sure."--"No, no," says the
Englishman, "they are men in clothes, with arms."--"Nay then," says the
Spaniard, "why are you concerned? If they are not savages, they must be
friends; for there is no Christian nation upon earth but will do us good
rather than harm."
While they were debating thus, came the three Englishmen, and standing
without the wood which was new-planted, hallooed to them; they presently
knew their voices, and so all the wonder of that kind ceased. But now
the admiration was turned upon another question, viz. What could be the
matter, and what made them come back again?
It was not long before they brought the men in; and inquiring where they
had been, and what they had been doing? they gave them a full account of
their voyage in a few words, viz. that they reached the land in two
days, or something less, but finding the people alarmed at their coming,
and preparing with bows and arrows to fight them, they durst not go on
shore, but sailed on to the northward six or seven hours, till they came
to a great opening, by which they perceived that the land they saw from
our island was not the main, but an island: that entering that opening
of the sea, they saw another island on the right hand north, and several
more west; and being resolved to land somewhere, they put over to one of
the islands which lay west, and went boldly on shore; that they found
the people were courteous and friendly to them, and they gave them
several roots, and some dried fish, and appeared very sociable: and the
women, as well as the men, were very forward to supply them with any
thing they could get for them to eat, and brought it to them a great way
upon their heads.
They continued here four days, and inquired, as well as they could of
them by signs, what nations were this way, and that way; and were told
of several fierce and terrible people, that lived almost every way; who,
as they made known by signs to them, used to eat men; but as for
themselves, they said, that they never ate men or women, except only
such as they took in the wars; and then they owned that they made a
great feast, and ate their prisoners.
The Englishmen inquired when they had a feast of that kind, and they
told them two moons ago, pointing to the moon, and then to two-fingers;
and that their great king had two hundred prisoners now which he had
taken in his war, and they were feeding them to make them fat for the
next feast. The Englishmen seemed mighty desirous to see those
prisoners, but the others mistaking them, thought they were desirous to
have some of them to carry away for their own eating. So they beckoned
to them, pointing to the setting of the sun, and then to the rising;
which was to signify, that the next morning at sun-rising they would
bring some for them; and accordingly the next morning they brought down
five women and eleven men, and gave them to the Englishmen to carry with
them on their voyage, just as we would bring so many cows and oxen down
to a sea-port town to victual a ship.
As brutish and barbarous as these fellows were at home, their stomachs
turned at this sight, and they did not know what to do; to refuse the
prisoners would have been the highest affront to the savage gentry that
offered them; and what to do with them they knew not; however, upon some
debate, they resolved to accept of them; and in return they gave the
savages that brought them one of their hatchets, an old key, a knife,
and six or seven of their bullets, which, though they did not
understand, they seemed extremely pleased with; and then tying the poor
creatures' hands behind them, they (the people) dragged the prisoners
into the boat for our men.
The Englishmen were obliged to come away as soon as they had them, or
else they that gave them his noble present would certainly have expected
that they should have gone to work with them, have killed two or three
of them the next morning, and perhaps have invited the donors to dinner.
But having taken their leave with all the respect and thanks that could
well pass between people, where, on either side, they understood not one
word they could say, they put off with their boat, and came back towards
the first island, where when they arrived, they set eight of their
prisoners at liberty, there being too many of them for their occasion.
In their voyage they endeavoured to have some communication with their
prisoners, but it was impossible to make them understand any thing;
nothing they could say to them, or give them, or do for them, but was
looked upon as going about to murder them: they first of all unbound
them, but the poor creatures screamed at that, especially the women, as
if they had just felt the knife at their throats; for they immediately
concluded they were unbound on purpose to be killed.
If they gave them any thing to eat, it was the same thing; then they
concluded it was for fear they should sink in flesh, and so not be fat
enough to kill; if they looked at one of them more particularly, the
party presently concluded it was to see whether he or she was fattest
and fittest to kill first; nay, after they had brought them quite over,
and began to use them kindly and treat them well, still they expected
every day to make a dinner or supper for their new masters.
When the three wanderers had given this unaccountable history or journal
of their voyage, the Spaniard asked them where their new family was? And
being told that they had brought them on shore, and put them into one of
their huts, and were come to beg some victuals for them; they (the
Spaniards) and the other two Englishmen, that is to say, the whole
colony, resolved to go all down to the place and see them, and did so,
and Friday's father with them.
When they came into the hut, there they sat all bound; for when they had
brought them on shore they bound their hands, that they might not take
the boat and make their escape; there, I say, they sat all of them stark
naked. First, there were three men, lusty, comely fellows, well shaped,
straight and fair limbs, about thirty or thirty-five years of age, and
five women; whereof two might be from thirty to forty, two more not
above twenty-four or twenty-five, and the fifth, a tall, comely maiden,
about sixteen or seventeen. The women were well-favoured, agreeable
persons, both in shape and features, only tawny; and two of them, had
they been perfect white, would have passed for handsome women, even in
London itself, having very pleasant, agreeable countenances, and of a
very modest behaviour, especially when they came afterwards to be
clothed, and dressed, as they called it, though that dress was very
indifferent it must be confessed, of which hereafter.
The sight, you may be sure, was something uncouth to our Spaniards, who
were (to give them a just character) men of the best behaviour, of the
most calm, sedate tempers, and perfect good humour that ever I met with;
and, in particular, of the most modesty, as will presently appear: I say
the sight was very uncouth, to see three naked men and five naked women,
all together bound, and in the most miserable circumstances that human
nature could be supposed to be, viz. to be expecting every moment to be
dragged out, and have their brains knocked out, and then to be eaten up
like a calf that is killed for a dainty.
The first thing they did was to cause the old Indian, Friday's father,
to go in and see first if he knew any of them, and then if he understood
any of their speech. As soon as the old man came in, he looked seriously
at them, but knew none of them; neither could any of them understand a
word he said, or a sign he could make, except one of the women.
However, this was enough to answer the end, which was to satisfy them,
that the men into whose hands they were fallen were Christians; that
they abhorred eating of men or women, and that they might be sure they
would not be killed. As soon as they were assured of this, they
discovered such a joy, and by such awkward and several ways as is hard
to describe, for it seems they were of several nations.
The woman who was their interpreter was bid, in the next place, to ask
them if they were willing to be servants, and to work for the men who
had brought them away to save their lives? At which they all fell a
dancing; and presently one fell to taking up this, and another that, any
thing that lay next, to carry on their shoulders, to intimate that they
were willing to work.
The governor, who found that the having women among them would presently
be attended with some inconveniency, and might occasion some strife, and
perhaps blood, asked the three men what they intended to do with these
women, and how they intended to use them, whether as servants or as
women? One of the Englishmen answered very boldly and readily, that they
would use them as both. To which the governor said, "I am not going to
restrain you from it; you are your own masters as to that: but this I
think is but just, for avoiding disorders and quarrels among you, and I
desire it of you for that reason only, viz. that you will all engage,
that if any of you take any of these women as a woman, or wife, he shall
take but one; and that, having taken one, none else should touch her;
for though we cannot marry any of you, yet it is but reasonable that
while you stay here, the woman any of you takes should be maintained by
the man that takes her, and should be his wife; I mean," says he, "while
he continues here; and that none else should have any thing to do with
her." All this appeared so just, that every one agreed to it without any
difficulty.
Then the Englishmen asked the Spaniards if they designed to take any of
them? But every one answered, "No;" some of them said they had wives in
Spain; and the others did not like women that were not Christians; and
all together declared, that they would not touch one of them; which was
an instance of such virtue as I have not met with in all my travels. On
the other hand, to be short, the five Englishmen took them every one a
wife; that is to say, a temporary wife; and so they set up a new form of
living; for the Spaniards and Friday's father lived in my old
habitation, which they had enlarged exceedingly within; the three
servants, which they had taken in the late battle of the savages, lived
with them; and these carried on the main part of the colony, supplying
all the rest with food, and assisting them in any thing as they could,
or as they found necessity required.
But the wonder of this story was, how five such refractory, ill-matched
fellows should agree about these women, and that two of them should not
pitch upon the same woman, especially seeing two or three of them were,
without comparison, more agreeable than the others: but they took a good
way enough to prevent quarrelling among themselves; for they set the
five women by themselves in one of their huts, and they went all into
the other hut, and drew lots among them who should choose first.
He that drew to choose first, went away by himself to the hut where the
poor naked creatures were, and fetched out her he chose; and it was
worth observing that he that chose first took her that was reckoned the
homeliest and the oldest of the five, which made mirth enough among the
rest; and even the Spaniards laughed at it; but the fellow considered
better than any of them, that it was application and business that they
were to expect assistance in as much as any thing else, and she proved
the best wife in the parcel.
When the poor women saw themselves in a row thus, and fetched out one by
one, the terrors of their condition returned upon them again, and they
firmly believed that they were now going to be devoured: accordingly,
when the English sailor came in and fetched out one of them, the rest
set up a most lamentable cry, and hung about her, and took their leave
of her with such agonies and such affection as would have grieved the
hardest heart in the world; nor was it possible for the Englishmen to
satisfy them that they were not to be immediately murdered, till they
fetched the old man, Friday's father, who instantly let them know, that
the five men who had fetched them out one by one, had chosen them for
their wives.
When they had done this, and the fright the women were in was a little
over, the men went to work, and the Spaniards came and helped them; and
in a few hours they had built them every one a new hut or tent for their
lodging apart; for those they had already were crowded with their tools,
household stuff, and provisions. The three wicked ones had pitched
farthest off, and the two honest ones nearer, but both on the north
shore of the island, so that they continued separate as before: and thus
my island was peopled in three places, and, as I might say, three towns
were begun to be planted.
And here it is very well worth observing, that as it often happens in
the world, (what the wise ends of God's providences are in such a
disposition of things I cannot say) the two honest fellows had the two
worst wives; and the three reprobates, that were scarce worth hanging,
that were fit for nothing, and neither seemed born to do themselves
good, or any one else, had three clever, diligent, careful, and
ingenious wives, not that the two first were ill wives as to their
temper or humour; for all the five were most willing, quiet, passive,
and subjected creatures, rather like slaves than wives; but my meaning
is, they were not alike, capable, ingenious, or industrious, or alike
cleanly and neat.
Another observation I must make, to the honour of a diligent application
on the one hand, and to the disgrace of a slothful, negligent, idle
temper on the other, that when I came to the place, and viewed the
several improvements, planting, and management of the several little
colonies, the two men had so far out-gone the three, that there was no
comparison; they had indeed both of them as much ground laid out for
corn as they wanted; and the reason was, because according to my rule,
nature dictated, that it was to no purpose to sow more corn than they
wanted; but the difference of the cultivation, of the planting, of the
fences, and indeed every thing else, was easy to be seen at first view.
The two men had innumerable young trees planted about their huts, that
when you came to the place nothing was to be seen but a wood; and
though they had their plantation twice demolished, once by their own
countrymen, and once by the enemy, as shall be shewn in its place; yet
they had restored all again, and every thing was flourishing and
thriving about them: they had grapes planted in order, and managed like
a vineyard, though they had themselves never seen any thing of that
kind; and by their good ordering their vines their grapes were as good
again as any of the others. They had also formed themselves a retreat in
the thickest part of the woods, where, though there was not a natural
cave, as I had found, yet they made one with incessant labour of their
hands, and where, when the mischief which followed happened, they
secured their wives and children so as they could never be found; they
having, by sticking innumerable stakes and poles of the wood, which, as
I said, grow so easily, made a grove impassable except in one place,
where they climbed up to get over the outside part, and then went in by
ways of their own leaving.
As to the three reprobates, as I justly call them, though they were much
civilized by their new settlement compared to what they were before, and
were not so quarrelsome, having not the same opportunity, yet one of the
certain companions of a profligate mind never left them, and that was
their idleness. It is true, they planted corn and made fences; but
Solomon's words were never better verified than in them: "I went by the
vineyard of the slothful, and it was overgrown with thorns;" for when
the Spaniards came to view their crop, they could not see it in some
places for weeds; the hedge had several gaps in it, where the wild goats
had gotten in and eaten up the corn; perhaps here and there a dead bush
was crammed in to stop them out for the present, but it was only
shutting the stable door after the steed was stolen; whereas, when they
looked on the colony of the other two, here was the very face of
industry and success upon all they did; there was not a weed to be seen
in all their corn, or a gap in any of their hedges; and they, on the
other hand, verified Solomon's words in another place: "The diligent
hand maketh rich;" for every thing grew and thrived, and they had plenty
within and without; they had more tame cattle than the others, more
utensils and necessaries within doors, and yet more pleasure and
diversion too.
It is true, the wives of the three were very handy and cleanly within
doors; and having learnt the English ways of dressing and cooking from
one of the other Englishmen, who, as I said, was a cook's mate on board
the ship, they dressed their husbands' victuals very nicely; whereas the
other could not be brought to understand it; but then the husband, who
as I said, had been cook's mate, did it himself; but as for the husbands
of the three wives, they loitered about, fetched turtles' eggs, and
caught fish and birds; in a word, any thing but labour, and they fared
accordingly. The diligent lived well and comfortably and the slothful
lived hard and beggarly; and so I believe, generally speaking, it is all
over the world.
But now I come to a scene different from all that had happened before,
either to them or me; and the origin of the story was this:
Early one morning there came on shore five or six canoes of Indians, or
savages, call them which you please; and there is no room to doubt that
they came upon the old errand of feeding upon their slaves; but that
part was now so familiar to the Spaniards, and to our men too, that they
did not concern themselves about it as I did; but having been made
sensible by their experience, that their only business was to lie
concealed, and that, if they were not seen by any of the savages, they
would go off again quietly when the business was done, having as yet not
the least notion of there being any inhabitants in the island; I say
having been made sensible of this, they had nothing to do but to give
notice to all the three plantations to keep within doors, and not to
shew themselves; only placing a scout in a proper place, to give notice
when the boats went off to sea again.
This was, without doubt, very right; but a disaster spoiled all these
measures, and made it known among the savages that there were
inhabitants there, which was, in the end, the desolation of almost the
whole colony. After the canoes with the savages were gone off, the
Spaniards peeped abroad again, and some of them had the curiosity to go
to the place where they had been, to see what they had been doing. Here,
to their great surprise, they found three savages left behind, and lying
fast asleep upon the ground; it was supposed they had either been so
gorged with their inhuman feast, that, like beasts, they were asleep,
and would not stir when the others went, or they were wandered into the
woods, and did not come back in time to be taken in.
The Spaniards were greatly surprised at this sight, and perfectly at a
loss what to do; the Spaniard governor, as it happened, was with them,
and his advice was asked; but he professed he knew not what to do; as
for slaves, they had enough already; and as to killing them, they were
none of them inclined to that. The Spaniard governor told me they could
not think of shedding innocent blood; for as to them, the poor creatures
had done no wrong, invaded none of their property; and they thought they
had no just quarrel against them to take away their lives.
And here I must, in justice to these Spaniards, observe, that let all
the accounts of Spanish cruelty in Mexico and Peru be what they will, I
never met with seventeen men, of any nation whatsoever, in any foreign
country, who were so universally modest, temperate, virtuous, so very
good-humoured, and so courteous as these Spaniards; and, as to cruelty,
they had nothing of it in their very nature; no inhumanity, no
barbarity, no outrageous passions, and yet all of them men of great
courage and spirit.
Their temper and calmness had appeared in their bearing the insufferable
usage of the three Englishmen; and their justice and humanity appeared
now in the case of the savages as above. After some consultation they
resolved upon this, that they would lie still a while longer, till, if
possible, these three men might be gone; but then the governor Spaniard
recollected that the three savages had no boat; and that if they were
left to rove about the island, they would certainly discover that there
were inhabitants in it, and so they should be undone that way.
Upon this they went back again, and there lay the fellows fast asleep
still; so they resolved to awaken them, and take them prisoners; and
they did so. The poor fellows were strangely frighted when they were
seized upon and bound, and afraid, like the women, that they should be
murdered and eaten; for it seems those people think all the world do as
they do, eating mens' flesh; but they were soon made easy as to that:
and away they carried them.
It was very happy for them that they did not carry them home to their
castle; I mean to my palace under the hill; but they carried them first
to the bower, where was the chief of their country work; such as the
keeping the goats, the planting the corn, &c.; and afterwards they
carried them to the habitation of the two Englishmen.
Here they were set to work, though it was not much, they had for them to
do; and whether it was by negligence in guarding them, or that they
thought the fellows could not mend themselves, I know not, but one of
them ran away, and taking into the woods, they could never hear of
him more.
They had good reason to believe he got home again soon after in some
other boats or canoes of savages, who came on shore three or four weeks
afterwards, and who, carrying on their revels as usual, went off again
in two days time. This thought terrified them exceedingly; for they
concluded, and that not without good cause indeed, that if this fellow
got safe home among his comrades, he would certainly give them an
account that there were people in the island, as also how weak and few
they were; for this savage, as I observed before, had never been told,
as it was very happy he had not, how many they were, or where they
lived, nor had he ever seen or heard the fire of any of their guns, much
less had they shewn him any other of their retired places, such as the
cave in the valley, or the new retreat which the two Englishmen had
made, and the like.
The first testimony they had that this fellow had given intelligence of
them was, that about two months after this, six canoes of savages, with
about seven or eight, or ten men in a canoe, came rowing along the north
side of the island, where they never used to come before, and landed
about an hour after sunrise, at a convenient place, about a mile from
the habitation of the two Englishmen, where this escaped man had been
kept. As the Spaniard governor said, had they been all there the damage
would not have been so much, for not a man of them would have escaped:
but the case differed now very much; for two men to fifty were too much
odds. The two men had the happiness to discover them about a league off,
so that it was about an hour before they landed, and as they landed
about a mile from their huts, it was some time before they could come at
them. Now having great reason to believe that they were betrayed, the
first thing they did was to bind the slaves which were left, and cause
two of the three men whom they brought with the women, who, it seems,
proved very faithful to them, to lead them with their two wives, and
whatever they could carry away with them, to their retired place in the
woods, which I have spoken of above, and there to bind the two fellows
hand and foot till they heard farther.
In the next place, seeing the savages were all come on shore, and that
they bent their course directly that way, they opened the fences where
their milch-goats were kept, and drove them all out, leaving their goats
to straggle into the wood, whither they pleased, that the savages might
think they were all bred wild; but the rogue who came with them was too
cunning for that, and gave them an account of it all, for they went
directly to the place.
When the poor frighted men had secured their wives and goods, they sent
the other slave they had of the three, who came with the women, and who
was at their place by accident, away to the Spaniards with all speed, to
give them the alarm, and desire speedy help; and in the mean time they
took their arms, and what ammunition they had, and retreated towards the
place in the wood where their wives were sent, keeping at a distance;
yet so that they might see, if possible, which way the savages took.
They had not gone far but that, from a rising ground, they could see the
little army of their enemies come on directly to their habitation, and
in a moment more could see all their huts and household-stuff flaming up
together, to their great grief and mortification; for they had a very
great loss, and to them irretrievable, at least for some time. They kept
their station for a while, till they found the savages, like wild
beasts, spread themselves all over the place, rummaging every way, and
every place they could think of, in search for prey, and in particular
for the people, of whom it plainly appeared they had intelligence.
The two Englishmen, seeing this, thinking themselves not secure where
they stood, as it was likely some of the wild people might come that
way, so they might come too many together, thought it proper to make
another retreat about half a mile farther, believing, as it afterwards
happened, that the farther they strolled, the fewer would be together.
The next halt was at the entrance into a very thick grown part of the
woods, and where an old trunk of a tree stood, which was hollow, and
vastly large; and in this tree they both took their standing, resolving
to see what might offer.
They had not stood there long, but two of the savages appeared running
directly that way, as if they had already notice where they stood, and
were coming up to attack them; and a little way farther they espied
three more coming after them, and five more beyond them, all coming the
same way; besides which, they saw seven or eight more at a distance,
running another way; for, in a word, they ran every way, like sportsmen
beating for their game.
The poor men were now in great perplexity, whether they should stand and
keep their posture, or fly; but after a very short debate with
themselves, they considered that if the savages ranged the country thus
before help came, they might, perhaps, find out their retreat in the
woods, and then all would be lost; so they resolved to stand them there;
and if there were too many to deal with, then they would get to the top
of the tree, from whence they doubted not to defend themselves, fire
excepted, as long as their ammunition lasted, though all the savages
that were landed, which were near fifty, were to attack them.
Having resolved upon this, they next considered whether they should fire
at the two first, or wait for the three, and so take the middle party,
by which the two and the five that followed would be separated: at
length they resolved to let the two first pass by, unless they should
spy them in the tree, and come to attack them. The two first savages
also confirmed them in this resolution, by turning a little from them
towards another part of the wood; but the three, and the five after
them, came forwards directly to the tree, as if they had known the
Englishmen were there.
Seeing them come so straight towards them, they resolved to take them in
a line as they came; and as they resolved to fire but one at a time,
perhaps the first shot might hit them all three; to which purpose, the
man who was to fire put three or four bullets into his piece, and having
a fair loop-hole, as it were, from a broken hole in the tree, he took a
sure aim, without being seen, waiting till they were within about thirty
yards of the tree, so that he could not miss.
While they were thus waiting, and the savages came on, they plainly saw,
that one of the three was the runaway savage that had escaped from them;
and they both knew him distinctly, and resolved that, if possible, he
should not escape, though they should both fire; so the other stood
ready with his piece, that if he did not drop at the first shot, he
should be sure to have a second. But the first was too good a marksman
to miss his aim; for as the savages kept near one another, a little
behind in a line, he fired, and hit two of them directly; the foremost
was killed outright, being shot in the head; the second, which was the
runaway Indian, was shot through the body, and fell, but was not quite
dead; and the third had a little scratch in the shoulder, perhaps by the
same ball that went through the body of the second; and being dreadfully
frightened, though not so much hurt, sat down upon the ground, screaming
and yelling in a hideous manner.
The five that were behind, more frightened with the noise than sensible
of the danger, stood still at first; for the woods made the sound a
thousand times bigger than it really was, the echoes rattling from one
side to another, and the fowls rising from all parts, screaming, and
every sort making a different noise, according to their kind; just as it
was when I fired the first gun that perhaps was ever shot off in
the island.
However, all being silent again, and they not knowing what the matter
was, came on unconcerned, till they came to the place where their
companions lay in a condition miserable enough. Here the poor ignorant
creatures, not sensible that they were within reach of the same
mischief, stood all together over the wounded man, talking, and, as may
be supposed, inquiring of him how he came to be hurt; and who, it is
very rational to believe, told them that a flash of fire first, and
immediately after that thunder from their gods, had killed those two and
wounded him. This, I say, is rational; for nothing is more certain than
that, as they saw no man near them, so they had never heard a gun in all
their lives, nor so much as heard of a gun; neither knew they anything
of killing and wounding at a distance with fire and bullets: if they
had, one might reasonably believe they would not have stood so
unconcerned to view the fate of their fellows, without some
apprehensions of their own.
Our two men, as they confessed to me, were grieved to be obliged to kill
so many poor creatures, who had no notion of their danger; yet, having
them all thus in their power, and the first having loaded his piece
again, resolved to let fly both together among them; and singling out,
by agreement, which to aim at, they shot together, and killed, or very
much wounded, four of them; the fifth, frightened even to death, though
not hurt, fell with the rest; so that our men, seeing them all fall
together, thought they had killed them all.
The belief that the savages were all killed made our two men come boldly
out from the tree before they had charged their guns, which was a wrong
step; and they were under some surprise when they came to the place, and
found no less than four of them alive, and of them two very little hurt,
and one not at all. This obliged them to fall upon them with the stocks
of their muskets; and first they made sure of the runaway savage, that
had been the cause of all the mischief, and of another that was hurt in
the knee, and put them out of their pain; then the man that was not hurt
at all came and kneeled down to them, with his two hands held up, and
made piteous moans to them, by gestures and signs, for his life, but
could not say one word to them that they could understand. However, they
made signs to him to sit down at the foot of a tree hard by; and one of
the Englishmen, with a piece of rope-yarn, which he had by great chance
in his pocket, tied his two hands behind him, and there they left him;
and with what speed they could made after the other two, which were gone
before, fearing they, or any more of them, should find the way to their
covered place in the woods, where their wives, and the few goods they
had left, lay. They came once in sight of the two men, but it was at a
great distance; however, they had the satisfaction to see them cross
over a valley towards the sea, the quite contrary way from that which
led to their retreat, which they were afraid of; and being satisfied
with that, they went back to the tree where they left their prisoner,
who as they supposed was delivered by his comrades; for he was gone, and
the two pieces of rope-yarn with which they had bound him, lay just at
the foot of the tree.
They were now in as great a concern as before, not knowing what course
to take, or how near the enemy might be, or in what numbers; so they
resolved to go away to the place where their wives were, to see if all
was well there, and to make them easy, who were in fright enough to be
sure; for though the savages were their own country-folks, yet they were
most terribly afraid of them, and perhaps the more, for the knowledge
they had of them.
When they came thither, they found the savages had been in the wood, and
very near the place, but had not found it; for indeed it was
inaccessible, by the trees standing so thick, as before, unless the
persons seeking it had been directed by those that knew it, which these
were not; they found, therefore, every thing very safe, only the women
in a terrible fright. While they were here they had the comfort of seven
of the Spaniards coming to their assistance: the other ten with their
servants, and old Friday, I mean Friday's father, were gone in a body to
defend their bower, and the corn and cattle that were kept there, in
case the savages should have roved over to that side of the country; but
they did not spread so far. With the seven Spaniards came one of the
savages, who, as I said, were their prisoners formerly, and with them
also came the savage whom the Englishmen had left bound hand and foot at
the tree; for it seems they came that way, saw the slaughter of the
seven men, and unbound the eighth, and brought him along with them,
where, however, they were obliged to bind him again, as they had done
the two others, who were left when the third run away.
The prisoners began now to be a burden to them; and they were so afraid
of their escaping, that they thought they were under an absolute
necessity to kill them for their own preservation: however, the Spaniard
governor would not consent to it; but ordered, that they should be sent
out of the way to my old cave in the valley, and be kept there, with two
Spaniards to guard them and give them food; which was done; and they
were bound there hand and foot for that night.
When the Spaniards came, the two Englishmen were so encouraged, that
they could not satisfy themselves to stay any longer there; but taking
five of the Spaniards, and themselves, with four muskets and a pistol
among them, and two stout quarter-staves, away they went in quest of the
savages. And first, they came to the tree where the men lay that had
been killed; but it was easy to see that some more of the savages had
been there; for they attempted to carry their dead men away, and had
dragged two of them a good way, but had given it over; from thence they
advanced to the first rising ground, where they had stood and seen their
camp destroyed, and where they had the mortification still to see some
of the smoke; but neither could they here see any of the savages: they
then resolved, though with all possible caution, to go forward towards
their ruined plantation; but a little before they came thither, coming
in sight of the sea-shore, they saw plainly the savages all embarking
again in their canoes, in order to be gone.
They seemed sorry at first that there was no way to come at them to give
them a parting blow; but upon the whole were very well satisfied to be
rid of them.
The poor Englishmen being now twice ruined, and all their improvements
destroyed, the rest all agreed to come and help them to rebuild, and to
assist them with needful supplies. Their three countrymen, who were not
yet noted for having the least inclination to do any thing good, yet, as
soon as they heard of it (for they, living remote, knew nothing till all
was over), came and offered their help and assistance, and did very
friendly work for several days to restore their habitations and make
necessaries for them; and thus in a little time they were set upon their
legs again.
About two days after this they had the farther satisfaction of seeing
three of the savages' canoes come driving onshore, and at some distance
from them, with two drowned men; by which they had reason to believe
that they had met with a storm at sea, which had overset some of them,
for it blew very hard the night after they went off.
However, as some might miscarry, so on the other hand enough of them
escaped to inform the rest, as well of what they had done, as of what
happened to them; and to whet them on to another enterprise of the same
nature, which they, it seems, resolved to attempt, with sufficient force
to carry all before them; for except what the first man told them of
inhabitants, they could say little to it of their own knowledge; for
they never saw one man, and the fellow being killed that had affirmed
it, they had no other witness to confirm it to them.
It was five or six months after this before they heard any more of the
savages, in which time our men were in hopes they had not forgot their
former bad luck, or had given over the hopes of better; when on a sudden
they were invaded with a most formidable fleet of no less than
twenty-eight canoes, full of savages, armed with bows and arrows, great
clubs, wooden swords, and such-like engines of war; and they brought
such numbers with them, that in short it put all our people into the
utmost consternation.
As they came on shore in the evening, and at the easternmost side of the
island, our men had that night to consult and consider what to do; and
in the first place, knowing that their being entirely concealed was
their only safety before, and would much more be so now, while the
number of their enemies was so great, they therefore resolved, first of
all, to take down the huts which were built for the two Englishmen, and
drive away their goats to the old cave; because they supposed the
savages would go directly thither as soon as it was day, to play the old
game over again, though they did not now land within two leagues of it.
In the next place, they drove away all the flock of goats they had at
the old bower, as I called it, which belonged to the Spaniards; and, in
short, left as little appearance of inhabitants any where as possible;
and the next morning early they posted themselves with all their force
at the plantation of the two men, waiting for their coming. As they
guessed, so it happened: these new invaders, leaving their canoes at the
east end of the island, came ranging along the shore, directly towards
the place, to the number of two hundred and fifty, as near as our men
could judge. Our army was but small indeed; but that which was worse,
they had not arms for all their number neither: the whole account, it
seems, stood thus:--first, as to men:
17 Spaniards.
5 Englishmen.
1 Old Friday, or Friday's father.
3 Slaves, taken with the women, who proved very
faithful.
3 Other slaves who lived with the Spaniards.
--
29
To arm these they had:
11 Muskets.
5 Pistols.
3 Fowling-pieces.
5 Muskets, or fowling-pieces, which were taken by
me from the mutinous seamen whom I reduced.
2 Swords.
3 Old halberts.
--
29
To their slaves they did not give either musket or fusil, but they had
every one an halbert, or a long staff, like a quarter-staff, with a
great spike of iron fastened into each end of it, and by his side a
hatchet; also every one of our men had hatchets. Two of the women could
not be prevailed upon but they would come into the fight, and they had
bows and arrows, which the Spaniards had taken from the savages when the
first action happened, which I have spoken of, where the Indians fought
with one another; and the women had hatchets too.
The Spaniard governor, whom I have described so often, commanded the
whole; and William Atkins, who, though a dreadful fellow for wickedness,
was a most daring, bold fellow, commanded under him. The savages came
forward like lions, and our men, which was the worst of their fate, had
no advantage in their situation; only that Will Atkins, who now proved a
most useful fellow, with six men, was planted just behind a small
thicket of bushes, as an advanced guard, with orders to let the first of
them pass by, and then fire into the middle of them; and as soon as he
had fired to make his retreat, as nimbly as he could, round a part of
the wood, and so come in behind the Spaniards where they stood, having a
thicket of trees all before them.
When the savages came on, they ran straggling about every way in heaps,
out of all manner of order, and Will Atkins let about fifty of them pass
by him; then seeing the rest come in a very thick throng, he orders
three of his men to fire, having loaded their muskets with six or seven
bullets apiece, about as big as large pistol-bullets. How many they
killed or wounded they knew not; but the consternation and surprise was
inexpressible among the savages, who were frighted to the last degree,
to hear such a dreadful noise, and see their men killed, and others
hurt, but see nobody that did it. When in the middle of their fright,
William Atkins and his other three let fly again among the thickest of
them and in less than a minute the first three, being loaded again, gave
them a third volley.
Had William Atkins and his men retired immediately, as soon as they had
fired, as they were ordered to do; or had the rest of the body been at
hand to have poured in their shot continually, the savages had been
effectually routed; for the terror that was among them came principally
from this; viz. that they were killed by the gods with thunder and
lightning, and could see nobody that hurt them: but William Atkins
staying to load again, discovered the cheat; some of the savages who
were at a distance, spying them, came upon them behind; and though
Atkins and his men fired at them also, two or three times, and killed
above twenty, retiring as fast as they could, yet they wounded Atkins
himself, and killed one of his fellow Englishmen with their arrows, as
they did afterwards one Spaniard, and one of the Indian slaves who came
with the women. This slave was a most gallant fellow, and fought most
desperately, killing five of them with his own hand, having no weapon
but one of the armed staves and a hatchet.
Our men being thus hard laid at, Atkins wounded, and two other men
killed, retreated to a rising ground in the wood; and the Spaniards,
after firing three vollies upon them, retreated also; for their number
was so great, and they were so desperate, that though above fifty of
them were killed, and more than so many wounded, yet they came on in the
teeth of our men, fearless of danger, and shot their arrows like a
cloud; and it was observed, that their wounded men, who were not quite
disabled, were made outrageous by their wounds, and fought like madmen.
When our men retreated, they left the Spaniard and the Englishman that
were killed behind them; and the savages, when they came up to them,
killed them over again in a wretched manner, breaking their arms, legs,
and heads, with their clubs and wooden swords, like true savages. But
finding our men were gone, they did not seem inclined to pursue them,
but drew themselves up in a kind of ring, which is, it seems, their
custom, and shouted twice in token of their victory; after which, they
had the mortification to see several of their wounded men fall, dying
with the mere loss of blood.
The Spaniard governor having drawn his little body up together upon a
rising ground, Atkins, though he was wounded, would have had him march,
and charge them again all together at once: but the Spaniard replied,
"Seignior Atkins, you see how their wounded men fight; let them alone
till morning; all these wounded men will be stiff and sore with their
wounds, and faint with the loss of blood, and so we shall have the fewer
to engage."
The advice was good; but Will Atkins replied merrily, "That's true,
Seignior, and so shall I too; and that's the reason I would go on while
I am warm."--"Well, Seignior Atkins," says the Spaniard, "you have
behaved gallantly, and done your part; we will fight for you, if you
cannot come on; but I think it best to stay till morning:" so
they waited.
But as it was a clear moonlight night, and they found the savages in
great disorder about their dead and wounded men, and a great hurry and
noise among them where they lay, they afterwards resolved to fall upon
them in the night, especially if they could come to give them but one
volley before they were discovered. This they had a fair opportunity to
do; for one of the two Englishmen, in whose quarter it was where the
fight began, led them round between the woods and the sea-side,
westward, and turning short south, they came so near where the thickest
of them lay, that before they were seen or heard, eight of them fired in
among them, and did dreadful execution upon them; in half a minute more
eight others fired after them, pouring in their small shot in such a
quantity, that abundance were killed and wounded; and all this while
they were not able to see who hurt them, or which way to fly.
The Spaniards charged again with the utmost expedition, and then
divided themselves into three bodies, and resolved to fall in among them
all together. They had in each body eight persons; that is to say,
twenty-four, whereof were twenty-two men, and the two women, who, by the
way, fought desperately.
They divided the fire-arms equally in each party, and so of the halberts
and staves. They would have had the women keep back; but they said they
were resolved to die with their husbands. Having thus formed their
little army, they marched out from among the trees, and came up to the
teeth of the enemy, shouting and hallooing as loud as they could. The
savages stood all together, but were in the utmost confusion, hearing
the noise of our men shouting from three quarters together; they would
have fought if they had seen us; and as soon as we came near enough to
be seen, some arrows were shot, and poor old Friday was wounded, though
not dangerously. But our men gave them no time, but running up to them,
fired among them three ways, and then fell in with the butt ends of
their muskets, their swords, armed staves, and hatchets; and laid about
them so well, that in a word they set up a dismal screaming and howling,
flying to save their lives which way soever they could.
Our men were tired with the execution; and killed, or mortally wounded,
in the two fights, about one hundred and eighty of them: the rest, being
frighted out of their wits, scoured through the woods and over the
hills, with all the speed that fear and nimble feet could help them to
do; and as we did not trouble ourselves much to pursue them, they got
all together to the sea-side, where they landed, and where their canoes
lay. But their disaster was not at an end yet, for it blew a terrible
storm of wind that evening from the seaward, so that it was impossible
for them to put off; nay, the storm continuing all night, when the tide
came up their canoes were most of them driven by the surge of the sea so
high upon the shore, that it required infinite toil to get them off; and
some of them were even dashed to pieces against the beach, or against
one another.
Our men, though glad of their victory, yet got little rest that night;
but having refreshed themselves as well as they could, they resolved to
march to that part of the island where the savages were fled, and see
what posture they were in. This necessarily led them over the place
where the fight had been, and where they found several of the poor
creatures not quite dead, and yet past recovering life; a sight
disagreeable enough to generous minds; for a truly great man, though
obliged by the law of battle to destroy his enemy, takes no delight in
his misery.
However, there was no need to give any order in this case; for their own
savages, who were their servants, dispatched those poor creatures with
their hatchets.
At length they came in view of the place where the more miserable
remains of the savages' army lay, where there appeared about one hundred
still: their posture was generally sitting upon the ground, with their
knees up towards their mouth, and the head put between the hands,
leaning down upon the knees.
When our men came within two musket-shot of them, the Spaniard governor
ordered two muskets to be fired without ball, to alarm them; this he
did, that by their countenance he might know what to expect, viz.
whether they were still in heart to fight, or were so heartily beaten,
as to be dispirited and discouraged, and so he might manage accordingly.
This stratagem took; for as soon as the savages heard the first gun, and
saw the flash of the second, they started up upon their feet in the
greatest consternation imaginable; and as our men advanced swiftly
towards them, they all ran screaming and yawling away, with a kind of an
howling noise, which our men did not understand, and had never heard
before; and thus they ran up the hills into the country.
At first our men had much rather the weather had been calm, and they
had all gone away to sea; but they did not then consider, that this
might probably have been the occasion of their coming again in such
multitudes as not to be resisted; or, at least, to come so many and so
often, as would quite desolate the island and starve them. Will Atkins
therefore, who, notwithstanding his wound, kept always with them, proved
the best counsellor in this case. His advice was, to take the advantage
that offered, and clap in between them and their boats, and so deprive
them of the capacity of ever returning any more to plague the island.
They consulted long about this, and some were against it, for fear of
making the wretches fly into the woods, and live there desperate; and so
they should have them to hunt like wild beasts, be afraid to stir about
their business, and have their plantation continually rifled, all their
tame goats destroyed, and, in short, be reduced to a life of
continual distress.
Will Atkins told them they had better have to do with one hundred men
than with one hundred nations; that as they must destroy their boats, so
they must destroy the men, or be all of them destroyed themselves. In a
word, he shewed them the necessity of it so plainly, that they all came
into it; so they went to work immediately with the boats, and getting
some dry wood together from a dead tree, they tried to set some of them
on fire; but they were so wet that they would scarce burn. However, the
fire so burned the upper part, that it soon made them unfit for swimming
in the sea as boats. When the Indians saw what they were about, some of
them came running out of the woods, and coming as near as they could to
our men, kneeled down and cried, _Oa, Oa, Waramokoa_, and some other
words of their language, which none of the others understood any thing
of; but as they made pitiful gestures and strange noises, it was easy to
understand they begged to have their boats spared, and that they would
be gone, and never return thither again.
But our men were now satisfied, that they had no way to preserve
themselves or to save their colony, but effectually to prevent any of
these people from ever going home again; depending upon this, that if
ever so much as one of them got back into their country to tell the
story, the colony was undone; so that letting them know that they should
not have any mercy, they fell to work with their canoes, and destroyed
them, every one that the storm had not destroyed before; at the sight of
which the savages raised a hideous cry in the woods, which our people
heard plain enough; after which they ran about the island like
distracted men; so that, in a word, our men did not really know at first
what to do with them.
Nor did the Spaniards, with all their prudence, consider that while they
made those people thus desperate, they ought to have kept good guard at
the same time upon their plantations; for though it is true they had
driven away their cattle, and the Indians did not find their main
retreat, I mean my old castle at the hill, nor the cave in the valley;
yet they found out my plantation at the bower, and pulled it all to
pieces, and all the fences and planting about it; trod all the corn
under foot; tore up the vines and grapes, being just then almost ripe,
and did our men an inestimable damage, though to themselves not one
farthing's-worth of service.
Though our men were able to fight them upon all occasions, yet they were
in no condition to pursue them, or hunt them up and down; for as they
were too nimble of foot for our men when they found them single, so our
men durst not go about single for fear of being surrounded with their
numbers: the best was, they had no weapons; for though they had bows
they had no arrows left, nor any materials to make any, nor had they any
edged tool or weapon among them. The extremity and distress they were
reduced to was great, and indeed deplorable, but at the same time our
men were also brought to very hard circumstances by them; for though
their retreats were preserved, yet their provision was destroyed, and
their harvest spoiled; and what to do or which way to turn themselves,
they knew not; the only refuge they had now was the stock of cattle they
had in the valley by the cave, and some little corn which grew there.
The three Englishmen, William Atkins and his comrades, were now reduced
to two, one of them being killed by an arrow, which struck him on the
side of his head, just under the temples, so that he never spoke more;
and it was very remarkable, that this was the same barbarous fellow who
cut the poor savage slave with his hatchet, and who afterwards intended
to have murdered the Spaniards.
I look upon their case to have been worse at this time than mine was at
any time after I first discovered the grains of barley and rice, and got
into the method of planting and raising my corn, and my tame cattle; for
now they had, as I may say, an hundred wolves upon the island, which
would devour every thing they could come at, yet could be very hardly
come at themselves.
The first thing they concluded when they saw what their circumstances
were, was, that they would, if possible, drive them up to the farther
part of the island, south-east, that if any more savages came on shore,
they might not find one another; then that they would daily hunt and
harass them, and kill as many of them as they could come at, till they
had reduced the number; and if they could at last tame them, and bring
them to any thing, they would give them corn, and teach them how to
plant, and live upon their daily Labour.
In order to this they followed them, and so terrified them with their
guns, that in a few days, if any of them fired a gun at an Indian, if he
did not hit him, yet he would fall down for fear; and so dreadfully
frighted they were, that they kept out of sight farther and farther,
till at last our men following them, and every day almost killing and
wounding some of them, they kept up in the woods and hollow places so
much, that it reduced them to the utmost misery for want of food; and
many were afterwards found dead in the woods, without any hurt, but
merely starved to death.
When our men found this, it made their hearts relent, and pity moved
them; especially the Spaniard governor, who was the most gentleman-like,
generous-minded man that ever I met with in my life; and he proposed, if
possible, to take one of them alive, and bring him to understand what
they meant, so far as to be able to act as interpreter, and to go among
them, and see if they might be brought to some conditions that might be
depended upon, to save their lives, and do us no spoil.
It was some time before any of them could be taken; but being weak, and
half-starved, one of them was at last surprised, and made a prisoner: he
was sullen at first, and would neither eat nor drink; but finding
himself kindly used, and victuals given him, and no violence offered
him, he at last grew tractable, and came to himself.
They brought old Friday to him, who talked often with him, and told him
how kind the others would be to them all: that they would not only save
their lives, but would give them a part of the island to live in,
provided they would give satisfaction; that they should keep in their
own bounds, and not come beyond them, to injure or prejudice others; and
that they should have corn given them, to plant and make it grow for
their bread, and some bread given them for their present subsistence;
and old Friday bade the fellow go and talk with the rest of his
countrymen, and hear what they said to it, assuring them that if they
did not agree immediately they should all be destroyed.
The poor wretches, thoroughly humbled, and reduced in number to about
thirty-seven, closed with the proposal at the first offer, and begged to
have some food given them; upon which twelve Spaniards and two
Englishmen, well armed, and three Indian slaves, and old Friday, marched
to the place where they were; the three Indian slaves carried them a
large quantity of bread, and some rice boiled up to cakes, and dried in
the sun, and three live goats; and they were ordered to go to the side
of an hill, where they sat down, ate the provisions very thankfully, and
were the most faithful fellows to their words that could be thought of;
for except when they came to beg victuals and directions they never came
out of their bounds; and there they lived when I came to the island, and
I went to see them.
They had taught them both to plant corn, make bread, breed tame goats,
and milk them; they wanted nothing but wives, and they soon would have
been a nation: they were confined to a neck of land surrounded with high
rocks behind them, and lying plain towards the sea before them, on the
south-east corner of the island; they had land enough, and it was very
good and fruitful; for they had a piece of land about a mile and a half
broad, and three or four miles in length.
Our men taught them to make wooden spades, such as I made for myself;
and gave among them twelve hatchets, and three or four knives; and there
they lived, the most subjected innocent creatures that were ever
heard of.
After this the colony enjoyed a perfect tranquillity with respect to the
savages, till I came to revisit them, which was in about two years. Not
but that now and then some canoes of savages came on shore for their
triumphal, unnatural feasts; but as they were of several nations, and,
perhaps, had never heard of those that came before, or the reason of it,
they did not make any search or inquiry after their countrymen; and if
they had, it would have been very hard for them to have found them out.
Thus, I think, I have given a full account of all that happened to them
to my return, at least that was worth notice. The Indians, or savages,
were wonderfully civilized by them, and they frequently went among them;
but forbid, on pain of death, any of the Indians coming to them,
because they would not have their settlement betrayed again.
One thing was very remarkable, viz. that they taught the savages to make
wicker-work, or baskets; but they soon outdid their masters; for they
made abundance of most ingenious things in wicker-work; particularly all
sorts of baskets, sieves, bird-cages, cupboards, &c. as also chairs to
sit on, stools, beds, couches, and abundance of other things, being very
ingenious at such work when they were once put in the way of it.
My coming was a particular relief to these people, because we furnished
them with knives, scissars, spades, shovels, pickaxes, and all things of
that kind which they could want.
With the help of these tools they were so very handy, that they came at
last to build up their huts, or houses, very handsomely; raddling, or
working it up like basket-work all the way round, which was a very
extraordinary piece of ingenuity, and looked very odd; but was an
exceeding good fence, as well against heat, as against all sorts of
vermin; and our men were so taken with it, that they got the wild
savages to come and do the like for them; so that when I came to see the
two Englishmen's colonies, they looked, at a distance, as if they lived
all like bees in a hive; and as for Will Atkins, who was now become a
very industrious, necessary, and sober fellow, he had made himself such
a tent of basket work as I believe was never seen. It was one hundred
and twenty paces round on the outside, as I measured by my steps; the
walls were as close worked as a basket, in pannels or squares,
thirty-two in number, and very strong, standing about seven feet high:
in the middle was another not above twenty-two paces round, but built
stronger, being eight-square in its form, and in the eight corners stood
eight very strong posts, round the top of which he laid strong pieces,
joined together with wooden pins, from which he raised a pyramid before
the roof of eight rafters, very handsome I assure you, and joined
together very well, though he had no nails, and only a few iron spikes,
which he had made himself too, out of the old iron that I had left
there; and indeed this fellow shewed abundance of ingenuity in several
things which he had no knowledge of; he made himself a forge, with a
pair of wooden bellows to blow the fire; he made himself charcoal for
his work, and he formed out of one of the iron crows a middling good
anvil to hammer upon; in this manner he made many things, but especially
hooks, staples and spikes, bolts and hinges. But to return to the house:
after he pitched the roof of his innermost tent, he worked it up between
the rafters with basket-work, so firm, and thatched that over again so
ingeniously with rice-straw, and over that a large leaf of a tree, which
covered the top, that his house was as dry as if it had been tiled or
slated. Indeed he owned that the savages made the basket-work for him.
The outer circuit was covered, as a lean-to, all round his inner,
apartment, and long rafters lay from the thirty two angles to the top
posts of the inner house, being about twenty feet distant; so that there
was a space like a walk within the outer wicker wall, and without the
inner, near twenty feet wide.
The inner place he partitioned off with the same wicker work, but much
fairer, and divided into six apartments, for that he had six rooms on a
floor, and out of every one of these there was a door: first, into the
entry, or coming into the main tent; and another door into the space or
walk that was round it; so that this walk was also divided into six
equal parts, which served not only for a retreat, but to store up any
necessaries which the family had occasion for. These six spaces not
taking up the whole circumference, what other apartments the outer
circle had, were thus ordered: as soon as you were in at the door of the
outer circle, you had a short passage straight before you to the door of
the inner house; but on either side was a wicker partition, and a door
in it, by which you went first into a large room or storehouse, twenty
feet wide, and about thirty feet long, and through that into another
not quite so long: so that in the outer circle were ten handsome rooms,
six of which were only to be come at through the apartments of the inner
tent, and served as closets or retired rooms to the respective chambers
of the inner circle; and four large warehouses or barns, or what you
please to call them, which went in through one another, two on either
hand of the passage that led through the outer door to the inner tent.
Such a piece of basket-work, I believe, was never seen in the world; nor
an house or tent so neatly contrived, much less so built. In this great
beehive lived the three families; that is to say, Will Atkins and his
companions; the third was killed, but his wife remained with three
children; for she was, it seems, big with child when he died, and the
other two were not at all backward to give the widow her full share of
every thing, I mean as to their corn, milk, grapes, &c. and when they
killed a kid, or found a turtle on the shore; so that they all lived
well enough, though it was true, they were not so industrious as the
other two, as has been observed already.
One thing, however, cannot be omitted, viz. that, as for religion, I
don't know that there was any thing of that kind among them; they pretty
often indeed put one another in mind that there was a God, by the very
common method of seamen, viz. swearing by his name; nor were their poor,
ignorant, savage wives much the better for having been married to
Christians as we must call them; for as they knew very little of God
themselves, so they were utterly incapable of entering into any
discourse with their wives about a God or to talk any thing to them
concerning religion.
The utmost of all the improvement which I can say the wives had made
from them, was, that they had taught them to speak English pretty well;
and all the children they had, which were near twenty in all were taught
to speak English too, from their first learning to speak, though they at
first spoke it in a very broken manner, like their mothers. There were
none of those children above six years old when I came thither; for it
was not much above seven years that they had fetched these five savage
ladies over, but they had all been pretty fruitful, for they had all
children, more or less: I think the cook's mate's wife was big of her
sixth child; and the mothers were all a good sort of well-governed,
quiet, laborious women, modest and decent, helpful to one another,
mighty observant and subject to their masters, I cannot call them
husbands; and wanted nothing but to be well instructed in the Christian
religion, and to be legally married; both which were happily brought
about afterwards by my means, or at least by the consequence of my
coming among them.
Having thus given an account of the colony in general, and pretty much
of my five runagate Englishmen, I must say something of the Spaniards,
who were the main body of the family, and in whose story there are some
incidents also remarkable enough.
I had a great many discourses with them about their circumstances when
they were among the savages; they told me readily, that they had no
instances to give of their application or ingenuity in that country;
that they were a poor, miserable, dejected handful of people; that if
means had been put into their hands, they had yet so abandoned
themselves to despair, and so sunk under the weight of their
misfortunes, that they thought of nothing but starving. One of them, a
grave and very sensible man, told me he was convinced they were in the
wrong; that it was not the part of wise men to give up themselves to
their misery, but always to take hold of the helps which reason offered,
as well for present support, as for future deliverance; he told me that
grief was the most senseless insignificant passion in the world, for
that it regarded only things past, which were generally impossible to be
recalled or to be remedied, but had no view to things to come, and had
no share in any thing that looked like deliverance, but rather added to
the affliction than proposed a remedy; and upon this he repeated a
Spanish proverb, which though I cannot repeat in just the same words
that he spoke it, yet I remember I made it into an English proverb of my
own, thus;
In trouble to be troubled,
Is to have your trouble doubled.
He then ran on in remarks upon all the little improvements I had made in
my solitude; my unwearied application, as he called it, and how I had
made a condition, which in its circumstances was at first much worse
than theirs, a thousand times more happy than theirs was, even now when
they were all together. He told me it was remarkable that Englishmen had
a greater presence of mind in their distress than any people that ever
he met with; that their unhappy nation, and the Portuguese, were the
worst men in the world to struggle with misfortunes; for that their
first step in dangers, after common efforts are over, was always to
despair, lie down under it and die, without rousing their thoughts up to
proper remedies for escape.
I told him their case and mine differed exceedingly; that they were cast
upon the shore without necessaries, without supply of food, or of
present sustenance, till they could provide it; that it is true, I had
this disadvantage and discomfort, that I was alone; but then the
supplies I had providentially thrown into my hands, by the unexpected
driving of the ship on shore, was such a help as would have encouraged
any creature in the world to have applied himself as I had done.
"Seignior," says the Spaniard, "had we poor Spaniards been in your case
we should never have gotten half those things out of the ship as you
did." "Nay," says he, "we should never have found means to have gotten a
raft to carry them, or to have gotten a raft on shore without boat or
sail; and how much less should we have done," said he, "if any of us had
been alone!" Well, I desired him to abate his compliment, and go on
with the history of their coming on shore, where they landed. He told me
they unhappily landed at a place where there were people without
provisions; whereas, had they had the common sense to have put off to
sea again, and gone to another island a little farther, they had found
provisions though without people; there being an island that way, as
they had been told, where there were provisions though no people; that
is to say, that the Spaniards of Trinidad had frequently been there, and
filled the island with goats and hogs at several times, where they have
bred in such multitudes, and where turtle and sea-fowls were in such
plenty, that they could have been in no want of flesh though they had
found no bread; whereas here they were only sustained with a few roots
and herbs, which they understood not, and which had no substance in
them, and which the inhabitants gave them sparingly enough, and who
could treat them no better unless they would turn cannibals, and eat
men's flesh, which was the great dainty of the country.
They gave me an account how many ways they strove to civilize the
savages they were with, and to teach them rational customs in the
ordinary way of living, but in vain; and how they retorted it upon them
as unjust, that they, who came thither for assistance and support,
should attempt to set up for instructors of those that gave them bread;
intimating, it seems, that none should set up for the instructors of
others but those who could live without them.
They gave me dismal accounts of the extremities they were driven to; how
sometimes they were many days without any food at all, the island they
were upon being inhabited by a sort of savages that lived more indolent,
and for that reason were less supplied with the necessaries of life than
they had reason to believe others were in the same part of the world;
and yet they found that these savages were less ravenous and voracious
than those who had better supplies of food.
Also they added, that they could not but see with what demonstrations
of wisdom and goodness the governing providence of God directs the event
of things in the world, which they said appeared in their circumstances;
for if, pressed by the hardships they were under, and the barrenness of
the country where they were, they had searched after a better place to
live in, they had then been out of the way of the relief that happened
to them by my means.
Then they gave me an account how the savages whom they lived among
expected them to go out with them into their wars; and it was true, that
as they had fire-arms with them, had they not had the disaster to lose
their ammunition, they should not have been serviceable only to their
friends, but have made themselves terrible both to friends and enemies;
but being without powder and shot, and in a condition that they could
not in reason deny to go out with their landlords to their wars; when
they came in the field of battle they were in a worse condition than the
savages themselves, for they neither had bows nor arrows, nor could they
use those the savages gave them, so that they could do nothing but stand
still and be wounded with arrows, till they came up to the teeth of
their enemy; and then indeed the three halberts they had were of use to
them, and they would often drive a whole little army before them with
those halberts and sharpened sticks put into the muzzles of their
muskets: but that for all this, they were sometimes surrounded with
multitudes, and in great danger from their arrows; till at last they
found the way to make themselves large targets of wood, which they
covered with skins of wild beasts, whose names they knew not, and these
covered them from the arrows of the savages; that notwithstanding these,
they were sometimes in great danger, and were once five of them knocked
down together with the clubs of the savages, which was the time when one
of them was taken prisoner, that is to say, the Spaniard whom I had
relieved; that at first they thought he had been killed, but when
afterwards they heard he was taken prisoner, they were under the
greatest grief imaginable, and would willingly have all ventured their
lives to have rescued him.
They told me, that when they were so knocked down, the rest of their
company rescued them, and stood over them fighting till they were come
to themselves, all but he who they thought had been dead; and then they
made their way with their halberts and pieces, standing close together
in a line, through a body of above a thousand savages, beating down all
that came in their way, got the victory over their enemies, but to their
great sorrow, because it was with the loss of their friend; whom the
other party, finding him alive, carried off with some others, as I gave
an account in my former.
They described, most affectionately, how they were surprised with joy at
the return of their friend and companion in misery, who they thought had
been devoured by wild beasts of the worst kind, viz. by wild men; and
yet how more and more they were surprised with the account he gave them
of his errand, and that there was a Christian in a place near, much more
one that was able, and had humanity enough to contribute to their
deliverance.
They described how they were astonished at the sight of the relief I
sent them, and at the appearance of loaves of bread, things they had not
seen since their coming to that miserable place; how often they crossed
it, and blessed it as bread sent from heaven; and what a reviving
cordial it was to their spirits to taste it, as also of the other things
I had sent for their supply. And, after all, they would have told me
something of the joy they were in at the sight of a boat and pilots to
carry them away to the person and place from whence all these new
comforts came; but they told me it was impossible to express it by
words, for their excessive joy driving them to unbecoming
extravagancies, they had no way to describe them but by telling me that
they bordered upon lunacy, having no way to give vent to their passion
suitable to the sense that was upon them; that in some it worked one
way, and in some another; and that some of them, through a surprise of
joy, would burst out into tears; others be half mad, and others
immediately faint. This discourse extremely affected me, and called to
my mind Friday's ecstasy when he met his father, and the poor people's
ecstasy when I took them up at sea, after their ship was on fire; the
mate of the ship's joy, when he found himself delivered in the place
where he expected to perish; and my own joy, when after twenty-eight
years captivity I found a good ship ready to carry me to my own country.
All these things made me more sensible of the relation of these poor
men, and more affected with it.
Having thus given a view of the state of things as I found them, I must
relate the heads of what I did for these people, and the condition in
which I left them. It was their opinion, and mine too, that they would
be troubled no more with the savages; or that, if they were, they would
be able to cut them off, if they were twice as many as before; so that
they had no concern about that. Then I entered into a serious discourse
with the Spaniard whom I called governor, about their stay in the
island; for as I was not come to carry any of them off, so it would not
be just to carry off some and leave others, who perhaps would be
unwilling to stay if their strength was diminished.
On the other hand I told them, I came to establish them there, not to
remove them; and then I let them know that I had brought with me relief
of sundry kinds for them; that I had been at a great charge to supply
them with all things necessary, as well for their convenience as their
defence; and that I had such particular persons with me, as well to
increase and recruit their number, as by the particular necessary
employments which they were bred to, being artificers, to assist them in
those things in which at present they were to seek.
They were all together when I talked thus to them; and before I
delivered to them the stores I had brought, I asked them, one by one, if
they had entirely forgot and buried the first animosities that had been
among them, and could shake hands with one another, and engage in a
strict friendship and union of interest, so that there might be no more
misunderstandings or jealousies.
William Atkins, with abundance of frankness and good humour, said, they
had met with afflictions enough to make them all sober, and enemies
enough to make them all friends: that for his part he would live and die
with them; and was so far from designing any thing against the
Spaniards, that he owned they had done nothing to him but what his own
bad humour made necessary, and what he would have done, and perhaps much
worse, in their case; and that he would ask them pardon, if I desired
it, for the foolish and brutish things he had done to them; and was very
willing and desirous of living on terms of entire friendship and union
with them; and would do any thing that lay in his power, to convince
them of it: and as for going to England, he cared not if he did not go
thither these twenty years.
The Spaniards said, they had indeed at first disarmed and excluded
William Atkins and his two countrymen, for their ill conduct, as they
had let me know; and they appealed to me for the necessity they were
under to do so; but that William Atkins had behaved himself so bravely
in the great fight they had with the savages, and on several occasions
since, and had shewed himself so faithful to, and concerned for the
general interest of them all, that they had forgotten all that was past,
and thought he merited as much to be trusted with arms, and supplied
with necessaries, as any of them; and that they had testified their
satisfaction in him, by committing the command to him, next to the
governor himself; and as they had an entire confidence in him and all
his countrymen, so they acknowledged they had merited that confidence by
all the methods that honest men could merit to be valued and trusted;
and they most heartily embraced the occasion of giving me this
assurance, that they would never have any interest separate from
one another.
Upon these frank and open declarations of friendship, we appointed the
next day to dine all together, and indeed we made a splendid feast. I
caused the ship's cook and his mate to come on shore and dress our
dinner, and the old cook's mate we had on shore assisted. We brought on
shore six pieces of good beef, and four pieces of pork, out of the
ship's provision, with our punch-bowl, and materials to fill it; and, in
particular, I gave them ten bottles of French claret, and ten bottles of
English beer, things that neither the Spaniards nor the Englishmen had
tasted for many years; and which it may be supposed they were
exceeding glad of.
The Spaniards added to our feast five whole kids, which the cooks
roasted; and three of them were sent, covered up close, on board our
ship to the seamen, that they might feast on fresh meat from on shore,
as we did with their salt meal from on board.
After this feast, at which we were very innocently merry, I brought out
my cargo of goods, wherein, that there might be no dispute about
dividing, I shewed them that there was sufficient for them all; and
desired that they might all take an equal quantity of the goods that
were for wearing; that is to say, equal when made up. As first, I
distributed linen sufficient to make every one of them four shirts; and,
at the Spaniards' request, afterwards made them up six; these were
exceeding comfortable to them, having been what, as I may say, they had
long since forgot the use of, or what it was to wear them.
I allotted the thin English stuffs, which I mentioned before, to make
every one a light coat like a frock, which I judged fittest for the heat
of the season, cool and loose; and ordered, that whenever they decayed,
they should make more, as they thought fit. The like for pumps, shoes,
stockings, and hats, &c.
I cannot express what pleasure, what satisfaction, sat upon the
countenances of all these poor men when they saw the care I had taken of
them, and how well I had furnished them; they told me I was a father to
them; and that having such a correspondent as I was, in so remote a part
of the world, it would make them forget that they were left in a
desolate place; and they all voluntarily engaged to me not to leave the
place without my consent.
Then I presented to them the people I had brought with me, particularly
the tailor, the smith, and the two carpenters, all of them most
necessary people; but above all, my general artificer, than whom they
could not name any thing that was more needful to them; and the tailor,
to shew his concern for them, went to work immediately, and, with my
leave, made them every one a shirt the first thing he did; and, which
was still more, he taught the women not only how to sew and stitch, and
use the needle, but made them assist to make the shirts for their
husbands and for all the rest.
As for the carpenters, I scarce need mention how useful they were, for
they took in pieces all my clumsy unhandy things, and made them clever
convenient tables, stools, bedsteads, cupboards, lockers, shelves, and
every thing they wanted of that kind.
But to let them see how nature made artificers at first, I carried the
carpenters to see William Atkins's basket house, as I called it, and
they both owned they never saw an instance of such natural ingenuity
before, nor any thing so regular and so handily built, at least of its
kind; and one of them, when he saw it, after musing a good while,
turning about to me, "I am sure," says he, "that man has no need of us;
you need do nothing but give him tools."
Then I brought them out all my store of tools, and gave every man a
digging spade, a shovel, and a rake, for we had no harrows or ploughs;
and to every separate place a pickaxe, a crow, a broadaxe, and a saw;
always appointing, that as often as any were broken, or worn out, they
should be supplied, without grudging, out of the general stores that I
left behind.
Nails, staples, hinges, hammers, chisels, knives, scissors, and all
sorts of tools and iron-work, they had without tale as they required;
for no man would care to take more than he wanted, and he must be a fool
that would waste or spoil them on any account whatever. And for the use
of the smith I left two tons of unwrought iron for a supply.
My magazine of powder and arms which I brought them, was such, even to
profusion, that they could not but rejoice at them; for now they could
march, as I used to do, with a musket upon each shoulder, if there was
occasion; and were able to fight a thousand savages, if they had but
some little advantages of situation, which also they could not miss of
if they had occasion.
I carried on shore with me the young man whose mother was starved to
death, and the maid also: she was a sober, well-educated, religious
young woman, and behaved so inoffensively, that every one gave her a
good word. She had, indeed, an unhappy life with us, there being no
woman in the ship but herself; but she bore it with patience. After a
while, seeing things so well ordered, and in so fine a way of thriving
upon my island, and considering that they had neither business nor
acquaintance in the East Indies, or reason for taking so long a voyage;
I say, considering all this, both of them came to me, and desired I
would give them leave to remain on the island, and be entered among my
family, as they called it.
I agreed to it readily, and they had a little plot of ground allotted to
them, where they had three tents or houses set up, surrounded with a
basket-work, palisaded like Atkins's, and adjoining to his plantation.
Their tents were contrived so, that they had each of them a room, a part
to lodge in, and a middle tent, like a great storehouse, to lay all
their goods in, and to eat and drink in. And now the other two
Englishmen moved their habitation to the same place, and so the island
was divided into three colonies, and no more; viz. the Spaniards, with
old Friday, and the first servants, at my old habitation under the hill,
which was, in a word, the capital city, and where they had so enlarged
and extended their works, as well under as on the outside of the hill,
that they lived, though perfectly concealed, yet full at large. Never
was there such a little city in a wood, and so hid, I believe, in any
part of the world; for I verily believe a thousand men might have ranged
the island a month, and if they had not known there was such a thing,
and looked on purpose for it, they would not have found it; for the
trees stood so thick and so close, and grew so fast matted into one
another, that nothing but cutting them down first, could discover the
place, except the two narrow entrances where they went in and out, could
be found, which was not very easy. One of them was just down at the
water's edge, on the side of the creek; and it was afterwards above two
hundred yards to the place; and the other was up the ladder at twice, as
I have already formerly described it; and they had a large wood, thick
planted, also on the top of the hill, which contained above an acre,
which grew apace, and covered the place from all discovery there, with
only one narrow place between two trees, not easy to be discovered, to
enter on that side.
The other colony was that of Will Atkins, where there were four families
of Englishmen, I mean those I had left there, with their wives and
children; three savages that were slaves; the widow and children of the
Englishman that was killed; the young man and the maid; and by the way,
we made a wife of her also before we went away. There were also the two
carpenters and the tailor, whom I brought with me for them; also the
smith, who was a very necessary man to them, especially as the gunsmith,
to take care of their arms; and my other man, whom I called Jack of all
Trades, who was himself as good almost as twenty men, for he was not
only a very ingenious fellow, but a very merry fellow; and before I went
away we married him to the honest maid that came with the youth in the
ship, whom I mentioned before.
And now I speak of marrying, it brings me naturally to say something of
the French ecclesiastic that I had brought with me out of the ship's
crew whom I took at sea. It is true, this man was a Roman, and perhaps
it may give offence to some hereafter, if I leave any thing
extraordinary upon record of a man, whom, before I begin, I must (to set
him out in just colours) represent in terms very much to his
disadvantage in the account of Protestants; as, first, that he was a
Papist; secondly, a Popish priest; and thirdly, a French Popish priest.
But justice demands of me to give him a due character; and I must say,
he was a grave, sober, pious, and most religious person; exact in his
life, extensive in his charity, and exemplary in almost every thing he
did. What then can any one say against my being very sensible of the
value of such a man, notwithstanding his profession? though it may be my
opinion, perhaps as well as the opinion of others who shall read this,
that he was mistaken.
The first hour that I began to converse with him, after he had agreed to
go with me to the East Indies, I found reason to delight exceedingly in
his conversation; and he first began with me about religion, in the most
obliging manner imaginable.
"Sir," says he, "you have not only, under God" (and at that he crossed
his breast), "saved my life, but you have admitted me to go this voyage
in your ship, and by your obliging civility have taken me into your
family, giving me an opportunity of free conversation. Now, Sir," says
he, "you see by my habit what my profession is, and I guess by your
nation what yours is. I may think it is my duty, and doubtless it is so,
to use my utmost endeavours on all occasions to bring all the souls that
I can to the knowledge of the truth, and to embrace the Catholic
doctrine; but as I am here under your permission, and in your family, I
am bound in justice to your kindness, as well as in decency and good
manners, to be under your government; and therefore I shall not, without
your leave, enter into any debates on the points of religion, in which
we may not agree, farther than you shall give me leave."
I told him his carriage was so modest that I could not but acknowledge
it; that it was true, we were such people as they call heretics, but
that he was not the first Catholic that I had conversed with without
falling into any inconveniencies, or carrying the questions to any
height in debate; that he should not find himself the worse used for
being of a different opinion from us; and if we did not converse without
any dislike on either side, upon that score, it would be his fault,
not ours.
He replied, that he thought our conversation might be easily separated
from disputes; that it was not his business to cap principles with every
man he discoursed with; and that he rather desired me to converse with
him as a _gentleman_ than as a _religieux_; that if I would give him
leave at any time to discourse upon religious subjects, he would readily
comply with it; and that then he did not doubt but I would allow him
also to defend his own opinions as well as he could; but that without my
leave he would not break in upon me with any such thing.
He told me farther, that he would not cease to do all that became him in
his office as a priest, as well as a private Christian, to procure the
good of the ship, and the safety of all that was in her; and though
perhaps we would not join with him, and he could not pray with us, he
hoped he might pray for us, which he would do upon all occasions. In
this manner we conversed; and as he was of a most obliging
gentleman-like behaviour, so he was, if I may be allowed to say so, a
man of good sense, and, as I believe, of great learning.
He gave me a most diverting account of his life, and of the many
extraordinary events of it; of many adventures which had befallen him in
the few years that he had been abroad in the world, and particularly
this was very remarkable; viz. that during the voyage he was now engaged
in he had the misfortune to be five times shipped and unshipped, and
never to go to the place whither any of the ships he was in were at
first designed: that his first intent was to have gone to Martinico, and
that he went on board a ship bound thither at St. Maloes; but being
forced into Lisbon in bad weather, the ship received some damage by
running aground in the mouth of the river Tagus, and was obliged to
unload her cargo there: that finding a Portuguese ship there, bound to
the Madeiras, and ready to sail, and supposing he should easily meet
with a vessel there bound to Martinico, he went on board in order to
sail to the Madeiras; but the master of the Portuguese ship being but an
indifferent mariner, had been out in his reckoning, and they drove to
Fyal; where, however, he happened to find a very good market for his
cargo, which was corn, and therefore resolved not to go to the Madeiras,
but to load salt at the isle of May, to go away to Newfoundland. He had
no remedy in the exigence but to go with the ship, and had a pretty good
voyage as far as the Banks, (so they call the place where they catch the
fish) where meeting with a French ship bound from France to Quebec, in
the river of Canada, and from thence to Martinico, to carry provisions,
he thought he should have an opportunity to complete his first design.
But when he came to Quebec the master of the ship died, and the ship
proceeded no farther. So the next voyage he shipped himself for France,
in the ship that was burnt, when we took them up at sea, and then
shipped them with us for the East Indies, as I have already said. Thus
he had been disappointed in five voyages, all, as I may call it, in one
voyage, besides what I shall have occasion to mention farther of the
same person.
But I shall not make digressions into other men's stories which have no
relation to my own. I return to what concerns our affair in the island.
He came to me one morning, for he lodged among us all the while we were
upon the island, and it happened to be just when I was going to visit
the Englishmen's colony at the farthest part of the island; I say, he
came to me, and told me with a very grave countenance, that he had for
two or three days desired an opportunity of some discourse with me,
which he hoped would not be displeasing to me, because he thought it
might in some measure correspond with my general design, which was the
prosperity of my new colony, and perhaps might put it at least more than
he yet thought it was in the way of God's blessing.
I looked a little surprised at the last part of his discourse, and
turning a little short, "How, Sir," said I, "can it be said, that we are
not in the way of God's blessing, after such visible assistances and
wonderful deliverances as we have seen here, and of which I have given
you a large account?"
"If you had pleased, Sir," said he, with a world of modesty, and yet
with great readiness, "to have heard me, you would have found no room to
have been displeased, much less to think so hard of me, that I should
suggest, that you have not had wonderful assistances and deliverances;
and I hope, on your behalf, that you are in the way of God's blessing,
and your design is exceeding good, and will prosper. But, Sir," said he,
"though it were more so than is even possible to you, yet there may be
some among you that are not equally right in their actions; and you know
that in the story of Israel, one Achan, in the camp, removed God's
blessing from them, and turned his hand so against them, that thirty-six
of them, though not concerned in the crime, were the objects of divine
vengeance, and bore the weight of that punishment."
I was sensibly touched with this discourse, and told him his inference
was so just, and the whole design seemed so sincere, and was really so
religious in its own nature, that I was very sorry I had interrupted
him, and begged him to go on; and in the meantime, because it seemed
that what we had both to say might take up some time, I told him I was
going to the Englishmens' plantation, and asked him to go with me, and
we might discourse of it by the way. He told me he would more willingly
wait on me thither, because there, partly, the thing was acted which he
desired to speak to me about. So we walked on, and I pressed him to be
free and plain with me in what he had to say.
"Why then, Sir," says he, "be pleased to give me leave to lay down a few
propositions as the foundation of what I have to say, that we may not
differ in the general principles, though we may be of some differing
opinions in the practice of particulars. First, Sir, though we differ in
some of the doctrinal articles of religion, and it is very unhappy that
it is so, especially in the case before us, as I shall shew afterwards,
yet there are some general principles in which we both agree; viz.
first, that there is a God, and that this God, having given us some
stated general rules for our service and obedience, we ought not
willingly and knowingly to offend him, either by neglecting to do what
he has commanded, or by doing what he has expressly forbidden; and let
our different religions be what they will, this general principle is
readily owned by us all, that the blessing of God does not ordinarily
follow a presumptuous sinning against his command; and every good
Christian will be affectionately concerned to prevent any that are under
his care, living in a total neglect of God and his commands. It is not
your men being Protestants, whatever my opinion may be of such, that
discharges me from being concerned for their souls, and from
endeavouring, if it lies before me, that they should live in as little
distance from and enmity with their Maker as possible; especially if you
give me leave to meddle so far in your circuit."
I could not yet imagine, what he aimed at, and told him I granted all
he had said; and thanked him that he would so far concern himself for
us; and begged he would explain the particulars of what he had observed,
that, like Joshua, (to take his own parable) I might put away the
accursed thing from us.
"Why then, Sir," says he, "I will take the liberty you give me; and
there are three things which, if I am right, must stand in the way of
God's blessing upon your endeavours here, and which I should rejoice,
for your sake, and their own, to see removed. And, Sir," says he, "I
promise myself that you will fully agree with me in them all as soon as
I name them; especially because I shall convince you that every one of
them may with great ease, and very much to your satisfaction, be
remedied."
He gave me no leave to put in any more civilities, but went on: "First,
Sir," says he, "you have here four Englishmen, who have fetched women
from among the savages, and have taken them as their wives, and have had
many children by them all, and yet are not married to them after any
stated legal manner, as the laws of God and man require; and therefore
are yet, in the sense of both, no less than adulterers, and living in
adultery. To this, Sir," says he, "I know you will object, that there
was no clergyman or priest of any kind, or of any profession, to perform
the ceremony; nor any pen and ink, or paper, to write down a contract of
marriage, and have it signed between them. And I know also, Sir, what
the Spaniard governor has told you; I mean of the agreement that he
obliged them to make when they took these women, viz. that they should
choose them out by consent, and keep separately to them; which, by the
way, is nothing of a marriage, no agreement with the women as wives, but
only an agreement among themselves, to keep them from quarrelling.
"But, Sir, the essence of the sacrament of matrimony (so he called it,
being a Roman) consists not only in the mutual consent of the parties to
take one another as man and wife, but in the formal and legal
obligation that there is in the contract to compel the man and woman at
all times to own and acknowledge each other; obliging the man to abstain
from all other women, to engage in no other contract while these
subsist; and on all occasions, as ability allows, to provide honestly
for them and their children; and to oblige the women to the same, on
like conditions, _mutatis mutandis_, on their side.
"Now, Sir," says he, "these men may, when they please, or when occasion
presents, abandon these women, disown their children, leave them to
perish, and take other women and marry them whilst these are living."
And here he added, with some warmth, "How, Sir, is God honoured in this
unlawful liberty? And how shall a blessing succeed your endeavours in
this place, however good in themselves, and however sincere in your
design, while these men, who at present are your subjects, under your
absolute government and dominion, are allowed by you to live in open
adultery?"
I confess I was struck at the thing itself, but much more with the
convincing arguments he supported it with. For it was certainly true,
that though they had no clergyman on the spot, yet a formal contract on
both sides, made before witnesses, and confirmed by any token which they
had all agreed to be bound by, though it had been but the breaking a
stick between them, engaging the men to own these women for their wives
upon all occasions, and never to abandon them or their children, and the
women to the same with their husbands, had been an effectual lawful
marriage in the sight of God, and it was a great neglect that it was
not done.
But I thought to have gotten off with my young priest by telling him,
that all that part was done when I was not here; and they had lived so
many years with them now, that if it was adultery it was past remedy,
they could do nothing in it now.
"Sir," says he, "asking your pardon for such freedom, you are right in
this; that it being done in your absence, you could not be charged with
that part of the crime. But I beseech you, matter not yourself that you
are not therefore under an obligation to do your uttermost now to put an
end to it. How can you think, but that, let the time past lie on whom it
will, all the guilt for the future will lie entirely upon you? Because
it is certainly in your power now to put an end to it, and in nobody's
power but yours."
I was so dull still, that I did not take him right, but I imagined that
by putting an end to it he meant that I should part them, and not suffer
them to live together any longer; and I said to him I could not do that
by any means, for that it would put the whole island in confusion. He
seemed surprised that I should so far mistake him. "No, Sir," says he,
"I do not mean that you should separate them, but legally and
effectually marry them now. And, Sir, as my way of marrying may not be
so easy to reconcile them to, though it will be as effectual even by
your own laws; so your way may be as well before God, and as valid among
men; I mean by a written contract signed by both man and woman, and by
all the witnesses present; which all the laws of Europe would decree to
be valid."
I was amazed to see so much true piety, and so much sincerity of zeal,
besides the unusual impartiality in his discourse, as to his own party
or church, and such a true warmth for the preserving people that he had
no knowledge of or relation to; I say, for preserving them from
transgressing the laws of God; the like of which I had indeed not met
with any where. But recollecting what he had said of marrying them by a
written contract, which I knew would stand too, I returned it back upon
him, and told him I granted all that he had said to be just, and on his
part very kind; that I would discourse with the men upon the point now
when I came to them. And I knew no reason why they should scruple to let
him marry them all; which I knew well enough would be granted to be as
authentic and valid in England as if they were married by one of our own
clergymen. What was afterwards done in this matter I shall speak of
by itself.
I then pressed him to tell me what was the second complaint which he had
to make, acknowledging I was very much his debtor for the first, and
thanked him heartily for it. He told me he would use the same freedom
and plainness in the second, and hoped I would take it as well; and this
was, that notwithstanding these English subjects of mine, as he called
them, had lived with these women for almost seven years, and had taught
them to speak English, and even to read it, and that they were, as he
perceived, women of tolerable understanding and capable of instruction;
yet they had not, to this hour taught them any thing of the Christian
religion; no not so much as to know that there was a God, or a worship,
or in what manner God was to be served; or that their own idolatry, and
worshipping they knew not who, was false and absurd.
This, he said, was an unaccountable neglect, and what God would
certainly call them to an account for; and perhaps at last take the work
out of their hands. He spoke this very affectionately and warmly. "I am
persuaded," says he, "had those men lived in the savage country whence
their wives came, the savages would have taken more pains to have
brought them to be idolaters, and to worship the devil, than any of
these men, so far as I can see, has taken with them to teach them the
knowledge of the true God. Now, Sir," said he, "though I do not
acknowledge your religion, or you mine, yet we should be all glad to see
the devil's servants, and the subjects of his kingdom, taught to know
the general principles of the Christian religion; that they might at
least hear of God, and of a Redeemer, and of the resurrection, and of a
future state, things which we all believe; they had at least been so
much nearer coming into the bosom of the true church, than they are now
in the public profession of idolatry and devil-worship."
I could hold no longer; I took him in my arms, and embraced him with an
excess of passion. "How far," said I to him, "have I been from
understanding the most essential part of a Christian, viz. to love the
interest of the Christian church, and the good of other men's souls! I
scarce have known what belongs to being a Christian."--"O, Sir, do not
say so," replied he; "this thing is not your fault."--"No," said I; "but
why did I never lay it to heart as well as you?"--"It is not too late
yet," said he; "be not too forward to condemn yourself."--"But what can
be done now?" said I; "you see I am going away."--"Will you give me
leave," said he, "to talk with these poor men about it?"--"Yes, with all
my heart," said I, "and I will oblige them to give heed to what you say
too."--"As to that," said he, "we must leave them to the mercy of
Christ; but it is our business to assist them, encourage them, and
instruct them; and if you will give me leave, and God his blessing, I do
not doubt but the poor ignorant souls shall be brought home into the
great circle of Christianity, if not into the particular faith that we
all embrace; and that even while you stay here." Upon this I said, "I
shall not only give you leave, but give you a thousand thanks for it."
What followed on this account I shall mention also again in its place.
I now pressed him for the third article in which we were to blame. "Why
really," says he, "it is of the same nature, and I will proceed (asking
your leave) with the same plainness as before; it is about your poor
savages yonder, who are, as I may say, your conquered subjects. It is a
maxim, Sir, that is, or ought to be received among all Christians, of
what church, or pretended church soever, viz. that Christian knowledge
ought to be propagated by all possible means, and on all possible
occasions. It is on this principle that our church sends missionaries
into Persia, India, and China; and that our clergy, even of the
superior sort, willingly engage in the most hazardous voyages, and the
most dangerous residence among murderers and barbarians, to teach them
the knowledge of the true God, and to bring them over to embrace the
Christian faith. Now, Sir, you have an opportunity here to have six or
seven-and-thirty poor savages brought over from idolatry to the
knowledge of God, their Maker and Redeemer, that I wonder how you can
pass by such an occasion of doing good, which is really worth the
expense of a man's whole life."
I was now struck dumb indeed, and had not one word to say; I had here a
spirit of true Christian zeal for God and religion before me, let his
particular principles be of what kind soever. As for me, I had not so
much as entertained a thought of this in my heart before, and I believe
should not have thought of it; for I looked upon these savages as
slaves, and people whom, had we any work for them to do, we would have
used as such, or would have been glad to have transported them to any
other part of the world; for our business was to get rid of them, and we
would all have been satisfied if they had been sent to any country, so
they had never seen their own. But to the case: I say I was confounded
at his discourse, and knew not what answer to make him. He looked
earnestly at me, seeing me in some disorder; "Sir," said he, "I shall be
very sorry, if what I have said gives you any offence."--"No, no," said
I, "I am offended with nobody but myself; but I am perfectly confounded,
not only to think that I should never take any notice of this before,
but with reflecting what notice I am able to take of it now. You know,
Sir," said I, "what circumstances I am in; I am bound to the East
Indies, in a ship freighted by merchants, and to whom it would be an
insufferable piece of injustice to detain their ship here, the men lying
all this while at victuals and wages upon the owners' account. It is
true, I agreed to be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more I
must pay 32 sterling per diem demurrage; nor can I stay upon demurrage
above eight days more, and I have been here thirteen days already; so
that I am perfectly unable to engage in this work; unless I would suffer
myself to be left behind here again; in which case, if this single ship
should miscarry in any part of her voyage, I should be just in the same
condition that I was left in here at first, and from which I have been
so wonderfully delivered."
He owned the case was very hard upon me as to my voyage, but laid it
home upon my conscience, whether the blessing of saving seven-and-thirty
souls was not worth my venturing all I had in the world for. I was not
so sensible of that as he was, and I returned upon him thus: "Why, Sir,
it is a valuable thing indeed to be an instrument in God's hand to
convert seven-and-thirty heathens to the knowledge of Christ: but as you
are an ecclesiastic, and are given over to that work, so that it seems
naturally to fall into the way of your profession, how is it then that
you do not rather offer yourself to undertake it, than press me to it!"
Upon this he faced about, just before me, as he walked along, and
pulling me to a full stop, made me a very low bow: "I most heartily
thank God, and you, Sir," says he, "for giving me so evident a call to
so blessed a work; and if you think yourself discharged from it, and
desire me to undertake it, I will most readily do it, and think it a
happy reward for all of the hazards and difficulties of such a broken
disappointed voyage as I have met with, that I have dropped at last into
so glorious a work."
I discovered a kind of rapture in his face while he spoke this to me;
his eyes sparkled like fire, his face bowed, and his colour came and
went as if he had been falling into fits; in a word, he was tired with
the agony of being embarked in such a work. I paused a considerable
while before I could tell what to say to him, for I was really surprised
to find a man of such sincerity and zeal, and carried out in his zeal
beyond the ordinary rate of men, not of his profession only, but even of
any profession whatsoever. But after I had considered it awhile, I asked
him seriously if he was in earnest, and that he would venture on the
single consideration of an attempt on those poor people, to be locked up
in an unplanted island for perhaps his life, and at last might not know
whether he should be able to do them any good or not?
He turned short upon me, and asked me what I called a venture? "Pray,
Sir," said he, "what do you think I consented to go in your ship to the
East Indies for?"--"Nay," said I, "that I know not, unless it was to
preach to the Indians."--"Doubtless it was," said he; "and do you think
if I can convert these seven-and-thirty men to the faith of Christ, it
is not worth my time, though I should never be fetched off the island
again? Nay, is it not infinitely of more worth to save so many souls
than my life is, or the life of twenty more of the same profession? Yes,
Sir," says he, "I would give Christ and the Blessed Virgin thanks all my
days, if I could be made the least happy instrument of saving the souls
of these poor men though I was never to set my foot off this island, or
see my native country any more. But since you will honour me," says he,
"with putting me into this work, (for which I will pray for you all the
days of my life) I have one humble petition to you," said he
"besides."--"What is that?" said I. "Why," says he, "it is, that you
will leave your man Friday with me, to be my interpreter to them, and to
assist me for without some help I cannot speak to them, or they to me."
I was sensibly troubled at his requesting Friday, because I could not
think of parting with him, and that for many reasons. He had been the
companion of my travels; he was not only faithful to me, but sincerely
affectionate to the last degree; and I had resolved to do something
considerable for him if he out-lived me, as it was probable he would.
Then I knew that as I had bred Friday up to be a Protestant, it would
quite confound him to bring him to embrace another profession; and he
would never, while his eyes were open, believe that his old master was a
heretic, and would be damned; and this might in the end ruin the poor
fellow's principles, and so turn him back again to his first idolatry.
However, a sudden thought relieved me in this strait, and it was this: I
told him I could not say that I was willing to part with Friday on any
account whatever; though a work that to him was of more value than his
life, ought to me to be of much more value than the keeping or parting
with a servant. But on the other hand, I was persuaded, that Friday
would by no means consent to part with me; and then to force him to it
without his consent would be manifest injustice, because I had promised
I would never put him away, and he had promised and engaged to me that
he would never leave me unless I put him away.
He seemed very much concerned at it; for he had no rational access to
these poor people, seeing he did not understand one word of their
language, nor they one word of his. To remove this difficulty, I told
him Friday's father had learnt Spanish, which I found he also
understood, and he should serve him for an interpreter; so he was much
better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he would stay to
endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave another and very happy
turn to all this.
I come back now to the first part of his objections. When we came to the
Englishmen I sent for them all together; and after some accounts given
them of what I had done for them, viz. what necessary things I had
provided for them, and how they were distributed, which they were
sensible of, and very thankful for; I began to talk to them of the
scandalous life they led, and gave them a full account of the notice the
clergyman had already taken of it; and arguing how unchristian and
irreligious a life it was, I first asked them if they were married men
or bachelors? They soon explained their condition to me, and shewed me
that two of them were widowers, and the other three were single men or
bachelors. I asked them with what conscience they could take these
women, and lie with them as they had done, call them their wives, and
have so many children by them, and not be married lawfully to them?
They all gave me the answer that I expected, viz. that there was nobody
to marry them; that they agreed before the governor to keep them as
their wives; and to keep them and own them as their wives; and they
thought, as things stood with them, they were as legally married as if
they had been married by a parson, and with all the formalities in
the world.
I told them that no doubt they were married in the sight of God, and
were bound in conscience to keep them as their wives; but that the laws
of men being otherwise, they might pretend they were not married, and so
desert the poor women and children hereafter; and that their wives,
being poor, desolate women, friendless and moneyless, would have no way
to help themselves: I therefore told them, that unless I was assured of
their honest intent, I could do nothing for them; but would take care
that what I did should be for the women and children without them; and
that unless they would give some assurances that they would marry the
women, I could not think it was convenient they should continue together
as man and wife; for that it was both scandalous to men and offensive to
God, who they could not think would bless them if they went on thus.
All this passed as I expected; and they told me, especially Will Atkins,
who seemed now to speak for the rest, that they loved their wives as
well as if they had been born in their own native country, and would not
leave them upon any account whatever; and they did verily believe their
wives were as virtuous and as modest, and did to the utmost of their
skill as much for them and for their children as any women could
possibly do, and they would not part with them on any account: and Will
Atkins for his own particular added, if any man would take him away, and
offer to carry him home to England, and to make him captain of the best
man of war in the navy, he would not go with him if he might not carry
his wife and children with him; and if there was a clergyman in the
ship, he would be married to her now with all his heart.
This was just as I would have it. The priest was not with me at that
moment, but was not far off. So to try him farther, I told him I had a
clergyman with me, and if he was sincere I would have him married the
next morning, and bade him consider of it, and talk with the rest. He
said, as for himself, he need not consider of it at all, for he was very
ready to do it, and was glad I had a minister with me; and he believed
they would be all willing also. I then told him that my friend the
minister was a Frenchman, and could not speak English, but that I would
act the clerk between them. He never so much as asked me whether he was
a Papist or Protestant, which was indeed what I was afraid of. But I say
they never inquired about it. So we parted; I went back to my clergyman,
and Will Atkins went in to talk with his companions. I desired the
French gentleman not to say any thing to them till the business was
thorough ripe, and I told him what answer the men had given me.
Before I went from their quarter they all came to me, and told me, they
had been considering what I had said; that they were very glad to hear I
had a clergyman in my company; and they were very willing to give me the
satisfaction I desired, and to be formally married as soon as I pleased;
for they were far from desiring to part from their wives; and that they
meant nothing but what was very honest when they chose them. So I
appointed them to meet me the next morning, and that in the mean time
they should let their wives know the meaning of the marriage law; and
that it was not only to prevent any scandal, but also to oblige them
that they should not forsake them, whatever might happen.
The women were easily made sensible of the meaning of the thing, and
were very well satisfied with it, as indeed they had reason to be; so
they failed not to attend all together at my apartment next morning,
where I brought out my clergyman: and though he had not on a minister's
gown, after the manner of England, or the habit of a priest, after the
manner of France; yet having a black vest, something like a cassock,
with a sash round it, he did not look very unlike a minister; and as for
his language I was interpreter.
But the seriousness of his behaviour to them, and the scruple he made of
marrying the women because they were not baptized, and professed
Christians, gave them an exceeding reverence for his person; and there
was no need after that to inquire whether he was a clergyman or no.
Indeed I was afraid his scruple would have been carried so far as that
he would not have married them at all: nay, notwithstanding all I was
able to say to him, he resisted me, though modestly, yet very steadily;
and at last refused absolutely to marry them, unless he had first talked
with the men and the women too; and though at first I was a little
backward to it, yet at last I agreed to it with a good will, perceiving
the sincerity of his design.
When he came to them, he let them know that I had acquainted him with
their circumstances, and with the present design; that he was very
willing to perform that part of his function, and marry them as I had
desired; but that before he could do it, he must take the liberty to
talk with them. He told them that in the sight of all different men, and
in the sense of the laws of society, they had lived all this while in an
open adultery; and that it was true that nothing but the consenting to
marry, or effectually separating them from one another now, could put
an end to it; but there was a difficulty in it too, with respect to the
laws of Christian matrimony, which he was not fully satisfied about,
viz. that of marrying one that is a professed Christian to a savage, an
idolater, and a heathen, one that is not baptized; and yet that he did
not see that there was time left for it to endeavour to persuade the
women to be baptized, or to profess the name of Christ, whom they had,
he doubted, heard nothing of, and without which they could not
be baptized.
He told me he doubted they were but indifferent Christians themselves;
that they had but little knowledge of God or his ways, and therefore he
could not expect that they had said much to their wives on that head
yet; but that unless they would promise him to use their endeavours with
their wives to persuade them to become Christians, and would as well as
they could instruct them in the knowledge and belief of God that made
them, and to worship Jesus Christ that redeemed them, he could not marry
them; for he would have no hand in joining Christians with savages; nor
was it consistent with the principles of the Christian religion, and was
indeed expressly forbidden in God's law.
They heard all this very attentively, and I delivered it very faithfully
to them from his mouth, as near his own words as I could, only sometimes
adding something of my own, to convince them how just it was, and how I
was of his mind: and I always very faithfully distinguished between what
I said from myself and what were the clergyman's words. They told me it
was very true what the gentleman had said, that they were but very
indifferent Christians themselves, and that they had never talked to
their wives about religion.--"Lord, Sir," says Will Atkins, "how should
we teach them religion? Why, we know nothing ourselves; and besides,
Sir," said he, "should we go to talk to them of God, and Jesus Christ,
and heaven and hell, it would be to make them laugh at us, and ask us
what we believe ourselves? and if we should tell them we believe all
the things that we speak of to them, such as of good people going to
heaven, and wicked people to the devil, they would ask us, where we
intended to go ourselves who believe all this, and yet are such wicked
fellows, as we indeed are: why, Sir," said Will, "'tis enough to give
them a surfeit of religion, at that hearing: folks must have some
religion themselves before they pretend to teach other people."--"Will
Atkins," said I to him, "though I am afraid what you say has too much
truth in it, yet can you not tell your wife that she is in the wrong;
that there is a God, and a religion better than her own; that her gods
are idols; that they can neither hear nor speak; that there is a great
Being that made all things, and that can destroy all that he has made;
that he rewards the good, and punishes the bad; that we are to be judged
by him, at last, for all we do here? You are not so ignorant but even
nature itself will teach you that all this is true; and I am satisfied
you know it all to be true, and believe it yourself."
"That's true, Sir," said Atkins; "but with what face can I say any thing
to my wife of all this, when she will tell me immediately it cannot
be true?"
"Not true!" said I; "what do you mean by that?"--"Why, Sir," said he,
"she will tell me it cannot be true: that this God (I shall tell her of)
can be just, or can punish or reward, since I am not punished and sent
to the devil, that have been such a wicked creature as she knows I have
been, even to her, and to every body else; and that I should be suffered
to live, that have been always acting so contrary to what I must tell
her is good, and to what I ought to have done."
"Why truly, Atkins," said I, "I am afraid thou speakest too much truth;"
and with that I let the clergyman know what Atkins had said, for he was
impatient to know. "O!" said the priest, "tell him there is one thing
will make him the best minister in the world to his wife, and that is
repentance; for none teach repentance like true penitents. He wants
nothing but to repent, and then he will be so much the better qualified
to instruct his wife; he will then be able to tell her, that there is
not only a God, and that he is the just rewarder of good and evil; but
that he is a merciful Being, and, with infinite goodness and
long-suffering, forbears to punish those that offend; waiting to be
gracious, and willing not the death of a sinner, but rather that he
should return and live; that he often suffers wicked men to go on a long
time, and even reserves damnation to the general day of retribution:
that it is a clear evidence of God, and of a future state, that
righteous men receive not their reward, or wicked men their punishment,
till they come into another world; and this will lend him to teach his
wife the doctrine of the resurrection, and of the last judgment: let him
but repent for himself, he will be an excellent preacher of repentance
to his wife."
I repeated all this to Atkins, who looked very serious all the while,
and who, we could easily perceive, was more than ordinarily affected
with it: when being eager, and hardly suffering me to make an end--"I
know all this, master," says he, "and a great deal more; but I han't the
impudence to talk thus to my wife, when God and my own conscience knows,
and my wife will be an undeniable evidence against me, that I have lived
as if I never heard of God, or a future state, or any thing about it;
and to talk of my repenting, alas! (and with that he fetched a deep
sigh; and I could see that tears stood in his eyes,) 'tis past all that
with me."--"Past it, Atkins!" said I; "what dost thou mean by that?"--"I
know well enough what I mean, Sir," says he; "I mean 'tis too late; and
that is too true."
I told my clergyman word for word what he said. The poor zealous priest
(I must call him so; for, be his opinion what it will, he had certainly
a most singular affection for the good of other men's souls; and it
would be hard to think he had not the like for his own)--I say, this
zealous, affectionate man could not refrain tears also: but recovering
himself, he said to me, "Ask him but one question: Is he easy that it is
too late, or is he troubled, and wishes it were not so?" I put the
question fairly to Atkins; and he answered with a great deal of passion,
"How could any man be easy in a condition that certainly must end in
eternal destruction? That he was far from being easy; but that, on the
contrary, he believed it would one time or the other ruin him."
"What do you mean by that?" said I.--"Why," he said, "he believed he
should, one time or another, cut his own throat to put an end to the
terror of it."
The clergyman shook his head, with a great concern in his face, when I
told him all this; but turning quick to me upon it, said, "If that be
his case, you may assure him it is not too late; Christ will give him
repentance. But pray," says he, "explain this to him, that as no man is
saved but by Christ, and the merit of his passion, procuring divine
mercy for him, how can it be too late for any man to receive mercy? Does
he think he is able to sin beyond the power or reach of divine mercy?
Pray tell him, there may be a time when provoked mercy will no longer
strive, and when God may refuse to hear; but that 'tis never too late
for men to ask mercy; and we that are Christ's servants are commanded to
preach mercy at all times, in the name of Jesus Christ, to all those
that sincerely repent: so that 'tis never too late to repent."
I told Atkins all this, and he heard me with great earnestness; but it
seemed as if he turned off the discourse to the rest; for he said to me
he would go and have some talk with his wife: so he went out awhile, and
we talked to the rest. I perceived they were all stupidly ignorant as to
matters of religion; much as I was when I went rambling away from my
father; and yet that there were none of them backward to hear what had
been said; and all of them seriously promised that they would talk with
their wives about it, and do their endeavour to persuade them to turn
Christians.
The clergyman smiled upon me when I reported what answer they gave, but
said nothing a good while; but at last shaking his head, "We that are
Christ's servants," says he, "can go no farther than to exhort and
instruct; and when men comply, submit to the reproof, and promise what
we ask, 'tis all we can do; we are bound to accept their good words; but
believe me, Sir," said he, "whatever you may have known of the life of
that man you call William Atkins, I believe he is the only sincere
convert among them; I take that man to be a true penitent; I won't
despair of the rest; but that man is perfectly struck with the sense of
his past life; and I doubt not but when he comes to talk of religion to
his wife, he will talk himself effectually into it; for attempting to
teach others is sometimes the best way of teaching ourselves. I knew a
man," added he, "who having nothing but a summary notion of religion
himself, and being wicked and profligate to the last degree in his life,
made a thorough reformation in himself by labouring to convert a Jew:
and if that poor Atkins begins but once to talk seriously of Jesus
Christ to his wife, my life for it he talks himself into a thorough
convert, makes himself a penitent; and who knows what may follow?"
Upon this discourse, however, and their promising as above to endeavour
to persuade their wives to embrace Christianity, he married the other
three couple; but Will Atkins and his wife were not yet come in. After
this, my clergyman waiting awhile, was curious to know where Atkins was
gone; and turning to me, says he, "I entreat you, Sir, let us walk out
of your labyrinth here and look; I dare say we shall find this poor man
somewhere or other, talking seriously with his wife, and teaching her
already something of religion." I began to be of the same mind; so we
went out together, and I carried him a way which none knew but myself,
and where the trees were so thick set, as that it was not easy to see
through the thicket of leaves, and far harder to see in than to see
out; when coming to the edge of the wood I saw Atkins, and his tawny
savage wife, sitting under the shade of a bush, very eager in discourse.
I stopped short till my clergyman came up to me, and then having shewed
him where they were, we stood and looked very steadily at them a
good while.
We observed him very earnest with her, pointing up to the sun, and to
every quarter of the heavens; then down to the earth, then out to the
sea, then to himself, then to her, to the woods, to the trees. "Now,"
says my clergyman, "you see my words are made good; the man preaches to
her; mark him; now he is telling her that our God has made him, and her,
and the heavens, the earth, the sea, the woods, the trees, &c."--"I
believe he is," said I. Immediately we perceived Will Atkins start up
upon his feet, fall down upon his knees, and lift up both his hands; we
supposed he said something, but we could not hear him; it was too far
off for that: he did not continue kneeling half a minute, but comes and
sits down again by his wife, and talks to her again. We perceived then
the woman very attentive, but whether she said any thing or no we could
not tell. While the poor fellow was upon his knees, I could see the
tears run plentifully down my clergyman's cheeks; and I could hardly
forbear myself; but it was a great affliction to us both, that we were
not near enough to hear any thing that passed between them.
Well, however, we could come no nearer for fear of disturbing them; so
we resolved to see an end of this piece of still conversation, and it
spoke loud enough to us without the help of voice. He sat down again, as
I have said, close by her, and talked again earnestly to her, and two or
three times we could see him embrace her passionately; another time we
saw him take out his handkerchief and wipe her eyes, and then kiss her
again, with a kind of transport very unusual; and after several of these
things, we saw him on a sudden jump up again and lend her his hand to
help her up, when immediately leading her by the hand a step or two,
they both kneeled down together, and continued so about two minutes.
My friend could bear it no longer, but cries out aloud, "St. Paul, St.
Paul, behold he prayeth!"--I was afraid Atkins would hear him; therefore
I entreated him to withhold himself awhile, that we might see an end of
the scene, which to me, I must confess, was the most affecting, and yet
the most agreeable, that ever I saw in my life. Well, he strove with
himself, and contained himself for awhile, but was in such raptures of
joy to think that the poor heathen woman was become a Christian, that he
was not able to contain himself; he wept several times: then throwing up
his hands, and crossing his breast, said over several things
ejaculatory, and by way of giving God thanks for so miraculous a
testimony of the success of our endeavours: some he spoke softly, and I
could not well hear; others audibly; some in Latin, some in French; then
two or three times the tears of joy would interrupt him, that he could
not speak at all. But I begged that he would compose himself, and let us
more narrowly and fully observe what was before us, which he did for a
time, and the scene was not ended there yet; for after the poor man and
his wife were risen again from their knees, we observed he stood talking
still eagerly to her; and we observed by her motion that she was greatly
affected with what he said, by her frequent lifting up her hands, laying
her hand to her breast, and such other postures as usually express the
greatest seriousness and attention. This continued about half a quarter
of an hour, and then they walked away too; so that we could see no more
of them in that situation.
I took this interval to talk with my clergyman: and first I told him, I
was glad to see the particulars we had both been witnesses to; that
though I was hard enough of belief in such cases, yet that I began to
think it was all very sincere here, both in the man and his wife,
however ignorant they both might be; and I hoped such a beginning would
have yet a more happy end: "And who knows," said I, "but these two may
in time, by instruction and example, work upon some of the
others?"--"Some of them!" said he, turning quick upon me, "ay, upon all
of them: depend upon it, if those two savages (for _he_ has been but
little better as you relate it) should embrace Jesus Christ, they will
never leave till they work upon all the rest; for true religion is
naturally communicative, and he that is once made a Christian will never
leave a Pagan behind him if he can help it," I owned it was a most
Christian principle to think so, and a testimony of a true zeal, as well
as a generous heart in him. "But, my friend," said I, "will you give me
liberty to start one difficulty here? I cannot tell how to object the
least thing against that affectionate concern which you shew for the
turning the poor people from their Paganism to the Christian religion;
but how does this comfort you, while these people are, in your account,
out of the pale of the Catholic church, without which, you believe,
there is no salvation; so that you esteem these but heretics still; and,
for other reasons, as effectually lost as the Pagans themselves?"
To this he answered with abundance of candour and Christian charity,
thus: "Sir, I am a Catholic of the Roman church, and a priest of the
order of St. Benedict, and I embrace all the principles of the Roman
faith. But yet, if you will believe me, and this I do not speak in
compliment to you, or in respect to my circumstances and your
civilities; I say, nevertheless, I do not look upon you, who call
yourselves reformed, without some charity: I dare not say, though I know
it is our opinion in general, yet I dare not say, that you cannot be
saved; I will by no means limit the mercy of Christ, so far as to think
that he cannot receive you into the bosom of his church, in a manner to
us imperceivable, and which it is impossible for us to know; and I hope
you have the same charity for us. I pray daily for your being all
restored to Christ's church, by whatsoever methods he, who is all-wise,
is pleased to direct. In the mean time, sure you will allow it to
consist with me, as a Roman, to distinguish far between a Protestant and
a Pagan; between him that calls on Jesus Christ, though in a way which I
do not think is according to the true faith; and a savage, a barbarian,
that knows no God, no Christ, no Redeemer at all; and if you are not
within the pale of the Catholic church, we hope you are nearer being
restored to it than those that know nothing at all of God or his church.
I rejoice, therefore, when I see this poor man, who, you say, has been a
profligate, and almost a murderer, kneel down and pray to Jesus Christ,
as we suppose he did, though not fully enlightened; believing that God,
from whom every such work proceeds, will sensibly touch his heart, and
bring him to the further knowledge of the truth in his own time; and if
God shall influence this poor man to convert and instruct the ignorant
savage his wife, I can never believe that he shall be cast away himself;
and have I not reason then to rejoice, the nearer any are brought to the
knowledge of Christ, though they may not be brought quite home into the
bosom of the Catholic church, just at the time when I may desire it;
leaving it to the goodness of Christ to perfect his work in his own
time, and his own way? Certainly I would rejoice if all the savages in
America were brought, like this poor woman, to pray to God, though they
were to be all Protestants at first, rather than they should continue
pagans and heathens; firmly believing, that He who had bestowed that
first light upon them, would farther illuminate them with a beam of his
heavenly grace, and bring them into the pale of his church, when he
should see good."
I was astonished at the sincerity and temper of this truly pious Papist,
as much as I was oppressed by the power of his reasoning; and it
presently occurred to my thoughts, that if such a temper was universal,
we might be all Catholic Christians, whatever church or particular
profession we were joined to, or joined in; that a spirit of charity
would soon work us all up into right principles; and, in a word, as he
thought that the like charity would make us all Catholics, as I told
him, I believed had all the members of his church the like moderation
they would soon be all Protestants; and there we left that part, for we
never disputed at all.
However, I talked to him another way; and taking him by the hand, "My
friend," said I, "I wish all the clergy of the Roman church were blessed
with such moderation, and an equal share of your charity. I am entirely
of your opinion; but I must tell you, that if you should preach such
doctrine in Spain or Italy, they would put you into the Inquisition."
"It may be so," said he; "I know not what they might do in Spain and
Italy; but I will not say they would be the better Christians for that
severity; for I am sure there is no heresy in too much charity."
Well, as Will Atkins and his wife were gone, our business there was
over; so we went back our own way; and when we came back we found them
waiting to be called in. Observing this, I asked my clergyman if we
should discover to him that we had seen him under the bush, or no; and
it was his opinion we should not; but that we should talk to him first,
and hear what he would say to us: so we called him in alone, nobody
being in the place but ourselves; and I began with him thus:
"Will Atkins," said I, "pr'ythee what education had you? What was your
father?"
_W.A._ A better man than ever I shall be. Sir, my father was a
clergyman.
_R.C._ What education did he give you?
_W.A._ He would have taught me well, Sir; but I despised all education,
instruction, or correction, like a beast as I was.
_R.C._ It is true, Solomon says, "He that despiseth reproof is brutish."
_W.A._ Ay, Sir, I was brutish indeed; I murdered my father; for God's
sake, Sir, talk no more about that, Sir; I murdered my poor father.
_Priest_. Ha! a murderer?
[Here the priest started (for I interpreted every word as he
spoke it), and looked pale: it seems he believed that Will
had really killed his own father.]
_R.C._ No, no, Sir, I do not understand him so. Will Atkins, explain
yourself: you did not kill your father, did you, with your own hands?
_W.A._ No, Sir; I did not cut his throat; but I cut the thread of all
his comforts, and shortened his days; I broke his heart by the most
ungrateful, unnatural return for the most tender, affectionate treatment
that ever father gave, or child could receive.
_R.C._ Well, I did not ask you about your father to extort this
confession; I pray God give you repentance for it, and forgive you that
and all your other sins; but I asked you, because I see that, though you
have not much learning, yet you are not so ignorant as some are in
things that are good; that you have known more of religion a great deal
than you have practised.
_W.A._ Though you, Sir, did not extort the confession that I make about
my father, conscience does; and whenever we come to look back upon our
lives, the sins against our indulgent parents are certainly the first
that touch us; the wounds they make lie deepest; and the weight they
leave will lie heaviest upon the mind of all the sins we can commit.
_R.C._ You talk too feelingly and sensible for me, Atkins; I cannot bear
it.
_W.A. You_ bear it, master! I dare say you know nothing of it.
_R.C._ Yes, Atkins, every shore, every hill, nay, I may say every tree
in this island, is witness to the anguish of my soul for my ingratitude
and base usage of a good tender father; a father much like yours by your
description; and I murdered my father as well as you, Will Atkins; but
think for all that, my repentance is short of yours too, by a
great deal.
[I would have said more, if I could have restrained my
passions; but I thought this poor man's repentance was so
much sincerer than mine, that I was going to leave off the
discourse and retire, for I was surprised with what he said,
and thought, that, instead of my going about to teach and
instruct him, the man was made a teacher and instructor to
me, in a most surprising and unexpected manner.]
I laid all this before the young clergyman, who was greatly affected
with it, and said to me, "Did I not say, Sir, that when this man was
converted he would preach to us all? I tell you, Sir, if this one man be
made a true penitent, here will be no need of me, he will make
Christians of all in the island." But having a little composed myself I
renewed my discourse with Will Atkins.
"But, Will," said I, "how comes the sense of this matter to touch you
just now?"
_W.A._ Sir, you have set me about a work that has struck a dart through
my very soul; I have been talking about God and religion to my wife, in
order, as you directed me, to make a Christian of her; and she has
preached such a sermon to me as I shall never forget while I live.
_R.C._ No, no; it is not your wife has preached to you; but when you
were moving religious arguments to her, conscience has flung them
back upon you.
_W.A._ Ay, Sir, with such a force as is not to be resisted.
_R.C._ Pray, Will, let us know what passed between you and your wife;
for I know something of it already.
_W.A._ Sir, it is impossible to give you a full account of it: I am too
full to hold it, and yet have no tongue to express it: but let her have
said what she will, and though I cannot give you an account of it, this
I can tell you of it, that I resolve to amend and reform my life.
_R.C._ But tell us some of it. How did you begin Will? for this has been
an extraordinary case, that is certain; she has preached a sermon
indeed, if she has wrought this upon you.
_W.A._ Why, I first told her the nature of our laws about marriage, and
what the reasons were that men and women were obliged to enter into such
compacts as it was neither in the power of one or other to break; that
otherwise, order and justice could not be maintained, and men would run
from their wives and abandon their children, mix confusedly with one
another, and neither families be kept entire, or inheritances be settled
by a legal descent.
_R.C._ You talk like a civilian, Will. Could you make her understand
what you meant by inheritance and families? They know no such thing
among the savages, but marry any how, without any regard to relation,
consanguinity, or family; brother and sister, nay, as I have been told,
even the father and daughter, and the son and the mother.
_W.A._ I believe, Sir, you are misinformed;--my wife assures me of the
contrary, and that they abhor it. Perhaps for any further relations they
may not be so exact as we are; but she tells me they never touch one
another in the near relations you speak of.
_R.C._ Well, what did she say to what you told her?
_W.A._ She said she liked it very well; and it was much better than in
her country.
_R.C._ But did you tell her what marriage was?
_W.A._ Ay, ay, there began all our dialogue. I asked her, if she would
be married to me our way? She asked me, what way that was? I told her
marriage was appointed of God; and here we had a strange talk together
indeed, as ever man and wife had, I believe.
[N.B. This dialogue between W. Atkins and his wife, as I took
it down in writing just after he told it me, was as follows:]
_Wife_. Appointed by your God! Why, have you a God in your country?
_W.A._ Yes, my dear; God is in every country.
_Wife._ No your God in my country; my country have the great old
Benamuckee God.
_W.A._ Child, I am very unfit to shew you who God is; God is in heaven,
and made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is.
_Wife._ No makee de earth; no you God makee de earth; no make my
country.
[W.A. laughed a little at her expression of God not making
her country.]
_Wife._ No laugh: why laugh me? This no ting to laugh.
[He was justly reproved by his wife, for she was more serious
than he at first.]
_W.A._ That's true, indeed; I will not laugh any more, my dear.
_Wife._ Why you say, you God make all?
_W.A._ Yes, child, our God made the whole world, and you, and me, and
all things; for he is the only true God; there is no God but he; he
lives for ever in heaven.
_Wife._ Why you no tell me long ago?
_W.A._ That's true, indeed; but I have been a wicked wretch, and have
not only forgotten to acquaint thee with any thing before, but have
lived without God in the world myself.
_Wife._ What have you de great God in your country, you no know him? No
say O to him? No do good ting for him? That no impossible!
_W.A._ It is too true though, for all that: we live as if there was no
God in heaven, or that he had no power on earth.
_Wife._ But why God let you do so? Why he no makee you good live!
_W.A._ It is all our own fault.
_Wife._ But you say me he is great, much great, have much great power;
can make kill when he will: why he no make kill when you no serve him?
no say O to him? no be good mans?
_W.A._ That is true; he might strike me dead, and I ought to expect it;
for I have been a wicked wretch, that is true: but God is merciful, and
does not deal with us as we deserve.
_Wife._ But then do not you tell God tankee for that too?
_W.A._ No, Indeed; I have not thanked God for his mercy, any more than I
have feared God for his power.
_Wife._ Then you God no God; me no tink, believe he be such one, great
much power, strong; no makee kill you, though you makee him much angry!
_W.A._ What! will my wicked life hinder you from believing in God! What
a dreadful creature am I! And what a sad truth is it, that the horrid
lives of Christians hinder the conversion of heathens!
_Wife._ Now me tink you have great much God up there, (_she points up to
heaven_) and yet no do well, no do good ting? Can he tell? Sure he no
tell what you do.
_W.A._ Yes, yes, he knows and seen all things; he hears us speak, sees
what we do, knows what we think, though we do not speak.
_Wife_ What! he no hear you swear, curse, speak the great damn?
_W.A._ Yes, yes, he hears it all.
_Wife._ Where be then the muchee great power strong?
_W.A._ He is merciful; that is all we can say for it; and this proves
him to be the true God: he is God, and not man; and therefore we are
not consumed.
[Here Will Atkins told us he was struck with horror to think
how he could tell his wife so clearly that God sees, and
hears, and knows the secret thoughts of the heart, and all
that we do; and yet that he had dared to do all the vile
things he had done.]
_Wife._ Merciful! what you call dat?
_W.A._ He is our father and maker; and he pities and spares us.
_Wife._ So then he never makee kill, never angry when you do wicked;
then he no good himself, or no great able.
_W.A._ Yes, yes, my dear; he is infinitely good, and infinitely great,
and able to punish too; and some times, to shew his justice and
vengeance, he lets fly his anger to destroy sinners and make examples;
many are cut off in their sins.
_Wife._ But no makee kill you yet; then he tell you, may be, that he no
makee you kill, so you make de bargain with him, you do bad ting, he no
be angry at you, when he be angry at other mans?
_W.A._ No, indeed, my sins are all presumptions upon his goodness; and
he would be infinitely just if he destroyed me as he has done other men.
_Wife._ Well, and yet no kill, no makee you dead! What you say to him
for that? You no tell him tankee for all that too!
_W.A._ I am an unthankful, ungrateful dog, that is true.
_Wife._ Why he no makee you much good better? You say he makee you.
_W.A._. He made me as he made all the world; 'tis I have deformed
myself, and abused his goodness, and have made myself an
abominable wretch.
_Wife._ I wish you makee God know me; I no makee him angry; I no do bad
wicked ting.
[Here Will Atkins said his heart sunk within him, to hear a
poor, untaught creature desire to be taught to know God, and
he such a wicked wretch that he could not say one word to her
about God, but what the reproach of his own carriage would
make most irrational to her to believe; nay, that already she
could not believe in God, because he that was so wicked was
not destroyed.]
_W.A._ My dear, you mean you wish I could teach you to know God, not God
to know you, for he knows you already, and every thought in your heart.
_Wife._ Why then he know what I say to you now; he know me wish to know
him; how shall me know who makee me?
_W.A._ Poor creature, he must teach thee, I cannot teach thee; I'll pray
to him to teach thee to know him; and to forgive me that I am unworthy
to teach thee.
[The poor fellow was in such an agony at her desiring him to
make her know God, and her wishing to know him, that he said
he fell down on his knees before her, and prayed to God to
enlighten her mind with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,
and to pardon his sins, and accept of his being the unworthy
instrument of instructing her in the principles of religion;
after which he sat down by her again, and their dialogue
went on.]
N.B. This was the time when we saw him kneel down and lift up
his hands.
_Wife._ What you put down the knee for? What you hold up the hand for?
What you say? Who you speak to? What is that?
_W.A._ My dear, I bow my knees in token of my submission to Him that
made me: I said O to him, as you call it, and as you say your old men do
to their idol Benamuckee; that is, I prayed to him.
_Wife._ What you say O to him for?
_W.A._ I prayed to him to open your eyes and your understanding, that
you may know him, and be accepted by him.
_Wife._ Can he do that too?
_W.A._ Yes, he can; he can do all things.
_Wife._ But he no hear what you say?
_W.A._ Yes, he has bid us pray to him; and promised to hear us.
_Wife._ Bid you pray? When he bid you? How he bid you? What you hear him
speak?
_W.A._ No, we do not hear him speak; but he has revealed himself many
ways to us.
[Here he was at a great loss to make her understand that God
had revealed himself to us by his word; and what his word
was; but at last he told it her thus:]
_W.A._ God has spoken to some good men in former days, even from heaven,
by plain words; and God has inspired good men by his Spirit; and they
have written all his laws down in a book.
_Wife._ Me no understand that: where is book?
_W.A._. Alas! my poor creature, I have not this book; but I hope I
shall, one time or other, get it for you to read it.
[Here he embraced her with great affection; but with
inexpressible grief, that he had not a Bible.]
_Wife._ But how you makee me know that God teachee them to write that
book?
_W.A._ By the same rule that we know him to be God.
_Wife._ What rule? what way you know?
_W.A._ Because he teaches and commands nothing but what is good,
righteous, and holy, and tends to make us perfectly good, as well as
perfectly happy; and because he forbids, and commands us to avoid, all
that is wicked, that is evil in itself, or evil in its consequences.
_Wife._ That me would understand, that me fain see; if he reward all
good thing, punish all wicked thing, he teachee all good thing, forbid
all wicked thing, he makee all thing, he give all thing; he hear me when
I say O to him, as you go to do just now; he makee me good if I wish be
good; he spare me, no makee kill me when I no be good; all this you say
he do: yes, he be great God; me take, think, believe him be great God;
me say O to him too with you, my dear.
Here the poor man said he could forbear no longer; but, raising her up,
made her kneel by him; and he prayed to God aloud to instruct her in the
knowledge of himself by his Spirit; and that by some good providence, if
possible, she might some time or other come to have a Bible, that she
might read the word of God, and be taught by him to know him.
[This was the time that we saw him lift her up by the hand,
and saw him kneel down by her, as above.]
They had several other discourses, it seems, after this, too long to
set down here; and particularly she made him promise, that, since he
confessed his own life had been a wicked, abominable course of
provocation against God, he would reform it, and not make God angry any
more, lest he should make him dead, as she called it, and then she
should be left alone, and never be taught to know this God better; and
lest he should be miserable, as he told her wicked men should be
after death.
This was a strange account, and very affecting to us both, but
particularly the young clergyman; he was indeed wonderfully surprised
with it; but under the greatest affliction imaginable that he could not
talk to her; that he could not speak English to make her understand him;
and as she spoke but very broken English he could not understand her.
However, he turned himself to me, and told me, that he believed there
must be more to do with this woman than to marry her. I did not
understand him at first, but at length he explained himself, viz. that
she ought to be baptized.
I agreed with him in that part readily, and was for going about it
presently: "No, no; hold, Sir," said he; "though I would have her
baptized by all means, yet I must observe, that Will Atkins, her
husband, has indeed brought her, in a wonderful manner, to be willing to
embrace a religious life; and has given her just ideas of the being of a
God, of his power, justice, and mercy; yet I desire to know of him, if
he has said any thing to her of Jesus Christ, and of the salvation of
sinners; of the nature of faith in him, and the redemption by him; of
the Holy Spirit, the Resurrection, the last judgment, and a
future state."
I called Will Atkins again, and asked him; but the poor fellow fell
immediately into tears, and told us he had said something to her of all
those things, but that he was himself so wicked a creature, and his own
conscience so reproached him with his horrid, ungodly life, that he
trembled at the apprehensions, that her knowledge of him should lessen
the attention she should give to those things, and make her rather
contemn religion than receive it: but he was assured, he said, that her
mind was so disposed to receive due impressions of all those things,
that, if I would but discourse with her, she would make it appear to my
satisfaction that my labour would not be lost upon her.
Accordingly I called her in, and placing myself as interpreter between
my religious priest and the woman, I entreated him to begin with her.
But sure such a sermon was never preached by a popish priest in these
latter ages of the world: and, as I told him, I thought he had all the
zeal, all the knowledge, all the sincerity of a Christian, without the
errors of a Roman Catholic; and that I took him to be such a clergyman
as the Roman bishops were before the church of Rome assumed spiritual
sovereignty over the consciences of men.
In a word, he brought the poor woman to embrace the knowledge of Christ,
and of redemption by him, not with wonder and astonishment only, as she
did the first notions of a God, but with joy and faith, with an
affection, and a surprising degree of understanding, scarce to be
imagined, much less to be expressed; and at her own request she
was baptized.
When he was preparing to baptize her, I entreated him that he would
perform that office with some caution, that the man might not perceive
he was of the Roman church, if possible; because of other ill
consequences which might attend a difference among us in that very
religion which we were instructing the other in. He told me, that as he
had no consecrated chapel, nor proper things for the office, I should
see he would do it in a manner that I should not know by it that he was
a Roman Catholic himself it I had not known it before, and so he did;
for saying only some words over to himself in Latin, which I could not
understand, he poured a whole dishfull of water upon the woman's head,
pronouncing in French very loud _Mary_ (which was the name her husband
desired me to give her, for I was her godfather,) _I baptize thee in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost_; so that
none could know any thing by it what religion he was of: he gave the
benediction afterwards in Latin; but either Will Atkins did not know but
it was in French, or else did not take notice of it at that time.
As soon as this was over, he married them; and after the marriage was
over, he turned himself to Will Atkins, and in a very affectionate
manner exhorted him not only to persevere in that good disposition he
was in, but to support the convictions that were upon him by a
resolution to reform his life; told him it was in vain to say he
repented if he did not forsake his crimes; represented to him, how God
had honoured him with being the instrument of bringing his wife to the
knowledge of the Christian religion; and that he should be careful he
did not dishonour the grace of God; and that if he did, he would see the
heathen a better Christian than himself; the savage converted, and the
instrument cast away!
He said a great many good things to them both, and then recommended
them, in a few words, to God's goodness; gave them the benediction
again, I repeating every thing to them in English: and thus ended the
ceremony. I think it was the most pleasant, agreeable day to me that
ever I passed in my whole life.
But my clergyman had not done yet; his thoughts hung continually upon
the conversion of the thirty-seven savages, and fain he would have staid
upon the island to have undertaken it; but I convinced him, first, that
his undertaking was impracticable in itself; and secondly, that,
perhaps, I could put it into a way of being done, in his absence, to his
satisfaction; of which by and by.
Having thus brought the affair of the island to a narrow compass, I was
preparing to go on board the ship when the young man, whom I had taken
out of the famished ship's company, came to me, and told me, he
understood I had a clergyman with me, and that I had caused the
Englishmen to be married to the savages whom they called wives; that he
had a match too, which he desired might be finished before I went,
between two Christians, which he hoped would not be disagreeable to me.
I knew this must be the young woman who was his mother's servant, for
there was no other Christian woman on the island. So I began to persuade
him not to do any thing of that kind rashly, or because he found himself
in this solitary circumstance. I represented that he had some
considerable substance in the world, and good friends, as I understood
by himself, and by his maid also; that the maid was not only poor, and a
servant, but was unequal to him, she being twenty-six or twenty-seven
years old, and he not above seventeen or eighteen; that he might very
probably, with my assistance, make a remove from this wilderness, and
come into his own country again, and that then it would be a thousand to
one but he would repent his choice, and the dislike of that circumstance
might be disadvantageous to both. I was going to say more, but he
interrupted me, smiling; and told me, with a great deal of modesty, that
I mistook in my guesses; that he had nothing of that kind in his
thoughts, his present circumstances being melancholy and disconsolate
enough; and he was very glad to hear that I had some thoughts of putting
them in a way to see their own country again; and that nothing should
have set him upon staying there, but that the voyage I was going was so
exceeding long and hazardous, and would carry him quite out of the reach
of all his friends; that he had nothing to desire of me, but that I
would settle him in some little property of the island where he was;
give him a servant or two, and some few necessaries, and he would settle
himself here like a planter, waiting the good time when, if ever I
returned to England, I would redeem him, and hoped I would not be
unmindful of him when I came to England; that he would give me some
letters to his friends in London, to let them know how good I had been
to him, and what part of the world, and what circumstances I had left
him in; and he promised me, that whenever I redeemed him, the
plantation, and all the improvements he had made upon it, let the value
be what it would, should be wholly mine.
His discourse was very prettily delivered, considering his youth, and
was the more agreeable to me, because he told me positively the match
was not for himself. I gave him all possible assurances, that, if I
lived to come safe to England, I would deliver his letters, and do his
business effectually, and that he might depend I would never forget the
circumstances I left him in. But still I was impatient to know who was
the person to be married; upon which he told me it was my Jack of all
Trades and his maid Susan.
I was most agreeably surprised when he named the match; for indeed I had
thought it very suitable. The character of that man I have given
already; and as for the maid, she was a very honest, modest, sober, and
religious young woman; had a very good share of sense; was agreeable
enough in her person; spoke very handsomely, and to the purpose; always
with decency and good manners, and not backward to speak when any thing
required it, or impertinently forward to speak when it was not her
business; very handy and housewifely in any thing that was before her;
an excellent manager, and fit indeed to have been governess to the whole
island; she knew very well how to behave herself to all kind of folks
she had about her, and to better if she had found any there.
The match being proposed in this manner, we married them the same day:
and as I was father at the altar, as I may say, and gave her away, so I
gave her a portion, for I appointed her and her husband a handsome large
space of ground for their plantation; and indeed this match, and the
proposal the young gentleman made to me, to give him a small property in
the island, put me upon parcelling it out among them, that they might
not quarrel afterwards about their situation.
This sharing out the land to them I left to Will Atkins, who indeed was
now grown a most sober, grave, managing fellow, perfectly reformed,
exceeding pious and religious, and as far as I may be allowed to speak
positively in such a case, I verily believe was a true sincere penitent.
He divided things so justly, and so much to every one's satisfaction,
that they only desired one general writing under my hand for the whole,
which I caused to be drawn up, and signed and sealed to them, setting
out the bounds and situation of every man's plantation, and testifying
that I gave them thereby, severally, a right to the whole possession and
inheritance of the respective plantations or farms, with their
improvements, to them and their heirs; reserving all the rest of the
island as my own property, and a certain rent for every particular
plantation after eleven years, if I or any one from me, or in my name,
came to demand it, producing an attested copy of the same writing.
As to the government and laws among them, I told them, I was not capable
of giving them better rules than they were able to give themselves; only
made them promise me to live in love and good neighbourhood with one
another: and so I prepared to leave them.
One thing I must not omit, and that is, that being now settled in a kind
of commonwealth among themselves, and having much business in hand, it
was but odd to have seven-and-thirty Indians live in a nook of the
island, independent, and indeed unemployed; for excepting the providing
themselves food, which they had difficulty enough in doing sometimes,
they had no manner of business or property to manage: I proposed
therefore to the governor Spaniard, that he should go to them with
Friday's father, and propose to them to remove, and either plant for
themselves, or take them into their several families as servants, to be
maintained for their labour, but without being absolute slaves, for I
would not admit them to make them slaves by force by any means, because
they had their liberty given by capitulation, and as it were articles
of surrender, which they ought not to break.
They most willingly embraced the proposal, and came all very cheerfully
along with him; so we allotted them land and plantations, which three or
four accepted of, but all the rest chose to be employed as servants in
the several families we had settled; and thus my colony was in a manner
settled as follows: The Spaniards possessed my original habitation,
which was the capital city, and extended their plantation all along the
side of the brook which made the creek that I have so often described,
as far as my bower; and as they increased their culture, it went always
eastward. The English lived in the north-east part, where Will Atkins
and his comrades began, and came on southward and south-west, towards
the back part of the Spaniards; and every plantation had a great
addition of land to take in, if they found occasion, so that they need
not jostle one another for want of room.
All the west end of the island was left uninhabited, that, if any of the
savages should come on shore there, only for their usual customary
barbarities, they might come and go; if they disturbed nobody, nobody
would disturb them; and no doubt but they were often ashore, and went
away again, for I never heard that the planters were ever attacked and
disturbed any more.
It now came into my thoughts that I had hinted to my friend the
clergyman that the work of converting the savages might perhaps be set
on foot in his absence to his satisfaction; and I told him, that now I
thought it was put in a fair way, for the savages being thus divided
among the Christians, if they would but every one of them do their part
with those which came under their hands, I hoped it might have a very
good effect.
He agreed presently in that; "if," said he, "they will do their part;
but how," says he, "shall we obtain that of them?" I told him we would
call them all together, and leave it in charge with them, or go to them
one by one, which he thought best; so we divided it--he to speak to the
Spaniards, who were all Papists, and I to the English, who were all
Protestants; and we recommended it earnestly to them, and made them
promise that they would never make any distinction of Papist or
Protestant in their exhorting the savages to turn Christians, but teach
them the general knowledge of the true God, and of their Saviour Jesus
Christ; and they likewise promised us that they would never have any
differences or disputes one with another about religion.
When I came to Will Atkins's house, (I may call it so, for such a house,
or such a piece of basket-work, I believe was not standing in the world
again!) I say, when I came thither I found the young woman I have
mentioned above, and William Atkins's wife, were become intimates; and
this prudent and religious young woman had perfected the work Will
Atkins had begun; and though it was not above four days after what I
have related, yet the new-baptized savage woman was made such a
Christian as I have seldom heard of any like her, in all my observation
or conversation in the world.
It came next into my mind in the morning, before I went to them, that
among all the needful things I had to leave with them, I had not left a
Bible; in which I shewed myself less considering for them than my good
friend the widow was for me, when she sent me the cargo of 100_l_. from
Lisbon, where she packed up three Bibles and a Prayer-book. However, the
good woman's charity had a greater extent than ever she imagined, for
they were reserved for the comfort and instruction of those that made
much better use of them than I had done.
I took one of the Bibles in my pocket; and when I came to William
Atkins's tent, or house, I found the young woman and Atkins's baptized
wife had been discoursing of religion together (for William Atkins told
it me with a great deal of joy.) I asked if they were together now? And
he said yes; so I went into the house, and he with me, and we found
them together, very earnest in discourse: "O Sir," says William Atkins,
"when God has sinners to reconcile to himself, and aliens to bring home,
he never wants a messenger: my wife has got a new instructor--I knew I
was unworthy, as I was incapable of that work--that young woman has been
sent hither from Heaven--she is enough to convert a whole island of
savages." The young woman blushed, and rose up to go away, but I desired
her to sit still; I told her she had a good work upon her hands, and I
hoped God would bless her in it.
We talked a little, and I did not perceive they had any book among them,
though I did not ask, but I put my hand in my pocket, and pulled out my
Bible. "Here," said I to Atkins, "I have brought you an assistant, that
perhaps you had not before." The man was so confounded, that he was not
able to speak for some time; but recovering himself, he takes it with
both hands, and turning to his wife, "Here, my dear," says he, "did not
I tell you our God, though he lives above, could hear what we said? Here
is the book I prayed for when you and I kneeled down under the bush; now
God has heard us, and sent it." When he had said thus, the man fell in
such transports of a passionate joy, that between the joy of having it,
and giving God thanks for it, the tears ran down his face like a child
that was crying.
The woman was surprised, and was like to have run into a mistake that
none of us were aware of; for she firmly believed God had sent the book
upon her husband's petition: it is true that providentially it was so,
and might be taken so in a consequent sense; but I believed it would
have been no difficult matter at that time to have persuaded the poor
woman to have believed that an express messenger came from Heaven on
purpose to bring that individual book; but it was too serious a matter
to suffer any delusion to take place: so I turned to the young woman,
and told her we did not desire to impose upon the convert in her first
and more ignorant understanding of things, and begged her to explain to
her that God may be very properly said to answer our petitions, when in
the course of his providence such things are in a particular manner
brought to pass as we petitioned for; but we do not expect returns from
Heaven in a miraculous and particular manner; and that it is our mercy
it is not so.
This the young woman did afterwards effectually; so that there was, I
assure you, no priestcraft used here; and I should have thought it one
of the most unjustifiable frauds in the world to have had it so: but the
surprise of joy upon Will Atkins is really not to be expressed; and
there we may be sure was no delusion. Sure no man was ever more thankful
in the world for any thing of its kind than he was for this Bible; and I
believe never any man was glad of a Bible from a better principle; and
though he had been a most profligate creature, desperate, headstrong,
outrageous, furious, and wicked to a great degree, yet this man is a
standing rule to us all for the well instructing children, viz. that
parents should never give over to teach and instruct, or ever despair of
the success of their endeavours, let the children be ever so obstinate,
refractory, or to appearance insensible of instruction; for if ever God
in his providence touches the consciences of such, the force of their
education returns upon them, and the early instruction of parents is not
lost, though it may have been many years laid asleep, but some time or
other they may find the benefit of it.
Thus it was with this poor man. However ignorant he was, or divested of
religion and Christian knowledge, he found he had some to do with now
more ignorant than himself; and that the least part of the instruction
of his good father that could now come to his mind was of use to him.
Among the rest it occurred to him, he said, how his father used to
insist much upon the inexpressible value of the Bible, the privilege
and blessing of it to nations, families, and persons; but he never
entertained the least notion of the worth of it till now, when being to
talk to heathens, savages, and barbarians, he wanted the help of the
written oracle for his assistance.
The young woman was very glad of it also for the present occasion,
though she had one, and so had the youth, on board our ship among the
goods which were not yet brought on shore. And now, having said so many
things of this young woman, I cannot omit telling one story more of her
and myself, which has something in it very informing and remarkable.
I have related to what extremity the poor young woman was reduced; how
her mistress was starved to death, and did die on board that unhappy
ship we met at sea; and how the whole ship's company being reduced to
the last extremity, the gentlewoman and her son, and this maid, were
first hardly used as to provisions, and at last totally neglected and
starved; that is to say, brought to the last extremity of hunger.
One day being discoursing with her upon the extremities they suffered, I
asked her if she could describe by what she felt what it was to starve,
and how it appeared? She told me she believed she could, and she told
her tale very distinctly thus:
"First, Sir," said she, "we had for some days fared exceeding hard, and
suffered very great hunger, but now at last we were wholly without food
of any kind except sugar, and a little wine, and a little water. The
first day after I had received no food at all, I found myself, towards
evening, first empty and sickish at my stomach, and nearer night
mightily inclined to yawning, and sleepy; I lay down on a couch in the
great cabin to sleep, and slept about three hours, and awaked a little
refreshed, having taken a glass of wine when I lay down. After being
about three hours awake, it being about five o'clock in the morning, I
found myself empty, and my stomach sickish again, and lay down again,
but could not sleep at all, being very faint and ill; and thus I
continued all the second day with a strange variety--first hungry, then
sick again, with retchings to vomit. The second night, being obliged to
go to bed again without any food more than a draught of fair water, and
being asleep, I dreamed I was at Barbadoes, and that the market was
mightily stocked with provisions, that I bought some for my mistress,
and went and dined very heartily.
"I thought my stomach was full after this, as it would have been after
or at a good dinner; but when I waked, I was exceedingly sunk in my
spirits to find myself in the extremity of famine; the last glass of
wine we had I drank, and put sugar into it, because of its having some
spirit to supply nourishment; but there being no substance in the
stomach for the digesting office to work upon, I found the only effect
of the wine was to raise disagreeable fumes from the stomach into the
head; and I lay, as they told me, stupid and senseless as one drunk for
some time.
"The third day in the morning, after a night of strange and confused
inconsistent dreams, and rather dozing than sleeping, I awaked ravenous
and furious with hunger; and I question, had not my understanding
returned and conquered it, I say, I question whether, if I had been a
mother, and had had a little child with me, its life would have been
safe or no.
"This lasted about three hours, during which time I was twice raging mad
as any creature in Bedlam, as my young master told me, and as he can now
inform you.
"In one of these fits of lunacy or distraction, whether by the motion of
the ship or some slip of my foot I know not, I fell down, and struck my
face against the corner of a pallet-bed, in which my mistress lay, and
with the blow the blood gushed out of my nose, and the cabin-boy
bringing me a little basin, I sat down and bled into it a great deal,
and as the blood ran from me I came to myself, and the violence of the
flame or the fever I was in abated, and so did the ravenous part of
the hunger.
"Then I grew sick, and retched to vomit, but could not, for I had
nothing in my stomach to bring up. After I had bled some time I swooned,
and they all believed I was dead; but I came to myself soon after, and
then had a most dreadful pain in my stomach, not to be described, not
like the colic, but a gnawing eager pain for food, and towards night it
went off with a kind of earnest wishing or longing for food, something
like, as I suppose, the longing of a woman with child. I took another
draught of water with sugar in it, but my stomach loathed the sugar, and
brought it all up again; then I took a draught of water without sugar,
and that stayed with me, and I laid me down upon the bed, praying most
heartily that it would please God to take me away; and composing my mind
in hopes of it, I slumbered awhile; and then waking, thought myself
dying, being light with vapours from an empty stomach: I recommended my
soul to God, and earnestly wished that somebody would throw me into
the sea.
"All this while my mistress lay by me just, as I thought, expiring, but
bore it with much more patience than I, and gave the last bit of bread
she had to her child, my young master, who would not have taken it, but
she obliged him to eat it, and I believe it saved his life.
"Towards the morning I slept again, and first when I awaked I fell into
a violent passion of crying, and after that had a second fit of violent
hunger, so that I got up ravenous, and in a most dreadful condition. Had
my mistress been dead, so much as I loved her, I am certain I should
have eaten a piece of her flesh with as much relish and as unconcerned
as ever I did the flesh of any creature appointed for food; and once or
twice I was going to bite my own arm. At last I saw the basin in which
was the blood had bled at my nose the day before; I ran to it, and
swallowed it with such haste, and such a greedy appetite, as if I had
wondered nobody had taken it before, and afraid it should be taken
from me now.
"Though after it was down the thoughts of it filled me with horror, yet
it checked the fit of hunger, and I drank a draught of fair water, and
was composed and refreshed for some hours, after it. This was the fourth
day; and thus I held it till towards night, when, within the compass of
three hours, I had all these several circumstances over again, one after
another, viz. sick, sleepy, eagerly hungry, pain in the stomach, then
ravenous again, then sick again, then lunatic, then crying, then
ravenous again, and so every quarter of an hour; and my strength wasted
exceedingly. At night I laid me down, having no comfort but in the hope
that I should die before morning.
"All this night I had no sleep, but the hunger was now turned into a
disease, and I had a terrible colic and griping, wind instead of food
having found its way into my bowels; and in this condition I lay till
morning, when I was surprised a little with the cries and lamentations
of my young master, who called out to me that his mother was dead. I
lifted myself up a little, for I had not strength to rise, but found she
was not dead, though she was able to give very little signs of life.
"I had then such convulsions in my stomach for want of some sustenance,
that I cannot describe them, with such frequent throes and pangs of
appetite that nothing but the tortures of death can imitate; and this
condition I was in when I heard the seamen above cry out 'A sail! a
sail!' and halloo and jump about as if they were distracted.
"I was not able to get off from the bed, and my mistress much less; and
my master was so sick that I thought he had been expiring; so we could
not open the cabin-door, or get any account what it was that occasioned
such a combustion; nor had we any conversation with the ship's company
for two days, they having told us they had not a mouthful of any thing
to eat in the ship; and they told us afterwards they thought we had
been dead.
"It was this dreadful condition we were in when you were sent to save
our lives; and how you found us, Sir, you know as well as I, and
better too."
This was her own relation, and is such a distinct account of starving to
death as I confess I never met with, and was exceeding entertaining to
me: I am the rather apt to believe it to be a true account, because the
youth gave me an account of a good part of it; though I must own not so
distinct and so feelingly as his maid, and the rather because it seems
his mother fed him at the price of her own life: but the poor maid,
though her constitution being stronger than that of her mistress, who
was in years, and a weakly woman too, she might struggle harder with it;
I say, the poor maid might be supposed to feel the extremity something
sooner than her mistress, who might be allowed to keep the last bits
something longer than she parted with any to relieve the maid. No
question, as the case is here related, if our ship, or some other, had
not so providentially met them, a few days more would have ended all
their lives, unless they had prevented it by eating one another; and
even that, as their case stood, would have served them but a little
while, they being five hundred leagues from any land, or any possibility
of relief, other than in the miraculous manner it happened.--But this is
by the way; I return to my disposition of things among the people.
And first, it is to be observed here, that for many reasons I did not
think fit to let them know any thing of the sloop I had framed, and
which I thought of setting up among them; for I found, at least at my
first coming, such seeds of division among them, that I saw it plainly,
had I set up the sloop, and left it among them, they would, upon very
light disgust, have separated, and gone away from one another; or
perhaps have turned pirates, and so made the island a den of thieves,
instead of a plantation of sober and religious people, as I intended it
to be; nor did I leave the two pieces of brass cannon that I had on
board, or the two quarter-deck guns, that my nephew took extraordinary,
for the same reason: I thought they had enough to qualify them for a
defensive war, against any that should invade them; but I was not to set
them up for an offensive war, or to encourage them to go abroad to
attack others, which, in the end, would only bring ruin and destruction
upon themselves and all their undertakings: I reserved the sloop,
therefore, and the guns, for their service another way, as I shall
observe in its place.
I have now done with the island: I left them all in good circumstances,
and in a flourishing condition, and went on board my ship again the
fifth day of May, having been five and twenty days among them; and, as
they were all resolved to stay upon the island till I came to remove
them, I promised to send some further relief from the Brasils, if I
could possibly find an opportunity; and particularly I promised to send
them some cattle; such as sheep, hogs, and cows; for as to the two cows
and calves which I brought from England, we had been obliged, by the
length of our voyage, to kill them at sea, for want of hay to feed them.
The next day, giving them a salute of five guns at parting, we set sail,
and arrived at the bay of All Saints, in the Brasils, in about
twenty-two days; meeting nothing remarkable in our passage but this,
that about three days after we sailed, being becalmed, and the current
setting strong to the N.N.E. running, as it were, into a bay or gulf on
the land side, we were driven something out of our course; and once or
twice our men cried Land, to the westward; but whether it was the
continent, or islands, we could not tell by any means.
But the third day, towards evening, the sea smooth and the weather calm,
we saw the sea, as it were, covered towards the land, with something
very black, not being able to discover what it was; but, after some
time, our chief mate going up the main shrouds a little way, and looking
at them with a perspective, cried out, it was an army. I could not
imagine what he meant by an army, and spoke a little hastily, calling
the fellow a fool, or some such word: "Nay, Sir," says he, "don't be
angry, for it is an army, and a fleet too; for I believe there are a
thousand canoes, and you may see them paddle along, and they are coming
towards us too apace, and full of men."
I was a little surprised then, indeed, and so was my nephew the captain;
for he had heard such terrible stories of them in the island, and having
never been in those seas before, that he could not tell what to think of
it, but said two or three times, we should all be devoured. I must
confess, considering we were becalmed, and the current set strong
towards, the shore, I liked it the worse; however, I bade him not be
afraid, but bring the ship to an anchor, as soon as we came so near as
to know that we must engage them.
The weather continued calm, and they came on apace towards us; so I gave
orders to come to an anchor, and furl all our sails. As for the savages,
I told them they had nothing to fear from them but fire; and therefore
they should get their boats out, and fasten them, one close by the head,
and the other by the stern, and man them both well, and wait the issue
in that posture: this I did, that the men in the boats might be ready,
with sheet and buckets, to put out any fire these savages might
endeavour to fix upon the outside of the ship.
In this posture we lay by for them, and in a little while they came up
with us; but never was such a horrid sight seen by Christians; my mate
was much mistaken in his calculation of their number, I mean of a
thousand canoes; the most we could make of them when they came up, being
about 126; and a great many of them too; for some of them had sixteen or
seventeen men in them, some more, and the least six or seven.
When they came nearer to us, they seemed to be struck with wonder and
astonishment, as at a sight which they had, doubtless, never seen
before; nor could they, at first, as we afterwards understood, know what
to make of us. They came boldly up however, very near to us, and seemed
to go about to row round us; but we called to our men in the boats not
to let them come too near them. This very order brought us to an
engagement with them, without our designing it; for five or six of the
large canoes came so near our long-boat, that our men beckoned with
their hands to keep them back, which they understood very well, and went
back: but at their retreat about fifty arrows came on board us from
those boats, and one of our men in the long-boat was very much wounded.
However, I called to them not to fire by any means; but we handed down
some deal boards into the boat, and the carpenter presently set up a
kind of fence, like waste boards, to cover them from the arrows of the
savages, if they should shoot again.
About half-an-hour afterwards they all came up in a body astern of us,
and so near that we could easily discern what they were, though we could
not tell their design; and I easily found they were some of my old
friends, the same sort of savages that I had been used to engage with.
In a short time more they rowed a little farther out to sea, till they
came directly broadside with us, and then rowed down straight upon us,
till they came so near that they could hear us speak; upon this, I
ordered all my men to keep close, lest they should shoot any more
arrows, and made all our guns ready; but being so near as to be within
hearing, I made Friday go out upon the deck, and call out aloud to them
in his language, to know what they meant. Whether they understood him or
not, that I knew not; but as soon as he had called to them, six of them,
who were in the foremost or nearest boat to us, turned their canoes from
us, and stooping down, showed us their naked backs; whether this was a
defiance or challenge we knew not, or whether it was done in mere
contempt, or as a signal to the rest; but immediately Friday cried out
they were going to shoot, and, unhappily for him, poor fellow, they let
fly about three hundred of their arrows, and to my inexpressible grief,
killed poor Friday, no other man being in their sight. The poor fellow
was shot with no less than three arrows, and about three more fell very
near him; such unlucky marksmen they were!
I was so annoyed at the loss of my old trusty servant and companion,
that I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with small shot, and
four with great, and gave them such a broadside as they had never heard
in their lives before. They were not above half a cable's length off
when we fired; and our gunners took their aim so well, that three or
four of their canoes were overset, as we had reason to believe, by one
shot only. The ill manners of turning up their bare backs to us gave us
no great offence; neither did I know for certain whether that which
would pass for the greatest contempt among us might be understood so by
them or not; therefore, in return, I had only resolved to have fired
four or five guns at them with powder only, which I knew would frighten
them sufficiently: but when they shot at us directly with all the fury
they were capable of, and especially as they had killed my poor Friday,
whom I so entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed, so well deserved
it, I thought myself not only justifiable before God and man, but would
have been very glad if I could have overset every canoe there, and
drowned every one of them.
I can neither tell how many we killed nor how many we wounded at this
broadside, but sure such a fright and hurry never were seen among such a
multitude; there were thirteen or fourteen of their canoes split and
overset in all, and the men all set a-swimming: the rest, frightened out
of their wits, scoured away as fast as they could, taking but little
care to save those whose boats were split or spoiled with our shot; so I
suppose that many of them were lost; and our men took up one poor
fellow swimming for his life; above an hour after they were all gone.
Our small shot from our cannon must needs kill and wound a great many;
but, in short, we never knew any thing how it went with them; for they
fled so fast that, in three hours, or thereabouts, we could not see
above three or four straggling canoes; nor did we ever see the rest any
more; for a breeze of wind springing up the same evening, we weighed and
set sail for the Brasils.
We had a prisoner indeed, but the creature was so sullen, that he would
neither eat nor speak; and we all fancied he would starve himself to
death; but I took a way to cure him; for I made them take him, and turn
him into the long-boat, and make him believe they would toss him into
the sea again, and so leave him where they found him, if he would not
speak: nor would that do, but they really did throw him into the sea,
and came away from him; and then he followed them, for he swam like a
cork, and called to them in his tongue, though they knew not one word of
what he said. However, at last, they took him in again, and then he
began to be more tractable; nor did I ever design they should drown him.
We were now under sail again; but I was the most disconsolate creature
alive, for want of my man Friday, and would have been very glad to have
gone back to the island, to have taken one of the rest from thence for
my occasion, but it could not be; so we went on. We had one prisoner, as
I have said; and it was a long while before we could make him understand
any thing; but in time, our men taught him some English, and he began to
be a little tractable: afterwards we inquired what country he came from,
but could make nothing of what he said; for his speech was so odd, all
gutturals, and spoken in the throat, in such a hollow and odd manner,
that we could never form a word from him; and we were all of opinion
that they might speak that language as well if they were gagged, as
otherwise; nor could we perceive that they had any occasion either for
teeth, tongue, lips, or palate; but formed their words just as a
hunting-horn forms a tune, with an open throat: he told us, however,
some time after, when we had taught him to speak a little English, that
they were going, with their kings, to fight a great battle. When he said
kings, we asked him, how many kings? He said, there were five nation (we
could not make him understand the plural _s_,) and that they all joined
to go against two nation. We asked him, What made them come up to us? He
said, "To makee te great wonder look."--Where it is to be observed, that
all those natives, as also those of Africa, when they learn English,
they always add two _e_'s at the end of the words where we use one, and
place the accent upon the last of them; as _makee, takee_, and the like;
and we could not break them of it; nay, I could hardly make Friday leave
it off, though at last he did.
And now I name the poor fellow once more, I must take my last leave of
him; poor honest Friday! We buried him with all decency and solemnity
possible, by putting him into a coffin, and throwing him into the sea;
and I caused them to fire eleven guns for him: and so ended the life of
the most grateful, faithful, honest, and most affectionate servant that
ever man had.
We now went away with a fair wind for Brasil, and, in about twelve days
time, we made land in the latitude of five degrees south of the line,
being the north-easternmost land of all that part of America. We kept on
S. by E. in sight of the shore four days, when we made the Cape St.
Augustine, and in three days came to an anchor off the bay of All
Saints, the old place of my deliverance, from whence came both my good
and evil fate.
Never did a ship come to this part that had less business than I had;
and yet it was with great difficulty that we were admitted to hold the
least correspondence on shore. Not my partner himself, who was alive,
and made a great figure among them, not my two merchant trustees, nor
the fame of my wonderful preservation in the island, could obtain me
that favour; but my partner remembering that I had given five hundred
moidores to the prior of the monastery of the Augustines, and three
hundred and seventy-two to the poor, went to the monastery, and obliged
the prior that then was, to go to the governor, and beg leave for me
presently, with the captain, and one more, besides eight seamen, to come
on shore, and no more; and this upon condition absolutely capitulated
for, that we should not offer to land any goods out of the ship, or to
carry any person away without licence.
They were so strict with us, as to landing any goods, that it was with
extreme difficulty that I got on shore three bales of English goods,
such as fine broad-cloths, stuffs, and some linen, which I had brought
for a present to my partner.
He was a very generous, broad-hearted man, though (like me) he came from
little at first; and though he knew not that I had the least design of
giving him any thing, he sent me on board a present of fresh provisions,
wine, and sweetmeats, worth above thirty moidores, including some
tobacco, and three or four fine medals in gold. But I was even with him
in my present, which, as I have said, consisted of fine broad-cloth,
English stuffs, lace, and fine Hollands. Also, I delivered him about the
value of 100_l_. sterling, in the same goods, for other uses: and I
obliged him to set up the sloop which I had brought with me from
England, as I have said, for the use of my colony, in order to send the
refreshments I intended to my plantation.
Accordingly he got hands, and finished the sloop in a very few days, for
she was already framed; and I gave the master of her such instruction as
he could not miss the place; nor did he miss it, as I had an account
from my partner afterwards. I got him soon loaded with the small cargo I
had sent them; and one of our seamen, that had been on shore with me
there, offered to go with the sloop, and settle there, upon my letter
to the governor Spaniard, to allot him a sufficient quantity of land for
a plantation; and giving him some clothes, and tools for his planting
work, which he said he understood, having been an old planter in
Maryland, and a buccaneer into the bargain.
I encouraged the fellow by granting all he desired; and, as an addition,
I gave him the savage which we had taken prisoner of war, to be his
slave, and ordered the governor Spaniard to give him his share of
everything he wanted, with the rest.
When we came to fit this man out, my old partner told me, there was a
certain very honest fellow, a Brasil planter of his acquaintance, who
had fallen into he displeasure of the church: "I know not what the
matter is with him," says he, "but, on my conscience, I think he is a
heretic in his heart; and he has been obliged to conceal himself for
fear of the Inquisition;" that he would be very glad of such an
opportunity to make his escape, with his wife and two daughters; and if
I would let them go to the island, and allot them a plantation, he would
give them a small stock to begin with; for the officers of the
Inquisition had seized all his effects and estate, and he had nothing
left but a little household stuff, and two slaves; "And," adds he,
"though I hate his principles, yet I would not have him fall into their
hands, for he will assuredly be burnt alive if he does."
I granted this presently, and joined my Englishman with them; and we
concealed the man, and his wife and daughters, on board our ship, till
the sloop put out to go to sea; and then (having put all their goods on
board the sloop some time before) we put them on board the sloop, after
she was got out of the bay.
Our seaman was mightily pleased with this new partner; and their stock,
indeed, was much alike, rich in tools, and in preparations, for a farm;
but nothing to begin with, but as above. However, they carried over with
them (which was worth all the rest) some materials for planting
sugar-canes, with some plants of canes; which he (I mean the Portugal
man) understood very well.
Among the rest of the supplies sent my tenants in the island, I sent
them, by this sloop, three milch-cows and five calves, about twenty-two
hogs, among them, three sows big with pig, two mares, and a stone-horse.
For my Spaniards, according to my promise, I engaged three Portugal
women to go; and recommended it to them to marry them, and use them
kindly. I could have procured more women, but I remembered that the poor
persecuted man had two daughters, and there were but five of the
Spaniards that wanted; the rest had wives of their own, though in
another country.
All this cargo arrived safe, and, as you may easily suppose, very
welcome to my old inhabitants, who were now (with this addition) between
sixty and seventy people, besides little children; of which there were a
great many: I found letters at London from them all, by way of Lisbon,
when I came back to England, being sent back to the Brasils by this
sloop; of which I shall take some notice in its place.
I have now done with my island, and all manner of discourse about it;
and whoever reads the rest of my memorandums, would do well to turn his
thoughts entirely from it, and expect to read only of the follies of an
old man, not warned by his own harms, much less by those of other men,
to beware of the like; not cooled by almost forty years misery and
disappointments; not satisfied with prosperity beyond expectation; not
made cautious by affliction and distress beyond irritation.
I had no more business to go to the East Indies, than a man at full
liberty, and having committed no crime, has to go to the turnkey at
Newgate, and desire him to lock him up among the prisoners there, and
starve him. Had I taken a small vessel from England, and gone directly
to the island; had I loaded her, as I did the other vessel, with all the
necessaries for the plantation, and for my people; took a patent from
the government here, to have secured my property, in subjection only to
that of England, which, to be sure, I might have obtained; had I carried
over cannon and ammunition, servants, and people to plant, and, taking
possession of the place, fortified and strengthened it in the name of
England, and increased it with people, as I might easily have done; had
I then settled myself there, and sent the ship back, loaded with good
rice, as I might also have done in six months time, and ordered my
friends to have fitted her out again for our supply; had I done this,
and staid there myself, I had, at least, acted like a man of common
sense; but I was possessed with a wandering spirit, scorned all
advantages, pleased myself with being the patron of these people I had
placed there, and doing for them in a kind of haughty majestic way, like
an old patriarchal monarch; providing for them, as if I had been father
of the whole family, as well as of the plantation: but I never so much
as pretended to plant in the name of any government or nation, or to
acknowledge any prince, or to call my people subjects to any one nation
more than another; nay, I never so much as gave the place a name; but
left it as I found it, belonging to no man; and the people under no
discipline or government but my own; who, though I had an influence over
them as father and benefactor, had no authority or power to act or
command one way or other, farther than voluntary consent moved them to
comply: yet even this, had I staid there, would have done well enough;
but as I rambled from them, and came thither no more, the last letters I
had from any of them, were by my partner's means, who afterwards sent
another sloop to the place; and who sent me word, though I had not the
letter till five years after it was written, that they went on but
poorly, were malecontent with their long stay there; that Will Atkins
was dead; that five of the Spaniards were come away; and that though
they had not been much molested by the savages, yet they had had some
skirmishes with them; that they begged of him to write to me to think
of the promise I had made to fetch them away, that they might see their
own country again before they died.
But I was gone a wild-goose chase indeed, and they who will have any
more of me, must be content to follow me through a new variety of
follies, hardships, and wild adventures; wherein the justice of
Providence may be duly observed, and we may see how easily Heaven can
gorge us with our own desires, make the strongest of our wishes to be
our affliction and punish us most severely with those very things which
we think it would be our utmost happiness to be allowed in.
Let no wise man flatter himself with the strength of his own judgment,
as if he was able to choose any particular station of life for himself.
Man is a short-sighted creature, sees but a very little way before him;
and as his passions are none of his best friends, so his particular
affections are generally his worst counsellors.
I say this with respect to the impetuous desire I had from a youth to
wander into the world, and how evident it now was that this principle
was preserved in me for my punishment. How it came on, the manner, the
circumstance, and the conclusion of it, it is easy to give you
historically, and with its utmost variety of particulars. But the secret
ends of Divine Providence, in thus permitting us to be hurried down the
stream of our own desires, are only to be understood of those who can
listen to the voice of Providence, and draw religious consequences from
God's justice and their own mistakes.
Be it had I business or no business, away I went. It is no time now to
enlarge any farther upon the reason or absurdity of my own conduct; but
to come to the history--I was embarked for the voyage, and the voyage
I went.
I shall only add here, that my honest and truly pious clergyman left me
here; a ship being ready to go to Lisbon, he asked me leave to go
thither; being still as he observed, bound never to finish any voyage
he began. How happy had it been for me if I had gone with him!
But it was too late now; all things Heaven appoints are best. Had I gone
with him, I had never had so many things to be thankful for, and you had
never heard of the Second Part of the Travels and Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe; so I must leave here the fruitless exclaiming at myself, and go
on with my voyage.
From the Brasils we made directly away over the Atlantic sea to the Cape
de Bonne Esperance, or, as we call it, the Cape of Good Hope; and had a
tolerable good voyage, our course generally south-east; now and then a
storm, and some contrary winds. But my disasters at sea were at an end;
my future rubs and cross events were to befal me on shore; that it might
appear the land was as well prepared to be our scourge as the sea, when
Heaven, who directs the circumstances of things, pleases to appoint
it to be so.
Our ship was on a trading voyage, and had a supercargo on board, who was
to direct all her motions after she arrived at the Cape; only being
limited to a certain number of days for stay, by charter-party, at the
several ports she was to go to. This was none of my business, neither
did I meddle with it at all; my nephew the captain, and the supercargo,
adjusting all those things between them as they thought fit.
We made no stay at the Cape longer than was needful to take in fresh
water, but made the best of our way for the coast of Coromandel; we were
indeed informed that a French man of war of fifty guns and two large
merchant-ships were gone for the Indies; and as I knew we were at war
with France, I had some apprehensions of them; but they went their own
way, and we heard no more of them.
I shall not pester my account, or the reader, with descriptions of
places, journals of our voyages, variations of the compass, latitudes,
meridian distances, trade-winds, situation of ports, and the like; such
as almost all the histories of long navigation are full of, and which
make the reading tiresome enough, and are perfectly unprofitable to all
that read, except only to those who are to go to those places
themselves.
It is enough to name the ports and places which we touched at, and what
occurred to us upon our passing from one to another. We touched first at
the island of Madagascar, where, though the people are fierce and
treacherous, and, in particular, very well armed with lances and bows,
which they use with inconceivable dexterity, yet we fared very well with
them awhile; they treated us very civilly; and for some trifles which we
gave them, such as knives, scissors, &c. they brought us eleven good fat
bullocks, middling in size, but very good in flesh, which we took in,
partly for fresh provisions for our present spending, and the rest to
salt for the ship's use.
We were obliged to stay here for some time after we had furnished
ourselves with provisions; and I that was always too curious to look
into every nook of the world wherever I came, was for going on shore as
often as I could. It was on the east side of the island that we went on
shore one evening, and the people, who by the way are very numerous,
came thronging about us, and stood gazing at us at a distance; as we had
traded freely with them, and had been kindly used, we thought ourselves
in no danger; but when we saw the people we cut three boughs out of a
tree, and stuck them up at a distance from us, which, it seems, is a
mark in the country not only of truce and friendship, but when it is
accepted, the other side set up three poles or boughs also, which is a
signal that they accept the truce too; but then this is a known
condition of the truce, that you are not to pass beyond their three
poles towards them, nor they come past your three poles or boughs
towards you; so that you are perfectly secure within the three poles,
and all the space between your poles and theirs is allowed like a market
for free converse, traffic, and commerce. When you go thither you must
not carry your weapons with you; and if they come into that space they
stick up their javelins and lances all at the first poles, and come on
unarmed; but if any violence is offered them, and the truce thereby
broken, away they run to the poles and lay hold of their weapons, and
then the truce is at an end.
It happened one evening when we went on shore, that a greater number of
their people came down than usual, but all was very friendly and civil.
They brought with them several kinds of provisions, for which we
satisfied them with such toys as we had; their women also brought us
milk and roots, and several things very acceptable to us, and all was
quiet; and we made us a little tent or hut, of some boughs of trees, and
lay on shore all that night.
I know not what was the occasion, but I was not so well satisfied to lie
on shore as the rest; and the boat lying at an anchor about a stone's
cast from the land, with two men in her to take care of her, I made one
of them come on shore, and getting some boughs of trees to cover us also
in the boat, I spread the sail on the bottom of the boat, and lay on
board, under the cover of the branches of the trees, all night.
About two o'clock in the morning we heard one of our men make a terrible
noise on the shore, calling out for God's sake to bring the boat in, and
come and help them, for they were all like to be murdered; at the same
time I heard the firing of five muskets, which was the number of the
guns they had, and that three times over; for, it seems, the natives
here were not so easily frighted with guns as the savages were in
America, where I had to do with them.
All this while I knew not what was the matter; but rousing immediately
from sleep with the noise, I caused the boat to be thrust in, and
resolved, with three fusils we had on board, to land and assist our men.
We got the boat soon to the shore; but our men were in too much haste;
for being come to the shore, they plunged into the water to get to the
boat with all the expedition they could, being pursued by between three
and four hundred men. Our men were but nine in all, and only five of
them had fusils with them; the rest, indeed, had pistols and swords, but
they were of small use to them.
We took up seven of our men, and with difficulty enough too, three of
them being very ill wounded; and that which was still worse was, that
while we stood in the boat to take our men in, we were in as much danger
as they were in on shore; for they poured their arrows in upon us so
thick, that we were fain to barricade the side of the boat up with the
benches and two or three loose boards, which to our great satisfaction
we had by mere accident, or providence rather, in the boat.
And yet had it been daylight, they are, it seems, such exact marksmen,
that if they could have seen but the least part of any of us, they would
have been sure of us. We had, by the light of the moon, a little sight
of them as they stood pelting us from the shore with darts and arrows,
and having got ready our fire-arms, we gave them a volley, and we could
hear by the cries of some of them, that we had wounded several; however,
they stood thus in battle array on the shore till break of day, which we
suppose was that they might see the better to take their aim at us.
In this condition we lay, and could not tell how to weigh our anchor, or
set up our sail, because we must needs stand up in the boat, and they
were as sure to hit us as we were to hit a bird in a tree with small
shot. We made signals of distress to the ship, which though she rode a
league off, yet my nephew, the captain, hearing our firing, and by
glasses perceiving the posture we lay in, and that we fired towards the
shore, pretty well understood us; and weighing anchor with all speed, he
stood as near the shore as he durst with the ship, and then sent another
boat with ten hands in her to assist us; but we called to them not to
come too near, telling them what condition we were in; however, they
stood in nearer to us; and one of the men taking the end of a tow-line
in his hand, and keeping our boat between him and the enemy, so that
they could not perfectly see him, swam on board us, and made the line
fast to the boat, upon which we slipt our little cable, and leaving our
anchor behind, they towed us out of the reach of the arrows, we all the
while lying close behind the barricade we had made.
As soon as we were got from between the ship and the shore, that she
could lay her side to the shore, we ran along just by them, and we
poured in a broadside among them, loaded with pieces of iron and lead,
small bullets, and such stuff, besides the great shot, which made a
terrible havoc among them.
When we were got on board and out of danger, we had time to examine into
the occasion of this fray; and indeed our supercargo, who had been often
in those parts, put me upon it; for he said he was sure the inhabitants
would not have touched us after we had made a truce, if we had not done
something to provoke them to it. At length it came out, viz. that an old
woman, who had come to sell us some milk, had brought it within our
poles, with a young woman with her, who also brought some roots or
herbs; and while the old woman (whether she was mother to the young
woman or no they could not tell) was selling us the milk, one of our men
offered some rudeness to the wench that was with her, at which the old
woman made a great noise. However, the seaman would not quit his prize,
but carried her out of the old woman's sight, among the trees, it being
almost dark. The old woman went away without her, and, as we suppose,
made an outcry among the people she came from; who, upon notice, raised
this great army upon us in three or four hours; and it was great odds
but we had been all destroyed.
One of our men was killed with a lance that was thrown at him, just at
the beginning of the attack, as he sallied out of the tent we had made;
the rest came off free, all but the fellow who was the occasion of all
the mischief, who paid dear enough for his black mistress, for we could
not hear what became of him a great while. We lay upon the shore two
days after, though the wind presented, and made signals for him; made
our boat sail up shore and down shore several leagues, but in vain; so
we were obliged to give him over; and if he alone had suffered for it,
the loss had been the less.
I could not satisfy myself, however, without venturing on shore once
more, to try if I could learn any thing of him or them. It was the third
night after the action that I had a great mind to learn, if I could by
any means, what mischief he had done, and how the game stood on the
Indian side. I was careful to do it in the dark, lest we should be
attacked again; but I ought indeed to have been sure that the men I went
with had been under my command before I engaged in a thing so hazardous
and mischievous, as I was brought into it without my knowledge
or desire.
We took twenty stout fellows with us as any in the ship, besides the
supercargo and myself; and we landed two hours before midnight, at the
same place where the Indians stood drawn up the evening before. I landed
here, because my design, as I have said, was chiefly to see if they had
quitted the field, and if they had left any marks behind them, or of the
mischief we had done them; and I thought if we could surprise one or two
of them, perhaps we might get our man again by way of exchange.
We landed without any noise, and divided our men into two companies,
whereof the boatswain commanded one, and I the other. We neither could
hear nor see any body stir when we landed; so we marched up, one body at
a distance from the other, to the field of battle. At first we could see
nothing, it being very dark; but by and by our boatswain, that led the
first party, stumbled and fell over a dead body. This made them halt
there awhile; for knowing by the circumstances that they were at the
place where the Indians had stood, they waited for my coming up. Here
we concluded to halt till the moon began to rise, which we knew would be
in less than an hour, and then we could easily discern the havoc we had
made among them. We told two-and-thirty bodies upon the ground, whereof
two were not quite dead. Some had an arm, and some a leg, shot off, and
one his head; those that were wounded we supposed they had carried away.
When we had made, as I thought, a full discovery of all we could come at
the knowledge of, I was for going on board again; but the boatswain and
his party often sent me word, that they were resolved to make a visit to
the Indian town, where these dogs, as they called them, dwelt, and
desired me to go along with them, and if they could find them, as they
still fancied they should, they did not doubt, they said, getting a good
booty, and it might be they might find Thomas Jeffrys there, that was
the man's name we had lost.
Had they sent to ask my leave to go, I knew well enough what answer to
have given them; for I would have commanded them instantly on board,
knowing it was not a hazard fit for us to run who had a ship and a
ship's loading in our charge, and a voyage to make, which depended very
much upon the lives of the men; but as they sent me word they were
resolved to go, and only asked me and my company to go along with them,
I positively refused it, and rose up (for I was sitting on the ground)
in order to go to the boat. One or two of the men began to importune me
to go, and when I still refused positively, began to grumble, and say
they were not under my command, and they would go. "Come, Jack," says
one of the men, "will you go with me? I will go for one." Jack said he
would; and another followed, and then another; and, in a word, they all
left me but one, whom, with much difficulty too, I persuaded to stay; so
the supercargo and I, with one man, went back to the boat, where, I
told them, we would stay for them, and take care to take in as many of
them as should be left; for I told them it was a mad thing they were
going about, and supposed most of them would run the fate of
Thomas Jeffrys.
They told me, like seamen, they would warrant it they would come off
again, and they would take care, &c. So away they went. I entreated them
to consider the ship and the voyage; that their lives were not their
own; and that they were entrusted with the voyage in some measure; that
if they miscarried, the ship might be lost for want of their help; and
that they could not answer it to God and man. I said a great deal more
to them on that head, but I might as well have talked to the main-mast
of the ship; they were mad upon their journey; only they gave me good
words, and begged I would not be angry; said they would be very
cautious, and they did not doubt but they would be back again in about
an hour at farthest; for the Indian town, they said, was not above half
a mile off; though they found it above two miles before they got to it.
Well, they all went away as above; and though the attempt was desperate,
and such as none but madmen would have gone about, yet, to give them
their due, they went about it warily as well as boldly. They were
gallantly armed, that is true; for they had every man a fusil or musket,
a bayonet, and every man a pistol; some of them had broad cutlasses,
some of them hangers, and the boatswain and two more had pole-axes;
besides all which they had among them thirteen hand-grenadoes. Bolder
fellows, and better provided, never went about any wicked work in
the world.
When they went out their chief design was plunder, and they were in
mighty hopes of finding gold there; but a circumstance, which none of
them were aware of, set them on fire with revenge, and made devils of
them all. When they came to the few Indian houses, which they thought
had been the town, which were not above half a mile off, they were under
a great disappointment; for there were not above twelve or thirteen
houses; and where the town was, or how big, they knew not. They
consulted therefore what to do, and were some time before they could
resolve; for if they fell upon these they must cut all their throats,
and it was ten to one but some of them might escape, it being in the
night, though the moon was up; and if one escaped he would run away, and
raise all the town, so they should have a whole army upon them. Again,
on the other hand, if they went away, and left those untouched (for the
people were all asleep), they could not tell which way to look for
the town.
However, the last was the best advice; so they resolved to leave those
houses, and look for the town as well as they could. They went on a
little way, and found a cow tied to a tree: this they presently
concluded would be a good guide to them; for they said the cow certainly
belonged to the town before them or the town behind them, and if they
untied her they should see which way she went: if she went back they had
nothing to say to her, but if she went forward they had nothing to do
but to follow her; so they cut the cord, which was made of twisted
flags, and the cow went on before them. In a word, the cow led them
directly to the town, which, as they reported, consisted of above two
hundred houses or huts; and in some of these they found several families
living together.
Here they found all silent; as profoundly secure as sleep and a country
that had never seen an enemy of that kind could make them. Upon this
they called another council to consider what they had to do, and in a
word they resolved to divide themselves into three bodies, and to set
three houses on fire in three parts of the town; and as the men came
out, to seize them and bind them; if any resisted, they need not be
asked what to do then, and so to search the rest of the houses for
plunder; but resolved to march silently first through the town, and see
what dimensions it was of, and consider if they might venture upon it
or no.
They did so, and desperately resolved that they would venture upon them;
but while they were animating one another to the work, three of them
that were a little before the rest called out aloud, and told them they
had found Thomas Jeffrys; they all ran up to the place; and so it was
indeed, for there they found the poor fellow, hanged up naked by one
arm, and his throat cut. There was an Indian house just by the tree,
where they found sixteen or seventeen of the principal Indians who had
been concerned in the fray with us before, and two or three of them
wounded with our shot; and our men found they were awake, and talking
one to another in that house, but knew not their number.
The sight of their poor mangled comrade so enraged them, as before, that
they swore to one another they would be revenged, and that not an Indian
who came into their hands should have quarter; and to work they went
immediately, and yet not so madly as by the rage and fury they were in
might be expected. Their first care was to get something that would soon
take fire; but after a little search they found that would be to no
purpose, for most of the houses were low, and thatched with flags or
rushes, of which the country is full: so they presently made some
wildfire, as we call it, by wetting a little powder in the palms of
their hands; and in a quarter of an hour they set the town on fire in
four or five places, and particularly that house where the Indians were
not gone to bed. As soon as the fire began to blaze, the poor frighted
creatures began to rush out to save their lives, but met with their fate
in the attempt, and especially at the door, where they drove them back,
the boatswain himself killing one or two with his pole-axe; the house
being large, and many in it, he did not care to go in, but called for an
hand-grenado, and threw it among them, which at first frighted them; but
when it burst made such havoc among them, that they cried out in a
hideous manner.
In short, most of the Indians who were in the open part of the house,
were killed or hurt with the grenado, except two or three more, who
pressed to the door, which the boatswain and two more kept with the
bayonets in the muzzles of their pieces, and dispatched all who came
that way. But there was another apartment in the house, where the
prince, or king, or whatsoever he was, and several others, were; and
they kept in till the house, which was by this time all of a light
flame, fell in upon them, and they were smothered or burnt together.
All this while they fired not a gun, because they would not waken the
people faster than they could master them; but the fire began to waken
them fast enough, and our fellows were glad to keep a little together in
bodies; for the fire grew so raging, all the houses being made of light
combustible stuff, that they could hardly bear the street between them,
and their business was to follow the fire for the surer execution. As
fast as the fire either forced the people out of those houses which were
burning, or frighted them out of others, our people were ready at their
doors to knock them on the head, still calling and hallooing to one
another to remember Thomas Jeffrys.
While this was doing I must confess I was very uneasy, and especially
when I saw the flames of the town, which, it being night, seemed to be
just by me.
My nephew the captain, who was roused by his men too, seeing such a
fire, was very uneasy, not knowing what the matter was, or what danger I
was in; especially hearing the guns too, for by this time they began to
use their fire-arms. A thousand thoughts oppressed his mind concerning
me and the supercargo, what should become of us; and at last, though he
could ill spare any more men, yet, not knowing what exigence we might be
in, he takes another boat, and with thirteen men and himself comes on
shore to me.
He was surprised to see me and the supercargo in the boat with no more
than two men, for one had been left to keep the boat; and though he was
glad that we were well, yet he was in the same impatience with us to
know what was doing, for the noise continued and the flame increased. I
confess it was next to an impossibility for any men in the world to
restrain their curiosity of knowing what had happened, or their concern
for the safety of the men. In a word, the captain told me he would go
and help his men, let what would come. I argued with him, as I did
before with the men, the safety of the ship, and the danger of the
voyage, the interest of the owners and merchants, &c. and told him I
would go, and the two men, and only see if we could, at a distance,
learn what was like to be the event, and come back and tell him.
It was all one to talk to my nephew, as it was to talk to the rest
before; he would go, he said, and he only wished he had left but ten men
in the ship, for he could not think of having his men lost for want of
help; he had rather, he said, lose the ship, the voyage, and his life,
and all: and so away went he.
Nor was I any more able to stay behind now than I was to persuade them
not to go before; so, in short, the captain ordered two men to row back
the pinnace, and fetch twelve men more from the ship, leaving the
long-boat at an anchor; and that when they came back six men should keep
the two boats, and six more come after us, so that he left only sixteen
men in the ship; for the whole ship's company consisted of sixty-five
men, whereof two were lost in the first quarrel which brought this
mischief on.
Being now on the march, you may be sure we felt little of the ground we
trod on, and being guided by the fire we kept no path, but went directly
to the place of the flame. If the noise of the guns were surprising to
us before, the cries of the poor people were now quite of another
nature, and filled us with horror. I must confess I never was at the
sacking of a city, or at the taking of a town by storm; I have heard of
Oliver Cromwell taking Drogheda in Ireland, and killing man, woman, and
child; and I had read of Count Tilly sacking the city of Magdebourg, and
cutting the throats of 22,000 of both sexes; but I never had an idea of
the thing itself before, nor is it possible to describe it, or the
horror which was upon our minds at hearing it.
However, we went on, and at length came to the town, though there was no
entering the streets of it for the fire. The first object we met with
was the ruins of a hut or house, or rather the ashes of it, for the
house was consumed; and just before it, plain now to be seen by the
light of the fire, lay four men and three women killed; and, as we
thought, one or two more lay in the heap among the fire. In short, these
were such instances of a rage altogether barbarous, and of a fury
something beyond what was human, that we thought it impossible our men
could be guilty of it; or if they were the authors of it, we thought
that every one of them ought to be put to the worst of deaths: but this
was not all; we saw the fire increased forward, and the cry went on just
as the fire went on, so that we were in the utmost confusion. We
advanced a little way farther, and beheld to our astonishment three
women naked, crying in a most dreadful manner, and flying as if they had
indeed had wings, and after them sixteen or seventeen men, natives, in
the same terror and consternation, with three of our English butchers
(for I can call them no better) in the rear, who, when they could not
overtake them, fired in among them, and one that was killed by their
shot fell down in our sight: when the rest saw us, believing us to be
their enemies; and that we would murder them as well as those that
pursued them, they set up a most dreadful shriek, especially the women,
and two of them fell down as if already dead with the fright.
My very soul shrunk within me, and my blood ran chill in my veins, when
I saw this; and I believe had the three English sailors that pursued
them come on, I had made our men kill them all. However, we took some
ways to let the poor flying creatures know that we would not hurt them,
and immediately they came up to us, and kneeling down, with their hands
lifted up, made piteous lamentations to us to save them, which we let
them know we would do; where upon they kept all together in a huddle
close behind us for protection. I left my men drawn up together, and
charged them to hurt nobody, but if possible to get at some of our
people, and see what devil it was possessed them, and what they intended
to do; and in a word to command them off, assuring them that if they
staid till daylight they would have a hundred thousand men about their
ears: I say, I left them and went among those flying people, taking only
two of our men with me; and there was indeed a piteous spectacle among
them: some of them had their feet terribly burnt with trampling and
running through the fire, others their hands burnt; one of the women had
fallen down in the fire, and was almost burnt to death before she could
get out again; two or three of the men had cuts in their backs and
thighs, from our men pursuing, and another was shot through the body,
and died while I was there.
I would fain have learnt what the occasion of all this was, but I could
not understand one word they said, though by signs I perceived that some
of them knew not what was the occasion themselves. I was so terrified in
my thoughts at this outrageous attempt, that I could not stay there, but
went back to my own men: I told them my resolution, and commanded them
to follow me, when in the very moment came four of our men, with the
boatswain at their head, running over the heaps of bodies they had
killed, all covered with blood and dust, as if they wanted more people
to massacre, when our men hallooed to them as loud as they could halloo,
and with much ado one of them made them hear, so that they knew who we
were, and came up to us.
As soon as the boatswain saw us he set up a halloo, like a shout of
triumph, for having, as he thought, more help come; and without bearing
to hear me, "Captain," says he, "noble captain, I am glad you are come;
we have not half done yet: villains! hell-hound dogs! I will kill as
many of them as poor Tom has hairs upon his head. We have sworn to spare
none of them; we will root out the very name of them from the earth."
And thus he ran on, out of breath too with action, and would not give us
leave to speak a word.
At last, raising my voice, that I might silence him a little, "Barbarous
dog!" said I, "what are you doing? I won't have one creature touched
more upon pain of death. I charge you upon your life to stop your hands,
and stand still here, or you are a dead man this minute."
"Why, Sir," says he, "do you know what you do, or what they have done?
If you want a reason for what we have done, come hither;" and with that
he shewed me the poor fellow hanging upon a tree, with his throat cut.
I confess I was urged then myself, and at another time should have been
forward enough; but I thought they had carried their rage too far, and
thought of Jacob's words to his sons Simeon and Levi, "Cursed be their
anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel." But I had
now a new task upon my hands; for when the men I carried with me saw the
sight as I had done, I had as much to do to restrain them, as I should
have had with the others; nay, my nephew himself fell in with them, and
told me in their hearing, that he was only concerned for fear of the men
being overpowered; for, as to the people, he thought not one of them
ought to live; for they had all glutted themselves with the murder of
the poor man, and that they ought to be used like murderers. Upon these
words away ran eight of my men with the boatswain and his crew to
complete their bloody work; and I, seeing it quite out of my power to
restrain them, came away pensive and sad, for I could not bear the
sight, much less the horrible noise and cries of the poor wretches that
fell into their hands.
I got nobody to come back with me but the supercargo and two men, and
with these I walked back to the boats. It was a very great piece of
folly in me, I confess, to venture back as it were alone; for as it
began now to be almost day, and the alarm had run over the country,
there stood about forty men armed with lances and bows at the little
place where the twelve or thirteen houses stood mentioned before, but by
accident I missed the place, and came directly to the sea-side; and by
that time I got to the sea-side it was broad day: immediately I took the
pinnace and went aboard, and sent her back to assist the men in what
might happen.
I observed that about the time I came to the boat-side the fire was
pretty well out, and the noise abated; but in about half an hour after I
got on board I heard a volley of our men's fire-arms, and saw a great
smoke; this, as I understood afterwards, was our men falling upon the
forty men, who, as I said, stood at the few houses on the way; of whom
they killed sixteen or seventeen, and set all those houses on fire, but
did not meddle with the women or children.
By the time the men got to the shore again with the pinnace our men
began to appear; they came dropping in some and some, not in two bodies,
and in form, as they went out, but all in heaps, straggling here and
there in such a manner that a small force of resolute men might have cut
them all off.
But the dread of them was upon the whole country. The people were amazed
and surprised, and so frighted that I believe a hundred of them would
have fled at the sight of but five of our men. Nor in all this terrible
action was there a man who made any considerable defence; they were so
surprised between the terror of the fire, and the sudden attack of our
men in the dark, that they knew not which way to turn themselves; for if
they fled one way they were met by one party, if back again by another;
so that they were every where knocked down. Nor did any of our men
receive the least hurt, except one who strained his foot, and another
had one of his hands very much burnt.
I was very angry with my nephew the captain, and indeed with all the
men, in my mind, but with him in particular, as well for his acting so
out of his duty, as commander of the ship, and having the charge of the
voyage upon him, as in his prompting rather than cooling the rage of his
men in so bloody and cruel an enterprise: my nephew answered me very
respectfully, but told me that when he saw the body of the poor seaman
whom they had murdered in such a cruel and barbarous manner, he was not
master of himself, neither could he govern his passion; he owned he
should not have done so, as he was commander of the ship, but as he was
a man, and nature moved him, he could not bear it. As for the rest of
the men, they were not subject to me at all, and they knew it well
enough, so they took no notice of my dislike.
The next day we set sail, so we never heard any more of it. Our men
differed in the account of the number they killed; some said one thing,
some another; but according to the best of their accounts, put all
together, they killed or destroyed about a hundred and fifty people,
men, women, and children, and left not a house standing in the town.
As for the poor fellow, Thomas Jeffrys, as he was quite dead, for his
throat was so cut that his head was half off, it would do him no service
to bring him away; so they left him where they found him, only took him
down from the tree where he was hanged by one hand.
However just our men thought this action to be, I was against them in
it, and I always after that time told them God would blast the voyage;
for I looked upon the blood they shed that night to be murder in them:
for though it is true that they killed Thomas Jeffrys, yet it was as
true that Jeffrys was the aggressor, had broken the truce, and had
violated or debauched a young woman of theirs, who came to our camp
innocently, and on the faith of their capitulation.
The boatswain defended this quarrel when we were afterwards on board. He
said, it was true that we seemed to break the truce, but really had not,
and that the war was begun the night before by the natives themselves,
who had shot at us, and killed one of our men without any just
provocation; so that as we were in a capacity to fight them, we might
also be in a capacity to do ourselves justice upon them in an
extraordinary manner; that though the poor man had taken liberty with a
wench, he ought not to have been murdered, and that in such a villanous
manner; and that they did nothing but what was just, and that the laws
of God allowed to be done to murderers.
One would think this should have been enough to have warned us against
going on shore among heathens and barbarians; but it is impossible to
make mankind wise but at their own experience; and their experience
seems to be always of most use to them when it is dearest bought.
We were now bound to the Gulf of Persia, and from thence to the coast of
Coromandel, only to touch at Surat; but the chief of the supercargo's
design lay at the Bay of Bengal, where if he missed of the business
outward-bound he was to go up to China, and return to the coast as he
came home.
The first disaster that befel us was in the Gulf of Persia, where five
of our men venturing on shore on the Arabian side of the Gulf were
surrounded by the Arabs, and either all killed or carried away into
slavery; the rest of the boat's crew were not able to rescue them, and
had but just time to get off their boat. I began to upbraid them with
the just retribution of Heaven in this case; but the boatswain very
warmly told me, he thought I went farther in my censures than I could
show any warrant for in Scripture, and referred to the thirteenth of St.
Luke, ver. 4, where our Saviour intimates that those men on whom the
tower of Siloam fell, were not sinners above all the Galileans; but that
which indeed put me to silence in this case was, that none of these five
men who were now lost were of the number of those who went on shore to
the massacre of Madagascar (so I always called it, though our men could
not bear the word _massacre_ with any patience:) and indeed this last
circumstance, as I have said, put me to silence for the present.
But my frequent preaching to them on this subject had worse consequences
than I expected; and the boatswain, who had been the head of the
attempt, came up boldly to me one time, and told me he found that I
continually brought that affair upon the stage, that I made unjust
reflections upon it, and had used the men very ill on that account, and
himself in particular; that as I was but a passenger, and had no command
in the ship, or concern in the voyage, they were not obliged to bear it;
that they did not know but I might have some ill design in my head, and
perhaps call them to an account for it when they came to England; and
that therefore, unless I would resolve to have done with it, and also
not to concern myself farther with him, or any of his affairs, he would
leave the ship; for he did not think it was safe to sail with me
among them.
I heard him patiently enough till he had done, and then told him that I
did confess I had all along opposed the massacre of Madagascar, for such
I would always call it; and that I had on all occasions spoken my mind
freely about it, though not more upon him than any of the rest; that as
to my having no command in the ship, that was true, nor did I exercise
any authority, only took the liberty of speaking my mind in things which
publicly concerned us all: as to what concern I had in the voyage, that
was none of his business; I was a considerable owner of the ship, and in
that claim I conceived I had a right to speak, even farther than I had
yet done, and would not be accountable to him or any one else; and began
to be a little warm with him: he made but little reply to me at that
time, and I thought that affair had been over. We were at this time in
the road to Bengal; and being willing to see the place, I went on shore
with the supercargo, in the ship's boat, to divert myself; and towards
evening was preparing to go on board, when one of the men came to me,
and told me he would not have me trouble myself to come down to the
boat, for they had orders not to carry me on board. Any one may guess
what a surprise I was in at so insolent a message; and I asked the man
who bade him deliver that errand to me? He told me, the coxswain. I said
no more to the fellow, but bid him let them know he had delivered his
message, and that I had given him no answer to it.
I immediately went and round out the supercargo, and told him the story,
adding, what I presently foresaw, viz. that there would certainly be a
mutiny in the ship; and entreated him to go immediately on board the
ship in an Indian boat, and acquaint the captain of it: but I might have
spared this intelligence, for before I had spoken to him on shore the
matter was effected on board: the boatswain, the gunner, the carpenter,
and, in a word, all the inferior officers, as soon as I was gone off in
the boat, came up to the quarter-deck, and desired to speak with the
captain; and there the boatswain making a long harangue, (for the fellow
talked very well) and repeating all he had said to me, told the captain
in a few words, that as I was now gone peaceably on shore, they were
loath to use any violence with me; which if I had not gone on shore,
they would otherwise have done, to oblige me to have gone. They
therefore thought fit to tell him, that as they shipped themselves to
serve in the ship under his command, they would perform it faithfully;
but if I would not quit the ship, or the captain oblige me to quit it,
they would all leave the ship, and sail no farther with him; and at that
word All, he turned his face about towards the main-mast, which was, it
seems, the signal agreed on between them, at which all the seamen being
got together, they cried out, "One and All, One and All!"
My nephew, the captain, was a man of spirit, and of great presence of
mind; and though he was surprised, you may be sure, at the thing, yet he
told them calmly he would consider of the matter, but that he could do
nothing in it till he had spoken to me about it: he used some arguments
with them, to shew them the unreasonableness and injustice of the thing,
but it was all in vain; they swore, and shook hands round, before his
face, that they would go all on shore unless he would engage to them not
to suffer me to come on board the ship.
This was a hard article upon him, who knew his obligation to me, and did
not know how I might take it; so he began to talk cavalierly to them;
told them that I was a very considerable owner of the ship, and that in
justice he could not put me out of my own house; that this was next door
to serving me as the famous pirate Kid had done, who made the mutiny in
the ship, set the captain on shore in an uninhabited island, and ran
away with the ship; that let them go into what ship they would, if ever
they came to England again it would cost them dear; that the ship was
mine, and that he would not put me out of it; and that he would rather
lose the ship, and the voyage too, than disoblige me so much; so they
might do as they pleased. However, he would go on shore, and talk with
me there, and invited the boatswain to go with him, and perhaps they
might accommodate the matter with me.
But they all rejected the proposal; and said, they would have nothing to
do with me any more, neither on board nor on shore; and if I came on
board, they would go on shore. "Well," said the captain, "if you are all
of this mind, let me go on shore, and talk with him:" so away he came to
me with this account, a little after the message had been brought to me
from the coxswain.
I was very glad to see my nephew I must confess, for I was not without
apprehensions that they would confine him by violence, set sail, and run
away with the ship; and then I had been stripped naked, in a remote
country, and nothing to help myself: in short, I had been in a worse
case than when I was all alone in the island.
But they had not come to that length, it seems, to my great
satisfaction; and when my nephew told me what they had said to him, and
how they had sworn, and shook hands, that they would one and all leave
the ship, if I was suffered to come on board, I told him he should not
be concerned at it at all, for I would stay onshore; I only desired he
would take care and send me all my necessary things on shore, and leave
me a sufficient sum of money, and I would find my way to England as well
as I could.
This was a heavy piece of news to my nephew; but there was no way to
help it, but to comply with it. So, in short, he went on board the ship
again, and satisfied the men that his uncle had yielded to their
importunity, and had sent for his goods from on board the ship. So the
matter was over in a very few hours; the men returned to their duty, and
I begun to consider what course I should steer.
I was now alone in the remotest part of the world, as I think I may call
it, for I was near three thousand leagues, by sea, farther off from
England than I was at my island; only, it is true, I might travel here
by land, over the Great Mogul's country to Surat, might go from thence
to Bassora by sea, up the Gulf of Persia, and from thence might take the
way of the caravans, over the deserts of Arabia, to Aleppo and
Scanderoon, and from thence by sea again to Italy, and so overland into
France; and this, put together, might be, at least, a full diameter of
the globe; but, if it were to be measured, I suppose it would appear to
be a great deal more.
I had another way before me, which was to wait for some English ships,
which were coming to Bengal, from Achin, on the island of Sumatra, and
get passage on board them for England: but as I came hither without any
concern with the English East India Company, so it would be difficult to
go from hence without their licence, unless with great favour of the
captains of the ships, or of the Company's factors; and to both I was an
utter stranger.
Here I had the particular pleasure, speaking by contrarieties, to see
the ship set sail without me; a treatment, I think, a man in my
circumstances scarce ever met with, except from pirates running away
with a ship, and setting those that would not agree with their villany
on shore: indeed this was the next door to it both ways. However, my
nephew left me two servants, or rather, one companion and one servant:
the first was clerk to the purser, whom he engaged to go with me; and
the other was his own servant. I took me also a good lodging in the
house of an English woman, where several merchants lodged, some French,
two Italians, or rather Jews, and one Englishman. Here I was handsomely
enough entertained; and that I might not be said to run rashly upon any
thing, I stayed here above nine months, considering what course to take,
and how to manage myself. I had some English goods with me of value, and
a considerable sum of money; my nephew furnishing me with a thousand
pieces of eight, and a letter of credit for more, if I had occasion,
that I might not be straitened, whatever might happen.
I quickly disposed of my goods, and to advantage too; and, as I
originally intended, I bought here some very good diamonds, which, of
all other things, was the most proper for me, in my circumstances,
because I might always carry my whole estate about me.
After a long stay here, and many proposals made for my return to
England, but none falling to my mind, the English merchant, who lodged
with me, and with whom I had contracted an intimate acquaintance, came
to me one morning: "Countryman," says he, "I have a project to
communicate to you, which, as it suits with my thoughts, may, for aught
I know, suit with yours also, when you shall have thoroughly
considered it.
"Here we are posted," says he, "you by accident, and I by my own choice,
in a part of the world very remote from our own country; but it is in a
country where, by us who understand trade and business, a great deal of
money is to be got: if you will put a thousand pounds to my thousand
pounds, we will hire a ship here, the first we can get to our minds; you
shall be captain, I'll be merchant, and we will go a trading voyage to
China; for what should we stand still for? The whole world is in motion,
rolling round and round; all the creatures of God, heavenly bodies and
earthly, are busy and vibrant: why should we be idle? There are no
drones," says he, "living in the world but men: why should we be of
that number?"
I liked this proposal very well; and the more because it seemed to be
expressed with so much good will, and in so friendly a manner. I will
not say, but that I might, by my loose and unhinged circumstances, be
the fitter to embrace a proposal for trade, and indeed for any thing
else; or otherwise trade was none of my element; however, I might,
perhaps, say with some truth, that if trade was not my element, rambling
was; and no proposal for seeing any part of the world, which I had never
seen before, could possibly come amiss to me.
It was, however, some time before we could get a ship to our mind; and
when we got a vessel, it was not easy to get English sailors; that is to
say, so many as were necessary to govern the voyage, and manage the
sailors which we should pick up there. After some time we got a mate, a
boatswain, and a gunner, English; a Dutch carpenter, and three
Portuguese foremast-men: with these we found we could do well enough,
having Indian seamen, such as they are, to make up.
There are so many travellers who have written the history of their
voyages and travels this way, that it would be but very little diversion
to any body, to give a long account of the places we went to, and the
people who inhabit there: those things I leave to others, and refer the
reader to those journals and travels of Englishmen, many of which, I
find, are published, and more promised every day. It is enough for me to
tell you that we made the voyage to Achin, in the island of Sumatra,
first; and from thence to Siam, where we exchanged some of our wares for
opium, and for some arrack; the first a commodity which bears a great
price among the Chinese, and which, at that time, was very much wanted
there: in a word, we went up to Susham; made a very great voyage; were
eight months out; and returned to Bengal: and I was very well satisfied
with my adventure.
I observe, that our people in England often admire how the officers,
which the Company send into India, and the merchants which generally
stay there, get such very good estates as they do, and sometimes come
home worth sixty, seventy, and a hundred thousand pounds at a time. But
it is no wonder, or, at least, we shall see so much farther into it,
when we consider the innumerable ports and places where they have a free
commerce, that it will then be no wonder; and much less will it be so,
when we consider, that at all those places and ports where the English
ships come, there is so much, and such constant demand for the growth of
all other countries, that there is a certain vent for the return, as
well as a market abroad for the goods carried out.
In short, we made a very good voyage, and I got so much money by the
first adventure, and such an insight into the method of getting more,
that, had I been twenty years younger, I should have been tempted to
have stayed here, and sought no farther for making my fortune: but what
was all this to a man on the wrong side of threescore, that was rich
enough, and came abroad more in obedience to a restless desire of seeing
the world, than a covetous desire of getting in it? And indeed I think
it is with great justice that I now call it a restless desire, for it
was so: when I was at home, I was restless to go abroad; and now I was
abroad, I was restless to be at home. I say, what was this gain to me? I
was rich enough already; nor had I any uneasy desires about getting more
money; and therefore, the profits of the voyage to me were things of no
great force to me, for the prompting me forward to farther undertakings:
hence I thought, that by this voyage I had made no progress at all;
because I was come back, as I might call it, to the place from whence I
came, as to a home; whereas my eye, which, like that which Solomon
speaks of, was never satisfied with seeing, was still more desirous of
wandering and seeing. I was come into a part of the world which I never
was in before; and that part in particular which I had heard much of;
and was resolved to see as much of it as I could; and then I thought I
might say I had seen all the world that was worth seeing.
But my fellow-traveller and I had different notions: I do not name this
to insist upon my own, for I acknowledge his was most just, and the most
suited to the end of a merchant's life; who, when he is abroad upon
adventures, it is his wisdom to stick to that, as the best thing for
him, which he is like to get the most money by. My new friend kept
himself to the nature of the thing, and would have been content to have
gone, like a carrier's horse, always to the same inn, backward and
forward, provided he could, as he called it, find his account in it: on
the other hand, mine, as old as I was, was the notion of a mad rambling
boy, that never cares to see a thing twice over.
But this was not all: I had a kind of impatience upon me to be nearer
home, and yet the most unsettled resolution imaginable, which way to go.
In the interval of these consultations, my friend, who was always upon
the search for business, proposed another voyage to me, viz. among the
Spice Islands; and to bring home a load of cloves from the Manillas, or
thereabouts; places where, indeed, the Dutch do trade, but the islands
belong partly to the Spaniards; though we went not so far, but to some
other, where they have not the whole power as they have at Batavia,
Ceylon, &c. We were not long in preparing for this voyage; the chief
difficulty was in bringing me to come into it; however, at last, nothing
else offering, and finding that really stirring about and trading, the
profit being so great, and, as I may say, certain, had more pleasure in
it, and more satisfaction to the mind, than sitting still; which, to me
especially, was the unhappiest part of life, I resolved on this voyage
too: which we made very successfully, touching at Borneo, and several
islands, whose names I do not remember, and came home in about five
months. We sold our spice, which was chiefly cloves, and some nutmegs,
to the Persian merchants, who carried them away for the Gulf; and,
making near five of one, we really got a great deal of money.
My friend, when we made up this account, smiled at me: "Well now," said
he, with a sort of an agreeable insult upon my indolent temper, "is not
this better than walking about here, like a man of nothing to do, and
spending our time in staring at the nonsense and ignorace of the
Pagans?"--"Why truly," said I, "my friend, I think it is; and I begin to
be a convert to the principles of merchandising. But I must tell you,"
said I, "by the way, you do not know what I am doing; for if once I
conquer my backwardness, and embark heartily, as old as I am, I shall
harass you up and down the world till I tire you; for I shall pursue it
so eagerly, I shall never let you lie still."
But to be short with my speculations: a little while after this there
came in a Dutch ship from Batavia; she was a coaster, not an European
trader, and of about two hundred tons burden: the men, as they
pretended, having been so sickly, that the captain had not men enough to
go to sea with, he lay by at Bengal; and, as if having got money enough,
or being willing, for other reasons, to go for Europe, he gave public
notice, that he would sell his ship; this came to my ears before my new
partner heard of it; and I had a great mind to buy it. So I went home to
him, and told him of it: he considered awhile, for he was no rash man
neither; but musing some time, he replied, "She is a little too big;
but, however, we will have her." Accordingly we bought the ship; and,
agreeing with the master, we paid for her, and took possession; when we
had done so, we resolved to entertain the men, if we could, to join them
with those we had, for the pursuing our business; but on a sudden, they
not having received their wages, but their share of the money, as we
afterwards learnt, not one of them was to be found. We inquired much
about them, and at length were told, that they were all gone together,
by land, to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's residence; and from
thence were to travel to Surat, and so by sea to the Gulf of Persia.
Nothing had so heartily troubled me a good while, as that I missed the
opportunity of going with them; for such a ramble, I thought, and in
such company as would both have guarded me and diverted me, would have
suited mightily with my great design; and I should both have seen the
world, and gone homewards too; but I was much better satisfied a few
days after, when I came to know what sort of fellows they were; for, in
short, their history was, that this man they called captain was the
gunner only, not the commander; that they had been a trading voyage, in
which they were attacked on shore by some of the Malaccans, who had
killed the captain and three of his men; and that after the captain was
killed, these men, eleven in number, had resolved to run away with the
ship, which they did; and had brought her in at the Bay of Bengal,
leaving the mate and five men more on shore; of whom we shall
hear farther.
Well; let them come by the ship how they would, we came honestly by her,
as we thought; though we did not, I confess, examine into things so
exactly as we ought; for we never inquired any thing of the seamen, who,
if we had examined, would certainly have faltered in their accounts,
contradicted one another, and perhaps have contradicted themselves; or,
one how or other, we should have seen reason to have suspected them: but
the man shewed us a bill of sale for the ship, to one Emanuel
Clostershoven, or some such name, (for I suppose it was all a forgery)
and called himself by that name; and we could not contradict him; and
being withal a little too unwary, or at least having no suspicion of the
thing, we went through with our bargain.
However, we picked up some English seamen here after this, and some
Dutch; and we now resolved for a second voyage to the south-east, for
cloves, &c. that is to say, among the Philippine and Malacca isles; and,
in short, not to fill this part of my story with trifles, when what is
yet to come is so remarkable, I spent, from first to last, six years in
this country, trading from port to port, backward and forward, and with
very good success; and was now the last year with my partner, going in
the ship above-mentioned, on a voyage to China; but designing first to
go to Siam, to buy rice.
In this voyage, being by contrary winds obliged to beat up and down a
great while in the Straits of Malacca, and among the islands, we were no
sooner got clear of those difficult seas, but we found our ship had
sprung a leak, and we were not able, by all our industry, to find out
where it was. This forced us to make for some port; and my partner, who
knew the country better than I did, directed the captain to put into the
river of Cambodia; for I had made the English mate, one Mr. Thompson,
captain, not being willing to take the charge of the ship upon myself.
This river lies on the north side of the great bay or gulf which goes
up to Siam.
While we were here, and going often on shore for refreshment, there
comes to me one day an Englishman, and he was, it seems, a gunner's mate
on board an English East India ship, which rode in the same river, up at
or near the city of Cambodia: what brought him hither we knew not; but
he comes up to me, and, speaking English, "Sir," says he, "you are a
stranger to me, and I to you; but I have something to tell you, that
very nearly concerns you."
I looked stedfastly at him a good while, and he thought at first I had
known him, but I did not. "If it very nearly concerns me," said I, "and
not yourself, what moves you to tell it me?"--"I am moved," says he, "by
the imminent danger you are in; and, for aught I see, you have no
knowledge of it."--"I know no danger I am in," said I, "but that my ship
is leaky, and I cannot find it out; but I propose to lay her aground
to-morrow, to see if I can find it."--"But, Sir," says he, "leaky or not
leaky, find it or not find it, you will be wiser than to lay your ship
on shore to-morrow, when you hear what I have to say to you. Do you
know, Sir," said he, "the town of Cambodia lies about fifteen leagues up
this river? And there are two large English ships about five leagues on
this side, and three Dutch."--"Well," said I, "and what is that to
me?"--"Why, Sir," says he, "is it for a man that is upon such adventures
as you are, to come into a port, and not examine first what ships there
are there, and whether he is able to deal with them? I suppose you do
not think you are a match for them?" I was amused very much at his
discourse, but not amazed at it; for I could not conceive what he meant;
and I turned short upon him, and said, "Sir, I wish you would explain
yourself; I cannot imagine what reason I have to be afraid of any of the
Company's ships, or Dutch ships; I am no interloper; what can they have
to say to me?"
He looked like a man half angry, half pleased; and pausing awhile, but
smiling, "Well, Sir," says he, "if you think yourself secure, you must
take your chance; I am sorry your fate should blind you against good
advice; but assure yourself if you do not put to sea immediately, you
will the very next tide be attacked by five long-boats full of men; and,
perhaps, if you are taken, you will be hanged for a pirate, and the
particulars be examined into afterwards. I thought, Sir," added he, "I
should have met with a better reception than this, for doing you a piece
of service of such importance."--"I can never be ungrateful," said I,
"for any service, or to any man that offers me any kindness; but it is
past my comprehension," said I, "what they should have such a design
upon me for; however, since you say there is no time to be lost, and
that there is some villanous design in hand against me, I will go on
board this minute, and put to sea immediately, if my men can stop the
leak, or if we can swim without stopping it: but, Sir," said I, "shall I
go away ignorant of the reason of all this? Can you give me no farther
light into it?"
"I can tell you but part of the story, Sir," says he; "but I have a
Dutch seaman here with me, and, I believe, I could persuade him to tell
you the rest; but there is scarce time for it: but the short of the
story is this, the first part of which, I suppose, you know well enough,
viz. that you were with this ship at Sumatra; that there your captain
was murdered by the Malaccans, with three of his men; and that you, or
some of those that were on board with you, ran away with the ship, and
are since turned pirates. This is the sum of the story, and you will all
be seized as pirates, I can assure you, and executed with very little
ceremony; for you know merchant-ships shew but little law to pirates, if
they get them in their power."
"Now you speak plain English," said I, "and I thank you; and though I
know nothing that we have done, like what you talk of, but I am sure we
came honestly and fairly by the ship; yet seeing such work is a-doing,
as you say, and that you seem to mean honestly, I will be upon my
guard."--"Nay, Sir," says he, "do not talk of being upon your guard; the
best defence is to be out of the danger: if you have any regard to your
life, and the lives of all your men, put out to sea without fail at
high-water; and as you have a whole tide before you, you will be gone
too far out before they can come down; for they will come away at high
water; and as they have twenty miles to come, you'll get near two hours
of them by the difference of the tide, not reckoning the length of the
way: besides, as they are only boats, and not ships, they will not
venture to follow you far out to sea, especially if it blows."
"Well," said I, "you have been very kind in this: what shall I do for
you to make you amends?"--"Sir," says he, "you may not be so willing to
make me amends, because you may not be convinced of the truth of it: I
will make an offer to you; I have nineteen months pay due to me on board
the ship ----, which I came out of England in; and the Dutchman, that is
with me, has seven months pay due to him; if you will make good our pay
to us, we will go along with you: if you find nothing more in it, we
will desire no more; but if we do convince you, that we have saved your
life, and the ship, and the lives of all the men in her, we will leave
the rest to you."
I consented to this readily; and went immediately on board, and the two
men with me. As soon as I came to the ship's side, my partner, who was
on board, came on the quarter-deck, and called to me with a great deal
of joy, "O ho! O ho! we have stopped the leak!"--"Say you so?" said I;
"thank God; but weigh the anchor then immediately."--"Weigh!" says he;
"what do you mean by that? What is the matter?" says he. "Ask no
questions," said I, "but all hands to work, and weigh without losing a
minute." He was surprised: but, however, he called the captain, and he
immediately ordered the anchor to be got up; and though the tide was not
quite done, yet a little land breeze blowing, we stood out to sea; then
I called him into the cabin, and told him the story at large; and we
called in the men, and they told us the rest of it: but as it took us up
a great deal of time, so before we had done, a seaman comes to the cabin
door, and calls out to us, that the captain made him tell us, we were
chased. "Chased!" said I; "by whom, and by what?"--"By five sloops, or
boats," said the fellow, "full of men."--"Very well," said I; "then it
is apparent there is something in it." In the next place, I ordered all
our men to be called up; and told them, that there was a design to seize
the ship, and to take us for pirates; and asked them, if they would
stand by us, and by one another? The men answered, cheerfully, one and
all, that they would live and die with us. Then I asked the captain,
what way he thought best for us to manage a fight with them; for resist
them I resolved we would, and that to the last drop. He said, readily,
that the way was to keep them off with our great shot, as long as we
could, and then to fire at them with our small arms, to keep them from
boarding us; but when neither of these would do any longer, we should
retire to our close quarters; perhaps they had not materials to break
open our bulk-heads, or get in upon us.
The gunner had, in the mean time, orders to bring two guns to bear fore
and aft, out of the steerage, to clear the deck, and load them with
musket-bullets and small pieces of old iron, and what next came to hand;
and thus we made ready for fight; but all this while kept out to sea,
with wind enough, and could see the boats at a distance, being five
large long-boats following us, with all the sail they could make.
Two of these boats, which, by our glasses, we could see were English,
had outsailed the rest, were near two leagues a head of them, and gained
upon us considerably; so that we found they would come up with us: upon
which we fired a gun without a shot, to intimate that they should bring
to; and we put out a flag of truce, as a signal for parley; but they
kept crowding after us, till they came within shot: upon this we took in
our white flag, they having made no answer to it; hung out the red flag,
and fired at them with shot; notwithstanding this, they came on till
they were near enough to call to them with a speaking, trumpet, which we
had on board; so we called to them, and bade them keep off at
their peril.
It was all one, they crowded after us, and endeavoured to come under
our stern, so to board us on our quarter: upon which, seeing they were
resolute for mischief, and depended upon the strength that followed
them, I ordered to bring the ship to, so that they lay upon our
broadside, when immediately we fired five guns at them; one of them had
been levelled so true, as to carry away the stern of the hindermost
boat, and bring them to the necessity of taking down their sail, and
running all to the head of the boat to keep her from sinking; so she lay
by, and had enough of it; but seeing the foremost boat still crowd on
after us, we made ready to fire at her in particular.
While this was doing, one of the three boats that was behind, being
forwarder than the other two, made up to the boat which we had disabled,
to relieve her, and we could afterwards see her take out the men: we
called again to the foremost boat, and offered a truce to parley again,
and to know what was her business with us; but had no answer: only she
crowded close under our stern. Upon this our gunner, who was a very
dexterous fellow, run out his two chase-guns, and fired at her; but the
shot missing, the men in the boat shouted, waved their caps, and came
on; but the gunner, getting quickly ready again, fired among them a
second time; one shot of which, though it missed the boat itself, yet
fell in among the men, and we could easily see had done a great deal of
mischief among them; but we, taking no notice of that, weared the ship
again, and brought our quarter to bear upon them; and, firing three guns
more, we found the boat was split almost to pieces; in particular, her
rudder, and a piece of her stern, were shot quite away; so they handed
their sail immediately, and were in great disorder; but, to complete
their misfortune, our gunner let fly two guns at them again; where he
hit them we could not tell, but we found the boat was sinking, and some
of the men already in the water. Upon this I immediately manned out our
pinnace, which we had kept close by our side, with orders to pick up
some of the men, if they could, and save them from drowning, and
immediately to come on board with them; because we saw the rest of the
boats began to come up. Our men in the pinnace followed their orders,
and took up three men; one of which was just drowning, and it was a good
while before we could recover him. As soon as they were on board, we
crowded all the sail we could make, and stood farther out to sea; and we
found, that when the other three boats came up to the first two, they
gave over their chase.
Being thus delivered from a danger, which though I knew not the reason
of it, yet seemed to be much greater than I apprehended, I took care
that we should change our course, and not let any one imagine whither we
were going; so we stood out to sea eastward, quite out of the course of
all European ships, whether they were bound to China, or any where else
within the commerce of the European nations.
When we were now at sea, we began to consult with the two seamen, and
inquire first, what the meaning of all this should be? The Dutchman let
us into the secret of it at once; telling us, that the fellow that sold
us the ship, as we said, was no more than a thief that had run away with
her. Then he told us how the captain, whose name too he mentioned,
though I do not remember it now, was treacherously murdered by the
natives on the coast of Malacca, with three of his men; and that he,
this Dutchman, and four more, got into the woods, where they wandered
about a great while; till at length he, in particular, in a miraculous
manner, made his escape, and swam off to a Dutch ship, which sailing
near the shore, in its way from China, had sent their boat on shore for
fresh water; that he durst not come to that part of the shore where the
boat was, but made shift in the night to take in the water farther off,
and swimming a great while, at last the ship's boat took him up.
He then told us, that he went to Batavia, where two of the seamen
belonging to the ship had arrived, having deserted the rest in their
travels; and gave an account, that the fellow who had run away with the
ship, sold her at Bengal to a set of pirates, which were gone a-cruising
in her; and that they had already taken an English ship, and two Dutch
ships, very richly laden.
This latter part we found to concern us directly; and though we knew it
to be false, yet, as my partner said very well, if we had fallen into
their hands, and they had such a prepossession against us beforehand, it
had been in vain for us to have defended ourselves, or to hope for any
good quarters at their hands; especially considering that our accusers
had been our judges, and that we could have expected nothing from them
but what rage would have dictated, and ungoverned passion have executed;
and therefore it was his opinion, we should go directly back to Bengal,
from whence we came, without putting in at any port whatever; because
there we could give an account of ourselves, and could prove where we
were when the ship put in, whom we bought her of, and the like; and,
which was more than all the rest, if we were put to the necessity of
bringing it before the proper judges, we should be sure to have some
justice; and not be hanged first, and judged afterwards.
I was some time of my partner's opinion; but after a little more serious
thinking, I told him, I thought it was a very great hazard for us to
attempt returning to Bengal, for that we were on the wrong side of the
Straits of Malacca; and that if the alarm was given, we should be sure
to be waylaid on every side, as well by the Dutch of Batavia, as the
English elsewhere; that if we should be taken, as it were, running away,
we should even condemn ourselves, and there would want no more evidence
to destroy us. I also asked the English sailor's opinion, who said, he
was of my mind, and that we should certainly be taken.
This danger a little startled my partner, and all the ship's company;
and we immediately resolved to go away to the coast of Tonquin, and so
on to China; and from thence pursuing the first design, as to trade,
find some way or other to dispose of the ship, and come back in some of
the vessels of the country, such as we could get. This was approved of
as the best method for our security; and accordingly we steered away
N.N.E. keeping above fifty leagues off from the usual course to
the eastward.
This, however, put us to some inconvenience; for first the winds when we
came to that distance from the shore, seemed to be more steadily against
us, blowing almost trade as we call it, from the E. and E.N.E.; so that
we were a long while upon our voyage, and we were but ill provided with
victuals for so long a run; and, which was still worse, there was some
danger that those English and Dutch ships, whose boats pursued us,
whereof some were bound that way, might be got in before us; and if not,
some other ship bound to China might have information of us from them,
and pursue us with the same vigour.
I must confess I was now very uneasy, and thought myself, including the
last escape from the long boats, to have been in the most dangerous
condition that ever I was in through all my past life; for whatever ill
circumstances I had been in, I was never pursued for a thief before; nor
had I ever done any thing that merited the name of dishonest or
fraudulent, much less thievish. I had chiefly been mine own enemy; or,
as I may rightly say, I had been nobody's enemy but my own. But now I
was embarrassed in the worst condition imaginable; for though I was
perfectly innocent, I was in no condition to make that innocence appear:
and if I had been taken, it had been under a supposed guilt of the worst
kind; at least a crime esteemed so among the people I had to do with.
This made me very anxious to make an escape, though which way to do it I
knew not; or what port or place we should go to. My partner, seeing me
thus dejected, though he was the most concerned at first, began to
encourage me; and describing to me the several ports of the coast, told
me, he would put in on the coast of Cochinchina, or the bay of Tonquin;
intending to go afterwards to Macao, a town once in the possession or
the Portuguese, and where still a great many European families resided,
and particularly the missionary priests usually went thither, in order
to their going forward to China.
Hither we then resolved to go; and accordingly, though after a tedious
and irregular course, and very much straitened for provisions, we came
within sight of the coast very early in the morning; and upon reflection
upon the past circumstances we were in, and the danger, if we had not
escaped, we resolved to put into a small river, which, however, had
depth enough of water for us, and to see if we could, either overland or
by the ship's pinnace, come to know what ships were in any port
thereabouts. This happy step was, indeed, our deliverance; for though we
did not immediately see any European ships in the bay of Tonquin, yet
the next morning there came into the bay two Dutch ships; and a third
without any colours; spread out, but which we believed to be a Dutchman,
passed by at about two leagues distance, steering for the coast of
China; and in the afternoon went by two English ships, steering the same
course; and thus we thought we saw ourselves beset with enemies, both
one way and the other. The place we were in was wild and barbarous, the
people thieves, even by occupation or profession; and though, it is
true, we had not much to seek of them, and except getting a few
provisions, cared not how little we had to do with them; yet it was with
much difficulty that we kept ourselves from being insulted by them
several ways.
We were in a small river of this country, within a few leagues of its
utmost limits northward, and by our boat we coasted north-east to the
point of land which opens to the great bay of Tonquin: and it was in
this beating up along the shore that we discovered as above, that, in a
word, we were surrounded with enemies. The people we were among were the
most barbarous of all the inhabitants of the coast; having no
correspondence with any other nation, and dealing only in fish and oil,
and such gross commodities; and it may be particularly seen that they
are, as I said, the most barbarous of any of the inhabitants, viz. that
among other customs they have this one, that if any vessel had the
misfortune to be shipwrecked upon their coast, they presently make the
men all prisoners; that is to say, slaves; and it was not long before we
found a spice of their kindness this way, on the occasion following:
I have observed above that our ship sprung a leak at sea, and that we
could not find it out: and however it happened, that, as I have said, it
was stopped unexpectedly, in the happy minute of our being to be seized
by the Dutch and English ships, near the bay of Siam; yet, as we did not
find the ship so perfectly tight and sound as we desired, we resolved,
while we were in this place, to lay her on shore, take out what heavy
things we had on board, which were not many, and to wash and clean her
bottom, and if possible to find out where the leaks were.
Accordingly, having lightened the ship, and brought all our guns, and
other moveable things, to one side, we tried to bring her down, that we
might come at her bottom; for, on second thoughts, we did not care to
lay her dry aground, neither could we find out a proper place for it.
The inhabitants, who had never been acquainted with such a sight, came
wondering down to the shore to look at us; and seeing the ship lie down
on one side in such a manner, and heeling towards the shore, and not
seeing our men, who were at work on her bottom with stages, and with
their boats, on the off side, they presently concluded that the ship was
cast away, and lay so very fast on the ground.
On this supposition they came all about us in two or three hours time,
with ten or twelve large boats, having some of them eight, some ten men
in a boat, intending, no doubt, to have come on board and plunder the
ship; and if they had found us there, to have carried us away for
slaves to their king, or whatever they call him, for we knew not who was
their governor.
When they came up to the ship, and began to row round her, they
discovered us all hard at work, on the outside of the ship's bottom and
side, washing, and graving, and stopping, as every seafaring man
knows how.
They stood for awhile gazing at us, and we, who were a little surprised,
could not imagine what their design was; but being willing to be sure,
we took this opportunity to get some of us into the ship, and others to
hand down arms and ammunition to those that were at work to defend
themselves with, if there should be occasion; and it was no more than
need; for in less than a quarter of an hour's consultation, they agreed,
it seems, that the ship was really a wreck; that we were all at work
endeavouring to save her, or to save our lives by the help of our boats;
and when we handed our arms into the boats, they concluded by that
motion that we were endeavouring to save some of our goods. Upon this
they took it for granted they all belonged to them, and away they came
directly upon our men, as if it had been in a line of battle.
Our men seeing so many of them began to be frighted, for we lay but in
an ill posture to fight, and cried out to us to know what they should
do? I immediately called to the men who worked upon the stages, to slip
them down and get up the side into the ship, and bade those in the boat
to row round and come on board; and those few of us who were on board
worked with all the strength and hands we had to bring the ship to
rights; but, however, neither the men upon the stage, nor those in the
boats, could do as they were ordered, before the Cochinchinese were upon
them, and with two of their boats boarded our long-boat, and began to
lay hold of the men as their prisoners.
The first man they laid hold of was an English seaman, a stout, strong
fellow, who having a musket in his hand, never offered to fire it, but
laid it down in the boat, like a fool as I thought. But he understood
his business better than I could teach him; for he grappled the Pagan,
and dragged him by main force out of their own boat into ours; where
taking him by the two ears, he beat his head so against the boat's
gunnel, that the fellow died instantly in his hands; and in the mean
time a Dutchman, who stood next, took up the musket, and with the
but-end of it so laid about him, that he knocked down five of them who
attempted to enter the boat. But this was little towards resisting
thirty or forty men, who fearless, because ignorant of their danger,
began to throw themselves into the long-boat, where we had but five men
to defend it. But one accident gave our men a complete victory, which
deserved our laughter rather than any thing else, and that was this:--
Our carpenter being prepared to grave the outside of the ship, as well
as to pay the seams where he had caulked her to stop the leaks, had got
two kettles just let down into the boat; one filled with boiling pitch,
and the other with rosin, tallow, and oil, and such stuff as the
shipwrights used for that work; and the man that tended the carpenter
had a great iron ladle in his hand, with which he supplied the men that
were at work with that hot stuff: two of the enemy's men entered the
boat just where this fellow stood, being in the fore-sheets; he
immediately sainted them with a ladleful of the stuff, boiling hot,
which so burnt and scalded them, being half naked, that they roared out
like two bulls, and, enraged with the fire, leaped both into the sea.
The carpenter saw it, and cried out, "Well done, Jack, give them some
more of it;" when stepping forward himself, he takes one of their mops,
and dipping it in the pitch-pot, he and his man threw it among them so
plentifully, that, in short, of all the men in three boats, there was
not one that was not scalded and burnt with it in a most frightful,
pitiful manner, and made such a howling and crying, that I never heard a
worse noise, and, indeed, nothing like it; for it was worth observing,
that though pain naturally makes all people cry out, yet every nation
have a particular way of exclamation, and make noises as different from
one another as their speech. I cannot give the noise these creatures
made a better name than howling, nor a name more proper to the tone of
it; for I never heard any thing more like the noise of the wolves,
which, as I have said, I heard howl in the forest on the frontiers of
Languedoc.
I was never pleased with a victory better in my life; not only as it was
a perfect surprise to me, and that our danger was imminent before; but
as we got this victory without any bloodshed, except of that man the
fellow killed with his naked hands, and which I was very much concerned
at; for I was sick of killing such poor savage wretches, even though it
was in my own defence, knowing they came on errands which they thought
just, and knew no better; and that though it may be a just thing,
because necessary, for there is no necessary wickedness in nature; yet I
thought it was a sad life, when we must be always obliged to be killing
our fellow-creatures to preserve ourselves; and, indeed, I think so
still; and I would, even now, suffer a great deal, rather than I would
take away the life even of the worst person injuring me. I believe also,
all considering people, who know the value of life, would be of my
opinion, if they entered seriously into the consideration of it.
But to return to my story. All the while this was doing, my partner and
I, who managed the rest of the men on board, had, with great dexterity,
brought the ship almost to rights; and, having gotten the guns into
their places again, the gunner called to me to bid our boat get out of
the way, for he would let fly among them. I called back again to him,
and bid him not offer to fire, for the carpenter would do the work
without him; but bade him heat another pitch-kettle, which our cook, who
was on board, took care of. But the enemy was so terrified with what
they met with in their first attack, that they would not come on again;
and some of them that were farthest off, seeing the ship swim, as it
were, upright, began, as we supposed, to see their mistake, and gave
over the enterprise, finding it was not as they expected. Thus we got
clear of this merry fight; and having gotten some rice, and some roots
and bread, with about sixteen good big hogs on board two days before, we
resolved to stay here no longer, but go forward, whatever came of it;
for we made no doubt but we should be surrounded the next day with
rogues enough, perhaps more than our pitch-kettle would dispose of
for us.
We therefore got all our things on board the same evening, and the next
morning were ready to sail. In the meantime, lying at an anchor some
distance from the shore, we were not so much concerned, being now in a
lighting posture, as well as in a sailing posture, if any enemy had
presented. The next day, having finished our work within board, and
finding our ship was perfectly healed of all her leaks, we set sail. We
would have gone into the bay of Tonquin, for we wanted to inform
ourselves of what was to be known concerning the Dutch ships that had
been there; but we durst not stand in there, because we had seen several
ships go in, as we supposed, but a little before; so we kept on N.E.
towards the isle of Formosa, as much afraid of being seen by a Dutch or
English merchant-ship, as a Dutch or English merchant-ship in the
Mediterranean is of an Algerine man of war.
When we were thus got to sea, we kept on N.E. as if we would go to the
Manillas or the Philippine islands, and this we did, that we might not
fall into the way of any of the European ships; and then we steered
north again, till we came to the latitude of 22 degrees 20 minutes, by
which means we made the island of Formosa directly, where we came to an
anchor, in order to get water and fresh provisions, which the people
there, who are very courteous and civil in their manners, supplied us
with willingly, and dealt very fairly and punctually with us in all
their agreements and bargains, which is what we did not find among
other people, and may be owing to the remains of Christianity, which was
once planted here by a Dutch mission of Protestants, and is a testimony
of what I have often observed, viz. that the Christian religion always
civilizes the people and reforms their manners, where it is received,
whether it works saving effects upon them or not.
From hence we sailed still north, keeping the coast of China at an equal
distance, till we knew we were beyond all the ports of China where our
European ships usually come: but being resolved, if possible, not to
fall into any of their hands, especially in this country, where, as our
circumstances were, we could not fail of being entirely ruined; nay, so
great was my fear in particular, as to my being taken by them, that I
believe firmly I would much rather have chosen to fall into the hands of
the Spanish Inquisition.
Being now come to the latitude of 30 degrees, we resolved to put into
the first trading port we should come at, and standing in for the shore,
a boat came off two leagues to us, with an old Portuguese pilot on
board, who, knowing us to be an European ship, came to offer his
service, which indeed we were very glad of, and took him on board; upon
which, without asking us whither we would go, he dismissed the boat he
came in, and sent it back.
I thought it was now so much in our choice to make the old man carry us
whither we would, that I began to talk with him about carrying us to the
gulf of Nanquin, which is the most northern part of the coast of China.
The old man said he knew the gulf of Nanquin very well; but smiling,
asked us what we would do there?
I told him we would sell our cargo, and purchase China wares, calicoes,
raw silks, tea, wrought silks, &c. and so would return by the same
course we came. He told us our best port had been to have put in at
Macao, where we could not fail of a market for our opium to our
satisfaction, and might, for our money, have purchased all sorts of
China goods as cheap as we could at Nanquin.
Not being able to put the old man out of his talk, of which he was very
opinionated, or conceited, I told him we were gentlemen as well as
merchants, and that we had a mind to go and see the great city of Pekin,
and the famous court of the monarch of China. "Why then," says the old
man, "you should go to Ningpo, where, by the river that runs into the
sea there, you may go up within five leagues of the great canal. This
canal is a navigable made stream, which goes through the heart of all
that vast empire of China, crosses all the rivers, passes some
considerable hills by the help of sluices and gates, and goes up to the
city of Pekin, being in length near two hundred and seventy leagues."
"Well," said I, "Seignior Portuguese, but that is not our business now;
the great question is, if you can carry us up to the city of Nanquin,
from whence we can travel to Pekin afterwards?" Yes, he said, he could
do so very well, and there was a great Dutch ship gone up that way just
before. This gave me a little shock; a Dutch ship was now our terror,
and we had much rather have met the devil, at least if he had not come
in too frightful a figure; we depended upon it that a Dutch ship would
be our destruction, for we were in no condition to fight them; all the
ships they trade with in those parts being of great burden, and of much
greater force than we were.
The old man found me a little confused, and under some concern, when he
named a Dutch ship: and said to me, "Sir, you need be under no
apprehension of the Dutch; I suppose they are not now at war with your
nation."--"No," said I, "that's true; but I know not what liberties men
may take when they are out of the reach of the laws of their
country."--"Why," said he, "you are no pirates, what need you fear? They
will not meddle with peaceable merchants, sure."
If I had any blood in my body that did not fly up into my face at that
word, it was hindered by some stop in the vessels appointed by nature to
circulate it; for it put me into the greatest disorder and confusion
imaginable; nor was it possible for me to conceal it so, but that the
old man easily perceived it.
"Sir," said he, "I find you are in some disorder in your thoughts at my
talk; pray be pleased to go which way you think fit, and depend upon it
I'll do you all the service I can."--"Why, Seignior," said I, "it is
true, I am a little unsettled in my resolution at this time, whither to
go in particular; and I am something more so for what you said about
pirates. I hope there are no pirates in these seas; we are but in an ill
condition to meet with them; for you see we have but a small force, and
but very weakly manned."
"O Sir," said he, "do not be concerned; I do not know that there have
been any pirates in these seas these fifteen years, except one, which
was seen, as I hear, in the bay of Siam, about a month since; but you
may be assured she is gone to the southward; nor was she a ship of any
great force, or fit for the work; she was not built for a privateer, but
was run away with by a reprobate crew that were on board, after the
captain and some of his men had been murdered by the Malaccans, at or
near the island of Sumatra."
"What!" said I, seeming to know nothing of the matter, "did they murder
the captain?"--"No," said he, "I do not understand that they murdered
him; but as they afterwards ran away with the ship, it is generally
believed they betrayed him into the hands of the Malaccans, who did
murder him; and, perhaps, they procured them to do it."--"Why then,"
said I, "they deserved death, as much as if they had done it
themselves."--"Nay," said the old man, "they do deserve it, and they
will certainly have it if they light upon any English or Dutch ship; for
they have all agreed together that if they meet that rogue they will
give him no quarter."
"But," said I to him, "you say the pirate is gone out of these seas;
how can they meet with him then?"--"Why, that is true," said he, "they
do say so; but he was, as I tell you, in the bay of Siam, in the river
Cambodia, and was discovered there by some Dutchmen who belonged to the
ship, and who were left on shore when they ran away with her; and some
English and Dutch traders being in the river, they were within a little
of taking him. Nay," said he, "if the foremost boats had been well
seconded by the rest, they had certainly taken him; but he finding only
two boats within reach of him, tacked about, and fired at these two, and
disabled them before the others came up; and then standing off to sea,
the others were not able to follow him, and so he got away. But they
have all so exact a description of the ship, that they will be sure to
know him; and where-ever they find him, they have vowed to give no
quarter to either the captain or the seamen, but to hang them all up at
the yard-arm."
"What!" said I, "will they execute them, right or wrong; hang them
first, and judge them afterwards?"--"O Sir!" said the old pilot, "there
is no need to make a formal business of it with such rogues as those;
let them tie them back to back, and set them a-diving; it is no more
than they rightly deserve."
I knew I had my old man fast aboard, and that he could do me no harm; so
I turned short upon him. "Well, Seignior," said I, "and this is the very
reason why I would have you carry us to Nanquin, and not to put back to
Macao, or to any other part of the country where the English or Dutch
ships came; for be it known to you, Seignior, those captains of the
English and Dutch ships are a parcel of rash, proud, insolent fellows,
that neither know what belongs to justice, or how to behave themselves
as the laws of God and nature direct; but being proud of their offices,
and not understanding their power, they would get the murderers to
punish robbers; would take upon them to insult men falsely accused, and
determine them guilty without due inquiry; and perhaps I may live to
call some of them to an account of it, where they may be taught how
justice is to be executed; and that no man ought to be treated as a
criminal till some evidence may be had of the crime, and that he is
the man."
With this I told him, that this was the very ship they had attacked; and
gave him a full account of the skirmish we had with their boats, and how
foolishly and coward-like they had behaved. I told him all the story of
our buying the ship, and how the Dutchmen served us. I told him the
reasons I had to believe that this story of killing the master by the
Malaccans was not true; as also the running away with the ship; but that
it was all a fiction of their own, to suggest that the men were turned
pirates; and they ought to have been sure it was so, before they had
ventured to attack us by surprise, and oblige us so resist them; adding,
that they would have the blood of those men who were killed there, in
our just defence, to answer for.
The old man was amazed at this relation; and told us, we were very much
in the right to go away to the north; and that if he might advise us, it
should be to sell the ship in China, which we might very well do, and
buy or build another in the country; "And," said he, "though you will
not get so good a ship, yet you may get one able enough to carry you and
all your goods back again to Bengal, or any where else."
I told him I would take his advice when I came to any port where I could
find a ship for my turn, or get any customer to buy this. He replied, I
should meet with customers enough for the ship at Nanquin, and that a
Chinese junk would serve me very well to go back again; and that he
would procure me people both to buy one and sell the other.
"Well, but, Seignior," says I, "as you say they know the ship so well, I
may, perhaps, if I follow your measures, be instrumental to bring some
honest innocent men into a terrible broil, and, perhaps, be murdered in
cold blood; for wherever they find the ship they will prove the guilt
upon the men by proving this was the ship, and so innocent men may
probably be overpowered and murdered."--"Why," said the old man, "I'll
find out a way to prevent that also; for as I know all those commanders
you speak of very well, and shall see them all as they pass by, I will
be sure to set them to rights in the thing, and let them know that they
had been so much in the wrong; that though the people who were on board
at first might run away with the ship, yet it was not true that they had
turned pirates; and that in particular those were not the men that first
went off with the ship, but innocently bought her for their trade; and I
am persuaded they will so far believe me, as, at least, to act more
cautiously for the time to come."--"Well," said I, "and will you deliver
one message to them from me?"--"Yes, I will," says he, "if you will give
it under your hand in writing, that I may be able to prove it came from
you, and not out of my own head." I answered, that I would readily give
it him under my hand. So I took a pen and ink, and paper, and wrote at
large the story of assaulting me with the long-boats, &c. the pretended
reason of it, and the unjust, cruel design of it; and concluded to the
commanders that they had done what they not only should have been
ashamed or, but also, that if ever they came to England, and I lived to
see them there, they should all pay dearly for it, if the laws of my
country were not grown out of use before I arrived there.
My old pilot read this over and over again, and asked me several times
if I would stand to it. I answered, I would stand to it as long as I had
any thing left in the world; being sensible that I should, one time or
other, find an opportunity to put it home to them. But we had no
occasion ever to let the pilot carry this letter, for he never went back
again. While those things were passing between us, by way of discourse,
we went forward directly for Nanquin, and, in about thirteen days sail,
came to anchor at the south-west point of the great gulf of Nanquin;
where, by the way, I came by accident to understand, that the two Dutch
ships were gone that length before me, and that I should certainly fall
into their hands. I consulted my partner again in this exigency, and he
was as much at a loss as I was, and would very gladly have been safe on
shore almost any where. However, I was not in such perplexity neither,
but I asked the old pilot if there was no creek or harbour, which I
might put into, and pursue my business with the Chinese privately, and
be in no danger of the enemy. He told me if I would sail to the
southward about two-and-forty leagues, there was a little port called
Quinchang, where the fathers of the mission usually landed from Macao,
on their progress to teach the Christian religion to the Chinese, and
where no European ships ever put in: and, if I thought proper to put in
there, I might consider what farther course to take when I was on shore.
He confessed, he said, it was not a place for merchants, except that at
some certain times they had a kind of a fair there, when the merchants
from Japan came over thither to buy the Chinese merchandises.
We all agreed to go back to this place: the name of the port, as he
called it, I may, perhaps, spell wrong, for I do not particularly
remember it, having lost this, together with the names of many other
places set down in a little pocket-book, which was spoiled by the water,
on an accident which I shall relate in its order; but this I remember,
that the Chinese or Japanese merchants we correspond with call it by a
different name from that which our Portuguese pilot gave it, and
pronounced it as above, Quinchang.
As we were unanimous in our resolutions to go to this place, we weighed
the next day, having only gone twice on shore, where we were to get
fresh water; on both which occasions the people of the country were very
civil to us, and brought us abundance of things to sell to us; I mean of
provisions, plants, roots, tea, rice, and some fowls; but nothing
without money.
We came to the other port (the wind being contrary) not till five days;
but it was very much to our satisfaction, and I was joyful, and I may
say thankful, when I set my foot safe on shore, resolving, and my
partner too, that if it was possible to dispose of ourselves and effects
any other way, though not every way to our satisfaction, we would never
set one foot on board that unhappy vessel again: and indeed I must
acknowledge, that of all the circumstances of life that ever I had any
experience of, nothing makes mankind so completely miserable as that of
being in constant fear. Well does the Scripture say, "The fear of man
brings a snare;" it is a life of death, and the mind is so entirely
suppressed by it, that it is capable of no relief; the animal spirits
sink, and all the vigour of nature, which usually supports men under
other afflictions, and is present to them in the greatest exigencies,
fails them here.
Nor did it fail of its usual operations upon the fancy, by heightening
every danger; representing the English and Dutch captains to be men
incapable of hearing reason, or distinguishing between honest men and
rogues; or between a story calculated for our own turn, made out of
nothing, on purpose to deceive, and a true genuine account of our whole
voyage, progress, and design; for we might many ways have convinced any
reasonable creature that we were not pirates; the goods we had on board,
the course we steered, our frankly shewing ourselves, and entering into
such and such ports; even our very manner, the force we had, the number
of men, the few arms, little ammunition, and short provisions; all these
would have served to convince any man that we were no pirates. The
opium, and other goods we had on board, would make it appear the ship
had been at Bengal; the Dutchmen, who, it was said, had the names of all
the men that were in the ship, might easily see that we were a mixture
of English, Portuguese, and Indians, and but two Dutchmen on board.
These, and many other particular circumstances, might have made it
evident to the understanding of any commander, whose hands we might
fall into, that we were no pirates.
But fear, that blind useless passion, worked another way, and threw us
into the vapours; it bewildered our understandings, and set the
imagination at work, to form a thousand terrible things, that, perhaps,
might never happen. We first supposed, as indeed every body had related
to us, that the seamen on board the English and Dutch ships, but
especially the Dutch, were so enraged at the name of a pirate, and
especially at our beating off their boats, and escaping, that they would
not give themselves leave to inquire whether we were pirates or no; but
would execute us off-hand, as we call it, without giving us any room for
a defence. We reflected that there was really so much apparent evidence
before them, that they would scarce inquire after any more: as, first,
that the ship was certainly the same, and that some of the seamen among
them knew her, and had been on board her; and, secondly, that when we
had intelligence at the river Cambodia, that they were coming down to
examine us, we fought their boats, and fled: so that we made no doubt
but they were as fully satisfied of our being pirates as we were
satisfied of the contrary; and I often said, I knew not but I should
have been apt to have taken the like circumstances for evidence, if the
tables were turned, and my case was theirs; and have made no scruple of
cutting all the crew to pieces, without believing, or perhaps
considering, what they might have to offer in their defence.
But let that be how it will, those were our apprehensions; and both my
partner and I too scarce slept a night without dreaming of halters and
yard-arms; that is to say, gibbets; of fighting, and being taken; of
killing, and being killed; and one night I was in such a fury in my
dream, fancying the Dutchmen had boarded us, and I was knocking one of
their seamen down, that I struck my double fist against the side of the
cabin I lay in, with such a force as wounded my hand most gievously,
broke my knuckles, and cut and bruised the flesh, so that it not only
waked me out of my sleep, but I was once afraid I should have lost two
of my fingers.
Another apprehension I had, was, of the cruel usage we should meet with
from them, if we fell into their hands: then the story of Amboyna came
into my head, and how the Dutch might, perhaps, torture us, as they did
our countrymen there; and make some of our men, by extremity of torture,
confess those crimes they never were guilty of; own themselves, and all
of us, to be pirates; and so they would put us to death, with a formal
appearance of justice; and that they might be tempted to do this for the
gain of our ship and cargo, which was worth four or five thousand
pounds, put all together.
These things tormented me, and my partner too, night and day; nor did we
consider that the captains of ships have no authority to act thus; and
if we had surrendered prisoners to them, they could not answer the
destroying us, or torturing us, but would be accountable for it when
they came into their own country. This, I say, gave me no satisfaction;
for, if they will act thus with us, what advantage would it be to us
that they would be called to an account for it? or, if we were first to
be murdered, what satisfaction would it be to us to have them punished
when they came home?
I cannot refrain taking notice here what reflections I now had upon the
past variety of my particular circumstances; how hard I thought it was,
that I, who had spent forty years in a life of continued difficulties,
and was at last come, as it were, at the port or haven which all men
drive at, viz. to have rest and plenty, should be a volunteer in new
sorrows, by my own unhappy choice; and that I, who had escaped so many
dangers in my youth, should now come to be hanged, in my old age, and in
so remote a place, for a crime I was not in the least inclined to, much
less guilty of; and in a place and circumstance, where innocence was not
like to be any protection at all to me.
After these thoughts, something of religion would come in; and I would
be considering that this seemed to me to be a disposition of immediate
Providence; and I ought to look upon it, and submit to it as such: that
although I was innocent as to men, I was far from being innocent as to
my Maker; and I ought to look in, and examine what other crimes in my
life were most obvious to me, and for which Providence might justly
inflict this punishment as a retribution; and that I ought to submit to
this, just as I would to a shipwreck, if it had pleased God to have
brought such a disaster upon me.
In its turn, natural courage would sometimes take its place; and then I
would be talking myself up to vigorous resolution, that I would not be
taken to be barbarously used by a parcel of merciless wretches in cold
blood; that it was much better to have fallen into the hands of the
savages, who were men-eaters, and who, I was sure, would feast upon me,
when they had taken me, than by those who would perhaps glut their rage
upon me by inhuman tortures and barbarities: that, in the case of the
savages, I always resolved to die fighting to the last gasp; and why
should I not do so now, seeing it was much more dreadful, to me at
least, to think of falling into these men's hands, than ever it was to
think of being eaten by men? for the savages, give them their due, would
not eat a man till he was dead; and killed him first, as we do a
bullock; but that these men had many arts beyond the cruelty of death.
Whenever these thoughts prevailed I was sure to put myself into a kind
of fever, with the agitations of a supposed fight; my blood would boil,
and my eyes sparkle, as if I was engaged; and I always resolved that I
would take no quarter at their hands; but even at last, if I could
resist no longer, I would blow up the ship, and all that was in her, and
leave them but little booty to boast of.
But by how much the greater weight the anxieties and perplexities of
those things were to our thoughts while we were at sea, by so much the
greater was our satisfaction when we saw ourselves on shore; and my
partner told me he dreamed that he had a very heavy load upon his back,
which he was to carry up a hill, and found that he was not able to stand
long under it; but the Portuguese pilot came, and took it off his back,
and the hill disappeared, the ground before him shewing all smooth and
plain: and truly it was so; we were all like men who had a load taken
off their backs.
For my part, I had a weight taken off from my heart, that I was not able
any longer to bear; and, as I said above, we resolved to go no more to
sea in that ship. When we came on shore, the old pilot, who was now our
friend, got us a lodging, and a warehouse for our goods, which, by the
way, was much the same: it was a little house, or hut, with a large
house joining to it, all built with canes, and palisadoed round with
large canes, to keep out pilfering thieves, of which it seems there were
not a few in the country. However, the magistrates allowed us all a
little guard, and we had a soldier with a kind of halbert, or half-pike,
who stood sentinel at our door, to whom we allowed a pint of rice, and a
little piece of money, about the value of three-pence, per day: so that
our goods were kept very safe.
The fair or mart usually kept in this place had been over some time;
however, we found that there were three or four junks in the river, and
two Japanners, I mean ships from Japan, with goods which they had bought
in China, and were not gone away, having Japanese merchants on shore.
The first thing our old Portuguese pilot did for us was to bring us
acquainted with three missionary Romish priests, who were in the town,
and who had been there some time, converting the people to Christianity;
but we thought they made but poor work of it, and made them but sorry
Christians when they had done. However, that was not our business. One
of these was a Frenchman, whom they called Father Simon; he was a jolly
well-conditioned man, very free in his conversation, not seeming so
serious and grave as the other two did, one of whom was a Portuguese,
and the other a Genoese: but Father Simon was courteous, easy in his
manner, and very agreeable company; the other two were more reserved,
seemed rigid and austere, and applied seriously to the work they came
about, viz. to talk with, and insinuate themselves among the inhabitants
wherever they had opportunity. We often ate and drank with those men;
and though I must confess, the conversion, as they call it, of the
Chinese to Christianity, is so far from the true conversion required to
bring heathen people to the faith of Christ, that it seems to amount to
little more than letting them know the name of Christ, say some prayers
to the Virgin Mary and her Son, in a tongue which they understand not,
and to cross themselves, and the like; yet it must be confessed that
these religious, whom we call missionaries, have a firm belief that
these people should be saved, and that they are the instrument of it;
and, on this account, they undergo not only the fatigue of the voyage,
and hazards of living in such places, but oftentimes death itself, with
the most violent tortures, for the sake of this work: and it would be a
great want of charity in us, whatever opinion we have of the work
itself, and the manner of their doing it, if we should not have a good
opinion of their zeal, who undertake it with so many hazards, and who
have no prospect of the least temporal advantage to themselves.
But to return to my story: This French priest, Father Simon, was
appointed, it seems, by order of the chief of the mission, to go up to
Pekin, the royal seat of the Chinese emperor; and waited only for
another priest, who was ordered to come to him from Macao, to go along
with him; and we scarce ever met together but he was inviting me to go
that journey with him, telling me, how he would shew me all the glorious
things of that mighty empire; and among the rest the greatest city in
the world; "A city," said he, "that your London and our Paris put
together cannot be equal to." This was the city of Pekin, which, I
confess, is very great, and infinitely full of people; but as I looked
on those things with different eyes from other men, so I shall give my
opinion of them in few words when I come in the course of my travels to
speak more particularly of them.
But first I come to my friar or missionary: dining with him one day, and
being very merry together, I showed some little inclination to go with
him; and he pressed me and my partner very hard, and with a great many
persuasions, to consent. "Why, Father Simon," says my partner, "why
should you desire our company so much? You know we are heretics, and you
do not love us, nor can keep us company with any pleasure."--"O!" says
he, "you may, perhaps, be good Catholics in time; my business here is to
convert heathens, and who knows but I may convert you too?"--"Very well,
Father," said I, "so you will preach to us all the way."--"I won't be
troublesome to you," said he; "our religion does not divest us of good
manners; besides," said he, "we are all here like countrymen; and so we
are, compared to the place we are in; and if you are Hugonots, and I a
Catholic, we may be all Christians at last; at least," said he, "we are
all gentlemen, and we may converse so, without being uneasy to one
another." I liked that part of his discourse very well, and it began to
put me in mind of my priest that I had left in the Brasils; but this
Father Simon did not come up to his character by a great deal; for
though Father Simon had no appearance of a criminal levity in him
neither, yet he had not that fund of Christian zeal, strict piety, and
sincere affection to religion, that my other good ecclesiastic had, of
whom I have said so much.
But to leave him a little, though he never left us, nor soliciting us to
go with him, but we had something else before us at that time; for we
had all this while our ship and our merchandise to dispose of; and we
began to be very doubtful what we should do, for we were now in a place
of very little business; and once I was about to venture to sail for
the river of Kilam, and the city of Nanquin: but Providence seemed now
more visibly, as I thought, than ever, to concern itself in our affairs;
and I was encouraged from this very time to think I should, one way or
other, get out of this entangled circumstance, and be brought home to my
own country again, though I had not the least view of the manner; and
when I began sometimes to think of it, could not imagine by what method
it was to be done. Providence, I say, began here to clear up our way a
little; and the first thing that offered was, that our old Portuguese
pilot brought a Japan merchant to us, who began to inquire what goods we
had; and, in the first place, he bought all our opium, and gave us a
very good price for it, paying us in gold by weight, some in small
pieces of their own coin, and some in small wedges, of about ten or
eleven ounces each. While we were dealing with him for our opium, it
came into my head that he might, perhaps, deal with us for the ship too;
and I ordered the interpreter to propose it to him. He shrunk up his
shoulders at it, when it was first proposed to him; but in a few days
after he came to me, with one of the missionary priests for his
interpreter, and told me he had a proposal to make to me, and that was
this: he had bought a great quantity of goods of us when he had no
thoughts (or proposals made to him) of buying the ship, and that,
therefore, he had not money enough to pay for the ship; but if I would
let the same men who were in the ship navigate her, he would hire the
ship to go to Japan, and would send them from thence to the Philippine
islands with another loading, which he would pay the freight of before
they went from Japan; and that, at their return, he would buy the ship.
I began to listen to this proposal; and so eager did my head still run
upon rambling, that I could not but begin to entertain a notion myself
of going with him, and so to sail from the Philippine islands away to
the South Seas; and accordingly I asked the Japanese merchant if he
would not hire us to the Philippine islands, and discharge us there. He
said, no, he could not do that, for then he could not have the return of
his cargo; but he would discharge us in Japan, he said, at the ship's
return. Well, still I was for taking him at that proposal, and going
myself; but my partner, wiser than myself, persuaded me from it,
representing the dangers, as well of the seas, as of the Japanese, who
are a false, cruel, treacherous people; and then of the Spaniards at the
Philippines, more false, more cruel, more treacherous than they.
But, to bring this long turn of our affairs to a conclusion, the first
thing we had to do was to consult with the captain of the ship, and with
the men, and know if they were willing to go to Japan; and, while I was
doing this, the young man whom, as I said, my nephew had left with me as
my companion for my travels, came to me and told me that he thought that
voyage promised very fair, and that there was a great prospect of
advantage, and he would be very glad if I undertook it; but that if I
would not, and would give him leave, he would go as a merchant, or how I
pleased to order him; and if ever he came to England, and I was there,
and alive, he would render me a faithful account of his success, and it
should be as much mine as I pleased.
I was really loath to part with him; but considering the prospect of
advantage, which was really considerable, and that he was a young fellow
as likely to do well in it as any I knew, I inclined to let him go; but
first I told him, I would consult my partner, and give him an answer the
next day. My partner and I discoursed about it, and my partner made a
most generous offer: he told me, "You know it has been an unlucky ship,
and we both resolve not to go to sea in it again; if your steward (so he
called my man) will venture the voyage, I'll leave my share of the
vessel to him, and let him make the best of it; and if we live to meet
in England, and he meets with success abroad, he shall account for one
half of the profits of the ship's freight to us, the other shall be
his own."
If my partner, who was no way concerned with my young man, made him
such an offer, I could do no less than offer him the same; and all the
ship's company being willing to go with him, we made over half the ship
to him in property, and took a writing from him, obliging him to account
for the other; and away he went to Japan. The Japan merchant proved a
very punctual honest man to him, protected him at Japan, and got him a
licence to come on shore, which the Europeans in general have not lately
obtained, paid him his freight very punctually, sent him to the
Philippines, loaded him with Japan and China wares, and a supercargo of
their own, who trafficking with the Spaniards, brought back European
goods again, and a great quantity of cloves and other spice; and there
he was not only paid his freight very well, and at a very good price,
but being not willing to sell the ship then, the merchant furnished him
with goods on his own account; that for some money and some spices of
his own, which he brought with him, he went back to the Manillas, to the
Spaniards, where he sold his cargo very well. Here, having gotten a good
acquaintance at Manilla, he got his ship made a free ship; and the
governor of Manilla hired him to go to Acapulco in America, on the coast
of Mexico; and gave him a licence to land there, and travel to Mexico;
and to pass in any Spanish ship to Europe, with all his men.
He made the voyage to Acapulco very happily, and there he sold his ship;
and having there also obtained allowance to travel by land to Porto
Bello, he found means, some how or other, to go to Jamaica with all his
treasure; and about eight years after came to England, exceeding rich;
of which I shall take notice in its place; in the mean time, I return to
our particular affairs.
Being now to part with the ship and ship's company, it came before us,
of course, to consider what recompense we should give to the two men
that gave us such timely notice of the design against us in the river
of Cambodia. The truth was, they had done us a considerable service, and
deserved well at our hands; though, by the way, they were a couple of
rogues too: for, as they believed the story of our being pirates, and
that we had really run away with the ship, they came down to us, not
only to betray the design that was formed against us, but to go to sea
with us as pirates; and one of them confessed afterwards, that nothing
else but the hopes of going a-roguing brought him to do it. However, the
service they did us was not the less; and therefore, as I had promised
to be grateful to them, I first ordered the money to be paid to them,
which they said was due to them on board their respective ships; that is
to say, the Englishman nineteen months pay, and to the Dutchman seven;
and, over and above that, I gave each of them a small sum of money in
gold, which contented them very well: then I made the Englishman gunner
of the ship, the gunner being now made second mate and purser; the
Dutchman I made boatswain: so they were both very well pleased, and
proved very serviceable, being both able seamen, and very stout fellows.
We were now on shore in China. If I thought myself banished, and remote
from my own country at Bengal, where I had many ways to get home for my
money, what could I think of myself now, when I was gotten about a
thousand leagues farther off from home, and perfectly destitute of all
manner of prospect of return!
All we had for it was this, that in about four months time there was to
be another fair at that place where we were, and then we might be able
to purchase all sorts of the manufactures of the country, and withal
might possibly find some Chinese junks or vessels from Nanquin, that
would be to be sold, and would carry us and our goods whither we
pleased. This I liked very well, and resolved to wait; besides, as our
particular persons were not obnoxious, so if any English or Dutch ships
came thither, perhaps we might have an opportunity to load our goods,
and get passage to some other place in India nearer home.
Upon these hopes we resolved to continue here; but, to divert ourselves,
we took two or three journies into the country; first, we went ten days
journey to see the city of Nanquin, a city well worth seeing indeed:
they say it has a million of people in it; which, however, I do not
believe: it is regularly built, the streets all exactly straight, and
cross one another in direct lines, which gives the figure of it great
advantage.
But when I came to compare the miserable people of these countries with
ours; their fabrics, their manner of living, their government, their
religion, their wealth, and their glory, (as some call it) I must
confess, I do not so much as think it worth naming, or worth my while to
write of, or any that shall come after me to read.
It is very observable, that we wonder at the grandeur, the riches, the
pomp, the ceremonies, the government, the manufactures, the commerce,
and the conduct of these people; not that they are to be wondered at,
or, indeed, in the least to be regarded; but because, having first a
notion of the barbarity of those countries, the rudeness and the
ignorance that prevail there, we do not expect to find any such things
so far off.
Otherwise, what are their buildings to the palaces and royal buildings
of Europe? What their trade to the universal commerce of England,
Holland, France, and Spain? What their cities to ours, for wealth,
strength, gaiety of apparel, rich furniture, and an infinite variety?
What are their ports, supplied with a few junks and barks, to our
navigation, our merchants' fleets, our large and powerful navies? Our
city of London has more trade than all their mighty empire. One English,
or Dutch, or French man of war of eighty guns, would fight with and
destroy all the shipping of China. But the greatness of their wealth,
their trade, the power of their government, and strength of their
armies are surprising to us, because, as I have said, considering them
as a barbarous nation of pagans, little better than savages, we did not
expect such things among them; and this, indeed, is the advantage with
which all their greatness and power is represented to us: otherwise, it
is in itself nothing at all; for, as I have said of their ships, so it
may be said of their armies and troops; all the forces of their empire,
though they were to bring two millions of men into the field together,
would be able to do nothing but ruin the country and starve themselves.
If they were to besiege a strong town in Flanders, or to fight a
disciplined army, one line of German cuirassiers, or of French cavalry,
would overthrow all the horse of China; a million of their foot could
not stand before one embattled body of our infantry, posted so as not to
be surrounded, though they were not to be one to twenty in number: nay,
I do not boast if I say, that 30,000 German or English foot, and 10,000
French horse, would fairly beat all the forces of China. And so of our
fortified towns, and of the art of our engineers, in assaulting and
defending towns; there is not a fortified town in China could hold out
one month against the batteries and attacks of an European army; and at
the same time, all the armies of China could never take such a town as
Dunkirk, provided it was not starved; no, not in ten years siege. They
have fire-arms, it is true, but they are awkward, clumsy, and uncertain
in going off; they have powder, but it is of no strength; they have
neither discipline in the field, exercise in their arms, skill to
attack, nor temper to retreat. And therefore I must confess it seemed
strange to me when I came home, and heard our people say such fine
things of the power, riches, glory, magnificence, and trade of the
Chinese, because I saw and knew that they were a contemptible herd or
crowd of ignorant, sordid slaves, subjected to a government qualified
only to rule such a people; and, in a word, for I am now launched quite
beside my design, I say, in a word, were not its distance inconceivably
great from Muscovy, and were not the Muscovite empire almost as rude,
impotent, and ill-governed a crowd of slaves as they, the czar of
Muscovy might, with much ease, drive them all out of their country, and
conquer them in one campaign; and had the czar, who I since hear is a
growing prince, and begins to appear formidable in the world, fallen
this way, instead of attacking the warlike Swedes, in which attempt none
of the powers of Europe would have envied or interrupted him; he might,
by this time, have been emperor of China, instead of being beaten by the
king of Sweden at Narva, when the latter was not one to six in number.
As their strength and their grandeur, so their navigation, commerce, and
husbandry, are imperfect and impotent, compared to the same things in
Europe. Also, in their knowledge, their learning, their skill in the
sciences; they have globes and spheres, and a smatch of the knowledge of
the mathematics; but when you come to inquire into their knowledge, how
short-sighted are the wisest of their students! They know nothing of the
motion of the heavenly bodies; and so grossly, absurdly ignorant, that
when the sun is eclipsed, they think it is a great dragon has assaulted
and run away with it; and they fall a-cluttering with all the drums and
kettles in the country, to fright the monster away, just as we do to
hive a swarm of bees.
As this is the only excursion of this kind which I have made in all the
account I have given of my travels, so I shall make no more descriptions
of countries and people: it is none of my business, or any part of my
design; but giving an account of my own adventures, through a life of
infinite wanderings, and a long variety of changes, which, perhaps, few
have heard the like of, I shall say nothing of the mighty places, desert
countries, and numerous people, I have yet to pass through, more than
relates to my own story, and which my concern among them will make
necessary. I was now, as near as I can compute, in the heart of China,
about the latitude of thirty degrees north of the line, for we were
returned from Nanquin; I had indeed a mind to see the city of Pekin,
which I had heard so much of, and Father Simon importuned me daily to do
it. At length his time of going away being set, and the other
missionary, who was to go with him, being arrived from Macao, it was
necessary that we should resolve either to go, or not to go; so I
referred him to my partner, and left it wholly to his choice; who at
length resolved it in the affirmative; and we prepared for our journey.
We set out with very good advantage, as to finding the way; for we got
leave to travel in the retinue of one of their mandarins, a kind of
viceroy, or principal magistrate, in the province where they reside, and
who take great state upon them, travelling with great attendance, and
with great homage from the people, who are sometimes greatly
impoverished by them, because all the countries they pass through are
obliged to furnish provisions for them, and all their attendants. That
which I particularly observed, as to our travelling with his baggage,
was this; that though we received sufficient provisions, both for
ourselves and our horses, from the country, as belonging to the
mandarin, yet we were obliged to pay for every thing we had after the
market-price of the country, and the mandarin's steward, or commissary
of the provisions, collected it duly from us; so that our travelling in
the retinue of the mandarin, though it was a very great kindness to us,
was not such a mighty favour in him, but was, indeed, a great advantage
to him, considering there were about thirty other people travelling in
the same manner besides us, under the protection of his retinue, or, as
we may call it, under his convoy. This, I say, was a great advantage to
him; for the country furnished all the provisions for nothing, and he
took all our money for them.
We were five-and-twenty days travelling to Pekin, through a country
infinitely populous, but miserably cultivated; the husbandry, economy,
and the way of living, all very miserable, though they boast so much of
the industry of the people: I say miserable; and so it is; if we, who
understand how to live, were to endure it, or to compare it with our
own; but not so to these poor wretches, who know no other. The pride of
these people is infinitely great, and exceeded by nothing but their
poverty, which adds to that which I call their misery. I must needs
think the naked savages of America live much more happy, because, as
they have nothing, so they desire nothing; whereas these are proud and
insolent, and, in the main, are mere beggars and drudges; their
ostentation is inexpressible, and is chiefly shewed in their clothes and
buildings, and in the keeping multitudes of servants or slaves, and,
which is to the last degree ridiculous, their contempt of all the world
but themselves.
I must confess, I travelled more pleasantly afterwards, in the deserts
and vast wildernesses of Grand Tartary, than here; and yet the roads
here are well paved and well kept, and very convenient for travellers:
but nothing was more awkward to me, than to see such a haughty,
imperious, insolent people, in the midst of the grossest simplicity and
ignorance; for all their famed ingenuity is no more. My friend Father
Simon, and I, used to be very merry upon these occasions, to see the
beggarly pride of those people. For example, coming by the house of a
country-gentleman, as Father Simon called him, about ten leagues off
from the city of Nanquin, we had, first of all, the honour to ride with
the master of the house about two miles; the state he rode in was a
perfect Don Quixotism, being a mixture of pomp and poverty.
The habit of this greasy Don was very proper for a scaramouch, or
merry-andrew; being a dirty calico, with all the tawdry trappings of a
fool's coat, such as hanging sleeves, taffety, and cuts and slashes
almost on every side: it covered a rich taffety vest, as greasy as a
butcher, and which testified, that his honour must needs be a most
exquisite sloven.
His horse was a poor, lean, starved, hobbling creature, such as in
England might sell for about thirty or forty shillings; and he had two
slaves followed him on foot, to drive the poor creature along: he had a
whip in his hand, and he belaboured the beast as fast about the head as
his slaves did about the tail; and thus he rode by us with about ten or
twelve servants; and we were told he was going from the city to his
country-seat, about half a league before us. We travelled on gently, but
this figure of a gentleman rode away before us; and as we stopped at a
village about an hour to refresh us, when we came by the country-seat of
this great man, we saw him in a little place before his door, eating his
repast; it was a kind of a garden, but he was easy to be seen; and we
were given to understand, that the more we looked on him, the better he
would be pleased.
He sat under a tree, something like the palmetto-tree, which effectually
shaded him over the head, and on the south side; but under the tree also
was placed a large umbrella, which made that part look well enough: he
sat lolling back in a great elbow-chair, being a heavy corpulent man,
and his meat being brought him by two women-slaves: he had two more,
whose office, I think, few gentlemen in Europe would accept of their
service in, viz. one fed the squire with a spoon, and the other held the
dish with one hand, and scraped off what he let fall upon his worship's
beard and taffety vest, with the other; while the great fat brute
thought it below him to employ his own hands in any of those familiar
offices, which kings and monarchs would rather do than be troubled with
the clumsy fingers of their servants.
I took this time to think what pain men's pride puts them to, and how
troublesome a haughty temper, thus ill-managed, must be to a man of
common sense; and, leaving the poor wretch to please himself with our
looking at him, as if we admired his pomp, whereas we really pitied and
contemned him, we pursued our journey: only Father Simon had the
curiosity to stay to inform himself what dainties the country justice
had to feed on, in all his state; which he said he had the honour to
taste of, and which was, I think, a dose that an English hound would
scarce have eaten, if it had been offered him, viz. a mess of boiled
rice, with a great piece of garlick in it, and a little bag filled with
green pepper, and another plant which they have there, something like
our ginger, but smelling like musk and tasting like mustard: all this
was put together, and a small lump or piece of lean mutton boiled in it;
and this was his worship's repast, four or five servants more attending
at a distance. If he fed them meaner than he was fed himself, the spice
excepted, they must fare very coarsely indeed.
As for our mandarin with whom we travelled, he was respected like a
king; surrounded always with his gentlemen, and attended in all his
appearances with such pomp, that I saw little of him but at a distance;
but this I observed, that there was not a horse in his retinue, but that
our carriers' pack-horses in England seem to me to look much better; but
they were so covered with equipage, mantles, trappings, and such-like
trumpery, that you cannot see whether they are fat or lean. In a word,
we could scarce see any thing but their feet and their heads.
I was now light-hearted, and all my trouble and perplexity that I had
given an account of being over, I had no anxious thoughts about me;
which made this journey much the pleasanter to me; nor had I any ill
accident attended me, only in the passing or fording a small river, my
horse fell, and made me free of the country, as they call it; that is to
say, threw me in: the place was not deep, but it wetted me all over: I
mention it, because it spoiled my pocket-book, wherein I had set down
the names of several people and places which I had occasion to remember,
and which not taking due care of, the leaves rotted, and the words were
never after to be read, to my great loss, as to the names of some places
which I touched at in this voyage.
At length we arrived at Pekin; I had nobody with me but the youth, whom
my nephew the captain had given me to attend me as a servant, and who
proved very trusty and diligent; and my partner had nobody with him but
one servant, who was a kinsman. As for the Portuguese pilot, he being
desirous to see the court, we gave him his passage, that is to say, bore
his charges for his company; and to use him as an interpreter, for he
understood the language of the country, and spoke good French and a
little English; and, indeed, this old man was a most useful implement to
us every where; for we had not been above a week at Pekin, when he came
laughing: "Ah, Seignior Inglese," said he, "I have something to tell
you, will make your heart glad."--"My heart glad," said I; "what can
that be? I don't know any thing in this country can either give me joy
or grief, to any great degree."--"Yes, yes," said the old man, in broken
English, "make you glad, me sorrow;" sorry, he would have said. This
made me more inquisitive. "Why," said I, "will it make you
sorry?"--"Because," said he, "you have brought me here twenty-five days
journey, and will leave me to go back alone; and which way shall I get
to my port afterwards, without a ship, without a horse, without pecune?"
so he called money; being his broken Latin, of which he had abundance to
make us merry with.
In short, he told us there was a great caravan of Muscovy and Polish
merchants in the city, and that they were preparing to set out on their
journey, by land, to Muscovy, within four or five weeks, and he was sure
we would take the opportunity to go with them, and leave him behind to
go back alone. I confess I was surprised with this news: a secret joy
spread itself over my whole soul, which I cannot describe, and never
felt before or since; and I had no power, for a good while, to speak a
word to the old man; but at last I turned to him: "How do you know
this?" said I: "are you sure it is true?"--"Yes," he said, "I met this
morning in the street an old acquaintance of mine, an Armenian, or one
you call a Grecian, who is among them; he came last from Astracan, and
was designing to go to Tonquin; where I formerly knew him, but has
altered his mind, and is now resolved to go back with the caravan to
Moscow, and so down the river of Wolga to Astracan."--"Well, Seignior,"
said I, "do not be uneasy about being left to go back alone; if this be
a method for my return to England, it shall be your fault if you go back
to Macao at all." We then went to consult together what was to be done,
and I asked my partner what he thought of the pilot's news, and whether
it would suit with his affairs: he told me he would do just as I would;
for he had settled all his affairs so well at Bengal, and left his
effects in such good hands, that as we made a good voyage here, if he
could vest it in China silks, wrought and raw, such as might be worth
the carriage, he would be content to go to England, and then make his
voyage back to Bengal by the Company's ships.
Having resolved upon this, we agreed, that, if our Portuguese pilot
would go with us, we would bear his charges to Moscow, or to England, if
he pleased; nor, indeed, were we to be esteemed over-generous in that
part neither, if we had not rewarded him farther; for the service he had
done us was really worth all that, and more; for he had not only been a
pilot to us at sea, but he had been also like a broker for us on shore;
and his procuring for us the Japan merchant was some hundreds of pounds
in our pockets. So we consulted together about it; and, being willing to
gratify him, which was, indeed, but doing him justice, and very willing
also to have him with us besides, for he was a most necessary man on all
occasions, we agreed to give him a quantity of coined gold, which, as I
compute it, came to about one hundred and seventy-five pounds sterling
between us, and to bear his charges, both for himself and horse, except
only a horse to carry his goods.
Having settled this among ourselves, we called him to let him know what
we had resolved: I told him, he had complained of our being like to let
him go back alone, and I was now to tell him we were resolved he should
not go back at all: that as we had resolved to go to Europe with the
caravan, we resolved also he should go with us, and that we called him
to know his mind. He shook his head, and said it was a long journey, and
he had no pecune to carry him thither, nor to subsist himself when he
came thither. We told him, we believed it was so, and therefore we had
resolved to do something for him, that would let him see how sensible we
were of the service he had done us; and also how agreeable he was to us;
and then I told him what we had resolved to give him here, which he
might lay out as we would do our own; and that as for his charges, if he
would go with us, we would set him safe ashore (life and casualties
excepted), either in Muscovy or in England, which he would, at our own
charge, except only the carriage of his goods.
He received the proposal like a man transported, and told us, he would
go with us over the whole world; and so, in short, we all prepared
ourselves for the journey. However, as it was with us, so it was with
the other merchants, they had many things to do; and instead of being
ready in five weeks, it was four months and some odd days before all
things were got together.
It was the beginning of February, our style, when we set out from Pekin.
My partner and the old pilot had gone express back to the port where we
had first put in, to dispose of some goods which he had left there; and
I, with a Chinese merchant, whom I had some knowledge of at Nanquin, and
who came to Pekin on his own affairs, went to Nanquin, where I bought
ninety pieces of fine damasks, with about two hundred pieces of other
very fine silks, of several sorts, some mixed with gold, and had all
these brought to Pekin against my partner's return: besides this, we
bought a very large quantity of raw silk, and some other goods; our
cargo amounting, in these goods only, to about three thousand five
hundred pounds sterling, which, together with tea, and some fine
calicoes, and three camel-loads of nutmegs and cloves, loaded in all
eighteen camels for our share, besides those we rode upon; which, with
two or three spare horses, and two horses loaded with provisions, made
us, in short, twenty-six camels and horses in our retinue.
The company was very great, and, as near as I can remember, made between
three and four hundred horses and camels, and upward of a hundred and
twenty men, very well armed, and provided for all events. For, as the
eastern caravans are subject to be attacked by the Arabs, so are these
by the Tartars; but they are not altogether so dangerous as the Arabs,
nor so barbarous when they prevail.
The company consisted of people of several nations, such as Muscovites
chiefly; for there were about sixty of them who were merchants or
inhabitants of Moscow, though of them some were Livonians; and to our
particular satisfaction, five of them were Scots, who appeared also to
be men of great experience in business, and very good substance.
When we had travelled one day's journey, the guides, who were five in
number, called all the gentlemen and merchants, that is to say, all the
passengers, except the servants, to a great council, as they termed it.
At this great council every one deposited a certain quantity of money to
a common stock, for the necessary expense of buying forage on the way
where it was not otherwise to be had, and for satisfying the guides,
getting horses, and the like. And here they constituted the journey, as
they called it, viz. they named captains and officers to draw us all up
and give the command in case of an attack; and give every one their turn
of command. Nor was this forming us into order any more than what we
found needful upon the way, as shall be observed in its place.
The road all on this side of the country is very populous, and is full
of potters and earth makers; that is to say, people that tempered the
earth for the China ware; and, as I was going along, our Portuguese
pilot, who had always something or other to say to make us merry, came
sneering to me, and told me, he would shew the greatest rarity in all
the country; and that I should have this to say of China, after all the
ill humoured things I had said of it, that I had seen one thing which
was not to be seen in all the world beside. I was very importunate to
know what it was; at last he told me, it was a gentleman's house, built
all with China ware. "Well," said I, "are not the materials of their
building the product of their own country; and so it is all China ware,
is it not?"--"No, no," says he, "I mean, it is a house all made of China
ware, such as you call so in England; or, as it is called in our
country, porcelain."--"Well," said I, "such a thing may be: how big is
it? can we carry it in a box upon a camel? If we can, we will buy
it."--"Upon a camel!" said the old pilot, holding up both his hands;
"why, there is a family of thirty people lives in it."
I was then curious, indeed, to see it; and when I came to see it, it was
nothing but this: it was a timber house, or a house built, as we call it
in England, with lath and plaster, but all the plastering was really
China ware, that is to say, it was plastered with the earth that makes
China ware.
The outside, which the sun shone hot upon, was glazed, and looked very
well, perfectly white, and painted with blue figures, as the large China
ware in England is painted, and hard, as if it had been burnt. As to the
inside, all the walls, instead of wainscot, were lined with hardened and
painted tiles, like the little square tiles we call gally tiles in
England, all made of the finest china, and the figures exceeding fine
indeed, with extraordinary variety of colours, mixed with gold, many
tiles making but one figure, but joined so artificially with mortar,
being made of the same earth, that it was very hard to see where the
tiles met. The floors of the rooms were of the same composition, and as
hard as the earthen floors we have in use in several parts of England,
especially Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, &c. as hard as
stone, and smooth, but not burnt and painted, except some smaller rooms,
like closets, which were all, as it were, paved with the same tile: the
ceilings, and, in a word, all the plastering work in the whole house,
were of the same earth; and, after all, the roof was covered with tiles
of the same, but of a deep shining black.
This was a china warehouse indeed, truly and lite rally to be called so;
and had I not been upon the journey, I could have staid some days to see
and examine the particulars of it. They told me there were fountains and
fish-ponds in the garden, all paved at the bottom and sides with the
same, and fine statues set up in rows on the walks, entirely formed of
the porcelain earth, and burnt whole.
As this is one of the singularities of China, so they may be allowed to
excel in it; but I am very sure they _excel_ in their accounts of it;
for they told me such incredible things of their performance in
crockery-ware, for such it is, that I care not to relate, as knowing it
could not be true.--One told me, in particular, of a workman that made a
ship, with all its tackle, and masts, and sails, in earthenware, big
enough to carry fifty men. If he had told me he launched it, and made a
voyage to Japan in it, I might have said something to it indeed; but as
it was, I knew the whole story, which was, in short, asking pardon for
the word, that the fellow lied; so I smiled, and said nothing to it.
This odd sight kept me two hours behind the caravan, for which the
leader of it for the day fined me about the value of three shillings;
and told me, if it had been three days journey without the wall, as it
was three days within, he must have fined me four times as much, and
made me ask pardon the next council-day: so I promised to be more
orderly; for, indeed, I found afterwards the orders made for keeping all
together were absolutely necessary for our common safety.
In two days more we passed the great China wall, made for a
fortification against the Tartars; and a very great work it is, going
over hills and mountains in an endless track, where the rocks are
impassable, and the precipices such as no enemy could possibly enter,
or, indeed, climb up, or where, if they did, no wall could hinder them.
They tell us, its length is near a thousand English miles, but that the
country is five hundred, in a straight measured line, which the wall
bounds, without measuring the windings and turnings it takes: 'tis about
four fathom high, and as many thick in some places.
I stood still an hour, or thereabouts, without trespassing on our
orders, for so long the caravan was in passing the gate; I say, I stood
still an hour to look at it, on every side, near and far off; I mean,
what was within my view; and the guide of our caravan, who had been
extolling it for the wonder of the world, was mighty eager to hear my
opinion of it. I told him it was a most excellent thing to keep off the
Tartars, which he happened not to understand as I meant it, and so took
it for a compliment; but the old pilot laughed: "O, Seignior Inglese,"
said he, "you speak in colours."--"In colours!" said I; "what do you
mean by that?"--"Why, you speak what looks white this way, and black
that way; gay one way, and dull another way: you tell him it is a good
wall to keep out Tartars; you tell me, by that, it is good for nothing
but to keep out Tartars; or, will keep out none but Tartars. I
understand you, Seignior Inglese, I understand you," said he, joking;
"but Seignior Chinese understand you his own way."
"Well," said I, "Seignior, do you think it would stand out an army of
our country-people, with a good train of artillery; or our engineers,
with two companies of miners? Would they not batter it down in ten
days, that an army might enter in battalia, or blow it up in the air,
foundation and all, that there should be no sign of it left?"--"Ay, ay,"
said he, "I know that." The Chinese wanted mightily to know what I said,
and I gave him leave to tell him a few days after, for we were then
almost out of their country, and he was to leave us in a little time
afterwards; but when he knew what I had said, he was dumb all the rest
of the way, and we heard no more of his fine story of the Chinese power
and greatness while he staid.
After we had passed this mighty nothing, called a wall, something like
the Picts wall, so famous in Northumberland, and built by the Romans, we
began to find the country thinly inhabited, and the people rather
confined to live in fortified towns and cities, as being subject to the
inroads and depredations of the Tartars, who rob in great armies, and
therefore are not to be resisted by the naked inhabitants of an
open country.
And here I began to find the necessity of keeping together in a caravan,
as we travelled; for we saw several troops of Tartars roving about; but
when I came to see them distinctly, I wondered how that the Chinese
empire could be conquered by such contemptible fellows; for they are a
mere herd or crowd of wild fellows, keeping no order, and understanding
no discipline, or manner of fight.
Their horses are poor, lean, starved creatures, taught nothing, and are
fit for nothing; and this we found the first day we saw them, which was
after we entered the wilder part of the country. Our leader for the day
gave leave for about sixteen of us to go a hunting, as they call it; and
what was this but hunting of sheep! However, it may be called hunting
too; for the creatures are the wildest, and swiftest of foot, that ever
I saw of their kind; only they will not run a great way, and you are
sure of sport when you begin the chase; for they appear generally by
thirty or forty in a flock, and, like true sheep, always keep together
when they fly.
In pursuit of this odd sort of game, it was our hap to meet with about
forty Tartars: whether they were hunting mutton as we were, or whether
they looked for another kind of prey, I know not; but as soon as they
saw us, one of them blew a kind of horn very loud, but with a barbarous
sound that I had never heard before, and, by the way, never care to hear
again. We all supposed this was to call their friends about them; and so
it was; for in less than half a quarter of an hour, a troop of forty or
fifty more appeared at about a mile distance; but our work was over
first, as it happened.
One of the Scots merchants of Moscow happened to be amongst us; and as
soon as he heard the horn, he told us, in short, that we had nothing to
do but to charge them immediately, without loss of time; and, drawing us
up in a line, he asked, if we were resolved? We told him, we were ready
to follow him: so he rode directly up to them. They stood gazing at us,
like a mere crowd, drawn up in no order, nor shewing the face of any
order at all; but as soon as they saw us advance, they let fly their
arrows; which, however, missed us very happily: it seems they mistook
not their aim, but their distance; for their arrows all fell a little
short of us, but with so true an aim, that had we been about twenty
yards nearer, we must have had several men wounded, if not killed.
Immediately we halted; and though it was at a great distance, we fired,
and sent them leaden bullets for wooden arrows, following our shot full
gallop, resolving to fall in among them sword in hand; for so our bold
Scot that led us, directed. He was, indeed, but a merchant, but he
behaved with that vigour and bravery on this occasion, and yet with such
a cool courage too, that I never saw any man in action fitter for
command. As soon as we came up to them, we fired our pistols in their
faces, and then drew; but they fled in the greatest confusion
imaginable; the only stand any of them made was on our right, where
three of them stood, and, by signs, called the rest to come back to
them, having a kind of scimitar in their hands, and their bows hanging
at their backs. Our brave commander, without asking any body to follow
him, galloped up close to them, and with his fusil knocked one of them
off his horse, killed the second with his pistol, and the third ran
away; and thus ended our fight; but we had this misfortune attending it,
viz. that all our mutton that we had in chase got away. We had not a man
killed or hurt; but, as for the Tartars, there were about five of them
killed; how many were wounded, we knew not; but this we knew, that the
other party was so frighted with the noise of our guns, that they fled,
and never made any attempt upon us.
We were all this while in the Chinese dominions, and therefore the
Tartars were not so bold as afterwards; but in about five days we
entered a vast great wild desert, which held us three days and nights
march; and we were obliged to carry our water with us in great leather
bottles, and to encamp all night, just as I have heard they do in the
deserts of Arabia.
I asked our guides, whose dominion this was in? and they told me this
was a kind of border that might be called No Man's Land; being part of
the Great Karakathy, or Grand Tartary; but that, however, it was
reckoned to China; that there was no care taken here to preserve it from
the inroads of thieves; and therefore it was reckoned the worst desert
in the whole march, though we were to go over some much larger.
In passing this wilderness, which, I confess, was at the first view very
frightful to me, we saw two or three times little parties of the
Tartars, but they seemed to be upon their own affairs, and to have no
design upon us; and so, like the man who met the devil, if they had
nothing to say to us, we had nothing to say to them; we let them go.
Once, however, a party of them came so near as to stand and gaze at us;
whether it was to consider what they should do, viz. to attack us, or
not attack us, we knew not; but when we were passed at some distance by
them, we made a rear guard of forty men, and stood ready for them,
letting the caravan pass half a mile, or thereabouts, before us. After a
while they marched off, only we found they assaulted us with five arrows
at their parting; one of which wounded a horse, so that it disabled him;
and we left him the next day, poor creature, in great need of a good
farrier. We suppose they might shoot more arrows, which might fall short
of us; but we saw no more arrows, or Tartars, at that time.
We travelled near a month after this, the ways being not so good as at
first, though still in the dominions of the emperor of China; but lay,
for the most part, in villages, some of which were fortified, because of
the incursions of the Tartars. When we came to one of these towns, (it
was about two days and a half's journey before we were to come to the
city of Naum) I wanted to buy a camel, of which there are plenty to be
sold all the way upon that road, and of horses also, such as they are,
because so many caravans coming that way, they are very often wanted.
The person that I spoke to to get me a camel, would have gone and
fetched it for me; but I, like a fool, must be officious, and go myself
along with him. The place was about two miles out of the village, where,
it seems, they kept the camels and horses feeding under a guard.
I walked it on foot, with my old pilot in company, and a Chinese, being
desirous, forsooth, of a little variety. When we came to this place, it
was a low marshy ground, walled round with a stone wall, piled up dry,
without mortar or earth among it, like a park, with a little guard of
Chinese soldiers at the doors. Having bought a camel, and agreed for the
price, I came away; and the Chinese man, that went with me, led the
camel, when on a sudden came up five Tartars on horseback: two of them
seized the fellow, and took the camel from him, while the other three
stepped up to me and my old pilot; seeing us, as it were, unarmed, for I
had no weapon about me but my sword, which could but ill defend me
against three horsemen. The first that came up stopped short upon my
drawing my sword; (for they are arrant cowards) but a second coming upon
my left, gave me a blow on the head, which I never felt till afterwards,
and wondered, when I came to myself, what was the matter with me, and
where I was, for he laid me flat on the ground; but my never-failing old
pilot, the Portuguese (so Providence, unlooked for, directs deliverances
from dangers, which to us are unforeseen,) had a pistol in his pocket,
which I knew nothing of nor the Tartars neither; if they had, I suppose
they would not have attacked us; but cowards are always boldest when
there is no danger.
The old man, seeing me down, with a bold heart stepped up to the fellow
that had struck me, and laying hold of his arm with one hand, and
pulling him down by main force a little towards him with the other, he
shot him into the head, and laid him dead on the spot; he then
immediately stepped up to him who had stopped us, as I said, and before
he could come forward again (for it was all done as it were in a moment)
made a blow at him with a scimitar, which he always wore, but, missing
the man, cut his horse into the side of his head, cut one of his ears
off by the root, and a great slice down the side of his face. The poor
beast, enraged with the wounds, was no more to be governed by his rider,
though the fellow sat well enough too; but away he flew, and carried him
quite out of the pilot's reach; and, at some distance, rising upon his
hind legs, threw down the Tartar, and fell upon him.
In this interval the poor Chinese came in, who had lost the camel, but
he had no weapon; however, seeing the Tartar down, and his horse fallen
upon him, he runs to him, and seizing upon an ugly ill-favoured weapon
he had by his side, something like a pole-axe, but not a pole-axe
either, he wrenched it from him, and made shift to knock his Tartarian
brains out with it. But my old man had the third Tartar to deal with
still; and, seeing he did not fly as he expected, nor come on to fight
him, as he apprehended, but stood stock still, the old man stood still
too, and falls to work with his tackle to charge his pistol again: but
as soon as the Tartar saw the pistol, whether he supposed it to be the
same or another, I know not; but away he scoured, and left my pilot, my
champion I called him afterwards, a complete victory.
By this time I was a little awake; for I thought, when I first began to
awake, that I had been in a sweet sleep; but as I said above, I wondered
where I was, how I came upon the ground, and what was the matter: in a
word, a few minutes after, as sense returned, I felt pain, though I did
not know where; I clapped my hand to my head, and took it away bloody;
then I felt my head ache, and then, in another moment, memory returned,
and every thing was present to me again.
I jumped up upon my feet instantly, and got hold of my sword, but no
enemies in view. I found a Tartar lie dead, and his horse standing very
quietly by him; and looking farther, I saw my champion and deliverer,
who had been to see what the Chinese had done, coming back with his
hanger in his hand. The old man, seeing me on my feet, came running to
me, and embraced me with a great deal of joy, being afraid before that I
had been killed; and seeing me bloody, would see how I was hurt; but it
was not much, only what we call a broken head; neither did I afterwards
find any great inconvenience from the blow, other than the place which
was hurt, and which was well again in two or three days.
We made no great gain, however, by this victory; for we lost a camel,
and gained a horse: but that which was remarkable, when we came back to
the village, the man demanded to be paid for the camel; I disputed it,
and it was brought to a hearing before the Chinese judge of the place;
that is to say, in English, we went before a justice of the peace. Give
him his due, he acted with a great deal of prudence and impartiality;
and having heard both sides, he gravely asked the Chinese man that went
with me to buy the camel, whose servant he was? "I am no servant," said
he, "but went with the stranger."--"At whose request?" said the justice.
"At the stranger's request," said he. "Why then," said the justice, "you
were the stranger's servant for the time; and the camel being delivered
to his servant, it was delivered to him, and he must pay for it."
I confess the thing was so clear, that I had not a word to say; but
admiring to see such just reasoning upon the consequence, and so
accurate stating the case, I paid willingly for the camel, and sent for
another; but you may observe, _I sent_ for it; I did not go to fetch it
myself any more; I had had enough of that.
The city of Naum is a frontier of the Chinese empire: they call it
fortified, and so it is, as fortifications go there; for this I will
venture to affirm, that all the Tartars in Karakathy, which, I believe,
are some millions, could not batter down the walls with their bows and
arrows; but to call it strong, if it were attacked with cannon, would be
to make those who understand it laugh at you.
We wanted, as I have said, about two days journey of this city, when
messengers were sent express to every part of the road, to tell all
travellers and caravans to halt, till they had a guard sent to them; for
that an unusual body of Tartars, making ten thousand in all, had
appeared in the way, about thirty miles beyond the city.
This was very bad news to travellers; however, it was carefully done of
the governor, and we were very glad to hear we should have a guard.
Accordingly, two days after, we had two hundred soldiers sent us from a
garrison of the Chinese on our left, and three hundred more from the
city of Naum, and with those we advanced boldly: the three hundred
soldiers from Naum marched in our front, the two hundred in our rear,
and our men on each side of our camels with our baggage, and the whole
caravan in the centre. In this order, and well prepared for battle, we
thought ourselves a match for the whole ten thousand Mogul Tartars, if
they had appeared; but the next day, when they did appear, it was quite
another thing.
It was early in the morning, when marching from a little well-situated
town, called Changu, we had a river to pass, where we were obliged to
ferry; and had the Tartars had any intelligence, then had been the time
to have attacked us, when, the caravan being over, the rear-guard was
behind: but they did not appear there.
About three hours after, when we were entered upon, a desert of about
fifteen or sixteen miles over, behold, by a cloud of dust they raised,
we saw an enemy was at hand; and they were at hand indeed, for they came
on upon the spur.
The Chinese, our guard on the front, who had talked so big the day
before, began to stagger, and the soldiers frequently looked behind
them; which is a certain sign in a soldier, that he is just ready to run
away. My old pilot was of my mind; and being near me, he called out:
"Seignior Inglese," said he, "those fellows must be encouraged, or they
will ruin us all; for if the Tartars come on, they will never stand
it."--"I am of your mind," said I: "but what course must be
done?"--"Done?" said he; "let fifty of our men advance, and flank them
on each wing, and encourage them, and they will fight like brave fellows
in brave company: but without it, they will every man turn his back."
Immediately I rode up to our leader, and told him, who was exactly of
our mind; and accordingly fifty of us marched to the right wing, and
fifty to the left, and the rest made a line of reserve; for so we
marched, leaving the last two hundred men to make another body to
themselves, and to guard the camels; only that, if need were, they
should send a hundred men to assist the last fifty.
In a word, the Tartars came on, and an innumerable company they were;
how many, we could not tell, but ten thousand we thought was the least.
A party of them came on first, and viewed our posture, traversing the
ground in the front of our line; and as we found them within gun-shot,
our leader ordered the two wings to advance swiftly, and give them a
_salvo_ on each wing with their shot, which was done; but they went off,
and I suppose went back to give an account of the reception they were
like to meet with; and, indeed, that salute clogged their stomachs; for
they immediately halted, stood awhile to consider of it, and, wheeling
off to the left, they gave over the design, and said no more to us for
that time; which was very agreeable to our circumstances, which were but
very indifferent for a battle with such a number.
Two days after this we came to the city of Naum, or Naunm. We thanked
the governor for his care for us, and collected to the value of one
hundred crowns, or thereabouts, which we gave to the soldiers sent to
guard us; and here we rested one day. This is a garrison indeed, and
there were nine hundred soldiers kept here; but the reason of it was,
that formerly the Muscovite frontiers lay nearer to them than they do
now, the Muscovites having abandoned that part of the country (which
lies from the city west, for about two hundred miles) as desolate and
unfit for use; and more especially, being so very remote, and so
difficult to send troops hither for its defence; for we had yet above
two thousand miles to Muscovy, properly so called.
After this we passed several great rivers, and two dreadful deserts, one
of which we were sixteen days passing over, and which, as I said, was to
be called No Man's Land; and on the 13th of April we came to the
frontiers of the Muscovite dominions. I think the first city, or town,
or fortress, whatever it might be called, that belonged to the czar of
Muscovy, was called Argun, being on the west side of the river Argun.
I could not but discover an infinite satisfaction; that I was now
arrived in, as I called it, a Christian country; or, at least, in a
country governed by Christians: for though the Muscovites do, in my
opinion, but just deserve the name of Christians (yet such they pretend
to be, and are very devout in their way:) it would certainly occur to
any man who travels the world as I have done, and who had any power of
reflection; I say, it would occur to him, to reflect, what a blessing it
is to be brought into the world where the name of God, and of a
Redeemer, is known, worshipped, and adored--and not where the people,
given up by Heaven to strong delusions, worship the devil, and prostrate
themselves to stocks and stones; worship monsters, elements,
horrible-shaped animals, and statues, or images of monsters. Not a town
or city we passed through but had their pagods, their idols, and their
temples; and ignorant people worshipping even the works of their
own hands!
Now we came where, at least, a face of the Christian worship appeared,
where the knee was bowed to Jesus; and whether ignorantly or not, yet
the Christian religion was owned, and the name of the true God was
called upon and adored; and it made the very recesses of my soul rejoice
to see it. I saluted the brave Scotch merchant I mentioned above, with
my first acknowledgment of this; and, taking him by the hand, I said to
him, "Blessed be God, we are once again come among Christians!" He
smiled, and answered, "Do not rejoice too soon, countryman; these
Muscovites are but an odd sort of Christians; and but for the name of
it, you may see very little of the substance for some months farther of
our journey."
"Well," said I, "but still it is better than paganism, and worshipping
of devils."--"Why, I'll tell you," said he; "except the Russian soldiers
in garrisons, and a few of the inhabitants of the cities upon the road,
all the rest of this country, for above a thousand miles farther, is
inhabited by the worst and most ignorant of pagans." And so indeed
we found it.
We were now launched into the greatest piece of solid earth, if I
understand any thing of the surface of the globe, that is to be found in
any part of the world: we had at least twelve hundred miles to the sea,
eastward; we had at least two thousand to the bottom of the Baltic sea,
westward; and almost three thousand miles, if we left that sea, and went
on west to the British and French channels; we had full five thousand
miles to the Indian or Persian sea, south; and about eight hundred miles
to the Frozen sea, north; nay, if some people may be believed, there
might be no sea north-east till we came round the pole, and consequently
into the north-west, and so had a continent of land into America, no
mortal knows where; though I could give some reasons why I believe that
to be a mistake too.
As we entered into the Muscovite dominions, a good while before we came
to any considerable town, we had nothing to observe there but this:
first, that all the rivers run to the east. As I understood by the
charts which some of our caravans had with them, it was plain that all
those rivers ran into the great river Yamour, or Gammour. This river, by
the natural course of it, must run into the east sea, or Chinese ocean.
The story they tell us, that the mouth of this river is choked up with
bulrushes of a monstrous growth, viz. three feet about, and twenty or
thirty feet high, I must be allowed to say I believe nothing of; but as
its navigation is of no use, because there is no trade that way, the
Tartars, to whom alone it belongs, dealing in nothing but cattle; so
nobody that ever I heard or, has been curious enough either to go down
to the mouth of it in boats, or to come up from the mouth of it in
ships; but this is certain, that this river running due east, in the
latitude of sixty degrees, carries a vast concourse of rivers along with
it, and finds an ocean to empty itself in that latitude; so we are sure
of sea there.
Some leagues to the north of this river there are several considerable
rivers, whose streams run as due north as the Yamour runs east; and
these are all found to join their waters with the great river Tartarus,
named so from the northernmost nations of the Mogul Tartars, who, the
Chinese say, were the first Tartars in the world; and who, as our
geographers allege, are the Gog and Magog mentioned in sacred story.
These rivers running all northward, as well as all the other rivers I am
yet to speak of, made it evident that the northern ocean bounds the land
also on that side; so that it does not seem rational in the least to
think that the land can extend itself to join with America on that side,
or that there is not a communication between the northern and the
eastern ocean; but of this I shall say no more; it was my observation at
that time, and therefore I take notice of it in this place. We now
advanced from the river Arguna by easy and moderate journies, and were
very visibly obliged to the care the czar of Muscovy has taken to have
cities and towns built in as many places as are possible to place them,
where his soldiers keep garrison, something, like the stationary
soldiers placed by the Romans in the remotest countries of their empire,
some of which I had read were particularly placed in Britain for the
security of commerce, and for the lodging of travellers; and thus it was
here; though wherever we came at these towns and stations the garrisons
and governor were Russians and professed mere pagans, sacrificing to
idols, and worshipping the sun, moon, and stars, or all the host of
heaven; and not only so, but were, of all the heathens and pagans that
ever I met with, the most barbarous, except only that they did not eat
man's flesh, as our savages of America did.
Some instances of this we met with in the country between Arguna, where
we enter the Muscovite dominions, and a city of Tartars and Russians
together, called Nertzinskay; in which space is a continued desert or
forest, which cost us twenty days to travel over it. In a village near
the last of those places, I had the curiosity to go and see their way of
living; which is most brutish and unsufferable: they had, I suppose, a
great sacrifice that day; for there stood out upon an old stump of a
tree, an idol made of wood, frightful as the devil; at least as any
thing we can think of to represent the devil that can be made. It had a
head certainly not so much as resembling any creature that the world
ever saw; ears as big as goats' horns, and as high; eyes as big as a
crown-piece; and a nose like a crooked ram's horn, and a mouth extended
four-cornered, like that of a lion, with horrible teeth, hooked like a
parrot's under bill. It was dressed up in the filthiest manner that you
can suppose; its upper garment was of sheep-skins, with the wool
outward; a great Tartar bonnet on the head, with two horns growing
through it: it was about eight feet high, yet had no feet or legs, or
any other proportion of parts.
This scarecrow was set up at the outside of the village; and when I came
near to it, there were sixteen or seventeen creatures, whether men or
women I could not tell, for they make no distinction by their habits,
either of body or head; these lay all flat on the ground, round this
formidable block of shapeless wood. I saw no motion among them any more
than if they had been logs of wood, like their idol; at first I really
thought they had been so; but when I came a little nearer, they started
up upon their feet, and raised a howling cry, as if it had been so many
deep-mouthed hounds, and walked away as if they were displeased at our
disturbing them. A little way off from this monster, and at the door of
a tent or hut, made all of sheep-skins and cow-skins, dried, stood three
butchers: I thought they were such; for when I came nearer to them, I
found they had long knives in their hands, and in the middle of the tent
appeared three sheep killed, and one young bullock, or steer. These, it
seems, were sacrifices to that senseless log of an idol; and these three
men priests belonging to it; and the seventeen prostrated wretches were
the people who brought the offering, and were making their prayers to
that stock.
I confess I was more moved at their stupidity, and this brutish worship
of a hobgoblin, than ever I was at any thing in my life: to see God's
most glorious and best creature, to whom he had granted so many
advantages, even by creation, above the rest of the works of his hands,
vested with a reasonable soul, and that soul adorned with faculties and
capacities adapted both to honour his Maker and be honoured by him; I
say, to see it sunk and degenerated to a degree so more than stupid, as
to prostrate itself to a frightful nothing, a mere imaginary object
dressed up by themselves, and made terrible to themselves by their own
contrivance, adorned only with clouts and rags; and that this should be
the effect of mere ignorance, wrought up into hellish devotion by the
devil himself; who, envying his Maker the homage and adoration of his
creatures, had deluded them into such gross, surfeiting, sordid, and
brutish things, as one would think should shock nature itself.
But what signified all the astonishment and reflection of thoughts? Thus
it was, and I saw it before my eyes; and there was no room to wonder at
it, or think it impossible. All my admiration turned to rage; and I rode
up to the image or monster, call it what you will, and with my sword cut
the bonnet that was on its head in two in the middle, so that it hung
down by one of the horns; and one of our men that was with me, took hold
of the sheep skin that covered it, and pulled at it, when, behold, a
most hideous outcry and howling ran through the village, and two or
three hundred people came about my ears, so that I was glad to scour for
it; for we saw some had bows and arrows; but I resolved from that moment
to visit them again.
Our caravan rested three nights at the town, which was about four miles
off, in order to provide some horses, which they wanted, several of the
horses having been lamed and jaded with the badness of the way, and our
long march over the last desert; so we had some leisure here to put my
design in execution. I communicated my project to the Scots merchant, of
Moscow, of whose courage I had had a sufficient testimony, as above. I
told him what I had seen, and with what indignation I had since thought
that human nature could be so degenerate. I told him, I was resolved,
if I could get but four or five men well armed to go with me, to go and
destroy that vile, abominable idol; to let them see, that it had no
power to help itself, and consequently could not be an object of
worship, or to be prayed to, much less help them that offered
sacrifices to it.
He laughed at me: said he, "Your zeal may be good; but what do you
propose to yourself by it?"--"Propose!" said I: "to vindicate the
honour of God, which is insulted by this devil-worship."--"But how will
it vindicate the honour of God," said he, "while the people will not be
able to know what you mean by it, unless you could speak to them too,
and tell them so? and then they will fight you too, I will assure you,
for they are desperate fellows, and that especially in defence of their
idolatry."--"Can we not," said I, "do it in the night, and then leave
them the reasons in writing, in their own language?"--"Writing!" said
he; "why, there is not in five nations of them one man that knows any
thing of a letter, or how to read a word in any language, or in their
own."--"Wretched ignorance!" said I to him: "however, I have a great
mind to do it; perhaps nature may draw inferences from it to them, to
let them see how brutish they are to worship such horrid things."--"Look
you, Sir," said he; "if your zeal prompts you to it so warmly, you must
do it; but in the next place, I would have you consider these wild
nations of people are subjected by force to the czar of Muscovy's
dominion; and if you do this, it is ten to one but they will come by
thousands to the governor of Nertzinskay, and complain, and demand
satisfaction; and if he cannot give them satisfaction, it is ten to one
but they revolt; and it will occasion a new war with all the Tartars in
the country."
This, I confess, put new thoughts into my head for a while; but I harped
upon the same string still; and all that day I was uneasy to put my
project in execution. Towards the evening the Scots merchant met me by
accident in our walk about the town, and desired to speak with me: "I
believe," said he, "I have put you off your good design; I have been a
little concerned about it since; for I abhor the idol and idolatry as
much as you can do."--"Truly," said I, "you have put it off a little, as
to the execution of it, but you have not put it all out of my thoughts;
and, I believe, I shall do it still before I quit this place, though I
were to be delivered up to them for satisfaction."--"No, no," said he,
"God forbid they should deliver you up to such a crew of monsters! they
shall not do that neither; that would be murdering you indeed."--"Why,"
said I, "how would they use me?"--"Use you!" said he: "I'll tell you how
they served a poor Russian, who affronted them in their worship just as
you did, and whom they took prisoner, after they had lamed him with an
arrow, that he could not run away: they took him and stripped him stark
naked, and set him upon the top of the idol monster, and stood all round
him, and shot as many arrows into him as would stick over his whole
body; and then they burnt him, and all the arrows sticking in him, as a
sacrifice to the idol."--"And was this the same idol:" said I.--"Yes,"
said he, "the very same."--"Well," said I, "I will tell you a story." So
I related the story of our men at Madagascar, and how they burnt and
sacked the village there, and killed man, woman, and child, for their
murdering one of our men, just as it is related before; and when I had
done, I added, that I thought we ought to do so to this village.
He listened very attentively to the story; but when I talked of doing so
to that village, said he, "You mistake very much; it was not this
village, it was almost a hundred miles from this place; but it was the
same idol, for they carry him about in procession all over the
country."--"Well," said I, "then that idol ought to be punished for it;
and it shall," said I, "if I live this night out."
In a word, finding me resolute, he liked the design, and told me, I
should not go alone, but he would go with me; but he would go first,
and bring a stout fellow, one of his countrymen, to go also with us;
"and one," said he, "as famous for his zeal as you can desire any one to
be against such devilish things as these." In a word, he brought me his
comrade a Scotsman, whom he called Captain Richardson; and I gave him a
full account of what I had seen, and also what I intended; and he told
me readily, he would go with me, if it cost him his life. So we agreed
to go, only we three. I had, indeed, proposed it to my partner, but he
declined it. He said, he was ready to assist me to the utmost, and upon
all occasions, for my defence; but that this was an adventure quite out
of his way: so, I say, we resolved upon our work, only we three, and my
man-servant, and to put it in execution that night about midnight, with
all the secresy imaginable.
However, upon second thoughts, we were willing to delay it till the next
night, because the caravan being to set forward in the morning, we
supposed the governor could not pretend to give them any satisfaction
upon us when we were out of his power. The Scots merchant, as steady in
his resolution to enterprise it as bold in executing, brought me a
Tartar's robe or gown of sheep-skins, and a bonnet, with a bow and
arrows, and had provided the same for himself and his countryman, that
the people, if they saw us, should not be able to determine who we were.
All the first night we spent in mixing up some combustible matter with
aqua-vitae, gunpowder, and such other materials as we could get; and,
having a good quantity of tar in a little pot, about an hour after night
we set out upon our expedition.
We came to the place about eleven o'clock at night, and found that the
people had not the least jealousy of danger attending their idol. The
night was cloudy; yet the moon gave us light enough to see that the idol
stood just in the same posture and place that it did before. The people
seemed to be all at their rest; only, that in the great hut, or tent as
we called it, where we saw the three priests, whom we mistook for
butchers, we saw a light, and going up close to the door, we heard
people talking, as if there were five or six of them; we concluded,
therefore, that if we set wildfire to the idol, these men would come out
immediately, and run up to the place to rescue it from the destruction
that we intended for it; and what to do with them we knew not. Once we
thought of carrying it away, and setting fire to it at a distance, but
when we came to handle it we found it too bulky for our carriage; so we
were at a loss again. The second Scotsman was for setting fire to the
tent or hut, and knocking the creatures that were there on the head,
when they came out; but I could not join with that; I was against
killing them, if it was possible to be avoided. "Well then," said the
Scots merchant, "I will tell you what we will do; we will try to make
them prisoners, tie their hands, and make them stand and see their idol
destroyed."
As it happened, we had twine or packthread enough about us, which we
used to tie our fire-works together with; so we resolved to attack these
people first, and with as little noise as we could. The first thing we
did, we knocked at the door, when one of the priests coming to it, we
immediately seized upon him, stopped his mouth, and tied his hands
behind him, and led him to the idol, where we gagged him that he might
not make a noise, tied his feet also together, and left him on
the ground.
Two of us then waited at the door, expecting that another would come out
to see what the matter was; but we waited so long till the third man
came back to us; and then nobody coming out, we knocked again gently,
and immediately out came two more, and we served them just in the same
manner, but were obliged to go all with them, and lay them down by the
idol some distance from one another; when going back we found two more
were come out to the door, and a third stood behind them within the
door. We seized the two, and immediately tied them, when the third
stepping back, and crying out, my Scots merchant went in after him, and
taking out a composition we had made, that would only smoke and stink,
he set fire to it, and threw it in among them: by that time the other
Scotsman and my man taking charge of the two men already bound, and tied
together also by the arm, led them away to the idol, and left them
there, to see if their idol would relieve them, making haste back to us.
When the furze we had thrown in had filled the hut with so much smoke
that they were almost suffocated, we then threw in a small leather bag
of another kind, which flamed like a candle, and following it in, we
found there were but four people left, who, it seems, were two men and
two women, and, as we supposed, had been about some of their diabolic
sacrifices. They appeared, in short, frighted to death, at least so as
to sit trembling and stupid, and not able to speak neither, for
the smoke.
In a word, we took them, bound them as we had the other, and all without
any noise, I should have said, we brought them out of the house, or hut,
first; for, indeed, we were not able to bear the smoke any; more than
they were. When we had done this, we carried them all together to the
idol: when we came there we fell to work with him; and first we daubed
him all over, and his robes also, with tar, and such other stuff as we
had, which was tallow mixed with brimstone; then we stopped his eyes,
and ears, and, mouth full of gunpowder; then we wrapped up a great piece
of wildfire in his bonnet; and then sticking all the combustibles we had
brought with us upon; him, we looked about to see if we could find any
thing else to help to burn him; when my Scotsman remembered that by the
tent, or hut, where the men were, there lay a heap of dry forage,
whether straw or rushes I do not remember: away he and the other
Scotsman ran, and fetched their arms full of that. When we had done
this, we took all our prisoners, and brought them, having untied their
feet and ungagged their mouths, and made them stand up, and set them
all before their monstrous idol, and then set fire to the whole.
We stayed by it a quarter of an hour, or thereabouts, til the powder in
the eyes, and mouth, and ears of the idol blew up, and, as we could
perceive, had split and deformed the shape of it; and, in a word, till
we saw it burnt into a mere block or log of wood; and then igniting the
dry forage to it, we found it would be soon quite consumed; so we began
to think of going away; but the Scotsman said, "No, we must not go, for
these poor deluded wretches will all throw themselves into the fire, and
burn themselves with the idol." So we resolved to stay till the forage
was burnt down too, and then we came away and left them.
In the morning we appeared among our fellow-travellers, exceeding busy
in getting ready for our journey; nor could any man suggest that we had
been any where but in our beds, as travellers might be supposed to be,
to fit themselves for the fatigues of that day's journey.
But it did not end so; for the next day came a great multitude of the
country people, not only of this village, but of a hundred more, for
aught I know, to the town-gates; and in a most outrageous manner
demanded satisfaction of the Russian governor, for the insulting their
priests, and burning their great Cham-Chi-Thaungu; such a hard name they
gave the monstrous creature they worshipped. The people of Nertzinskay
were at first in a great consternation; for they said the Tartars were
no less than thirty thousand, and that in a few days more they would be
one hundred thousand stronger.
The Russian governor sent out messengers to appease them, and gave them
all the good words imaginable. He assured them he knew nothing of it,
and that there had not a soul of his garrison been abroad; that it could
not be from any body there; and if they would let him know who it was,
he should be exemplarily punished. They returned haughtily, That all the
country reverenced the great Cham-Chi-Thaungu, who dwelt in the son,
and no mortal would have dared to offer violence to his image, but some
Christian miscreant; so they called them, it seems; and they therefore
denounced war against him, and all the Russians, who, they said, were
miscreants and Christians.
The governor, still patient, and unwilling to make a breach, or to have
any cause of war alleged to be given by him, the czar having straitly
charged him to treat the conquered country with gentleness and civility,
gave them still all the good words he could; at last he told them, there
was a caravan gone towards Russia that morning, and perhaps it was some
of them who had done them this injury; and that, if they would be
satisfied with that, he would send after them, to inquire into it. This
seemed to appease them a little; and accordingly the governor sent after
us, and gave us a particular account how the thing was, intimating
withal, that if any in our caravan had done it, they should make their
escape; but that whether they had done it or no, we should make all the
haste forward that was possible; and that in the meantime he would keep
them in play as long as he could.
This was very friendly in the governor. However, when it came to the
caravan, there was nobody knew any thing of the matter; and, as for us
that were guilty, we were the least of all suspected; none so much as
asked us the question; however, the captain of the caravan, for the
time, took the hint that the governor gave us, and we marched or
travelled two days and two nights without any considerable stop, and
then we lay at a village called Plothus; nor did we make any long stop
here, but hastened on towards Jarawena, another of the czar of Muscovy's
colonies, and where we expected we should be safe; but it is to be
observed, that here we began, for two or three days march, to enter upon
a vast nameless desert, of which I shall say more in its place; and
which if we had now been upon it, it is more than probable we had been
all destroyed. It was the second day's march from Plothus that by the
clouds of dust behind us at a great distance, some of our people began
to be sensible we were pursued; we had entered the desert, and had
passed by a great lake, called Schanks Osier, when we perceived a very
great body of horse appear on the other side of the lake to the north,
we travelling west. We observed they went away west, as we did; but had
supposed we should have taken that side of the lake, whereas we very
happily took the south side: and in two days more we saw them not, for
they, believing we were still before them, pushed on, till they came to
the river Udda: this is a very great river when it passes farther north,
but when we came to it, we found it narrow and fordable.
The third day they either found their mistake, or had intelligence of
us, and came pouring in upon us towards the dusk of the evening. We had,
to our great satisfaction, just pitched upon a place for our camp, which
was very convenient for the night; for as we were upon a desert, though
but at the beginning of it, that was above five hundred miles over, we
had no towns to lodge at, and, indeed, expected none but the city of
Jarawena, which we had yet two days march to; the desert, however, had
some few woods in it on this side, and little river, which ran all into
the great river Udda. It was in a narrow strait, between two small but
very thick woods, that we pitched our little camp for that night,
expecting to be attacked in the night.
Nobody knew but ourselves what we were pursued for; but as it was usual
for the Mogul Tartars to go about in troops in that desert, so the
caravans always fortify themselves every night against them, as against
armies of robbers; and it was therefore no new thing to be pursued.
But we had this night, of all the nights of our travels, a most
advantageous camp; for we lay between two woods, with a little rivulet
running just before our front; so that we could not be surrounded or
attacked any way, but in our front or rear: we took care also to make
our front as strong as we could, by placing our packs, with our camels
and horses, all in a line on the side of the river, and we felled some
trees in our rear.
In this posture we encamped for the night; but the enemy was upon us
before we had finished our situation: they did not come on us like
thieves, as we expected, but sent three messengers to us, to demand the
men to be delivered to them, that had abused their priests, and burnt
their god Cham-Chi-Thaungu, that they might burn them with fire; and,
upon this, they said, they would go away, and do us no farther harm,
otherwise they would burn us all with fire. Our men looked very blank at
this message, and began to stare at one another, to see who looked with
most guilt in their faces, but, _nobody_ was the word, nobody did it.
The leader of the caravan sent word, he was well assured it was not
done, by any of our camp; that we were peaceable merchants, travelling
on our business; that we had done no harm to them, or to any one else;
and therefore they must look farther for their enemies, who had injured
them, for we were not the people; so desired them not to disturb us;
for, if they did, we should defend ourselves.
They were far from being satisfied with this for an answer, and a great
crowd of them came down in the morning, by break of day, to our camp;
but, seeing us in such an advantageous situation, they durst come no
farther than the brook in our front, where they stood, and shewed us
such a number, as, indeed, terrified us very much; for those that spoke
least of them, spoke of ten thousand. Here they stood, and looked at us
awhile, and then setting up a great howl, they let fly a cloud of arrows
among us; but we were well enough fortified for that, for we were
sheltered under our baggage; and I do not remember that one man of
us was hurt.
Some time after this we saw them move a little to our right, and
expected them on the rear, when a cunning fellow, a Cossack, as they
call them, of Jarawena, in the pay of the Muscovites, calling to the
leader of the caravan, said to him, "I will send all these people away
to Sibeilka." This was a city four or five days journey at least to the
south, and rather behind us. So he takes his bow and arrows, and,
getting on horseback, he rides away from our rear directly, as it were,
back to Nertzinskay; after this, he takes a great circuit about, and
comes to the army of the Tartars, as if he had been sent express to tell
them a long story, that the people who had burnt their Cham-Chi-Thaungu
were gone to Sibeilka, with a caravan of miscreants, as he called them;
that is to say, Christians; and that they were resolved to burn the god
Seal Isarg, belonging to the Tonguses.
As this fellow was a mere Tartar, and perfectly spoke their language, he
counterfeited so well, that they all took it from him, and away they
drove, in a most violent hurry, to Sibeilka, which, it seems, was five
days journey to the south; and in less than three hours they were
entirely out of our sight, and we never heard any more of them, nor ever
knew whether they went to that other place called Sibeilka or no.
So we passed safely on to the city of Jarawena, where there was a
garrison of Muscovites; and there we rested five days, the caravan being
exceedingly fatigued with the last day's march, and with want of rest in
the night.
From this city we had a frightful desert, which held us three-and-twenty
days march. We furnished ourselves with some tents here, for the better
accommodating ourselves in the night; and the leader of the caravan
procured sixteen carriages, or waggons, of the country, for carrying our
water and provisions; and these carriages were our defence every night
round our little camp; so that had the Tartars appeared, unless they had
been very numerous indeed, they would not have been able to hurt us.
We may well be supposed to want rest again after this long journey; for
in this desert we saw neither house or tree, or scarce a bush: we saw,
indeed, abundance of the sable-hunters, as they called them. These are
all Tartars of the Mogul Tartary, of which this country is a part; and
they frequently attack small caravans; but we saw no numbers of them
together. I was curious to see the sable skins they catched; but I could
never speak with any of them; for they durst not come near us; neither
durst we straggle from our company to go near them.
After we had passed this desert, we came into a country pretty well
inhabited; that is to say, we found towns and castles settled by the
czar of Muscovy, with garrisons of stationary soldiers to protect the
caravans, and defend the country against the Tartars, who would
otherwise make it very dangerous travelling; and his czarish majesty has
given such strict orders for the well guarding the caravans and
merchants, that if there are any Tartars heard of in the country,
detachments of the garrison are always sent to see travellers safe from
station to station.
And thus the governor of Adinskoy, whom I had an opportunity to make a
visit to, by means of the Scots merchant, who was acquainted with him,
offered us a guard of fifty men, if we thought there was any danger, to
the next station.
I thought long before this, that as we came nearer to Europe we should
find the country better peopled, and the people more civilized; but I
found myself mistaken in both, for we had yet the nation of the Tonguses
to pass through; where we saw the same tokens of paganism and barbarity,
or worse, than before; only as they were conquered by the Muscovites,
and entirely reduced, they were not so dangerous; but for the rudeness
of manners, idolatry, and polytheism, no people in the world ever went
beyond them. They are clothed all in skins of beasts, and their houses
are built of the same. You know not a man from a woman, neither by the
ruggedness of their countenances, or their clothes; and in the winter,
when the ground is covered with snow, they live under ground, in houses
like vaults, which have cavities or caves going from one to another.
If the Tartars had their Cham-Chi-Thaungu for a whole village, or
country, these had idols in every hut and every cave; besides, they
worship the stars, the sun, the water, the snow; and, in a word, every
thing that they do not understand, and they understand but very little;
so that almost every element, every uncommon thing, sets them
a-sacrificing.
But I am no more to describe people than countries, any farther than my
own story comes to be concerned in them. I met with nothing peculiar to
myself in all this country, which I reckon was, from the desert which I
spoke of last, at least four hundred miles, half of it being another
desert, which took us up twelve days severe travelling, without house,
tree, or bush; but we were obliged again to carry our own provisions, as
well water as bread. After we were out of this desert, and had travelled
two days, we came to Janezay, a Muscovite city or station, on the great
river Janezay. This river, they told us, parted Europe from Asia, though
our map-makers, as I am told, do not agree to it; however, it is
certainly the eastern boundary of the ancient Siberia, which now makes a
province only of the vast Muscovite empire, but is itself equal in
bigness to the whole empire of Germany.
And yet here I observed ignorance and paganism, still prevailed, except
in the Muscovite garrisons. All the country between the river Oby and
the river Janezay is as entirely pagan, and the people as barbarous, as
the remotest of the Tartars; nay, as any nation, for aught I know, in
Asia or America. I also found, which I observed to the Muscovite
governors, whom I had opportunity to converse with, that the pagans are
not much the wiser, or the nearer Christianity, for being under the
Muscovite government; which they acknowledged was true enough, but, they
said, it was none of their business; that if the czar expected to
convert his Siberian, or Tonguese, or Tartar subjects, it should be
done by sending clergymen among them, not soldiers; and they added, with
more sincerity than I expected, that they found it was not so much the
concern of their monarch to make the people Christians, as it was to
make them subjects.
From this river to the great river Oby, we crossed a wild uncultivated
country; I cannot say 'tis a barbarous soil; 'tis only barren of people,
and wants good management; otherwise it is in itself a most pleasant,
fruitful, and agreeable country. What inhabitants we found in it are all
pagans, except such as are sent among them from Russia; for this is the
country, I mean on both sides the river Oby, whither the Muscovite
criminals, that are not put to death, are banished, and from whence it
is next to impossible they should ever come away.
I have nothing material to say of my particular affairs, till I came to
Tobolski, the capital of Siberia, where I continued some time on the
following occasion:--
We had been now almost seven months on our journey, and winter began to
come on apace; whereupon my partner and I called a council about our
particular affairs, in which we found it proper, considering that we
were bound for England, and not for Moscow, to consider how to dispose
of ourselves. They told us of sledges and rein-deer to carry us over the
snow in the winter-time; and, indeed, they have such things, as it would
be incredible to relate the particulars of, by which means the Russians
travel more in the winter than they can in summer; because in these
sledges they are able to run night and day: the snow being frozen, is
one universal covering to nature, by which the hills, the vales, the
rivers, the lakes, are all smooth, and hard as a stone; and they run
upon the surface, without any regard to what is underneath.
But I had no occasion to push at a winter journey of this kind; I was
bound to England, not to Moscow, and my route lay two ways: either I
must go on as the caravan went, till I came to Jarislaw, and then go
off west for Narva, and the gulf of Finland, and so either by sea or
land to Dantzic, where I might possibly sell my China cargo to good
advantage; or I must leave the caravan at a little town on the Dwina,
from whence I had but six days by water to Archangel, and from thence
might be sure of shipping, either to England, Holland, or Hamburgh.
Now to go any of these journies in the winter would have been
preposterous; for as to Dantzic, the Baltic would be frozen up, and I
could not get passage; and to go by land in those countries, was far
less safe than among the Mogul Tartars; likewise to Archangel, in
October all the ships would be gone from thence, and even the merchants,
who dwell there in summer, retire south to Moscow in the winter, when
the ships are gone; so that I should have nothing but extremity of cold
to encounter, with a scarcity of provisions, and must lie there in an
empty town all the winter: so that, upon the whole, I thought it much my
better way to let the caravan go, and to make provision to winter where
I was, viz. at Tobolski, in Siberia, in the latitude of sixty degrees,
where I was sure of three things to wear out a cold winter with, viz.
plenty of provisions, such as the country afforded, a warm house, with
fuel enough, and excellent company; of all which I shall give a full
account in its place.
I was now in a quite different climate from my beloved island, where I
never felt cold, except when I had my ague; on the contrary, I had much
to do to bear my clothes on my back, and never made any fire but without
doors, for my necessity, in dressing my food, &c. Now I made me three
good vests, with large robes or gowns over them, to hang down to the
feet, and button close to the wrists, and all these lined with furs, to
make them sufficiently warm.
As to a warm house, I must confess, I greatly dislike our way in
England, of making fires in every room in the house, in open chimnies,
which, when the fire was out, always kept the air in the room cold as
the climate. But taking an apartment in a good house in the town, I
ordered a chimney to be built like a furnace, in the centre of six
several rooms, like a stove; the funnel to carry the smoke went up one
way, the door to come at the fire went in another, and all the rooms
were kept equally warm, but no fire seen; like as they heat the bagnios
in England.
By this means we had always the same climate in all the rooms, and an
equal heat was preserved; and how cold soever it was without, it was
always warm within; and yet we saw no fire, nor were ever incommoded
with any smoke.
The most wonderful thing of all was, that it should be possible to meet
with good company here, in a country so barbarous as that of the most
northerly part of Europe, near the Frozen ocean, and within but a very
few degrees of Nova Zembla.
But this being the country where the state criminals of Muscovy, as I
observed before, are all banished; this city was full of noblemen,
princes, gentlemen, colonels, and, in short, all degrees of the
nobility, gentry, soldiery, and courtiers of Muscovy. Here were the
famous prince Galilfken, or Galoffken, and his son; the old general
Robostisky, and several other persons of note, and some ladies.
By means of my Scots merchant, whom, nevertheless, I parted with here, I
made an acquaintance with several of these gentlemen, and some of them
of the first rank; and from these, in the long winter nights, in which I
staid here, I received several agreeable visits. It was talking one
night with a certain prince, one of the banished ministers of state
belonging to the czar of Muscovy, that my talk of my particular case
began. He had been telling me abundance of fine things, of the
greatness, the magnificence, and dominions, and the absolute power of
the emperor of the Russians. I interrupted him, and told him, I was a
greater and more powerful prince than ever the czar of Muscovy was,
though my dominions were not so large, or my people so many. The
Russian grandee looked a little surprised, and fixing his eyes steadily
upon me, began to wonder what I meant.
I told him his wonder would cease when I had explained myself. First, I
told him, I had the absolute disposal of the lives and fortunes of all
my subjects: that notwithstanding my absolute power, I had not one
person disaffected to my government or to my person, in all my
dominions. He shook his head at that, and said, there, indeed, I outdid
the czar of Muscovy. I told him, that all the lands in my kingdom were
my own, and all my subjects were not only my tenants, but tenants at
will; that they would all fight for me to the last drop; and that never
tyrant, for such I acknowledged myself to be, was ever so universally
beloved, and yet so horribly feared, by his subjects.
After amusing them with these riddles in government for awhile, I opened
the case, and told them the story at large of my living in the island,
and how I managed both myself and the people there that were under me,
just as I have since minuted it down. They were exceedingly taken with
the story, and especially the prince, who told me with a sigh, that the
true greatness of life was to be master of ourselves; that he would not
have changed such a state of life as mine, to have been czar of Muscovy,
and that he found more felicity in the retirement he seemed to be
banished to there, than ever he found in the highest authority he
enjoyed in the court of his master the czar: that the height of human
wisdom was to bring our tempers down to our circumstances, and to make a
calm within, under the weight of the greatest storm, without. When he
came first hither, he said, he used to tear the hair from his head, and
the clothes from his back, as others had done before him; but a little
time and consideration had made him look into himself, as well as round
himself, to things without: that he found the mind of man, if it was but
once brought to reflect upon the state of universal life, and how
little this world was concerned in its true felicity, was perfectly
capable of making a felicity for itself, fully satisfying to itself, and
suitable to its own best ends and desires, with but very little
assistance from the world; that air to breathe in, food to sustain life,
clothes for warmth, and liberty for exercise, in order to health,
completed, in his opinion, all that the world could do for us: and
though the greatness, the authority, the riches, and the pleasures,
which some enjoyed in the world, and which he had enjoyed his share of,
had much in them that was agreeable to us, yet he observed, that all
those things chiefly gratified the coarsest of our affections; such as
our ambition, our particular pride, our avarice, our vanity, and our
sensuality; all which were, indeed, the mere product of the worst part
of man, were in themselves crimes, and had in them the seeds of all
manner of crimes; but neither were related to, or concerned with, any of
those virtues that constituted us wise men, or of those graces which
distinguished us as Christians; that being now deprived of all the
fancied felicity which he enjoyed in the full exercise of all those
vices, he said, he was at leisure to look upon the dark side of them,
where he found all manner of deformity; and was now convinced, that
virtue only makes a man truly wise, rich, and great, and preserves him
in the way to a superior happiness in a future state; and in this, he
said, they were more happy in their banishment, than all their enemies
were, who had the full possession of all the wealth and power that they
(the banished) had left behind them.
"Nor, Sir," said he, "do I bring my mind to this politically, by the
necessity of my circumstances, which some call miserable; but if I know
any thing of myself, I would not go back, no not though my master, the
czar, should call me, and offer to reinstate me in all my former
grandeur; I say, I would no more go back to it, than I believe my soul,
when it shall be delivered from this prison of the body, and has had a
taste of the glorious state beyond life, would come back to the gaol of
flesh and blood it is now enclosed in, and leave Heaven to deal in the
dirt and grime of human affairs."
He spake this with so much warmth in his temper, so much earnestness and
motion of his spirits, which were apparent in his countenance, that it
was evident it was the true sense of his soul; and indeed there was no
room to doubt his sincerity.
I told him, I once thought myself a kind of a monarch in my old station,
of which I had given him an account, but that I thought he was not a
monarch only, but a great conqueror; for that he that has got a victory
over his own exorbitant desires, and has the absolute dominion over
himself, and whose reason entirely governs his will, is certainly
greater than he that conquers a city. "But, my lord," said I, "shall I
take the liberty to ask you a question?"--"With all my heart," said he.
"If the door of your liberty was opened," said I, "would not you take
hold of it to deliver yourself from this exile?"
"Hold," said he, "your question is subtle, and requires some serious
just distinctions to give it a sincere answer; and I'll give it you from
the bottom of my heart. Nothing that I know of in this world would move
me to deliver myself from the state of banishment, except these two:
first, the enjoyment of my relations; and secondly, a little warmer
climate. But I protest to you, that to go back to the pomp of the court,
the glory, the power, the hurry of a minister of state; the wealth, the
gaiety, and the pleasures, that is to say, follies of a courtier; if my
master should send me word this moment, that he restores me to all he
banished me from, I protest, if I know myself at all, I would not leave
this wilderness, these deserts, and these frozen lakes, for the palace
of Moscow."
"But, my lord," said I, "perhaps you not only are banished from the
pleasures of the court, and from the power, and authority, and wealth,
you enjoyed before, but you may be absent too from some of the
conveniencies of life; your estate, perhaps, confiscated, and your
effects plundered; and the supplies left you here may not be suitable to
the ordinary demands of life."
"Ay," said he, "that is, as you suppose me to be a lord, or a prince,
&c. So indeed I am; but you are now to consider me only as a man, a
human creature, not at all distinguished from another; and so I can
suffer no want, unless I should be visited with sickness and distempers.
However, to put the question out of dispute; you see our manner; we are
in this place five persons of rank; we live perfectly retired; as suited
to a state of banishment; we have something rescued from the shipwreck
of our fortunes, which keeps us from the mere necessity of hunting for
our food; but the poor soldiers who are here, without that help, live in
as much plenty as we. They go into the woods, and catch sables and
foxes; the labour of a month will maintain them a year; and as the way
of living is not expensive, so it is not hard to get sufficient to
ourselves: so that objection is out of doors."
I have no room to give a full account of the most agreeable conversation
I had with this truly great man; in all which he shewed, that his mind
was so inspired with a superior knowledge of things, so supported by
religion, as well as by a vast share of wisdom, that his contempt of the
world was really as much as he had expressed, and that he was always the
same to the last, as will appear in the story I am going to tell.
I had been here eight months, and a dark dreadful winter I thought it to
be. The cold was so intense, that I could not so much as look abroad
without being wrapt in furs, and a mask of fur before my face, or rather
a hood, with only a hole for breath, and two for sight. The little
daylight we had, as we reckoned, for three months, not above five hours
a day, or six at most; only that the snow lying on the ground
continually, and the weather being clear, it was never quite dark. Our
horses were kept (or rather starved) under ground; and as for our
servants, (for we hired servants here to look after our horses and
ourselves) we had every now and then their fingers and toes to thaw, and
take care of, lest they should mortify and fall off.
It is true, within doors we were warm, the houses being close, the walls
thick, the lights small, and the glass all double. Our food was chiefly
the flesh of deer, dried and cured in the season; good bread enough, but
baked as biscuits; dried fish of several sorts, and some flesh of
mutton, and of buffaloes, which is pretty good beef. All the stores of
provision for the winter are laid up in the summer, and well cured. Our
drink was water mixed with aqua vitae instead of brandy; and, for a
treat, mead instead of wine; which, however, they have excellent good.
The hunters, who ventured abroad all weathers, frequently brought us in
fresh venison, very fat and good; and sometimes bear's flesh, but we did
not much care for the last. We had a good stock of tea, with which we
treated our friends as above; and, in a word, we lived very cheerfully
and well, all things considered.
It was now March, and the days grown considerably longer, and the
weather at least tolerable; so other travellers began to prepare sledges
to carry them over the snow, and to get things ready to be going; but my
measures being fixed, as I have said, for Archangel, and not for Muscovy
or the Baltic, I made no motion, knowing very well, that the ships from
the south do not set out for that part of the world till May or June;
and that if I was there at the beginning of August, it would be as soon
as any ships would be ready to go away; and therefore, I say, I made no
haste to be gone, as others did; in a word, I saw a great many people,
nay, all the travellers, go away before me. It seems, every year they go
from thence to Moscow for trade; viz. to carry furs, and buy necessaries
with them, which they bring back to furnish their shops; also others
went on the same errand to Archangel; but then they also, being to come
back again above eight hundred miles, went all out before me.
In short, about the latter end of May I began to make all ready to pack
up; and as I was doing this, it occurred to me, that seeing all these
people were banished by the czar of Muscovy to Siberia, and yet, when
they came there, were at liberty to go whither they would; why did they
not then go away to any part of the world wherever they thought fit? and
I began to examine what should hinder them from making such an attempt.
But my wonder was over, when I entreated upon that subject with the
person I have mentioned, who answered me thus: "Consider, first," said
he, "the place where we are; and, secondly, the condition we are in;
especially," said he, "the generality of the people who are banished
hither. We are surrounded," said he, "with stronger things than bars and
bolts: on the north side is an unnavigable ocean, where ship never
sailed, and boat never swam; neither, if we had both, could we know
whither to go with them. Every other way," said he, "we have above a
thousand miles to pass through the czar's own dominions, and by ways
utterly impassable, except by the roads made by the government, and
through the towns garrisoned by its troops; so that we could neither
pass undiscovered by the road, or subsist any other way: so that it is
in vain to attempt it."
I was silenced indeed, at once, and found that they were in a prison,
every jot as secure as if they had been locked up in the castle of
Moscow; however, it came into my thoughts, that I might certainly be
made an instrument to procure the escape of this excellent person, and
that it was very easy for me to carry him away, there being no guard
over him in the country; and as I was not going to Moscow, but to
Archangel, and that I went in the nature of a caravan, by which I was
not obliged to lie in the stationary towns in the desert, but could
encamp every night where I would, might easily pass uninterrupted to
Archangel, where I could immediately secure him on board an English or
Dutch ship, and carry him off safe along with me; and as to his
subsistence, and other particulars, that should be my care, till he
should better supply himself.
He heard me very attentively, and looked earnestly on me all the while I
spoke; nay, I could see in his very face, that what I said put his
spirits into an exceeding ferment; his colour frequently changed, his
eyes looked red, and his heart fluttered, that it might be even
perceived in his countenance; nor could he immediately answer me when I
had done, and, as it were, expected what he would say to it; and after
he had paused a little, he embraced me, and said, "How unhappy are we!
unguided creatures as we are, that even our greatest acts of friendship
are made snares to us, and we are made tempters of one another! My dear
friend," said he, "your offer is so sincere, has such kindness in it, is
so disinterested in itself, and is so calculated for my advantage, that
I must have very little knowledge of the world, if I did not both wonder
at it, and acknowledge the obligation I have upon me to you for it: but
did you believe I was sincere in what I have so often said to you of my
contempt of the world? Did you believe I spoke my very soul to you, and
that I had really maintained that degree of felicity here, that had
placed me above all that the world could give me, or do for me? Did you
believe I was sincere, when I told you I would not go back, if I was
recalled even to be all that once I was in the court, and with the
favour of the czar my master? Did you believe me, my friend, to be an
honest man, or did you think me to be a boasting hypocrite?" Here he
stopped, as if he would hear what I would say; but, indeed, I soon after
perceived, that he stopped because his spirits were in motion: his heart
was full of struggles, and he could not go on. I was, I confess,
astonished at the thing, as well as at the man, and I used some
arguments with him to urge him to set himself free; that he ought to
look upon this as a door opened by Heaven for his deliverance, and a
summons by Providence, who has the care and good disposition of all
events, to do himself good, and to render himself useful in the world.
He had by this time recovered himself. "How do you know, Sir," said he,
warmly, "but that, instead of a summons from Heaven, it may be a feint
of another instrument, representing, in all the alluring colours to me,
the show of felicity as a deliverance, which may in itself be my snare,
and tend directly to my ruin? Here I am free from the temptation of
returning to my former miserable greatness; there I am not sure, but
that all the seeds of pride, ambition, avarice, and luxury, which I know
remain in my nature, may revive and take root, and, in a word, again
overwhelm me; and then the happy prisoner, whom you see now master of
his soul's liberty, shall be the miserable slave of his own senses, in
the full possession of all personal liberty. Dear Sir, let me remain in
this blessed confinement, banished from the crimes of life, rather than
purchase a show of freedom at the expense of the liberty of my reason,
and at the expense of the future happiness which now I have in my view,
but shall then, I fear, quickly lose sight of; for I am but flesh, a
man, a mere man, have passions and affections as likely to possess and
overthrow me as any man: O be not my friend and my tempter both
together!"
If I was surprised before, I was quite dumb now, and stood silent,
looking at him; and, indeed, admired what I saw. The struggle in his
soul was so great, that, though the weather was extremely cold, it put
him into a most violent sweat, and I found he wanted to give vent to his
mind; so I said a word or two, that I would leave him to consider of it,
and wait on him again; and then I withdrew to my own apartment.
About two hours after, I heard somebody at or near the door of the room,
and I was going to open the door; but he had opened it, and come in: "My
dear friend," said he, "you had almost overset me, but I am recovered:
do not take it ill that I do not close with your offer; I assure you, it
is not for want of a sense of the kindness of it in you; and I come to
make the most sincere acknowledgment of it to you; but, I hope, I have
got the victory over myself."
"My lord," said I, "I hope you are fully satisfied, that you did not
resist the call of Heaven."--"Sir," said he, "if it had been from
Heaven, the same power would have influenced me to accept it; but I
hope, and am fully satisfied, that it is from Heaven that I decline it;
and I have an infinite satisfaction in the parting, that you shall leave
me an honest man still, though not a free man."
I had nothing to do but to acquiesce, and make profession to him of my
having no end in it, but a sincere desire to serve him. He embraced me
very passionately, and assured me, he was sensible of that, and should
always acknowledge it: and with that he offered me a very fine present
of sables, too much indeed for me to accept from a man in his
circumstances; and I would have avoided them, but he would not
be refused.
The next morning I sent my servant to his lordship, with a small present
of tea, two pieces of China damask, and four little wedges of Japan
gold, which, did not all weigh above six ounces, or thereabouts; but
were far short of the value of his sables, which indeed, when I came to
England, I found worth near two hundred pounds. He accepted the tea, and
one piece of the damask, and one of the pieces of gold, which had a fine
stamp upon it, of the Japan coinage, which I found he took for the
rarity of it, but would not take any more; and sent word by my servant,
that he desired to speak with me.
When I came to him, he told me, I knew what had passed between us, and
hoped I would not move him any more in that affair; but that, since I
made such a generous offer to him, he asked me, if I had kindness enough
to offer the same to another person that he would name to me, in whom
he had a great share of concern. I told him, that I could not say I
inclined to do so much for any one but himself, for whom I had a
particular value, and should have been glad to have been the instrument
of his deliverance: however, if he would please to name the person to
me, I would give him my answer, and hoped he would not be displeased
with me, if he was with my answer. He told me, it was only his son, who,
though I had not seen, yet was in the same condition with himself, and
above two hundred miles from him, on the other side the Oby; but that,
if I consented, he would send for him.
I made no hesitation, but told him I would do it. I made some ceremony
in letting him understand that it was wholly on his account; and that
seeing I could not prevail on him, I would shew my respect to him by my
concern for his son: but these things are too tedious to repeat here. He
sent away the next day for his son, and in about twenty days he came
back with the messenger, bringing six or seven horses loaded with very
rich furs, and which, in the whole, amounted to a very great value.
His servants brought the horses into the town, but left the young lord
at a distance till night, when he came _incognito_ into our apartment,
and his father presented him to me; and, in short, we concerted there
the manner of our travelling, and every thing proper for the journey.
I had bought a considerable quantity of sables, black fox-skins, fine
ermines, and such other furs that are very rich; I say, I had bought
them in that city for exchange for some of the goods brought from China;
in particular, for the cloves and nutmegs, of which I sold the greatest
part here; and the rest afterwards at Archangel, for a much better price
than I could have done at Louden; and my partner, who was sensible of
the profit, and whose business, more particularly than mine, was
merchandise, was mightily pleased with our stay, on account of the
traffic we made here.
It was in the beginning of June when I left this remote place, a city,
I believe, little heard of in the world; and, indeed, it is so far out
of the road of commerce, that I know not how it should be much talked
of. We were now come to a very small caravan, being only thirty-two
horses and camels in all, and all of them passed for mine, though my new
guest was proprietor of eleven of them. It was most natural also, that I
should take more servants with me than I had before, and the young lord
passed for my steward; what great man I passed for myself I know not,
neither did it concern me to inquire. We had here the worst and the
largest desert to pass over that we met with in all the journey; indeed
I call it the worst, because the way was very deep in some places, and
very uneven in others; the best we had to say for it was, that we
thought we had no troops of Tartars and robbers to fear, and that they
never came on this side the river Oby, or at least but very seldom; but
we found it otherwise.
My young lord had with him a faithful Muscovite servant, or rather a
Siberian servant, who was perfectly acquainted with the country; and who
led us by private roads, that we avoided coming into the principal towns
and cities upon the great road, such as Tumen, Soloy Kamaskoy, and
several others; because the Muscovite garrisons, which are kept there,
are very curious and strict in their observation upon travellers, and
searching lest any of the banished persons of note should make their
escape that way into Muscovy; but by this means, as we were kept out of
the cities, so our whole journey was a desert, and we were obliged to
encamp and lie in our tents, when we might have had good accommodation
in the cities on the way: this the young lord was so sensible of, that
he would not allow us to lie abroad, when we came to several cities on
the way; but lay abroad himself, with his servant, in the woods, and met
us always at the appointed places.
We were just entered Europe, having passed the river Kama, which, in
these parts, is the boundary between Europe and Asia; and the first city
on the European side was called Soloy Kamaskoy, which is as much as to
say, the great city on the river Kama; and here we thought to have seen
some evident alteration in the people, their manners, their habit, their
religion, and their business; but we were mistaken; for as we had a vast
desert to pass, which, by relation, is near seven hundred miles long in
some places, but not above two hundred miles over where we passed it;
so, till we came past that horrible place, we found very little
difference between that country and the Mogul Tartary; the people mostly
Pagans, and little better than the savages of America; their houses and
towns full of idols, and their way of living wholly barbarous, except in
the cities as above, and the villages near them; where they are
Christians, as they call themselves, of the Greek church; but even these
have their religion mingled with so many relics of superstition, that it
is scarce to be known in some places from mere sorcery and witchcraft.
In passing this forest, I thought indeed we must, after all our dangers
were, in our imagination, escaped, as before, have been plundered and
robbed, and perhaps murdered, by a troop of thieves: of what country
they were; whether the roving bands of the Ostiachi, a kind of Tartars,
or wild people on the banks of the Oby, had ranged thus far; or whether
they were the sable-hunters of Siberia, I am yet at a loss to know; but
they were all on horseback, carried bows and arrows, and were at first
about five-and-forty in number. They came so near to us as within about
two musket shot; and, asking no questions, they surrounded us with their
horses, and looked very earnestly upon us twice. At length they placed
themselves just in our way; upon which we drew up in a little line
before our camels, being not above sixteen men in all; and being drawn
up thus, we halted, and sent out the Siberian servant who attended his
lord, to see who they were: his master was the more willing to let him
go, because he was not a little apprehensive that they were a Siberian
troop sent out after him. The man came up near them with a flag of
truce, and called to them; but though he spoke several of their
languages, or dialects of languages rather, he could not understand a
word they said: however, after some signs to him not to come nearer to
them at his peril, so he said he understood them to mean, offering to
shoot at him if he advanced, the fellow came back no wiser than he went,
only that by their dress, he said, he believed them to be some Tartars
of Kalmuck, or of the Circassian hordes; and that there must be more of
them on the great desert, though he never heard that ever any of them
were seen so far north before.
This was small comfort to us; however, we had no remedy: there was on
our left hand, at about a quarter of a mile's distance, a little grove
or clump of trees, which stood close together, and very near the road; I
immediately resolved we should advance to those trees, and fortify
ourselves as well as we could there; for, first, I considered that the
trees would in a great measure cover us from their arrows; and in the
next place, they could not come to charge us in a body: it was, indeed,
my old Portuguese pilot who proposed it; and who had this excellency
attending him, namely, that he was always readiest and most apt to
direct and encourage us in cases of the most danger. We advanced
immediately with what speed we could, and gained that little wood, the
Tartars, or thieves, for we knew not what to call them, keeping their
stand, and not attempting to hinder us. When we came thither, we found,
to our great satisfaction, that it was a swampy, springy piece of
ground, and, on the other side, a great spring of water, which, running
out in a little rill or brook, was a little farther joined by another of
the like bigness; and was, in short, the head or source of a
considerable river, called afterwards the Wirtska. The trees which grew
about this spring were not in all above two hundred, but were very
large, and stood pretty thick; so that as soon as we got in, we saw
ourselves perfectly safe from the enemy, unless they alighted and
attacked us on foot.
But to make this more difficult, our Portuguese, with indefatigable
application, cut down great arms of the trees, and laid them hanging,
not cut quite off, from one tree to another; so that he made a continued
fence almost round us.
We staid here, waiting the motion of the enemy some hours, without
perceiving they made any offer to stir; when about two hours before
night, they came down directly upon us; and, though we had not perceived
it, we found they had been joined by some more of the same, so that they
were near fourscore horse, whereof, however, we fancied some were women.
They came in till they were within half a shot of our little wood, when
we fired one musket without ball, and called to them in the Russian
tongue, to know what they wanted, and bid them keep off; but, as if they
knew nothing of what we said, they came on with a double fury directly
to the wood-side, not imagining we were so barricaded, that they could
not break in. Our old pilot was our captain, as well as he had been our
engineer; and desired of us, not to fire upon them till they came within
pistol shot, that we might be sure to kill; and that, when we did fire,
we should be sure to take good aim. We bade him give the word of
command; which he delayed so long, that they were, some of them, within
two pikes length of us when we fired.
We aimed so true, (or Providence directed our shot so sure) that we
killed fourteen of them at the first volley, and wounded several others,
as also several of their horses; for we had all of us loaded our pieces
with two or three bullets apiece at least.
They were terribly surprised with our fire, and retreated immediately
about one hundred rods from us; in which time we loaded our pieces
again, and, seeing them keep that distance, we sallied out, and caught
four or five of their horses, whose riders, we supposed, were killed;
and coming up to the dead, we could easily perceive they were Tartars,
but knew not from what country, or how they came to make an excursion
such an unusual length.
About an hour after, they made a motion to attack us again, and rode
round our little wood, to see where else they might break in; but
finding us always ready to face them, they went off again, and we
resolved not to stir from the place for that night.
We slept but little, you may be sure; but spent the most part of the
night in strengthening our situation, and barricading the entrances into
the wood; and, keeping a strict watch, we waited for daylight, and, when
it came, it gave us a very unwelcome discovery indeed: for the enemy,
who we thought were discouraged with the reception they had met with,
were now increased to no less than three hundred, and had set up eleven
or twelve huts and tents, as if they were resolved to besiege us; and
this little camp they had pitched, was upon the open plain, at about
three quarters of a mile from us. We were indeed surprised at this
discovery; and now, I confess, I gave myself over for lost, and all that
I had. The loss of my effects did not lie so near me (though they were
very considerable) as the thoughts of falling into the hands of such
barbarians, at the latter end of my journey, after so many difficulties
and hazards as I had gone through; and even in sight of our port, where
we expected safety and deliverance. As for my partner, he was raging: he
declared, that to lose his goods would be his ruin; and he would rather
die than be starved; and he was for fighting to the last drop.
The young lord, as gallant as ever flesh shewed itself, was for fighting
to the last also; and my old pilot was of the opinion we were able to
resist them all, in the situation we then were in: and thus we spent the
day in debates of what we should do; but towards evening, we found that
the number of our enemies still increased: perhaps, as they were abroad
in several parties for prey, the first had sent out scouts to call for
help, and to acquaint them of their booty; and we did not know but by
the morning they might still be a greater number; so I began to inquire
of those people we had brought from Tobolski, if there were no other, or
more private ways, by which we might avoid them in the night, and
perhaps either retreat to some town, or get help to guard us over
the desert.
The Siberian, who was servant to the young lord, told us, if we designed
to avoid them, and not fight, he would engage to carry us off in the
night to a way that went north towards the river Petraz, by which he
made no doubt but we might get away, and the Tartars never the wiser;
but he said, his lord had told him he would not return, but would rather
choose to fight. I told him, he mistook his lord; for that he was too
wise a man to love fighting for the sake of it; that I knew his lord was
brave enough by what he had shewed already; but that his lord knew
better than to desire to have seventeen or eighteen men fight five
hundred, unless an unavoidable necessity forced them to it; and that if
he thought it possible for us to escape in the night, we had nothing
else to do but to attempt it. He answered, if his lord gave him such
order, he would lose his life if he did not perform it. We soon brought
his lord to give that order, though privately, and we immediately
prepared for the putting it in practice.
And first, as soon as it began to be dark, we kindled a fire in our
little camp, which we kept burning, and prepared so as to make it burn
all night, that the Tartars might conclude we were still there; but, as
soon as it was dark, that is to say, so as we could see the stars, (for
our guide would not stir before) having all our horses and camels ready
loaded, we followed our new guide, who, I soon found, steered himself by
the pole or north star, all the country being level for a long way.
After we had travelled two hours very hard, it began to be lighter
still; not that it was quite dark all night, but the moon; began to
rise; so that, in short, it was rather lighter than we wished it to be;
but by six o'clock next morning we were gotten near forty miles, though
the truth is, we almost spoiled our horses. Here we found a Russian
village, named Kirmazinskoy, where we rested, and heard, nothing of the
Kalmuck Tartars that day. About two hours before night we set out again,
and travelled till eight the next morning, though not quite so hastily
as before; and about seven o'clock we passed a little river, called
Kirtza, and came to a good large town inhabited by Russians, and very
populous, called Ozomya. There we heard, that several troops or herds of
Kalmucks had been abroad upon the desert, but that we were now
completely out of danger of them, which was to our great satisfaction,
you may be sure. Here we were obliged to get some fresh horses, and
having need enough of rest, we staid five days; and my partner and I
agreed to give the honest Siberian, who brought us hither, the value of
ten pistoles for his conducting us.
In five days more we came to Veussima, upon the river Witzogda, which
running into the river Dwina, we were there very happily near the end of
our travels by land, that river being navigable in seven days passage to
Archangel. From hence we came to Lawrenskoy, where the river joins, the
third of July; and provided ourselves with two luggage-boats, and a
barge, for our convenience. We embarked the seventh, and arrived all
safe at Archangel the eighteenth, having been a year, five months, and
three days on the journey, including our stay of eight months and odd
days at Tobolski.
We were obliged to stay at this place six weeks for the arrival of the
ships, and must have tarried longer, had not a Hamburgher come in above
a month sooner than any of the English ships; when after some
consideration, that the city of Hamburgh might happen to be as good a
market for our goods as London, we all took freight with him; and
having put our goods on board, it was most natural for me to put my
steward, on board to take care of them; by which means my young lord had
a sufficient opportunity to conceal himself, never coming on shore again
in all the time we staid there; and this he did, that he might not be
seen in the city, where some of the Moscow merchants would certainly
have seen and discovered him.
We sailed from Archangel the twentieth of August the same year; and,
after no extraordinary bad voyage, arrived in the Elbe the thirteenth of
September. Here my partner and I found a very good sale for our goods,
as well those of China, as the sables, &c. of Siberia; and dividing the
produce of our effects my share amounted to 3475_l_. 17_s_. 3_d_.
notwithstanding so many losses we had sustained, and charges we had been
at; only remembering that I had included, in this, about 600_l_. worth
of diamonds, which I had purchased at Bengal.
Here the young lord took his leave of us, and went up to the Elbe, in
order to go to the court of Vienna, where he resolved to seek
protection, and where he could correspond with those of his father's
friends who were left alive. He did not part without all the testimonies
he could give of gratitude for the service I had done him, and his sense
of my kindness to the prince his father.
To conclude: having staid near four mouths in Hamburgh, I came from
thence over land to the Hague, where I embarked in the packet, and
arrived in London the tenth of January 1705, having been gone from
England ten years and nine months.
And here, resolving to harass myself no more, I am preparing for a
longer journey than all these, having lived seventy-two years a life of
infinite variety, and learnt sufficiently to know the value of
retirement, and the blessing of ending our days in peace.
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