CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 GIFT OF 
 Hendrick Van Lorn 
 
 ^«4 
 
PR3403.Al''T900'"'""""'"''"^ 
 ^i'imiii!iMi?iU.™i?'""8^ surprising adventur 
 
 3 1924 0irT74''242''' 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013174242 
 
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 

 2^U^ 
 
 S'db 
 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 190P, BY ROBERT HOWARD RUSSELL 
 
Portrait of Daniel Defoe Frontispiece 
 
 A Map of the West Indies, showing the Island of Tab ago x 
 
 If you come near the boat V II shoot you through the head 23 
 
 The sea went dreadful high upon the shore 47 
 At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the 
 
 creek S7 
 I lay . . . in a hammock, which was indeed a very good 
 
 one 69 
 / began . . .to make such necessary things as ... a chair 
 
 and a table 79 
 
 At length I contrived a wheel with a string 97 
 
 ' Call on Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee^ 109 
 
 I gathered a large quantity of the grapes, and hung them up iiy 
 I dug up a piece of ground as well as I could with my 
 
 wooden spade 123 
 
 The shore was covered with innumerable turtles 129 
 
 / diverted myself with talking to my parrot 1 4 1 
 
 I made several things, ...as little round pots, fat dishes, etc. 1 45 
 
 Poor Robin Crusoe ! where are you, Robin Crusoe f 171 
 
 / could . . . cut it in pieces, and bring it home in a basket 175 
 For now I set up my dairy, and had sometimes a gallon 
 
 or two of milk in a day ij() 
 
 I stood like one thunderstruck 1 87 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 I saw lying on the ground a monstrous frightful old he-goat 2 1 1 
 Pulling out my per speSlive-glass, . . . I laid me down flat 
 
 . . . and began to look 217 
 
 T'hey were all dancing . . . round the fire 237 
 
 leaking me by the foot, set my foot upon his head 243 
 
 / took my man Friday with me 247 
 I made him a jerkin of goaf s skin, as well as my skill 
 
 would allow 251 
 
 1 . . . made it my business to teach him everything 255 
 
 We cut and hewed the outside into the true shape of a boat 273 
 I made all these things familiar to him ; and he became an 
 
 expert sailor 277 
 
 T'hey ran about yelling, and screaming, like mad creatures 285 
 When he came a little to himself he told me, that it was 
 
 his father 291 
 
 T'hey might see him hanging at the yard-arm 329 
 Friday got out to the small end of a large limb of the tree, 
 
 and the bear got about half way to him 351 
 
 Out rushed a horse, . . .flying like the wind 357 
 
\HE reason for the issue of yet another "Crusoe^'' 
 lies in the faSl that the artists have decorated the 
 boo\from sketches made especially in the West In- 
 dies for the purpose, and have tried to place before 
 the reader, in the minutest detail, everything to makf; a compkte 
 and perfeSily illustrated, boo\, "^ith numerous borders showing the 
 Flora, Fauna^ and tropical charaBer of the scenes described, as 
 "(pell as to present an idea of the natural aspeSi of the island de- 
 scribed as the scene of the story. ^Many editions heretofore pub- 
 lished ma\e little or no feature of a corre^ tropical country ; in- 
 deed, some h(iv^ used English scenery as a background of Crusoe' s 
 adve.ntures on his island prison. It seems to be a generdl idea that 
 Crusoe's islandvpas Juan Fernandez^ situated at the southern ex- 
 tremity of South America, in the Pacific Ocean,. For that reason a 
 map has been prepared for the present editiori to show at a glance 
 the real location of the island, '^hich is distinSily described in the 
 bqo\, as tpell as qn the title-page of the first edition, as being " at 
 the mouth of the mighty Orinoco, 30 miles N. W, of Tririidad, 
 an island lying just in the Caribbean archipejago." 'The island 
 is now \nown as Tobago. 
 
 In none of the popular editions, so far as I \now, is there a map 
 given or a portrait of the author. We \now Defoe never saw 
 the island, 'fehich is further apparent by the scant description — 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 he makes little or no mention of trees, plants, and fruits, tiehich 
 grow in such rich profusion, and the many ')Darieties of birds 
 and inseSls of gorgeous plumage and color. What local descrip- 
 tion there is, Was doubtless gathered from narratives Toritten by 
 Sir Walter Raleigh and other Elizabethan adventurers, from 
 "Vphich Defoe derived his information about the island, "Which is, 
 after all, Wonderfully true as far as it goes. 
 T'obago is a romantic and lovely island, rich in tropical "per dure, 
 its climate extremely salubrious, the sea breezes cooling the high- 
 lands, which are healthful and pleasant, and though its people 
 are few, and mostly of African descent, they all spea\ the Eng- 
 lish language. 
 
 The portrait of Defoe which appears on the frontispiece is con- 
 sidered to be the best extant, and Was copied from a print in the 
 British Museum. Everything has been done to the best of our 
 ability to ma\e this Wonderful story a presentable, artistic, and 
 beautiful boo\, in the hope that it will meet with a \ind reception 
 from all lovers of Defoe's masterpiece. 
 
 I have aimed, not alone to illustrate tjoe story, but to decorate 
 it as a perfeB whole from cover to cover, within the proper laws 
 of decorative art, and have given my best efforts to the classic 
 upon which Defoe's fame rests, and now offer the correSl render- 
 ing of the story both as to type and piSiures with the text as it 
 first appeared, decorated and embellished With a unity of pur- 
 pose; and in so doing I may add that no small degree of credit 
 is due to my friend Mr. R. H. Russell, whose artistic temper- 
 ament and choice taste has at every point been of unusual Ipalue 
 and help in the ma\e-up of the boo\. 
 
 Louis Rhead. 
 
 September, 1900. 
 
JF ever the story of any private man's adventures 
 
 in the world were worth making public, and 
 
 were acceptable when published, the editor of 
 
 this account thinks this will be so. 
 
 The wonders of this man's life exceed all that (he thinks) 
 
 is to be found extant; the life of one man being scarce ca- 
 
 _pable of a greater variety. 
 
 The story is told with modesty, with seriousness, and with 
 a religious application of events to the uses to which wise 
 men always apply them, viz., to the instruftion of others 
 by this example, and to justify and honour the wisdom of 
 Providence in all the variety of our circumstances, let them 
 happen how they will. y 
 
 The editor believes the thing to be a just history of faft; 
 neither is there any appearance of fidtion in it: and how- 
 ever thinks, because all such things are despatched, that the 
 improvement of it, as well to the diversion as to the instruc- 
 tion of the reader, will be the same; and as such, he thinks, 
 without farther compliment to the world, he does them a 
 great service in the publication. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 .'"^ 
 
 ^1 
 
 vji*i#rs«si 
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 AND ADVENTURES OF 
 
 EOBINSON CRUSOE OF YORK, MARINER 
 
 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 mar- 
 ried my mother, whose relations were named 
 Robinson, a very good family in that country, 
 and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutz- 
 naer; but by the usual corruption of words in 
 England, we are now called, nay we call our- 
 selves, and write our name Crusoe, and so my 
 companions always called me. 
 I had two elder brothers, one of which was 
 
 ^k 
 
 a 
 
 [i] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in Flanders, for- 
 merly 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 gen- 
 erally goes, 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 
 
 ,- 1'.. *?T r- . 
 
 
 friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in that propension 
 of nature tending diredly to the life of misery which was to be- 
 fall 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 subjedt: he asked me 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 what reasons more than A mere wandering inclination I had fot 
 leaving hly father's house and ttly native country, where I might 
 be well intt-oduced, ahd Kad a pi'dSf)e(5t bf raising my fot-tunes by 
 ajiplicatiort dnd industry, with a life bf ease and pleasure. He told 
 me it was foj- ttieti of desjiferate fortunes bn otle hand, or of aspiring, 
 superior fortunes brt th6 Othef, Who went abroad upon adventures, 
 to rise by enterprise, and rtlake thehiselves famous in undertakings 
 of a natUi-e bUt bf the cblttmon rbad ; that these thihgS Were all either 
 too far above hie, bf tob far below me; that mine was the middle 
 state, or what might be tailed the Upper station of low lifej which 
 he had found by long experience was the best state in the Wotld, 
 the most suited to human happiness, not exposed to the miseries 
 and hatdskipB, the labdUr and sufferings bf the mechanic patt of 
 mankind^ ahd hbt ehlbartassedwith the pride, luxury, ambitibn and 
 envy bf the upper part df hlahkind, He tbld me I might judge of 
 the happiness bf this State, by this bne thing, viz., that this was the 
 state bf life Which all bther pebple envied, that kings have fre- 
 quently lamfertted the miserable consequences of being bbrh tb 
 great things, and wished they had been placed in the middle of 
 the two eiktrehies, betwfeSh the mean and the great; that the wise 
 man gave hiS testimbny tb this as the jUst standard of true felicity, 
 when he prayed tb haV-e neither poverty br riches. 
 He bid me bbsefVe it, and I shbUld always find, that the Calamities 
 of life were shared among the upper and Ibwer part of mankind, 
 but that the middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not 
 exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher or Ibwer part of man- 
 kind; hay, they were tibfc subjddted tb So mahy distempers and un- 
 easinesses either of body or mihd, as those were who, by vicious 
 living, luxury and extravagariCes on one hand, or by hard labour, 
 want of necessaries, arid meah br insufficient diet on the other hand, 
 bring distempers Upoh themselves by the natural consequences of 
 their Way b( liVihg; that the middle station of life was calculated 
 for all kinds bf virtues and all kinds of enjoyments; that peace and 
 plenty were the handmaids bf a middle fortune; that temperanCfe, 
 
 [3] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and 
 all desirable pleasures, were the blessings attending the middle sta- 
 tion 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 affedlionate 
 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 recommend- 
 ing to me ; and that if I was not very easy and happy in the world, 
 it must be my mere fate or fault that must hinder it, and that he 
 should have nothing to answer for, having thus discharged his duty 
 in warning me against measures which he knew would be to my 
 hurt: in a word, that as he would do very kind things for me if I 
 would stay and settle at home as he directed; so he would not have 
 so much hand in my misfortunes, as to give me any encourage- 
 ment to go away : and to close all, he told me I had my elder brother 
 for an example, to whom he had used the same earnest persuasions 
 to keep him from going into the Low Country wars, but could not 
 prevail, his young desires prompting him to run into the army, 
 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 refled: upon having negleded his counsel when there 
 might be npne tp asgist in my recovery, 
 
 [4] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I observed in this last part of his discourse, which was truly pro- 
 phetic, though I suppose my father did not know it to be so him- 
 self; 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 alFedted 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 ad: 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 anything 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 
 but 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 
 subjed:; that he knew too well what was my interest to give his 
 consent to anything 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 
 
 [ 5] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 never have their consent to it: that for her part she would not have 
 so much hand in my destrudlion; and I should never have 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 discgurse to him, and that 
 my father, after showing a great aQncem at it, said to her with a 
 sigh. That boy might be happy if he wQuld stay at home, but if 
 he gges abroad he will be the miserablest wretch that was ever 
 barn: I can give no consent to it. 
 
 It was not till almost a year after this that I broke loQse, though 
 in the mean time I continued ohgtinfltely deaf to all proposals of 
 settling to business, and frequently expostulating with my father 
 and mother about their being sp positively determined against what 
 they knew my inclinations prompted me to do, But being one day 
 
 at Hull, where I went casually, 
 and without any purpose of mak- 
 ing an elopement that time; but 
 I say, being there, and one of my 
 Qompanions being going by sea 
 to London? in his father's ship, 
 and prompting me to go with 
 him, with the common allure- 
 ment of seafaring men, viz., that 
 it should cost me nothing for my 
 passage, I consulted neither fa- 
 ther or mother any more, nor 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 cir- 
 cumstances or consequences, and 
 in an ill hour, God knows. On 
 the first of September, 1651, I 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 weht on board a ship bound for London: never any young adven- 
 turer'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 inex- 
 pressibly sick in body, and terrified in my mind: I began now seri- 
 ously to refled: upon what I had done, and how justly I was over- 
 taken by the judgment of Heaven for my wicked leaving my father's 
 house, and abandbning my duty; all thegood counsel of my parents, 
 my father's tears and my inbther's entreaties came now fresh into 
 my rnind, 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 incteased, and the sea, which I had never 
 been upon before, went Very high, though nothing like what I have 
 seen many times since; nb, nor like what I saw a few days after: 
 but it was enough to affed mfe then, who was but a young sailor, 
 and had never known anything of the matter. I exped;ed every 
 wave would have swallowed us up, and that every time the ship 
 fell down, as I thdUght, in the trough or hollow of the sea, we 
 should never rise more; and in this agony of mind, I made many 
 vows and tesolutionSj 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 dire6tly 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 miseriels as these any more. Now Isaw plainly 
 the goodness of his observations about the middle station of life, 
 how easy, how comfbirtably he had lived all his days, and never 
 had been exposed to tetnpests 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 
 
 [7] 
 
THS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 was abated and the sea calmer, and I began to be a little jnured 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 perfe6tly 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 on the shoulder, 'how 
 do you do after it? I warrant you were frighted, wan't you, last 
 
 night, when it blew but a cap- 
 full of wind ? ' ' A capful! do you 
 call it,' said I, ' 'twas a terrible 
 storm.' 'A storm, you fool you,' 
 replies he, 'do you call that a 
 storm? why it was nothing at 
 all; give us but a good ship and 
 sea room, and we think nothing 
 of such a squall of wind as that; 
 but you 're but a fresh-water 
 sailor. Bob; come, let us make 
 a bowl of punch and we '11 for- 
 get all that, d'ye see what charm- 
 ing weather 't is now.' To make 
 short this sad part of my story, 
 we went the old way of all sail- 
 ors, the punch was made, and I 
 was made drunk with it, and in 
 that one night's wickedness I 
 drowned all my repentance, all 
 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 my refledtions upon my past conduca:, 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 prom- 
 ises 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 
 drink and company, soon mastered the return of those fits, for so 
 I called them, and I had in five or six days got as complete a vic- 
 tory 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 an 
 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 
 
 [9] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 make everything 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 a-head, and the 
 cables veered out to the better end. 
 
 By this time it blew a teirrible storm indeed, and now I began to 
 see terror and amazement in the faces even of the seamen them- 
 selvesi 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 severdl 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 re-assume 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. 
 The ships that rid near us we found had cut their masts by the board, 
 being deep laden ; and our men cried out, that a ship which rid about 
 a mile a-head of us was foundered. Two more ships being driven 
 from their anchors were run out of the 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 foremast, which he was very unwill- 
 ing to. But the boatswain protesting to him, that if he did not the 
 ship would founder, he consented ; and when they had cut away the 
 
 r loi 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 foremast, the mainmast 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 convidlions, and the having returned 
 from them to the resolutions I had wickedly taken at first, than I 
 was at death itself; and these added to the terror of the storm, put 
 me into such a condition, that I can by no words describe it. But 
 the worst was not come yet, the storm continued with such fury 
 that the seamen themselves acknowledged they had never known 
 a worse. We had a good ship, but she was deep\l ad en, and wal- 
 lowed in the sea, that the seamen every now and t^en cried out 
 she would founder. It was my advantage in one respedt, that I did 
 not know what they meant by foijnder, till I inquired. However, 
 the storm was so violent that I saw what is not often seen, the mas- 
 ter, the boatswain, and some others more sensible than the rest, at 
 their prayers, and expedting every moment when the ship would 
 go to the bottom. In the middle of the night, and under all the 
 regt of our distresses, one of the men that had been down on pur- 
 pose to see, cried out we had sprung 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 mp, 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 not come near us, ordered to fire a gun as a sig- 
 nal of distress. I who knew nothing what that meant, was so sur- 
 prised that I thought the ship had broke, or some dreadful thing 
 had happened. In a word, I was so surprised that I fell down in 
 
 [ " ] 
 
T2£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 'wm 
 
 a swoon. As this was a time when everybody had 
 his own life to think of, nobody minded me, or 
 what was become of me; but another man stepped 
 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 a-head of us ventured a boat out to help us. 
 It was with the utmost hazard the boat came near 
 us, but it was impossible for us to get on board, 
 or for the boat to lie near the ship 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 
 
 
 . ; ■ISl ST'ST iaB;^ 
 
 [ I.] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ':y.>^m§mm^-^ 
 
 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 before 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 la- 
 bouring at the^oajto bring the boat near the shore, 
 we could see, when our boat mounting the waves, 
 we were able to see the sliore, a great many peo- 
 ple 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 
 
 ««lKBBK«*'*r^B* 
 
 Inl 
 
TS5 ADVENTURES 21 
 
 shore, till being past the lighthouse 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 after- 
 wards 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 mohey 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 HuUj and have 
 gone homcj 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 
 Road, 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 rush 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 conirade, 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- 
 
 [ H] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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, yqu 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 ypu 
 made this voyage for a trial, you see what a taste Heaven has given 
 you of what you are to expedt if you persist; perhaps this is all be- 
 fallen us on your account, Hke Jonah in the ship of Tarshish. Pray,' 
 continued 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 disaSr 
 ters and disappointments, till your father's words are fulfilled .upon 
 you.' 
 
 We parted soon after; for I made him little answer, and I savd 
 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 occuirred 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 everybody else; from 
 whence I have since often observed, how incongruous and irra- 
 
 [15] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 tional 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 repe'nt; not 
 ashamed of the aftion 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 
 relu(5lance 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 fne deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties and 
 even 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 avessel bound to the coast of Africa; or,asour 
 sailors vulgarly call it, a voyage to Guinea. 
 It was my great misfortune that in all these adventures, I did not 
 shipmyself as a sailor; whereby, though I might indeed have worked 
 a little harder than ordinary, yet at the same time I had learned the 
 duty and office of a foremast man; and in time might have qualified 
 myself for a mate or lieutenant, if not for a master: but as it was 
 always my fate to choose for the worst, 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 learned to do any. 
 
 It was my lot first of all to fall in to pretty good company in Lon- 
 don, which does not always happen to such loose and unguidedj 
 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 
 " [ i6] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 anything with me, I should have all the advantage of 
 it that the trade would admit; and perhaps I might meet with some 
 encouragement. 
 
 r embraced the oiFer, and entering into a strid 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 dis- 
 interested honesty of my friend the captain, I increased very con- 
 siderably ; for I carried about j[4.o in such toys and trifles as the 
 captain direfted me to buy. This ^^40 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 con- 
 tribute 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, learned 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: 
 fori brought home 5 pounds 9 ounces of gold dust for my adventure, 
 which yielded me in London at my return almost jC^oo, and this 
 filled me with those aspiring thoughts which have since so com- 
 pleted 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 1 5 degrees north even to the Line itself. 
 
 [ 17] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 notcarry quite ;£^ioo of my new gained wealth, so that 
 I had aoo 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 canvas 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 12 guns, and the rogue 18. 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 8 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 60 men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and 
 hacking the decks and rigging. We plied them with small-shot, half- 
 pikes, powder-chests, 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 
 
 [ 18 1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 efFedtually brought to pass, that I could not be worse ; 
 that now the hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone 
 without redemption. B ut ala s ! this was but a taste of the misery I 
 was to go through, as will appear in the sequel of this story. 
 As my rlew 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 some time or other be his fate to be 
 taken by a Spanish or Portugal man of war; and then that 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 gar- 
 den, and do the common drudgery of slaves about his house ; and 
 when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in 
 the cabin to look after the ship. 
 
 Here I meditated nothing but my escape; and what method I 
 might take to effed it, but found no way that had the least proba- 
 bility in it : nothing presented to make the supposition of it rational ; 
 for I had nobody to communicate it to, that would embark with me ; 
 no fellow-slave, no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotsman there but 
 
 [ 19] 
 
Tas ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 myself; so that for two years, though I often pleased myself with 
 the imagination, yet I never had the least encouraging prosped of 
 putting it in pradice. 
 
 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 dex- 
 terous 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 offish 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 morn- 
 ing 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 we had taken, he resolved he would not go a fish- 
 ing 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 what we call a shoulder of mutton 
 sail; and the boom gibbed 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 
 
 [20] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 coiFee. 
 
 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 dis- 
 tindion in that place, and for whom he had provided extraordi- 
 narily; 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 fozees 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 diredted, and waited the next 
 morning with the boat, washed clean, her ancient and pendants 
 out, and everything 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 com- 
 manded that as soon as I had 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 ship at my com- 
 mand; and my master being gone, I prepared to furnish myself, 
 not for a fishing business, but for a voyage ; though I knew not, 
 neither did I so much as consider, whither I should steer; for any- 
 where to get out of that place was my way. 
 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 biscuit 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 
 
 [ai ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 the make were taken out of some English prize ; and I conveyed 
 them into the boat while the Moor was on shqre, as if they had 
 been there before, for our master; I conveyed also a great lump 
 of beeswax 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, who they called 
 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 cur- 
 lews) for ourselves, for I know he keeps the gunner's stores in the 
 ship ? Yes, says he, I '11 bring some ; and accordingly he brought 
 a great leather pouch which held about a pound and half of pow- 
 der, 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 
 tinie 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 fur- 
 nished with everything 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 hauled 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 least reached to the Bay of Cadiz; but my resolu- 
 tions 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 run the boat out near a league farther, and then brought 
 
 [a2] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
r 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 im- 
 mediately, 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 steppedjnto the cabin, and 
 fetching one of the fowling-pieces, I presentedat 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 the^^hore, 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, who they called Xury, and 
 said to him, Xury, if you will be faithful to me I '11 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 ; the boy smiled in my face, and spoke so innocently that 
 I could not mistrust him; and swore to be faithfiil to me, and go all 
 over the world with me. 
 
 While I was in view of the Moor that was swimming, I stood out 
 diredly to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that 
 they might think me gone towards the Straits mouth (as indeed 
 anyone 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 their 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. 
 
 [^5] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course, 
 and steered diredlly 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 1 50 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 dread- 
 ful 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, until I had sailed in that manner five days : and then the wind 
 shifting to the southward, I concluded also that if any of our vessels 
 were in chase of me, they also would now give over ; so I ventured 
 to make to the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little 
 river, I knew not what, or where ; neither what latitude, what coun- 
 try, 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 EnglishXury 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 they m£|.de 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 crea- 
 tures come swimming towards our boat ; we could not see him, but 
 we might hear hini by his blowing to be a monstrous, huge and furi- 
 ous beast. Xury said it was a lion, and it might be so for aught I know ; 
 but 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 some- 
 thing surprised me; however, I immediately stepped to the cabin 
 door, and taking up my gun fired at him, upon which he immediately 
 turned ^bout 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 
 shpre, 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 to 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 
 affedion 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 
 
 [ 27 I 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 21 
 
 dram out of our patron's case of bottles which I mentioned be- 
 fore; and we hauled the boat in as near the shore as we thought 
 was proper, and so 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 he had found good water 
 and seen no wild mans. 
 
 But we found afterwards that we need not take such pains for water, 
 for a little higher up the creek where we were, we found the water 
 fresh when the tide was out, which flowed but a little way up; so 
 we filled our jars and feasted on the hare we had killed, and pre- 
 pared 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 did not ex- 
 adly know, or at least remember what latitude they were in; I 
 knew not where to look for them, or when to stand off to sea to- 
 wards 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 
 
 [28 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 in- 
 habiting, 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 to- 
 gether 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,! 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 morn- 
 ing, 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 far- 
 ther 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 pi^ce 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 bad 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 an- 
 other gun with two bullets, and the third, for we bad three pieces, I 
 
 [39] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 find- 
 
 ing 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 sur- 
 prised that I had not hit him on the head ; however, I took up the 
 second piece immediately, and though he began to move off fired 
 again, and shot him into the head, and had the pleasure to see him 
 drop, and make but little noise, but lay 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 despatched 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. How- 
 ever, 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. 
 
 [30] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 niuch 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 eiFedtually 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 sparingly on our provisions, which began 
 to abate very much, and going no oftener into the shore than w? 
 were obliged to for fresh water; my design in this was to make the 
 River Gambia or Senegall, that is to say, anywhere 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 
 out for the islands, or perish there among the negroes. I knew that 
 all theships from Europe, which sailed either to the coast of Guinea, 
 or to Brazil, or to the East Indies, made this cape, or those islands ; 
 and in a word, I put thewhole of my fortune upon this single point, 
 either that I must meet with some ship, or must perish. 
 When I had pursued this resolution about ten days longer, as I 
 have said, I began to see that the land was inhabited, and in two 
 or three places, as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the 
 shore to look at us ; we could also perceive they were quite black 
 and 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 ran 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 that they would fetch me some meat; upon this I lowered the 
 
 [31 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 22 
 
 top of my sail, and lay by, and two of them run 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 or the other was; how- 
 ever, 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^tillwe 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, es- 
 pecially 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 
 direftly 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 expefted, but I lay 
 ready for him, for 1 had loaded my gun with all possible expedi- 
 tion, and bade Xury load both the others; as soon as he came 
 fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot him diredly 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 in- 
 deed 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 the poor creatures 
 
 [3^] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 haul, they dragged him 
 on shore, and found that it was a most curious leopard, spotted and 
 fine to an admirable degree, and the negroes held up their hands with 
 admiration to think what it was I had killed him with. 
 The other creature, frighted with the flash of fire and the noise of 
 the gun, swam on shore, and ran up direcftly 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 crea- 
 ture, 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 it, 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 oflF his skin as readily, and much more readily than we 
 could have done with a knife; they oflfered 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 under- 
 stand, 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 
 show that it was empty, and that I wanted to have it filled. They 
 called immediately to some of their friends, and there came two 
 women and brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt as I 
 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. 
 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 oi 
 
 133} 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2L 
 
 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 sea- 
 ward ; then I concluded, as it was more 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 or 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 imme- 
 diately 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 make, I found I should not be able to come 
 in their way, but that they would be gone by, before I could make 
 any signal to them ; but after I had crowded to the utmost and be- 
 gan to despair, they, it seems, saw me by the help of their perspec- 
 tive-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 thern for a signal 
 of distress, and fired a gun, both which they saw, for they told me 
 they saw the smoke, though they did not hear the gun; upon these 
 signals they very kindly brought to, and lay by for me, and in about 
 three hours' time I came up with them. 
 
 They asked me what I was, in Portuguese, and in Spanish, and in 
 French, but I understood none of them; but at last a Scotch sailor 
 
 [34] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 bade me Come on board, and very 
 kindly took me in and all my goods. 
 
 It was an inexpressible joy to me, that anyone will believe, that I 
 was thus delivered, as I esteemed it, from such a miserable and al- 
 most hopeless condition as I was in, and I immediately offered all 
 I had to the captain of the ship, as return for my deliverance; but 
 he generously told me, he would take nothing from me, but that 
 all I had should be delivered safe to me when I came to the Brazils, 
 for says he, I have saved your life on no other terms than I would be 
 glad to be saved myself, and it may one time or other be my lot to 
 be taken up in the same condition ; besides, said he, when I carry you 
 to the Brazils, so great a way from your own country, if I should 
 take from you what you have, you will be starved there, and then I 
 only take away the 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 per- 
 formance to the tittle, for he ordered the seamen that none should 
 ' offer to touch anything I had ; then he took everything into his own 
 possession, and gave me back an exa6l 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 80 pieces of eight for it at Brazil, 
 and when it came there, if anyone offered to give more he would 
 make it up ; he offered me also 60 pieces of eight more for my boy 
 Xury, which I was loth to take, not that I was not willing to let the 
 captain have him, but I was very loth to sell the poor boy's liberty, 
 
 {.35 1 
 
T^ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 who had assisted me so faithfully in procuring my own. However, 
 when I let him know my reason, he owned it to be just, and offered 
 me this medium, that he would give the boy an obligation to set 
 him free in ten years, if he turned Christian ; upon this, and Xury 
 saying he was willing to go to him, I let the captain have him. 
 We had a very good voyage to the Brazils, and 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 miser- 
 able 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 everything I had in my ship 
 to be punftually 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 beeswax, for I had made candles of the rest; in a 
 word, I made about 220 pieces of eight of all my cargo, and with 
 this stock I went on shore in the Brazils. 
 
 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 sugar-house, 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 licence to settle there, I would turn planter among them, 
 resolving in the meantime to find out some way to get my money 
 which I had left in London remitted to me. To this purpose get- 
 ting 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 
 
 [362 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 as I was. I call him my neighbour, because his plantation lay next 
 to mine, and we went on very sociably together. My stock was but 
 low as well as his ; and we rather planted for food, than anything 
 else, for about two years. How- 
 ever, we began to increase, and 
 our land began to come into or- 
 der; 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 part- 
 ing 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 em- 
 ployment quite remote to my 
 genius, and direftly contrary to 
 the life I delighted in, and for 
 which I forsook my father's house, 
 and broke through all his good 
 advice; nay, I was coming into the very middle station, or upper 
 degree of low life, which my father advised me to before; and which 
 if I resolved to go on with, I might as well have stayed at home, 
 and never have fatigued myself in the world as I had done ; and I 
 used often to say to myself, I could have done this as well in Eng- 
 land among my friends, as have gone five thousand miles off to do 
 it among strangers and savages in a wilderness, and at such a dis- 
 stance, 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 neigh- 
 
 [ .37 ] 
 
T™ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 bour; 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 refledl, that when they compare their pres- 
 ent 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 soli- 
 tary life I refleded 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 pro- 
 curation here in form to me, with orders to the person who has 
 your money in London, to send your efFeds to Lisbon, to such 
 persons as I shall diredt, 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 subjed to changes and dis- 
 asters, 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 ad- 
 
 [38 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ventures, my slavery, escape, and how I had met with the Portu- 
 gal captain at sea, the humanity of his behaviour, and in what con- 
 dition I was now in, with all other necessary diredions for my sup- 
 ply; and when this honest captain came to Lisbon, he found means 
 by some of the English merchants there, to send over not the or- 
 der only, but a full account of my story to a merchant at London, 
 who represented it efFedlually to her; whereupon, she not only de- 
 livered the money, but out of her own pocket sent the Portugal 
 captain a very handsome present for his humanity and charity to 
 rqe. 
 
 The merchant in London vesting this hundred pounds in English 
 goods, such as the captain had writ for, sent them diredly to him 
 at Lisbon, and he brought them all safe to me to the Brazils, among 
 which, without my dired;ion (for I was too young in my business 
 to think of them) he had taken care to have all sorts 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 fortunes made, for I was 
 surprised with joy of it; and my good steward and 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 manufaftures, 
 such as cloths, stuffs, bays, and things particularly valuable and de- 
 sirable in the country, I found means to sell them to a very great 
 advantage; so that I might say, I had more than four times the value 
 of my first cargo, and was now infinitely beyond my poor neigh- 
 bour, 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 
 
 l39l 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 
 hundredweight, 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 projeds and undertakings beyond my 
 reach ; such as are indeed often the ruin of the best heads in busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Had I continued in the station I was now in, I had room for all 
 the happy things to have yet befallen me, for which my father so 
 earnestly recommended a quiet retired life, and of which he had so 
 sensibly described the middle station of life to be full of; but other 
 things attended me, and I was still to be the wilful agent of all my 
 own miseries ; and particularly to increase my fault and double the 
 reflexions upon myself, which in my future sorrows I should have 
 leisure to make; all these miscarriages were procured by my ap- 
 parent obstinate adhering to my foolish inclination of wandering 
 abroad, and pursuing that inclination, in contradidion to the clear- 
 est views of doing myself good in a fair and plain pursuit of those 
 prospects and those measures of life, which nature and providence 
 concurred to present me with, and to make my duty. 
 As I had once done thus in my breaking away from my parents, 
 so I could not be content now, but I must go and leave the happy 
 view I had of being a rich and thriving man in my new plantation, 
 only to pursue a rash and immoderate desire of rising faster than the 
 nature of the thing admitted; and thus I cast myself down again into 
 the deepest gulf of human misery that ever man fell into, or pej-haps 
 could be consistent with life and a state of health in the world.) 
 To come then by the just degrees to the particulars of this part of 
 my story; you may suppose, that having now lived almost four 
 years in the Brazils, and beginning to thrive and prosper very well 
 upon my plantation, I had not only learned the language, but had 
 contrafted acquaintance and friendship among my fellow-planters, 
 
 [40] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 as well as among the merchants at St. Salvadore, which was our 
 port ; and that in my discourses among them, I had frequently given 
 them an account of my two voyages to the coast of Guinea, the 
 manner of trading with the negroes there, and how easy it was to 
 purchase upon the coast, for trifles, such as beads, toys, knives, 
 scissors, hatchets, bits of glass, and the like; not only gold dust, 
 Guinea grains, elephants' teeth, etc., but negroes for the service of 
 the Brazils, in great numbers. 
 
 They listened always very attentively to my discourses on these 
 heads, but especially to that part which related to the buying ne- 
 groes, 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 Assiento, or per- 
 mission of the kings of Spain and Portugal, and engrossed in the 
 public, so that few negroes were bought, 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 go to Guinea, that they had all plantations as well 
 as I, and were straitened for nothing so much as servants ; that as 
 it was a trade that could not be carried on, because they could not 
 publicly sell the negroes when they came home, so they desired to 
 make but one voyage, to bring the negroes on shore privately, and 
 divide them among their own plantations ; and in a word, the ques- 
 tion 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 provid- 
 ing any part of the stock. 
 
 This was a fair proposal it must be confessed, had it been made to 
 anyone 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 con- 
 siderable, and with a good stock upon it. But for me that was thus 
 
 [41 1 
 
T™ ADVENTURES 22 
 
 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; forme to think 
 of such a voyage, was the most preposterous thing that ever man in 
 such circumstances could be guilty of. 
 
 But I that was born to be my own destroyer, could no more resist 
 the offer than I could restrain my first rambling designs, when my 
 father's good counsel was lost upon me. In a word, I told them I 
 would go with all my heart, if they would undertake to look after 
 my plantation in my absence, and would dispose of it to such as I 
 should diredt if I miscarried. This they all engaged to do, and en- 
 tered into writings or covenants to do so ; and I made a formal will, 
 disposing of my plantation and efFefts, in case of my death, making 
 the captain of the ship that had saved my life, as before, my uni- 
 versal heir, but obliging him to dispose of my effedis as I had di- 
 redted 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 efFeds, 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 prob- 
 able 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 expeft particular misfortunes to myself 
 But I was hurried on, and obeyed blindly the didtates 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 
 first of September, 1659, being the same day eight years that I 
 went from my father and mother at Hull, in order to ad the rebel 
 to their authority, and the fool to my. own interest 
 
 [42 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 Our ship was about 120 ton burthen, carried 6 guns, and 14 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, scissors, hatchets, and the 
 like. 
 
 The same day I went on board we set sail, standing away to the 
 northward upon our own coast, with design to stretch over for the 
 African coast, when they came about i o or 1 2 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 came to the height of Cape St. Augus- 
 tino, 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 1 2 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 know- 
 ledge ; 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 1 2 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 direded ; and during these 1 2 days, 
 I need not say, that I expedled every day to be swallowed up, nor 
 indeed did any in the ship exped to save their lives. 
 In this distress, we had, besides the terror of the storm, one of our 
 men died of the calenture, and one man and the boy washed over- 
 board; about the 1 2th day, the weather abating a little, the master 
 made an observation as well as he could, and found that he was in 
 about 1 1 degrees north latitude, but that he was 22 degrees of lon- 
 gitude difference west from Cape St. Augustino ; so that he found 
 he was gotten upon the coast of Guinea, or the north part of Brazil, 
 beyond the river Amazones, toward that of the river Oronoque, 
 commonly called the Great River, and began to consult with me 
 
 [43] 
 

 TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 what course he should take, for the ship was leaky and very much 
 disabled, and he was going diredly back to the coast of Brazil. 
 I was positively against that, and looking over charts of the sea- 
 coast of America with him, we 
 concluded there was no inhab- 
 ited country for us to have re- 
 course 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 per- 
 form, as we hoped, in about fif- 
 teen 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. 
 J by W. in order to reach some 
 of our English islands, where I 
 hoped for relief; but our voyage was otherwise determined, for be- 
 ing 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 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 her motion being so stopped, the sea broke over her in such a 
 manner, that we expedted we should all have perished immedi- 
 ately, 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 anyone, who has not been in the like condition, 
 to describe or conceive the consternation of men in such circum- 
 stances; we knew nothing where we were, or upon what land it 
 was we were driven, whether an island or the main, whether in- 
 habited 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 imme- 
 diately about. In a word, we sat looking one upon another, and 
 expedting death every moment, and every man afting 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 expedation 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 exped: 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 
 adhially 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 our- 
 
 [45] 
 
TSE ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 selves, 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 anything with it ; so we worked at 
 the oar towards the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going; 
 to execution; for we all knew, that when the boat came nearer the 
 shore, she would be dashed in a thousand pieces by the breach of the 
 sea. However, we committed our souls to God in the most earnest 
 manner, and the wind driving us towards the shore, we hastened 
 our destrudlion 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 expedtation, 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 fright- 
 ful 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 a-stern 
 of us, and plainly bade us expeft the coup-de-grace. In a word, it 
 took us with such a fury, that it overset the boat at once; and sepa- ■ 
 rating us as ypell 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 
 
 [46] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 THE SEA WENT DREADFUL HIGH UPON THE SHORE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 shore, and having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land 
 almost dry, but half dead with the water I took in. I had so much 
 presence of mind as well as breath left, that seeing myself nearer 
 the mainland than I expeded, I got upon my feet, and endeav- 
 oured to make on towards the land as fast as I could, before an- 
 other 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 possi- 
 ble; 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 20 or 30 
 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 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 find- 
 ing 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 run 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 be- 
 fore, 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 
 
 [49] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 me against a piece of 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 re- 
 turn of the waves, and seeing I should be covered again with the 
 water, I resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold 
 my breath, if possible, till the wave went back; now as the waves 
 
 were not so high as at first, being nearer land, I held my hold till 
 the wave abated, and then fetched another run, which brought me 
 so near the shore, that the next wave, though it went over me, yet 
 did not so swallow me up as to carry me away, and the next run I 
 took, I got to the mainland, where, to my great comfort, I clam- 
 bered up the cliffs of the shore, and sat me down upon the grass, 
 free from danger, and quite out of the reach of the water. 
 I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and 
 thank God that my life was saved in a case wherein there was some 
 minutes before scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible 
 to express to the life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul 
 are, when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the very grave ; and 
 I do not wonder now at that custom, viz., that when a malefador, 
 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 
 
 C50] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 deliver- 
 ance, making a thousand gestures and motions which I cannot de^ 
 scribe, reflecting upon all my comrades that were drowned, and that 
 there should not be one soul saved but myself; for, as for them, 
 I never saw them afterwards, or any sign of them, except three of 
 their hats, one cap, and two shoes that were not fellows. 
 I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when the breach and froth 
 of the sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far off, and 
 considered. Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore? 
 After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my con- 
 dition, I began to look round me to see what kind of place I was 
 in, and what was next to be done, and I soon found my comforts 
 abate, and that in a word I had a dreadful deliverance: for I was 
 wet, had no clothes to shift me, nor anything either to eat or drink 
 to comfort me, neither did I see any prosped before me, but that 
 of perishing with hunger, or being devoured by wild beasts; and 
 that which was particularly affliding 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 pro- 
 vision, and this threw me into terrible agonies of mind, that for a 
 while I ran about like a madman i night coming upon me, I began 
 with a heavy heart to consider wnat 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 
 
 [51] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 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 prosped of life; 
 I walked about a furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any 
 freshwater to drink, which I did, to my great joy ; and having drunk 
 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 de- 
 fence, I took up my lodging, and 
 having been excessively fatigued, 
 I fell fast asleep, and slept as com- 
 fortably 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. 
 -TS 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 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 have some neces- 
 sary 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 a boat, which lay as 
 
 cp;i 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 all been 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 the 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 a-ground, 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, that her stern lay lifted up upon the 
 bank, and her head low almost to the water; by this means all her 
 quarter was free, and all that was in that part was dry; for you may 
 be sure my first work was to search and to see what was spoiled 
 and what was free; and first I found that all the ship's provisions 
 were dry and untouched by the water, and being very well disposed 
 to eat, I went to the bread-room and filled my pockets with biscuit, 
 and eat it as I went about other things, for I had no time to lose; 
 I also found some rum in the great cabin, of which I took a large 
 dram, and which I had indeed need enough of to spirit me for 
 
 lS3l 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 what was before me. Now I wanted nothing but a boat to furnish 
 myself with many things which I foresaw would be very neces- 
 sary 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 top- 
 mast or two in the ship. I 
 resolved to fall to work with 
 these, and flung as many of 
 them overboard as I could 
 manage for their weight, ty- 
 ing 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 to- 
 gether 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 an- 
 other 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 plank or boards upon it that I could get and 
 
 , [54] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 Euro- 
 pean 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 after- 
 wards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it all; as for liquors, I found 
 several cases of bottles belonging to our skipper, in which were 
 some cordial waters, and in all about five or six gallons of rack : 
 these I stowed by themselves, there being no need to put them into 
 the chest, nor no room for them. While I was doing this, I found 
 the tide began to flow, though very calm, and I had the mortifi- 
 cation 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 pow- 
 der 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 
 
 Lssl 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 how I should get to shore with them, having neither sail, oar, or 
 rudder, and the least capfull of wind would have overset all my 
 navigation. 
 
 I had three encouragements, i. A smooth calm sea, 2. The tide ris- 
 ing 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 in- 
 draft of the water, and consequently 1 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 noth- 
 ing of the coast, my raft run a-ground at one end of it upon a shoal, 
 and not being a-ground 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, afld- 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 AT LENGTH I SPIED A LITTLE COVE ON THE RIGHT SHORE OF THE CREEK 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 direftly in, but here I had liked to have dipped all my cargo 
 into the sea again ; for that shore lying pretty steep, that is to say 
 sloping, there was no place to land, but where one end of my float, 
 if it 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 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 expedted 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 over-top some other hills which lay as in a ridge from it north- 
 Ward; 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 dif- 
 ficulty got to the top, I saw my fate to my great afflidlion, (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 how* 
 
 lS9l 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 ever 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 the parts of the wood there arose 
 an innumerable number of fowls of many sorts, making a confused 
 screaming, and crying everyone 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 car- 
 rion, 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 "* 
 
 [60] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 nec- 
 essarily break her all in pieces, I resolved to set all other things 
 apart, until I got everything out of the ship that I could get; then 
 I called a council, that is to say, in my thoughts, whether I should 
 take back the raft, but this appeared impradti cable; so I resolved 
 to go as before, when the tide was down, and I did so, only that 
 I stripped before I went from my hut, having nothing on but a 
 chequered shirt, and a pair of linen drawers, and a pair of pumps 
 on my feet. 
 
 I got on board the ship, as before, and prepared a second raft, and 
 having had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy, 
 nor loaded it so hard, but yet I brought away several things very 
 useful to me; as first, in the carpenter's stores I found two or three 
 bags full of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two or 
 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, a hammock, and some bedding; and with 
 this I loaded my second -raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to 
 my very great comfort. 
 
 I was under some 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 siway a little distance, and then stood still; she §at very com- 
 
 [6i] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 posed, 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 perfedly 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 everything that I knew would spoil, either with 
 rain or sun, and I piled all the empty chests and casks up in a circle 
 round the tent, to fortify it from any sudden attempt, either from 
 man or beast. 
 
 When I had done this I blocked up the door of the tent with some 
 boards within, and an empty chest set up on end without, and 
 spreading one of the beds upon the ground, laying my two pistols 
 just at my head, and my gun at length by me, I went to bed for the 
 first time, and slept very quietly all night, for I was very weary and 
 
 [62] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 heavy, for the night before I had slept little, and had laboured very 
 hard all day, as well as 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 everything out 
 of her that I could; so every day at low water I went on board, and 
 brought away something or other : but particularly the third time 
 I went, I brought away as much of the rigging as I could, as also 
 all the small ropes and rope-twine I could get, with a piece of spare 
 canvas, which was to mend the sails upon occasion, the barrel of wet 
 gunpowder : in a word, I brought away all the sails first and last, 
 only that I was fain to cut them in pieces, and bring as much at a 
 time as I could ; for they were no more useful to be sails, but as 
 mere canvas only. 
 
 But that which comforted me more still, was, that at last of all, after 
 I had made five or six such voyages as these, and thought I had 
 nothing more to exped 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 bar- 
 rel of fine flour; this was surprising to me, because I had given over 
 expefting any more provisions, except what was spoiled by the wa- 
 ter; I soon emptied the hogshead of that bread, and wrapt 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 ironwork I 
 could get; and having cut down the spritsail-yard, and the mizzen- 
 yard, and everything I could to make a large raft, I loaded it with 
 all 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 was entered the little cove, where I had landed the rest 
 
 1^3 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 if 
 
 • • '1 . "-l.;*, 
 
 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 expefted would have been of 
 great use to me : however, when the tide was out, I 
 got most of the pieces of cables ashore, and some 
 of the iron, though with infinite labour; for I was 
 fain to dip for it into the water, a work which fa- 
 tigued 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 I2th time to go on board, I 
 found the wind begin to rise; however, at low 
 water I went on board, and though I thought I 
 i i rummaged the cabin so effe6tually, as that 
 !.■ ■-.hing more could be found, yet I discovered a 
 ker with drawers in it, in one of which I found 
 
 
 
 [ 64] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 % 
 
 ni. 
 
 two or three razors, and one pair of large scissors, 
 with some ten or a dozen of good knives and 
 forks; in another I found about thirty-six pounds 
 of value in money, some European coin, some 
 Brazil, 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, e'en re- 
 main where thou art, and go to the bottom as a 
 creature whose life is not worth saving. How- 
 ever, upon second thoughts, I took it away, and 
 wrapping all this in a piece of canvas, I began to 
 think of making another raft, but while I was pre- 
 paring 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 be- 
 gan, otherwise I might not be able to reach the 
 shore at all. Accordingly I let myself down into 
 
 ?„*,■■; 
 
 --^Al 
 
 ■''^.t^'''/?"'l 
 
 [65] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 the water, and swam across the channel, which lay between the ship 
 and the sands, and even that with difficulty enough, partly with the 
 weight of the things I had about me, and partly the roughness of 
 the water, for the wind rose very hastily, and before it was quite 
 high water, it blew a storm. 
 
 But I was gotten home to my little tent, where I lay with all my 
 wealth about me very secure. It blew very hard all the 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 
 satisfaftory refleftion, viz. : that I had lost no time, nor abated no 
 diligence to get everything out of her that could be useful to me, 
 and that indeed there was little left in her that I was able to bring 
 away if I had had more time. 
 
 I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or of anything 
 out of her, except what might drive on shore from her wreck, as 
 indeed divers pieces of her afterwards did; but those things were 
 of small use to me. 
 
 My thoughts were now wholly employed about securing myself 
 against either savages, if any should appear, or wild beasts, if any 
 were in the island; and I had many thoughts of the method how to 
 do this, and what kind of dwelling to make, whether I should make 
 me a cave in the earth, or a tent upon the earth : and, in jhort, I re- 
 solved 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, par- 
 ticularly because it was upon a low moorish ground near the sea, 
 and I believed would not be wholesome, and more particularly be- 
 cause 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. ist, health, and fresh water I just now men- 
 tioned, idly, shelter from the heat of the sun. jdly, security from 
 ravenous creatures, whether men or beasts, 4thly, a view to the sea, 
 that if God sent any ship in sight, I might not lose any advantage 
 
 [66] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 for my deliverance, of which I was not willing to banish all my ex- 
 pectation 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 enttance 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 bfoad 
 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 tentj 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 
 I 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 platej and drive them into the earth. 
 
 The entrance into this place I nlade to be not by a door, but by a 
 
 [67 J 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 short ladder to go o^er 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 large tent above 
 it, and covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin which I had 
 saved among the sails. 
 
 And now I lay no more for a while in the bed which I had brought 
 
 on shore, but in a hammock, 
 which was indeed a very good 
 
 one, and belonged to the 
 mate of the ship. 
 Into this tent I brought all 
 my provisions, and every- 
 thing that would spoil by 
 tiie wet, and having thus en- 
 closed 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 be- 
 gan 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 
 
 [68] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 about a foot and a half; and thus I made me a cave just behind my 
 tent, which served me hke a cellar to my house. 
 It cost me much labour, and many days, before all these things were 
 brought to perfedlion, 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 efFed: 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 mypowder ! 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 provid- 
 ing 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 ap- 
 plied myself to make bags and boxes to separate the powder, and 
 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 240 lb. Weight, was divided in not less than a hundred 
 parcels ; as to the barrel that had been wet, I did not apprehend any 
 danger from that, so I placed it in my new cave, which in my fancy 
 I called my kitchen, and the rest I hid up and down in holes among 
 the rocks, so that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully 
 where I laid it. 
 
 In the interval of time while this was doing I went out once at least 
 every day with my gun, as well to divert myself, as to see if I could 
 kill anything fit for food, and as near as I could to acquaint myself 
 with what the island produced. The first time I went out I pres- 
 ently discovered that there were goats in the island, which was a 
 
 [71 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 great satisfadlion to me; but then it was attended with this misfor- 
 tune to me, viz. : that they were so shy, so subtile, and so swift of 
 foot, that it was the difficultest thing in the world to come at them. 
 But I was not discouraged at this, not doubting but I might now 
 and then shoot one, as it soon happened, for after I had found their 
 haunts a little, I laid wait in this manner for them: I observed if 
 they saw me in the valleys, though they were upon the rocks, they 
 would run away as in a terrible fright; but if they were feeding in 
 the valleys, and I was upon the rocks, they took no notice of me, 
 from whence I concluded, that by the position of their optics, their 
 sight was so diredted downward, that they did not readily see ob- 
 jefts that were above them; so afterward I took this method, I al- 
 ways climbed the rocks first to get above them, and then had fre- 
 quently a fair mark. The first shot I made among these creatures, 
 I killed a she-goat which had a little kid by her which she gave suck 
 to, which grieved me heartily; 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 eat sparingly, 
 and saved my provisions (my bread es- 
 j pecially) as much as possibly I could. 
 j\|Having now fixed my habitation, I 
 found it absolutely necessary to pro- 
 vide a place to make a fire in, and fuel 
 to burn^and what I did for that, as 
 also how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I made, I shall 
 
 [7^ 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 prosped 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 determi- 
 nation 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 refledions, and sometimes I would ex- 
 postulate with myself, why Providence should thus completely ruin 
 its creatures, and render them so absolutely miserable, so without 
 help abandoned, so entirely depressed, that it could hardly be ra- 
 tional to be thankful for such a life. 
 
 But something always returned swift upon me to check these 
 thoughts, and to reprove me; and particularly one day walking 
 with my gun in my hand by the seaside, I was very pensive upon 
 the subjedl of my present condition, when reason as it were expos- 
 tulated with me the other way, thus : Well, you are in a desolate con- 
 dition it is true, but pray remember, where are the rest of you? Did 
 not you come eleven of you into the boat? where are the ten? Why 
 were not they saved and you lost? Why were you singled out? Is it 
 better to be here or there? and then I pointed to the sea. All evils 
 are to be considered with the good that is in them, and with what 
 worse attends them. 
 
 Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my sub- 
 sistence, and what would have been my case 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 sup- 
 ply and procure them? Particularly, said I aloud (though to myself), 
 
 [ 73 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 what should I have done without a gun, without ammunition, with- 
 out any tools to make anything, or to work with, without clothes, 
 bedding, a tent, or any manner of covering? and that now I had all 
 these to a sufficient quantity, and was in a fair way to provide my- 
 self in auch a manner as to live without my gun wjien my ammuni- 
 tion was spent; so that I had a tolerable view of subsisting without 
 any want as long as I lived; for I considered from the beginning how 
 I would provide for the accidents that might happen, and for the 
 time that was to come, even not only after my ammunition should 
 be spent, but even after my health or strength should decay. 
 I confess I had not entertained any notion of my ammunition be- 
 ing destroyed at one blast, I mean my powdfer being blown up by 
 lightning, and this made the thoughts of it so surprising to me when 
 it lightened and thundered, as I observed just now. 
 And now being to enter into a melancholy relation of a scene of si- 
 lent 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 Sept. 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, fori 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 inkj 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 shorewhere I first landed, viz., I came on shore here on the 30th 
 Sept., 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 voy- 
 
 [74] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ages 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, gun- 
 ner's and carpenter's keep- 
 ing, three or four compasses, 
 some mathematical instru- 
 ments, dials, perspedives, 
 charts, and books of naviga- 
 tion, all which I huddled to- 
 gether, whether I might want 
 them or no; also I found 
 three very good Bibles which 
 came to me in my cargo from M 
 England, and which I had 
 packed up among my things ; 
 some Portuguese books also, 
 and among them two or three 
 Popish prayer-books, and 
 several other books, all which 
 I carefully secured. And I 
 must not forget, that we had in the ship a dog and two cats, of whose 
 eminent history I may have occasion to say something in its place; 
 for I carried both the cats with me; and as for the dog, he jumped 
 out of the ship of himself and swam on shore to me the day after I 
 went on shore with my first cargo, and was a trusty servant to me 
 manyyears; I wanted nothing that he could fetch me, nor any com- 
 pany that he could make up to me; I only wanted to have him talk 
 to me, but that would not do : as I observed before, I found pen, 
 ink, and paper; and I husbanded them to the utmost, and I shall 
 show, that while my ink lasted, I kept things very exad:; but after 
 that was gone, I could not, for I could not make any ink by any 
 means that I eould devise. 
 And this put me in mind that I wanted many things, notwithsta^d- 
 
 . [75] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 ing all that I had amassed together, and of these, this of ink was 
 one, as also spade, pick-axe and shovel, to dig or remove the earth; 
 needles, pins, and thread; as for linen, I soon learned to want that 
 without much difficulty. 
 
 This want of tools made every work I did go on heavily, and it was 
 near a whole year before I had entirely finished my little pale or sur- 
 rounded 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 some- 
 times 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 circum- 
 stance 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 afflidting 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 13 UT I am alive, and not 
 desolate island, void of all LJ drowned as all my ship's 
 hope of recovery. company was. 
 
 [76] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I am singled out and separated. But I am singled out too from 
 as it were, from all the world to all the ship's crew to be spared 
 be miserable. from death ; and He that miracu- 
 
 lously saved me from death, can 
 deliver me from this condition. 
 I am divided from mankind, a But I am not starved and per- 
 solitaire, one banished from hu- ishing on a barren place, afford- 
 man society. ing no sustenance. 
 
 I have no clothes to cover me. But I am in a hot climate, where 
 
 if I had clothes I could hardly 
 
 wear them. 
 
 I am without any defence or But I am cast on an island, where 
 
 means to resist any violence of I see no wild beasts to hurt me, 
 
 man or beast. as I saw on the coast of Africa: 
 
 and what if I had been ship- 
 wrecked there? 
 I have no soul to speak to, or But God wonderfully sent the 
 relieve me. 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 some- 
 thing negative or something positive to be thankful for in it; and 
 let this stand as a direction from the experience of the most miser- 
 able 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, giv- 
 ing 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. 
 
 [77] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2Z 
 
 I have already described my habitation, which was a tent under the 
 side of a rock, surrounded by a strong pale of posts and cables, but I 
 might now rather call it a wall, for I raised a kind of wall up againsi 
 it of turfs, about two foot thick on the outside, and after some time, 
 I think it was a year and a half, I raised rafters from it leaning to the 
 rockj 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 hdw I .brought all my goods into this pale, 
 arid irito 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 rto order, so they took up all my place, I had no room to turn 
 myself: so I set myself to enlai-ge my cave and works farther into 
 the earthy for it was a loose sandy rock, which yielded easily to the 
 labour I bestowed oh 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 thd right again, worked quite out and made me 
 a dobr 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, as 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 everything by reason, and by making the most rational 
 judgment of things, every man may be in time master of every me- 
 chanic art. I had never handled a tool in my life, arid yet in time by 
 labour, application, and contrivance, I found at last that I wanted 
 ndthing but I could have made it, especially if I had had tools ; how- 
 ever I made abundance of things, even without tools, and some with 
 no more tools than an adze and a hatchet, which perhaps wefe never 
 
 [78] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 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 half one over another, all along one side of my cave, to lay all 
 my tools, nails, and ironwork, and in a word, to separate everything 
 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 maga- 
 zine of all necessary things, and I had everything so ready at my 
 hand, that it was a great pleasure to me to see all my goods in such 
 order, and especially to find my stock of all necessaries so great. 
 And now it was when I began to keep a journal of every day's em- 
 ployment, for indeed at first I was in too much hurry, and not only 
 hurry as to labour, but in too much discomposure of mind, and my 
 journal would have been full of many dull things: for example, I 
 must have said thus: Sept. the 30th. After I got to shore and had 
 escaped drowning, instead of being thankful to God for my deliver- 
 ance, 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. 
 
 [81 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 see- 
 ing 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 in- 
 crease 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 these particulars over again) as long as it lasted, for hav- 
 ing no more ink I was forced to leave it off. 
 
 THE JOURNAL 
 
 SEPTEMBER 30, 1 659. I, poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, be- 
 ing 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 afflidling myself at the dismal cir- 
 cumstances 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. 
 
 Odtober i. 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 herfor myrelief; so,on the other hand, it renewed my grief at the 
 loss of my comrades, who I imagined if we had all stayed on board 
 might have saved the ship, or at least that they would not have been 
 
 [82] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 car- 
 ried 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 ist of Oftober 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. 
 
 0&. 10. 1 overset my raft, and all the goods I had got upon it, but 
 being in shoal water, and the things being chiefly heavy, I recovered 
 many of them when the tide was out. 
 
 Od. 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 lit- 
 tle 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 the rain might not spoil 
 them. 
 
 Od:. 26. 1 walked about the shore almost all day to find out a place 
 to fix my habitation, greatly concerned to secure myself from an 
 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 semi- 
 circle for my encampment, which I resolved to strengthen with a 
 work, wall, or fortification made of double piles, lined within with 
 cables, and without with turfs. 
 
 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 seek for some food, and discover the country, when I killed a 
 she-goat, and her kid followed me home, which I afterwards killed 
 
 £83 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 also, because it would not feed. 
 
 November i . I set up my tent upon 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. 1. 1 set up all my chests and boards, and the pieces of tim- 
 ber 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 go- 
 ing 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 eat 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 made me a com- 
 plete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe it would do anyone 
 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 frightened 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 be- 
 fore I learnt to mend it. 
 
 Nov. 7. Now it began to be settled fair weather. The 7th, 8th, 
 9th, ioth,and part of the 12th, (for the nth was Sunday) I took 
 wholly up to make me a chair, and with much ado brought it to a 
 
 [84] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 tolerable shape, but never to please me; and even in the making I 
 pulled it in pieces several times\Note, I soon negleded 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 frightened me dreadfully for fear of my powder; as 
 soon as it was over, I resolved to separate my stock of powder into 
 as many little parcels as possible, that it might not be in danger. 
 Nov. 14, 15, 16. These three days I spent in making little square 
 chests or boxes, which might hold about 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 know not 
 what to call it. 
 
 No. 17. This day I began to dig behind my tent into the rock to 
 make room for my farther conveniency. Note, two things I wanted 
 exceedingly for this work, viz., a pick-axe, a shovel, and a wheel- 
 barrow or basket, so I desisted from my work, and began to consider 
 how to supply that want and make me some tools ; as for a pick-axe, 
 I made use of the iron crows, which were proper enough, though 
 heavy; but the next thing was a shovel or spade; this was so ab- 
 solutely necessary, that indeed I could do nothing effedtually with- 
 out it, but what kind of one to make I knew not, 
 Nov. 1 8. The next day in searching the woods I found a tree of that 
 wood, or like it, which in the Brazils 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 lit- 
 tle 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 
 
 [85] 
 

 TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 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 fit 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 work- 
 ing 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. 
 
 [ 86] 
 
 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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, 
 
 December i o. 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 grave-digger. Upon this disaster I had a great 
 deal of work to do over again ; for I had the loose earth to carry out, 
 and, which was of more importance, I had the ceiling to prop up, so 
 that I might be sure no more would come down. 
 Dec. 1 1 . 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 everything up that could be 
 hung up ; and now I began to be in some order within doors. 
 Dec. 20. Now I carried everything into the cave, and began to fur- 
 nish my house, and set up some pieces of boards, like a dresser, to 
 order my vidluals 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 
 
 [87] 
 
TSl ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 it and led it home in a string; when I had it home I bound and splin- 
 tered 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 my nurs- 
 ing 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 i . Very hot still, but I went abroad early and late with my 
 gun, and lay still in the middle of the day; this evening going farther 
 into the valleys which lay towards the centre of the island, I found 
 there was plenty of goats, though exceeding shy and hard to come 
 at; however I resolved to try if I could not bring my dog to hunt 
 them down. 
 
 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 3rd of January to the 14th of April, working, finish- 
 ing and perfeding this wall, though it was no more than about 24 
 yards in length, being a half-circle from one place in the rock to an- 
 other 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 
 perfedly secure till this wall was finished; and it is scarce credible 
 what inexpressible labour everything was done with, especially the 
 
 [ 88 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 to close it, I persuaded myself that if any people 
 were to come on shore there, they would not perceive anything like 
 a habitation ; and it was very well I did so, as may be observed here- 
 after 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 all 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 mak- 
 ing one by them, though I spent many weeks about it ; I could neither 
 put in the heads, orjoint 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 beeswax 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 iight like a candle. In the 
 middle of all my labours it happened, that rummaging my things, 
 
 [89] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 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 re- 
 membering that I had thrown anything there; when about a month 
 after, or thereabout, I saw some few stalks of something green shoot- 
 ing out of the ground, which I fancied might be some pjant I had 
 not seen ; but I was surprised and perfeftly astonished, when, after 
 a little longer time, I saw about ten or twelve ears come'out, which 
 were perfedly 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 adted upon no religious 
 foundation at all,^ndeed I had very few notions of religion in my 
 head, or had entertained any sense of anything 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 direded 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 be- 
 
 [90] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 cause I saw near it stillj all along by the sid6 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 produdtions 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, peer- 
 ing in every cornef, and under every rockj to see for more of it, but 
 I could not find any; at last it occurred to my thoughts, that I had 
 shook a bag of chickens' meat out in that place, and then the won- 
 der began to cease; and I must confess, my religious thankfulness 
 to God's Providence began to abate, too, upon the discovering that 
 "all this was nothing but what was common ; though I ought to have 
 been as thankful fof 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 that io or 1 2 grains of corn should 
 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 sprangup immediately; whereas, if I had thrown it any where else, 
 at that time, it had been burnt up and destroyed. 
 I carefully saved the ears of this corn you may be sure in their sea- 
 son, 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 quan- 
 tity sufficient to supply me with bread; but it was not till the 4th 
 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 was, as above, 20or 30 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. 
 
 [91] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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. 1 finished the ladder, so I went up with the ladder to the 
 top, and then pulled it up after me, and let it down in the inside : 
 This was a complete enclosure to me ; for within I had room enough, 
 and nothing could come at me from without, unless it could first 
 mount my wall. 
 
 The very next day after this wall was finished, I had almost 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 frightened with a most dread- 
 ful surprising thing indeed; for all on a sudden I found the earth 
 come crumbling down from the roof of my cave, and from the edge 
 of the hill over my head, and two of the posts I had set up in the 
 cave cracked in a frightful manner : I was heartily scared, but thought 
 nothing of what 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 think- 
 ing myself safe there neither, I got over my wall for fear of the pieces 
 of the hill which I expedted might roll down upon me; I was no 
 sooner stepped down upon the firm ground, but I plainly saw it was 
 a terrible earthquake, for the ground I stood on shook three times 
 at about eight minutes' distance, with three such shocks as would 
 have overturned the strongest building that could be supposed to 
 have stood on the earth, and a great piece of the top ofa 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 anyone that had, that I was like one dead or 
 stupefied; and the motion of the earth made my stomach sick like 
 
 [9^] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 stupefied 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 go over 
 my wall again, for fear of being buried alive, but sat still upon the 
 ground, greatly cast down and disconsolate, not knowing what to do : 
 all this while I had not the least 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 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 de- 
 jefted, when on a sudden it came into my thoughts, that these winds 
 and rain being the consequences 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 help- 
 ing 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 un- 
 easy 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 the water go out, which would 
 else have drowned rny cave. After I had been in my cave some time, 
 and found still no more shocks of the earthauake follow,! began to 
 be more composed; and now to support my spirits, wnich indeed 
 
 [ 93 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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, know- 
 ing 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 subjedt 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 herej 
 and so make myself secure from wild beasts or men ; but concluded, 
 if I stayed 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 habita- 
 tion. 
 
 The fear of being swallowed up alive, made me that I never slept 
 in quiet, and yet the apprehensions of lying abroad without any 
 fence was almost equal to it; but still when I looked about and saw 
 how everything 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, etc., 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; 
 
 [94] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 be- 
 stowed 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 com- 
 mon there ; besides that, my grindstone was very large and heavy. 
 This machine cost me a full week's work to bring it to perfedion. 
 April 2.8, 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 I. In the morning, looking towards the seaside, 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 
 
 [95] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 learned not to 
 despair of anything, I resolved to pull everything to pieces that I 
 could of the ship, concluding, that everything I got 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 to- 
 gether, and when I had cut it through, I cleared away the sand as 
 wel' as I could from the side which lay highest; but the tide coming 
 in, I was obliged to give over for that time. 
 
 May 4. 1 went a fishing, but caught not one fish th^t 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 eat 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 to- 
 gether, 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 ironwork, 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 
 
 [ 96} 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 AT LENGTH I CONTRIVED A WHEEL WITH A STRING 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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, II, 12, 13, 14. Went every day to the wreck, and got a 
 great deal of 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 oif 
 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 blowed hard in the night, and the wreck appeared 
 more broken by the force of the water; but I stayed so long in the 
 woods to get pigeons for food, that the tide prevented 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 blowing tide several casks floated out, and two of the seamen's 
 chests ; but the wind blowing from the shore, nothing came to land 
 that day but pieces of timber, and a hogshead which had some Bra- 
 zil pork in it, but the salt water and the sahd had spoiled it. 
 I continued this work everyday to the 1 5th 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 
 
 [ 39 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 when it was ebbed out, and by this time I had gotten timber, and 
 plank, and ironwork enough to have builded a good boat, if I had 
 known how; and also, I got at several times, and in several pieces, 
 near lOO weight of the sheet-lead. 
 
 June 1 6. Going down to the seaside, I found a large tortoise or 
 turtle; this was the first I had seen, which it seems was only my mis- 
 fortune, not any defed 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 1 7- 1 spent in cooking the turtle; I found in her threescore 
 eggs ; and her flesh was to me at that time the most savoury and 
 pleasant that ever I tasted in my life, having had no flesh, but of 
 goats and fowls, since I landed in this horrid place. 
 June 1 8. 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 2,1. 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 ofi^ Hull, but scarcely knew what I said, 
 or why ; my thoughts being all confused. 
 
 June 22. A little better, but under dreadful apprehensions of sick- 
 ness. 
 
 June 23. Very bad again, cold and shivering, and then a violent 
 headache. 
 
 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 viduals 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 eat ; I would 
 fain have stewed it, and made some broth, but had no pot. 
 
 [ 100 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 June 27. The ague again so violent, that I lay a-bed all day, and 
 neither eat 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 sup- 
 pose 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 : how- 
 ever, 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 alight upon the ground : he was all over as bright as a flame, 
 so that I could but just bear to look towards him; his countenance 
 was most 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 to- 
 wards 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 ter- 
 ror of it; all that I can say I understood was this, 'Seeing all these 
 things have not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt die; ' at 
 which words, I thought he lifted up the spear that was in his hand 
 to kill me. 
 
 No one, that shall ever read this account, will exped 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 hor- 
 rors; nor is it any more possible to describe the impression that re- 
 
 [ loi ] 
 
T™ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 mained 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 
 instruftion of my father was then worn out by an uninterrupted se- 
 ries, for eight years, of seafaring wickedness, and a constant conver- 
 sation with nothing but such as were like myself, wicked and pro- 
 fane 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 
 towards God, or inwards towards a refledlion 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 pun- 
 ishment 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 
 diredl 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; 
 aded like a mere brute from the principles of nature, and by the dic- 
 tates 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 charita- 
 bly, 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. 
 
 [ I02 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 refledion upon the dis- 
 tinguishing 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 samecommonsortof joy which seamen generally have after they 
 are got safe ashore from a shipwreck, which they drown all in the 
 next bowl of punch, and forget almost as soon as it is over, and all 
 the rest of my life was like it. 
 
 Even when I was afterwards, on due consideration, made sensible of 
 my condition, howl was cast on this dreadful place, out of the reach 
 of human kind, out of all hope of relief, or prospedt of redemption, 
 as soon as I saw but a prosped of living, and that I should not starve 
 and perish for hunger, all the sense of my afflidlion wore off, and I 
 began to be very easy, applied myself to the works proper for my pres- 
 ervation and supply, and was far enough from being afflidted 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 affedt me with serious- 
 ness, as long as I thought it had something miraculous in it ; but as 
 soon as ever that part of the thought was removed, all the impression 
 which was raised from it wore oflf also, as I have noted already. 
 Even the earthquake, though nothing could be more terrible in its 
 nature, or more immediately direding to the invisible power which 
 alone direds 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 afflidion of my cir- 
 cumstances being from His hand, than if I had been in the most pros- 
 perous condition of life. 
 
 [ 103 1 
 
T^ ADVENTURES 22 
 
 But now when I began to be sick, and a leisurely view of the mis- 
 eries of death came to place itself before me; when my spirits began 
 to sink under the burden of a strong distemper, and nature was ex- 
 hausted 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, pro- 
 voked the justice of God to lay me under uncommon strokes, and 
 to deal with me in so vindictive a manner. 
 
 These refledtions oppressed me for the second or third day of my 
 distemper, and in the violence, as well of the fever as of the dread- 
 ful reproaches of my conscience, extorted some words from me, like 
 praying to God, though I cannot say they were either a prayer at- 
 tended with desires or with hopes ; it was rather the voice of mere 
 fright and distress; my thoughts were confused, the convictions 
 grew upon my mind, and the horror of dying in such a miserable 
 condition raised vapours into my head with the mere apprehen- 
 sions; 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 at 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, or 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 
 
 [ 104 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 world, and would have made everything easy to me, and now I have 
 difficulties to struggle with, too great for even nature itself to sup- 
 port, 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 may call it so, that I had made for 
 many years. But I return to my journal. 
 
 June 28. Having been somewhat refreshed with the sleep I had had, 
 and the fit being entirely off, I got up ; and though the fright and ter- 
 ror 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 chiU 
 or aguish disposition of the water, I put about a quarter of a pint of 
 rum into it, and mixed them together; and then I got me a piece of 
 the goat's flesh, and broiled it on the coals, but could eat very little ; 
 I walked about, but was very weak, and withal very sad and heavy- 
 hearted in the sense of my 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 eat, 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 this earth and sea of which I have seen so much, whence is 
 it produced, and what am I, and all the other creatures, wild and 
 tame, human and brutal; whence are we? 
 
 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, 
 
 [ 105] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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 Power that could make all things, must certainly have power to 
 guide and direft 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 this dreadful condi- 
 tion ; and if nothing happens 
 without His appointment, 
 He has appointed all this to 
 befal me. 
 
 Nothing occurred to my 
 thoughts to contradid: 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 diredion, He having the sole power, 
 not of me only, but of everything that happened in the world. Im- 
 mediately 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 blas- 
 phemed, and methought it spoke to me like a voice ; Wretch ! dost 
 thou ask what thou hast done? Lookback upon a dreadful misspent 
 life, and ask thyself what thou hast not done? Ask, why is it that 
 thou wert not long ago destroyed? Why wert thou not drowned in 
 Yarmouth Roads ; killed in the fight when the ship was taken by the 
 Sallee man of war? devoured by the wild beasts on the coast of Af- 
 
 r io6 1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 nca? or, drowned HERE, when all the crew perished but thyself? 
 Dost thou ask. What have I done? 
 
 I was struck dumb with these refledions,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 apprehension 
 of the return of my distemper terrified me very much, it occurred 
 to my thought, that the Brazilians 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, direded 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 be- 
 fore, 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 stupefied my brain, the tobacco being green and strong, 
 and that I had not been 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 that time; only having opened the book cas- 
 ually, the first words that occurred to me were these, ' Call on Me 
 
 [ 107 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, 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 de- 
 liver 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 great impression upon me, and I mused 
 upon them very often. It grew now late, and the tobacco had, as I 
 said, dosed my head so much, that I inclined to sleep ; so I left my 
 lamp burning in the cave, lest I should want anything in the night, 
 and went to bed/; but before I lay down, I did what I never had 
 done in all my iir^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 imperfedl prayer was over, I 
 drank the rum in which Niad steeped the tobacco, which was so strong 
 and rank of the tobaccqythat indeed I could scarce get it down; im- 
 mediately upon this I went to bed. I found presently it flew up in 
 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 after- 
 noon 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 that day after ; 
 for otherwise I knew not how I should lose a day out of my reck- 
 oning 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 one day : but certainly I lost a day in my ac- 
 count, and never knew which way. 
 
 Be that however one way or the other, when I awaked I found my- 
 self exceedingly refreshed, and my spirits lively and cheerful; when 
 I got up, I was stronger than I was the day before, and my stomach 
 
 [ 108 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 'call on M£ in the day 07 TROUBLE, AND I WILL DELIVER THEE' 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 first 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 dosed my- 
 self with it as at first; and doubled the quantity which I drank. 
 July 3. I missed the fit for good and all, though I did not recover 
 my full strength for some weeks after; while I was thus gathering 
 strength, my thoughts ran exceedingly upon this scripture, 'I will 
 deliver thee ; ' and the impossibility of my deliverance lay much 
 upon my mind in bar of my ever expedting it; but as I was discour- 
 aging myself with such thoughts, it occurred to my mind, that I 
 pored so much upon my deliverance from the main affliftion, 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 dis- 
 tressed 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 deliv- 
 ered 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 exped 
 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 awhile every morning and every night, not tying myself to 
 
 c ui a 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 afFedled 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 repent- 
 ance, when it happened providentially the very day that, reading the 
 Scripture, I came to these words, ' He is exalted a Prince and a Sav- 
 iour, to give repentance, and to give remission.' I threw down the 
 book, and with my heart as well as my hands lifted 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 anything being called de- 
 liverance, but my being delivered from the captivity I was in; for 
 though I was indeed at large in the place, yet the island was cer- 
 tainly a prison to me, and that in the worst sense in the world; but 
 now I learned 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 : it was all 
 of no consideration in comparison to this. And I add this part here, 
 to hint to whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true 
 sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin a muc"h greater 
 blessing, than deliverance from afflidion. 
 But leaving this part, I return to my journal. 
 My condition began now to be, though not less miserable as to my 
 
 [ "^ ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 way of living, yet much easier to my mind; and my thoughts being 
 diredled, 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 everything 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 walk- 
 ing 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 perfedly new, 
 and perhaps what had never cured an ague before, neither can I 
 recommend it to anyone to pradtise, by this experiment; and though 
 it did carry off the fit, yet it rather contributed to weakening me; 
 for I had frequent convulsions in my nerves and limbs for some 
 time. 
 
 I 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 hur- 
 ricanes of wind; for as the rain which came in the dry season was al- 
 ways most accompanied with such storms, so I found that 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 pos- 
 sibility of deliverance from this condition seemed to be entirely taken 
 from me; and I firmly believed, that no human shape had ever set 
 footupon that place. Having now secured my habitation, as I thought 
 fully to my mind, I had a great desire to make a more perfed dis- 
 covery of the island, and to see what other produdibns I might find, 
 which I yet knew nothing of. 
 
 It was the 15th of July that I began to take a more particular sur- 
 vey 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 
 
 C"3l 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 in any stream, so as it could be 
 perceived. 
 
 On the bank of this brook I found many pleasant savanas,or mead- 
 ows, 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 cassava 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, imperfedl. I contented myself 
 with these discoveries for this time, and came back musing with my- 
 self 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 Brazils, that I knew little of the plants in the field, 
 at least very little that might serve me to any purpose now in my 
 distress. 
 
 The next day, the i6th, I went up the same way again, and after 
 going something farther than I had gone the day before, I found the 
 brook, and the savanas began to cease, and the country became more 
 woody than before ; in this part I found different fruits, and particu- 
 larly 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, remem- 
 bering that when I was ashore m 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, 
 
 ["4] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 as agreeable to eat, when no grapes might be to 
 be had. 
 
 I spent all that evening there, a,nd 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 toqk 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 
 seenied to descend tp the west, and a little spring of fresh water, 
 which issued out of the side of the hill by me, run the other way, that 
 is due east; and the country appeared so fresh, so green, so flour- 
 ishing, everything 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 vale, surveying it 
 with a secret kind of pleasure (though mixed with my other afflifting 
 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 very few bearing 
 any fruit, at least not then. However, the green limes that I gath- 
 ered, 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 I 
 resolved to lay up a store, as well of grapes, as limes and lemons, to 
 furnish myself for the wet season, which I knew was approaching. 
 In order to 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 trav- 
 
 riis] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 elled 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 fruits, 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 1 9 th, I went back, having made me two small 
 bags to bring home my harvest: but I was surprised, when coming 
 to my heap of grapes, which were so rich and fine when I gathered 
 them, I found them all spread about, trod to pieces ; and dragged 
 about, some here, some there, and abundance eaten and devoured ; by 
 this I concluded, there were some wild creatures thereabouts, which 
 had done this ; but what they were, I knew not. 
 However, as I found there was no laying them up on heaps, and no 
 carrying them away in a sack, but that one way they would be de- 
 stroyed, 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 up 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 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 situate, if possible, 
 in that pleasant fruitful part of the island. 
 
 This thought run 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 
 
 [ ii6 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I GATHERED A LARGE QUANTITY OF THE GRAPES, AND HUNG THEM UP 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 to my advantage, and by the same ill fate that brought me hither, 
 might bring some other unhappy wretches to the same place; and 
 though It was scarce probable that any such thing should ever hap- 
 pen, yet to enclose myself among the hiUs and woods, in the centre 
 of the island, was to anticipate my bondage, and to render such an 
 affair not only improbable,but impossible ; and that therefore I ought 
 not by any means to remove. 
 
 However, I was so enamoured of this place, that I spent much of 
 my time there, for the whole remaining part of the month of July; 
 and though upon second thoughts I resolved as above, not to re- 
 move, 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, al- 
 ways 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 to 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 habita- 
 tion ; 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 rny bower, 
 and began to enj oy myself. The 3 d 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 be- 
 gan to rain, and from hence, which was the 14th of August, it rained 
 more or less, every day, till the middle of Odtober : and sometimes so 
 violently, that I could not stir out of my cave for several days. 
 
TSi ADVENTURES 21 
 
 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 run away 
 from me, or as I thought had been dead, and I heard no more tak 
 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 differing 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 fourteenth of August to the twenty-sixth, 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 
 twenty-sixth, found a very large tortoise, which was a treat to me, and 
 my food was regulated thus; I eat a bunch of raisins for my break- 
 fast,apiece of the goat's flesh, or of the turtle formy dinner broiled; 
 for to my great misfortune, I had no vessel to boil or stew anything; 
 and two or three of the turtle's eggs for my supper. 
 During this confinement in my cover, by the rain, I worked daily two 
 or three hours at enlarging my cave, and by degrees worked it on to- 
 wards 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 perfedl enclosure, whereas 
 now I thought I lay exposed, and open for anything to come in 
 upon me ; and yet I could not perceive that there was any living thing 
 to fear, the biggest creature that I had yet seen upon the island be- 
 ing a goat. 
 
 September the thirtieth, I was now come to the unhappy anniver- 
 sary 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 
 
 [ 12° ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 as a solemn fast, setting it apart to religious exercise, prostrating my- 
 self on the ground with the most serious humiliation, confessing my 
 sins to God, acknowledging His righteous judgments 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 eat 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 above, 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 in 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 remark- 
 able 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 accord- 
 ingly. 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 bar- 
 ley andrice, 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 thoughts, that I would 
 not sow it all at first, because I did not know when was the proper 
 time for it; so I sowed about two-thirds of the seed, leaving about a 
 handful of each. 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 It was a great comfort to me afterwards, that I did so, for not one 
 grain of that sowed this time came to anything; 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 but 
 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 eqijinox; 
 and this having the rainy months of March and April to water it, 
 sprungup very pleasantly, and yielded averygood crop; buthaving 
 part of the seed left only, and not daring to sow all that I had,I had 
 but a small quantity at last, my whole crop not amounting to above 
 half a peck of each kind.- 
 
 But by this experiment I was made master of my business, and knew 
 exadtly when the proper season was to sow; and that I might exped: 
 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 outof 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 treje 
 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 ahke 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 theni, soon covered it ; audit was 
 a complete shade, sufficient to lodge under all the dry season. 
 
 [ 122 1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I DUG UP A PIECE OF GROUND AS WELL AS I COULD WITH MY WOODEN SPADE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 This made me resolve to cut some more stakes, and make me a hedge 
 like this in a semicircle round my wall ; I mean that of my first dwell- 
 ing, which I did; and placing the trees or stakes in a double row, at 
 about eight yards' distance from my first fence, they grew presently, 
 and were at first a fine cover to my habitation, and afterwards served 
 for a 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 sea- 
 sons, and the dry seasons, which were generally thus: 
 
 Half February, 
 
 M arch, -Rainy, the sun being then on, or near the equinox. 
 Half April, J 
 
 Half April, 
 May, 
 June, 
 
 July, 
 
 Half August, 
 Half August, 
 
 September, 
 Half Odober, 
 Half Oaober, 
 
 November, 
 
 December, 
 
 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 provisions 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 
 
 Dry, the sun being then to the north of the line. 
 
 Rainy, the sun being then come back. 
 
 Dry, the sun being then in the south of the line. 
 
TSl ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 way to furnish myself with, but by hard labour and constant appli- 
 cation ; 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 lending a hand, I had by this means 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-hovJ§e, as I called it, 
 and cutting some of the smaller twigs, I found them to my purpose 
 as much as I could desire ; whereupon I came the next time prepared 
 
 with a hatchet to 
 cut down a quanti- 
 ty, which I soon 
 found, for there 
 was great plenty 
 of them; these I 
 set up to dry with- 
 in my circle or 
 hedge, and when 
 they were fit for 
 use, I carried them 
 to my cave, and 
 here during the 
 next season, I em- 
 ployed myself in 
 making, as well as 
 (l could, a great 
 many baskets, both to carry earth, or to carry or lay up anything as 
 
 [ 126] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I had occasionj^nd though I did not finish them very handsomely, 
 yet I made them sufficiently serviceable for my purpose ; and thus 
 aftel^ards 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 anything that was liquid, except two runlets 
 which were almost full of rum, and some glass bottles, some of the 
 common size, and others which were case bottles square, for the hold- 
 ing of waters, spirits, etc. I had not so much as a pot to boil anything, 
 except a great kettle, which I saved out of the ship, and which was 
 too big for such use as I desired, viz., to make broth, and stew a bit 
 of meat by itself. The second thing I would fain have had was a to- - 
 bacco-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 or piles and 
 in this wicker working all the summer, or dry season, when another 
 business took me up more time than it could be imagined I could 
 spare. 
 
 I mentioned before, that I had a great mind to see the whole island, 
 and that I had travelled up the brook, and so on to where I built my 
 bower, and where I had an opening quite to the sea on the other side 
 of the island. I now resolved to travel quite across to the sea-shore 
 on that side; so taking my gun, a hatchet, and my dog, and a larger 
 quantity of powder and shot than usual, with two biscuit cakes, and 
 a great Isunch of raisins in my pouch for my store, I began my jour- 
 ney ; 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 a continent, I could not 
 tell; but it lay very high, extending from the west, to the W.S.W. 
 at a very gteat distance ; by my guess it could not be less than fifteen 
 or twenty leagues oflF. 
 
 [ 1^7 3 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 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 be- 
 lieve, ordered everything for the best; I say, I quieted my mind with 
 this, and left affliding myself with fruitless wishes of being there. ' 
 Besides, after some pause upon this affair, I considered, that if this 
 land was the Spanish coast, I should certainly, one time or other, see 
 some vessel pass or re-pass one way or other; but if not, then it was 
 the savage coast between the Spanish country and Brazils, which are 
 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 savana fields sweet, adorned with flowers and grass, and 
 full of very fine woods. I saw abundance of parrots, and fain I would 
 have caught one, if possible to have kept it to be tame, and taught 
 it to speak to mdL I did, after some painstaking, catch a young par- 
 rot, 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 tor- 
 toise ; which, added to my grapes, Leadenhall market could not have 
 furnished a table better than I, in proportion to the company; and 
 
 [ 128 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 THE SHORE WAS COVERED WllH INNUMERABLE TURTLES 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 thciugh my case was deplorable enough, yet I had great; cause for 
 th^njcfijlness, and 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 took so many turns and returns, to see what dis- 
 coveries I cpuld make, that I came weary enough to the place where 
 I resplved tp sit down for all night; and then I either reposedmyself 
 in a tree, or surrounded myself with a row of stakes set upright in 
 theground, either from one tree to another, or so as no wild creature 
 could come at me, without waking me. 
 
 As spon as I came to the sea-shore, I was surprised to see that I had 
 taken up my Ipt on the worst side of the island; for here indeed the 
 shpre was covered with innurperable turtles, whereas on the other 
 side I had found but three in a year and a half. Here was also an in- 
 finite number of fowls, of many kinds, some which I had seen, and 
 spmewhich I hadnotseenbefore,andmanyof them very goodmeat; 
 but such as I knew not]the names of, except those called penguins. 
 I cpuld have sbPt as many as I pleased, but was very sparing of my 
 ppwder and shot ; and therefore had more mind to kill a she-^goat, if 
 I could, which I could better feed pn; and though there were many 
 go^ts here more than qn my side the island, yet it was with much more 
 difficulty that I could come near them, the country being flat and 
 even, and they saw me much sooner than when I was on the hill. 
 I confess thig side pf the country was much pleasanter than mine, but 
 yet I had not the least inclination to remove ; for as I was fixed in my 
 habit^tipn> it became natural to me, and I seemed all the while I was 
 he^-e, tp be as it were upon a journey, and from home. However, I 
 trayelled 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 that the next jour- 
 ney I took shpuld be pn the other side of the island, east from my 
 dwelling, and so rpund till I came to my post again. Of which in its 
 pl?.ce. 
 I took another way to come back than that I went, thinking I could 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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 my- 
 self mistaken; for being come about two or three miles, I found my- 
 self descended into a very large valley ; but so surrounded with hills, 
 and those hills covered with wood, that I could not see which was 
 my way by any direction but that of the sun, nor even then, unless 
 I knew very well the position of the sun at that time of the day. 
 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 seaside, look for my post, and come back the 
 same way I went ; and then by easy journeys 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 all spent. 
 
 I made a collar to this little creature, and with a string which I had 
 of some rope-yarn, which I always carried about with 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 satisfadtion it was to me, to come into my old 
 hutch, and liedown in my hammock-bed. This little wandering jour- 
 ney, without settled place of abode, had been so unpleasant to me, 
 that my own house, as I called it to myself, was a perfeft settlement 
 to me, compared to that; and it rendered everything 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 jduringwhich, most of the time was taken up in the weighty 
 
 [ 132 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 affair of making a cage for my poll, who began now to be a mere do- 
 mestic, and to be mighty well acquainted with me. Then I began to 
 think of the poor kid, which I had penned in within m;^ little circle, 
 and resolved to go and fetch it home, or give it some food; accord- 
 ingly I went, and found it where I left it; for indeed it could not get 
 out, but 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 be- 
 came 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 prospedl of being delivered than the first day 
 
 I came there. I spent the whole day in humble and thankful acknow- 
 ledgments of the many wonderful mercies which my solitary condi- 
 tion was attended with, and without which it might have been infi- 
 nitely 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 communica- 
 tions of His grace to my soul, supporting, comforting, and encour- 
 aging me to depend upon His providence here, and hope for His 
 eternal presence hereafter. 
 
 I I was now that I began sensibly to feel how much more happy this 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 I 
 changed both my sorrows and my j oy s ; my very desires altered, my af- 
 fedions changed their gusts, and my delights were perfecflly new, from 
 what they were at my first coming, or indeed for the two years past. 
 
 [ ^33 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 Before, as I walked about^ either oh my hunting, or for viewing the 
 country; the ahguish df 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 prisbner locked up with the eternal bars andbblts of the ocean, 
 in an uninhabited wilderhessj without redemption. In the midst of 
 the greatest composure^ of my mind, this would break out upon me 
 like a storm, and iriake 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 sighjand 
 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 
 wordsj it would go off, and the 
 griefhavingexhausteditselfwould 
 abate. 
 
 But now I began to exercise my- 
 self with new thoughts; I daily 
 read the Word of God, and ap-» 
 plied all the comforts of it to my 
 present state. One morning being 
 very sad, I opened the Bible up- 
 on these words, ' I will never, never 
 leave thee, nor forsake thee' ; im- 
 mediately it occurred, that these 
 words were to me, why else should 
 they be direfted in such a manner, 
 just at the moment when I was 
 tnourrling over my condition, as one forsaken of God and man ? Well 
 thenjsaid I,if God does not forsake me, of what ill consequence can 
 it bej or what niatters it, though the world should all forsake me, see^ 
 ing on the other hand, if I had all the world, ^nd should lose the fa- 
 
 t 134 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 vour and blessing of God, there would be no comparison in the. loss. 
 From this moment I began to conclude in my mind, th^t it was pos- 
 sible forme to be more happy in this forsaken solitary condition, than 
 It was probable I should ever have 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 
 a hypocrite (said I, even audibly) to pretend to be thankful for a 
 condition, which however thou mayest endeavour to be contented 
 with, thou would'st rather pray heartily to be delivered from ; so I 
 stopped there. Bi;t though I could not say, I thanked Gpd for being 
 there; yet I sincerely gave thanks to God for opening my eyes, by 
 whatever afflidting 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 
 direcfting 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 ac- 
 count of my works this year, as the first; yet in general it maybe ob- 
 served, that I was yery seldom idle ; but having regularly divided my 
 time, according to the several daily employments that were before 
 me, such as, first, my duty to God, and the reading the Scriptures, 
 whichi 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 in every morning, when it did not rain. Thirdly, the or- 
 dering, curing, preserving, and cooking what I had killed or caught 
 for my supply ; these took up great part of the day : also it is to be 
 considered that the middle of the day when the sun was in the ze- 
 nith, 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 
 
 [ 135 J 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 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 ex- 
 ceeding laboriousness of my work; the many hours which for want 
 of tools, want of help, and want of skill, everything I did took up 
 out of my time. For example, I was full two-and-forty days making 
 me a board for a long shelf, which I wanted in my cave ; whereas two 
 sawyers with their tools, and a saw-pit, would have cut six of them 
 out of the same tree in half a day. 
 
 My case was this, it was to be a large tree, which was to be cut down, 
 because my board was to be a broad one. This 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 hew- 
 ing I reduced both the sides of it into chips, till it begun 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 down- 
 ward, cut the other side, till I brought the plank to be about three 
 inches thick, and smooth on both sides. Anyone may judge the la- 
 bour 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 show the reason why so muchof 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 everything that my circumstances made 
 necessary to me to do, as will appear by what follows. 
 I was now, in the months of November and December, expeding 
 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, 
 
 [ ^3^:1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 the goats, and wild creatures which I called hares, who tasting the 
 sweetness of the blade, lay In it night and day, as soon as it came up, 
 and eat it so close, that it could get no time to shoot up into stalk. 
 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 speed. 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 daytime, 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 be- 
 gan 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, who stood as 
 it were watchirig 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 rose 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 re- 
 solved 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 dam- 
 age was already done, and foupd they had spoiled a good deal of it, 
 but that as it was yet too green for them, the loss was not so great, but 
 that the remainder was 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 dropt down one by one into the corn again. I was so provoked 
 that I could not have patience to stay till more came on, knowing 
 
 [ 137 ] 
 
TS5 ADVENTURES H 
 
 that every grain that they eat 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 wfe-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 maybe sure, and about the latter end of 
 December, which was our second harvest of the year, I reaped my 
 crop. 
 
 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 first crop was but small I had no great difficulty to 
 cut it down; in short, I reaped it my way, for I cut nothing off but 
 the ears, and carried it away in a great basket which I had made, and 
 so rubbed it 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 half of barley, that is to say, by my 
 guess, for I had no measure at that time. 
 
 {iowever,this was a great encouragement to me, and I foresaw that 
 
 [ 138 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 in timdjit would please God to supply me with bread. And yet hfeffe 
 I was perplexed again, for I neither knew how to grind or make 
 meal of my corn, or indeed 
 how to clean it or 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 bakfe it; these things 
 being added to my desire of 
 having a good quantity for 
 fetore, and td securfe a con- 
 stant supply, I resolved not 
 td 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 hdurs of 
 working to accomplish this 
 great wdrk of providing my- 
 self with corn and bread. 
 It might be truly said that 
 now I worked for my bread; 
 it is a little wonderful, and what I believe few people have thought 
 much upon, (vizi) 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 my daily 
 discduragement, and was made more and more sensible of it every 
 hdur,even after I had gdt the first hahdful of seed-corn, which, as I 
 have said, came up unexj)e6tedly, and indeed to a sufprise. 
 First, I had no plough to turn up the earthy no spade or shovel to 
 dig it. Well, this I conquered, by making a wooden spade, as I ob- 
 served before ; but this did my work in but a wooden nianner, and 
 though it cost me a great many days to make it, yet for want of iron 
 
 C ^39 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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, and was content to work it out with pa- 
 tience, 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 it, as it may be 
 called, rather than rake or harrow it. 
 
 When it was growing and grown, I have observed already, how 
 many things I wanted, to fence it, secure it, mow or reap it, cure 
 
 and carry it home, thrash, 
 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 ; 
 and yet all these things I did 
 without, as shall be observed ; 
 and yet the corn was an ines- 
 timable comfort and advan- 
 tage to me too. All this, as I 
 said, made everything labo- 
 rious and tedious to me, but 
 that there was no help for; 
 neither was my time so much 
 loss to me, because as I had 
 divided it, a certain part of it 
 was every day appointed to 
 these works; and as I re- 
 solved 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 nec- 
 essary 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 
 
 [ 140 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I DIVERTED MYSELF WITH TALKING TO MY PARROT 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 sow above an acre of ground. Before I did this, I had a week's work 
 at least to make me a spade, which when it was done was but a sorry 
 bne indeed, and very heavy, and required double labour to work 
 with it; however, I went through that, and sowed my seed in two 
 large flat pieces of ground, as near my house as I could find them to 
 my mind j and fenced them in with a good hedge^ the stakes of which 
 were all cut of that wood which I had set before, and knew it would 
 growjso that in one year's time I knew I should have a quick or liv- ' 
 ing 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 of the wet season, when I could not go abroad. 
 Within doors, that is, when it rained, and I could not go out, I found 
 employment on the following occasions; always observing, that all 
 the while I was at work I diverted myself with talking to my parrot, 
 and teaching him to speak, and I quickly learned him to know his 
 own name, and at last to speak it out pretty loud POLL, which was 
 the first word I ever heard spoken in the island by any mouth but 
 my own. This therefore was not my work, but an assistant to my 
 work, for now, as I said, I had a great employment upon my hands, 
 as foUowSj (viz.) I had long studied by some means or other, to make 
 myself some earthen vessels, which indeed I wanted sorely, but knew 
 flot where to come at them. However, considering the heat of the 
 elimatCj I did not doubt but if I could find out any such clay, I might 
 botch up some such pot, as might, being dried in the sun, be hard 
 enough, and strong enough to bear handlihg, and to hbld anything 
 that Was dry^ and required to be kept so ; and as this was necessary 
 in the preparing corn, meal, etc., which was the thing I was upon, I 
 resolved to make some as large as I could, and fit only to stand like 
 jars to hold what should be put into them. 
 
 It would make the reader pity me, or rather laugh at me, to tell how 
 many awkward ways I took to raise this paste, what odd misshapen 
 ugly things I made, how many of them fell in, and how many fell 
 out, the clay not being stifFenough to bear its own weight ; how many 
 cracked by the over-violent heat of the sun, being set out too hastily ; 
 
 [ H3 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 and how many fell in pieces with only removing, as well before as after 
 they were dried; and in a word, how after having laboured hard to 
 find the clay, to dig it, to temper it, to bring it home and work it; I 
 could not make above two large earthen ugly things, I cannot call 
 them jars, in about two months' labour. 
 
 However, as the sun baked these two, very dry and hard, I lifted 
 them very gently up, and set them down again in two great wicker 
 baskets which I had made on purpose for them, that they might not 
 break, and as between the pot and the basket there was a little room 
 to spare, I stuffed it full of the rice and barley straw, and these two 
 pots being to stand always dry, I thought would hold my dry corn, 
 and perhaps the meal, when the corn was bruised. 
 Though I miscarried so much in my design for large pots, yet I made 
 several smaller things with better success, such as little round pots, 
 flat dishes, pitchers and pipkins, and any things 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 studying 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 firewood 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 5 or 
 6 hours, till I found one of them, though it did not crack, did melt 
 
 • [ 144 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I MADE SEVERAI, THINGS, ... AS LITTLE ROUND POTS, FLAT DISHES, ETC. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 or run, for the sand which was mixed with the day nielted 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 pot§, 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 earth- 
 enware for my use; but I must needs say, as to the shapes of them, 
 they were very indifferent, as anyone may suppose, when I had np 
 way of making them; but as the children make dirt-pies, or as a WQr 
 man would make pies, who never learned to raise paste. 
 No joy at a thing of so mean a nature was ever equal to mine, when 
 r 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 bpil me some meat, whiph it 
 did admirably well ; and with a piece of a kid I made some very good 
 broth, though I wanted oatmeal, and several other ingredients, req- 
 uisite to make it so good as I would have had it been. , 
 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 at arriving to 
 that perfe<3:ion 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 un- 
 qualified 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 hoUow, 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 hard- 
 ness sufficient, but were all of a sandy crumbling stone, which neither 
 would bear the weight of a heavy pestle, or would break the corn with- 
 out 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 for a great blpek 
 of hard wood, which I found indeed much easier; and getting pne 
 
 [ H7 J 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 as big as I had strength to stir, I rounded it, and formed it in the out- 
 side with myaxe and hatchet, and then with the help of fire, and infi- 
 nite labour, made a hollow place in it, as the Indians in Brazil make 
 their canoes. After this, I made a great heavy pestle or beater, of the 
 wood called 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 into meal to make my bread. 
 My next difficulty was to make a sieve, or search, to dress my meal, 
 and to part it from the bran, and the husk, without which I did not 
 see it possible I could have any bread. This was a most difficult 
 thing, so much as but to think on; for to be sure I had nothing like 
 the necessary thing to make it ; I mean fine thin canvas, or stuff, to 
 search 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 it, 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 re- 
 member 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 
 show in its place. 
 
 The baking part was the next thing to be considered, and how I 
 should make bread when I came tb have corn; for first I had no 
 yeast; as to that part, as 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 foot 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 my 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 firewood was burnt pretty much into embers, or live 
 
 [ H8 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 coals, I drew them forward upon this liearth, 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 be- 
 came in little time a mere pastrycook into the bargain ; for I made 
 myself several cakes of the rice, and puddings. Indeed, I made no 
 pies, neither had I anything to put in 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 thrash it on, or instrument to thrash 
 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 now 
 I 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, etc. 
 All the while these things were doing,-you maybe sure my thoughts 
 run many times upon the prospedt of land which I had seen from the 
 other side of the island, and I was not without secret wishes that I were 
 on shore there, fancying the seeing the mainland, and in an inhabited 
 country, I might find someway or other to convey myself farther, 
 and perhaps at last find some means of escape. 
 
 [ H9 ] 
 
TSl ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 But all this while I made no allbwinee for the dangers of such a con- 
 dition, and hdw I rriight fall into the hands of savagfesj and perhaps 
 such as I nlight have reason to think far worse than the lions and 
 tigers of Africa. That if I once came into their power, I should run a 
 hkzard more than. a thbusand to one of being killedj and pferhdps of 
 beihg eaten; fot I had heard that the people bf the Caribbean toasts 
 wfere eannibalsi or man-eaters ; and I knew by the latitude that I could 
 not befarbfFfroin that shbte; that^ suppose they wfere hot cannibals, 
 yet that they might kill me, as many Europeans whb hiad fallen into 
 their hands had been served, even when they had been ten or twfenty 
 together ; much mbre I that was but one, and could make little or no 
 defenfce. All these things, I say, whith I dught to have Considered 
 well dfj arid did cast up in my thoughts afterwards, yet tobk up none 
 of my apprehehsions at first; but my head run mightily upon the 
 thought bf getting over to the shore. 
 
 Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the Ibng boat, with the shoul- 
 der of mutton sail, with which I sailed above a thousand milfes on 
 the coast of Africa; but this wds in vain. Then I thbught I would go 
 and look at out- ship's boat, which, as I have said, was blowri up upon 
 
 \-<y:^^if} 
 
 the shorej a great Wiy in the Storm, when we were first cast away. 
 She Uj almost where she did at first, but hot quite; artd was turnted 
 by the fdrce of the waves and the winds alniost bottorh upwardj 
 against a high ridge of beachy rough sand; but no water about her 
 as before. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 If I had had hands to have refitted her, and to have launched her into 
 the water, the boat would have done well enough, and I might have 
 gone back into the Brazils with her easily enough; but I might have 
 foreseen, that I could no more turn her, and set her upright upon her 
 bottom, than I could remove the island. However, I went to the 
 woods, and cut levers and rollers, and brought them to the boat, re- 
 solved 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 week^ 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 forward, towards the water; so I was 
 forced to give it over; and yet, though I gave over the hopes of the 
 boat, my desire to venture over the main increased, rather than de- 
 creased, as the means for it seemed impossible. 
 This at length put 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 the 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, when it was made, into the water, a difficulty much harder 
 for me to surmount, than all theconsequencesof 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 much trouble cut it down, if after I might 
 be able with my tools to hew and dub the outside into the proper 
 shape of a boat, and burn or cut out the ipside to make it hollow, so 
 
 [ iSi ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 to make a boat of it : if after all this, I must leave it just where I found 
 it, and was not able to launch it into the water? 
 One would have thought, I could not have had the least refledtion 
 upon my mind of my circumstances, 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 of 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 fathom 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 de- 
 sign, 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 an- 
 swer which I gave myself. Let's first make it, I '11 warrant I '11 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. I felled a cedar tree: I question much 
 whether Solomon ever had such a one for the building of the temple 
 at Jerusalem. It was five foot ten inches diameter at the lower part 
 next the stump, and four foot eleven inches diameter at the end of 
 twenty-two foot, after which it lessened for a while, and then parted 
 into branches. 1 1 was not without infinite labour that I felled this tree. 
 I was twenty days hacking and hewing at it at the bottom, I was four- 
 teen more getting the branches and limbs, and the vast spreading 
 head of it, cut oiF, which I hacked and hewed through with axe and 
 hatchet, and inexpressible labour. After this, it cost me a month to 
 shape it, and dub it to a proportion, and to something like the bot- 
 tom 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 exad boat of it. This I did indeed without fire, by mere 
 mallet and chisel, and by the dint of hard labour, till I had brought 
 it to be a very handsome periagua, and big enough to have carried 
 
 [ 15^] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 peri- 
 agua, that was made of one tree, in my life. Many a weary stroke it 
 had cost, you may be sure ; and there remained nothing but to get it 
 into the water ; 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 
 me infinite labour too. It lay about one hundred yards from the water, 
 and not more. But the first inconvenience was, it was uphill towards 
 the creek; well, to take away this discouragement, I resolved to dig 
 into the surface of the earth, and so make a declivity. This I begun, 
 and it cost me a prodigious 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 calculate how deep it was to be dug, how 
 broad how the stuff to be thrown out, I found, that by the number 
 
 [ 153 J 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 
 foot deep ; so at length, though with great relu6tancy, I gave this at- 
 tempt 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 
 rightly of our own strength to go through with it. 
 In the middle of this work, I finished my fourth year in this place, 
 and kept niy anniversary with the same devotion, and with as much 
 comfort as ever before ; for by a constant study, and serious applica- 
 tion of the Word of God, and by the assistance of His grace, I gained 
 a different knowle4ge 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 expedlation 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 might I say, as father Abrahaijn to Dives, Between me and thee 
 is a great gulf fixed. 
 
 I n 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 that I was now 
 capable of enjoying: I was lord of the whole manor; or if I pleased, 
 I might call myself king, or emperor over the whole country which I 
 had possession of There were no rivals : I 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 tortoise 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 ghips. 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 
 
 [ 154] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 to eatj and to supply my wants, and what was all the rest to me? If I 
 killed more flesh than I could eat, the dbg must eat itj or the vermin. 
 If I sowed more corn than I could eatjit hiiist 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 drfess my food. 
 
 In a wordj the nature and experience of things didtated to me upon 
 just refledlibn, that all the good things df this world are no farther 
 good to usi thaii they are for oUr use ; and that whatever we may heap 
 up indeed to give other§, we enjoy just as much as we can usCj and 
 rib morei. The most covetous griping miser in the world would have 
 been cured of the vice of covetousnefesjif he had been inhiy case; for 
 I possessed infinitely rriore than I knew what to dd with. I had no 
 ■room for desire, except it was of things which I had ndt, and they 
 were but trifleSj though indeed of great use to me. I had, as I hinted 
 before, a pdrcel of morieyj as well ^old a§ silver, about thirty-Six 
 pounds sterling: alas! thfere th^ nasty sorry useless stufFlay; I had 
 rio manner bf businfess for it; and I often thought with myself, that 
 I Woiild havegiveh a haridful of it fob a gross of tobaccb pipds, br for 
 a hand-mill to grind my cbrn ; nay, I would have given it all for feik- 
 penny-worth of turnip and carrot sefed out of Englandj or for a hand- 
 fiil of pease and beans j and a bbttlfe bf ink: as it was, I had not the 
 least advantage by it, or benefit front it ; but thbre it lay in a drawer 
 and grew mouldy with the dattip of the cave, in the wet season ; arid 
 if I had had the drawer full of diamonds, it hiid been the same case; 
 and they had been of no manner bf vallie to me, because of no use. 
 I had now brought my state of life to be niuth easifer in itsfelf than it 
 was at first, and much easifef to my mind, a§ Well as to my body. I fre- 
 quently 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 learned to look more upon the bright side of my condi- 
 tion, and less upon the dark side; and to consider what I enjoyted, 
 rather than what I wanted; and this gave rtie sometimes such secret 
 comfortSi that I cannot express them ; and which I take notice of 
 
 [ ^55 1 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot en- 
 joy comfortably what God has given them; because they see and 
 covet something that He has not given them: all our discontents 
 about what we want, appeared to me, to spring from the want of 
 thankfulness for what we have. 
 
 Another refledtion was of great use to me, and doubtless would be so 
 to anyone that should fall into such distress as mine was ; and this was, 
 to compare my present condition with what I at first expedted it should 
 be; nay, with what it would certainly have been, if the good provi- 
 dence of God had not wonderfully ordered the ship to be cast up 
 nearer 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 for 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 my- 
 self in the most lively colours, how I must have adted, 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 refledtions made me very sensible of the goodness of Provi- 
 dence to me, and very thankful for my present condition, with all its 
 hardships and misfortunes. And this part also I cannot but recom- 
 mend to therefledtion of those, who are apt in their misery to say. Is 
 any afflidlion like mine? Let them consider, how much worse the 
 cases of some people are, and their case might have been, if Provi- 
 dence had thought fit. 
 
 I had another refledlion 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 expedt from the hand of 
 Providence. I had lived a dreadful life, perfedlly destitute of the 
 
 [ ^s^l 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 knowledge and fear of God. I had been well instrufted by father and 
 mother; neither had they been wanting to me, in their early endeav- 
 ours, 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 be- 
 fore them ; I say, falling early into the seafaring life, and into seafar- 
 ing company, all that little sense of religion which I had entertained, 
 was laughed out of me by my messmates, by a 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 anything that was good) 
 or tended towards it. 
 
 So void was I of everything that was good, or of the least sense of what 
 I was, or was to be, that in the greatest deliverances I enjoyed, such 
 as my escape from Sallee ; my being taken up by the Portuguese mas- 
 ter of the ship ; my being planted so well in the Brazils ; my receiving 
 the cargo from England, and the like; I never once had the word 
 'Thank God' so much as on my mind, or in my mouth; nor in the 
 greatest distress, had I so much as a thought to pray to Him, or so 
 much as to say, ' Lord have mercy upon me ; ' no, nor to mention the 
 name of God, unless it was to swear by, and blaspheme it. 
 I had terrible refledions 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 had deserved, but had so plentifully provided 
 for me; this gave me great hopes that my repentance was accepted, 
 and that God had yet mercy in store for me. 
 
 With these refledtions 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 for my condition, and that I who was 
 yet a living man, ought not to complain, seeing I had not the due 
 
 [ 157] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 punishment of my sins ; that I enjoyed so many mercies which I had 
 no reason to have expedled in that place ; that I ought never more to 
 repine at my condition, but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks for 
 that daily bread, which nothing but a crowd of wonders could have 
 brought. That I ought to consider I had been fed even by miracle, 
 even as great as that of feeding Elijah by ravens; nay, by a long se- 
 ries of miracles, and that I could hardly have named a place in the un- 
 habitable part of the world where I could have been cast more to my 
 advantage : a place, where as I had no society, which was my afflic- 
 tion on one hand, so I found no ravenous beast, no furious wolves 
 or tigers to threaten my life, no yenomous creatures or poisonous, 
 which I might feed 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 did 
 make 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 some time, all but a very lit- 
 tle, 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 cu- 
 riosity. 
 
 First I had observed, that the same day that I broke away from my 
 father and my friends, and run away to Hull, in order to go to sea; 
 
 [ 158 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 the same day afterwards I was taken by the Sallee man of war, and 
 made a slave. 
 
 The same day of theyear that I escapedoutof thtewreickof that ship 
 in Yarmouth Roads, that same day-year afterwards I made my es- 
 cape from Sallee in the boat. 
 
 The same day of the year I was born on (viz.) the 30th of September, 
 that same day, I had my life so miraculously saved 26 years after, 
 when I was cast on shore in this island^ so that my wicked life and my 
 solitary life begun both on a day. 
 
 The next thing to my irtk's being wasted, was that of my breads I 
 mean the biscuit which I brought out of the ship, this I had hus- 
 banded to the last degree, allowing myself but one cake bf bread a 
 day for above a year, and yet I was quite without bread for near a year 
 before I got any cdrn 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 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 
 avery great help tome 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's, which were left indeed, 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 not abide 
 the thoughts of it, thoilgh I was all ^lofne. 
 
 The 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 that 
 shirt, was twofold cooler than without it ; no more could I ever bring 
 myself to go out in the heat of the sun without a cap or hat, the heat 
 of the sun beating with such violence as it does in that place, would 
 
 [ 159 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 22 
 
 give me the head-ache presently, by darting so diredly 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 those 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 such 
 other materials as I had, so I set to work a-tailoring, or rather indeed 
 a-botching, for I made most piteous work of it. However, I made 
 shift to make two or three new waistcoats, which I hoped would serve 
 me a great while ; as for breeches or drawers, I made but a 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 thehair on the outside to shoot oiFthe rain ; and this I performed 
 so well, that after this I made me a suit of clothes who! ly of these skins, 
 that is to say, a waistcoat, and breeches open at the knees, and both 
 loose, for they were rather wanting to keep me cool than 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 very good shift with ; and when I was abroad, 
 if it happened to rain, the hair of my waistcoat and cap being outer- 
 most, I was kept very dry. 
 
 After this I spent a great deal of time and pains to make me an um- 
 brella; I was indeed in great want of one, and had a great mind to 
 make one; I had seen them made in the Brazils, 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 bemuch abroad,itwas amost useful thing tome, 
 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 anything likely to hold; nay, after 
 
 [ i6o] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I thought I had hit the way, I spoiled 2 or 3 before I made one tomy 
 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 letdown too,anddraw in,itwas not portable 
 for me any way but just over my head, which would not do. How- 
 ever, at last, as I said, I made one 
 to answer, and covered it with 
 skins, the hair upwards, so that 
 it cast off the rains like a pent- 
 house, and kept off the sun so ef- 
 feftually, 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, could close it 
 and carry it under my arm. 
 Thus I lived mighty comforta- 
 bly, my mind being entirely com- 
 posed by resigning to the will of 
 God, and throwing myself wholly 
 upon the disposal of His provi- 
 dence. This made my life better 
 than sociable, for when I began 
 to regret the want of conversa- 
 tion, I would ask myself whether 
 thus conversing mutually with my own thoughts, and, as I hope I 
 may say, with even God Himself by ejaculations, 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 post- 
 ure and place, just as before ; the chief things I was employed in, be- 
 sides my yearly labour of planting my barley and rice, and curing my 
 raisins, of both which I always kept up just enough to have sufficient 
 stock of one year's provisions beforehand. I say, besides this yearly 
 
 [ 161 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 labour, and my daily labour of gding out with riiy gun, I had one la- 
 bour to make me a canoe, which at last I finished. So that by digging 
 a canal to it of six foot wide, and foiir foot deep, I brdught it into the 
 ci-eek, almost half a mile. As for the first, which was so vastly big, as 
 I made it without considering beforehand, as I ftught to do, how I 
 should be able to launch it ; so never being able to bring it to the waterj 
 Or bring the water to it, I was obliged to let it lie where it was^ as a 
 meniorandum to teach me to be wiser next time. Indeed, the next 
 time, though I could not get a tree proper for it, and in a place where 
 I could not get the watei- to it, at any less distance, than as I have said, 
 near half a mile; yet as I saw it was pradticable 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 bbat to go off to sea at last. 
 However, though my little perlagua wds finished, yet the size of it 
 was not at all answerable to the design which I had in view, when I 
 inade the first; I mean, of venturing over to the terra firma, where it 
 Was above forty miles broad ; accordingly, the smallness of niy bdat 
 assisted to put an end to that design^ and tiow I thought no more df 
 it. But as I had a boat, my next design was to make a tour rourid the 
 island; for as I had beeii on the Other side, in one place, crossing as I 
 have already described it, over the land ; so the discoveries I made 
 in that little journey, made mfe very eager to see other parts of the 
 coast; and now I had a boat, I thought of riothihg but sailing round 
 the island. 
 
 For this purpose, that I might do everything 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 sail, which lay in store; 
 and of which I had a great stock by me. 
 
 Having fitted my mast and sail, and tried thfe boat, I found she would 
 sail very well. Then I made Httle lockers, or boxes, at either end of 
 my boat, to put provisions, necessaries and animunition; etc., 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 bbat, v(rhei-e I could lay 
 my gun, making a flap to hang down over it to keep it dry. 
 
 [ 162] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I fixed my umbrella also in a step at the stern, like a mast, to stand 
 over my head, and keep the heatof the sun off of me like anawning; 
 and thus I every now and then took a little voyage upon the sea, 
 but never weqt 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 tpur, 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 and shot 
 for killing more, and two large watch-coats, of those which, as I men- 
 tioned before, I had saved out of the seamen's chests; these I took, 
 one to lie upqn, and the other to cover me in the night. 
 It was the sixth of November, in the sixth ypar of my reign, or my 
 captivity, which you please, that I set out on this voyage, and I 
 found it much longer than I expe(3:ed; for thpugh 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 above two leagues into the sea, some 
 above water, some under it; and beyond that, a shoal of sand, lying 
 dry half a league niore; so that I was obliged to go a great way out 
 to sea to double the point. 
 
 When first I discovered them, I was going to give over my enterr 
 prise, and come back again, not knowing how far it might oblige me 
 to go out to sea ; and ^bove all, doubting how I should get back again ; 
 so I came to an anchor; for I had made me a kind of an anchor with 
 a piece of a broken grappling, which I got out of the ship. 
 Having secured my boat, I took my gun, and went on shore, climb- 
 ing up upon a hill, which seemed to overlook 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, and 
 even came close to the point ; and I took the more notice of it, because 
 I saw there might be some danger ; that when I came into it, I might 
 be carried out to sea by the strength of it, and not be able to make 
 the island again ; and indeed, had I not gotten first up upon this hill, 
 
 [ ^^Z ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 I believe it would have been so ; for there was the same current on the 
 other side the island, only, that it set off at a farther distance; and 
 I saw there was a strong eddy under the shore ; so I had nothing to 
 do but to get in 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 itwas not safe for me 
 to keep too close to the shore for the breach, nor to go too far off be- 
 cause 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 even I was not my boat's length from the shore, but I found 
 myself in a great depth of water, and a current like the sluice of 
 a mill. It carried my boat along with it with such violence, that all 
 I could do, 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 my left hand. There was no wind stirring to help me, and all 
 I could do with my paddlers 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 avoid- 
 ing it; so that I had no prospeft before me but of perishing; not by 
 the sea, for that was calm enough, but of starving for hungetOl 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 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, 
 
 [164] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 was to be put there again. I stretched out my hands to it with eager 
 wishes. Oh, happy desert, said I, I shall never see thee more. Oh, 
 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 illus- 
 trated 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 consterna- 
 tion I was now in, being driven from my beloved island (for so it ap- 
 peared 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, 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 cur- 
 rentwasnear; for where the currentwas so strong, the waterwas foul; 
 but perceiving the water clear, I found the current abate, and pres- 
 ently 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 rocks, and 
 made a strong eddy, which ran back again to the north-west, with a 
 very sharp stream. 
 
 [165] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 They\^ho know what it is to hkve a reprieve brought to them upon 
 the ladderjor to be rescued from thieves just going to rhurder themi 
 or \Vho have been in such hke extremities, m^jr guess what my presfeiit 
 surprisfe of joy was, and how gladly I put iny boat into the stream 
 of this eddy, and the wind also freshening, hbw gladly I spread thy 
 sail to It, running cheerfully before thfe wind, and with a strong tide 
 or eddy under foot. 
 
 This eddy carried me about a league in my Way back again direftly 
 towai-ds the island^ but about two leases rnore to the northward than 
 the current which carried me away at first; so that when I came near the 
 island, I found myself open to the northern shore of it, that is to siy, 
 theother end bf the island opposite to thatwhich I went out frorn. 
 When I had madfe sdmething more than a Ibague 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 betwefen the two great currents, viz., 
 that on the south side, which had hurried me away and that on thfe 
 horth, which lay about a league on the other side ; I say between these 
 two,in thewake of the island, I found the water at least still and run- 
 ning ho way, and having still a breeze of wind fair for me, I kept on 
 steerihg direClly for the islandi though not making such fresh way as 
 I did before. 
 
 Abbut 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 
 disaster, stretching out as is described before to the southward^ and 
 casting ofFthe current more southwardly, had of course made anOthet 
 eddy to the north, and this I found vfery strong, but not direftly set- 
 ting the way my course lay which was due west, but almost full north. 
 However, having a fresh galfe, I stretched across this eddy slanting 
 north-west, and in about an hour came within about a mile of the 
 shore, where it being smodth water, I sooh got to larid. 
 Whfen I was oh shore I fell on my knees and gave God thanks for 
 my deliverance, resolving to lay aside all thoughts of my deliverance 
 by rhy boat ; ahd refreshing myselFwith such things as I had, I brought 
 my boat close to the shore in a little cove that I had spied under some 
 
 [ i66] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 attempt- 
 
 ing 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 west- 
 ward along the shore and to see if there was no creel^ where I might 
 layup my frigate in safety,so as to have her again if I wanted her; in 
 about three mile or thereabout coasting the shore, I came to a very 
 good inlet or bay about a mile over, which narrowed till it came to a 
 very little rivulet or brook, where I found a very convenient harbour 
 for my boat, and where she lay as if she had been in alittle 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 exceedingly hot, 
 I began my march : the way was comfortable enough after such a voy- 
 age as I had been upon, and I reached my old bower in the evening, 
 where I found everything standing as I left it; for I always kept it in 
 
 [ 167 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 
 waked 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 Cru- 
 soe? Where are you? Where have you been? 
 I was so dead asleep at first, being fatigued with 
 rowing, or paddling, as it is called, the first part 
 of the day, and with walking the latter part, that 
 I did not wake thoroughly, but dozing between 
 sleeping and waking, thought I dreamed that 
 somebody spoke to me: but as the voice contin- 
 ued to repeat Robin Crusoe, Robin Crusoe, at 
 last I began to wake 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 Poll sitting on the top 
 of the hedge; and immediately knew that it was 
 he that spoke to me; for just in such bemoaning 
 language I had used to talk to him, and teach him; 
 
 ;-^^ 
 
 '-&<'; 
 
 
 
 [i68] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 m 
 
 ^: 
 
 ^i 
 
 ■A> 
 
 
 and he had learned it so perfedtly, 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 come 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 nowhere 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 contin- 
 ued 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 refled 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 
 
 E 
 
 
 [ J69] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 it was pradicable 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 myself to bp without any boat, though it 
 had been the produdt of so many rnonths' labour to make it, and of 
 so many more to get it unto the sea. 
 
 In this government of my temper, I remained near ayear, 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 re- 
 signing myself to the dispositions of Providence, I thought I lived 
 really very happily in all things, except that of society. 
 I improved myself 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 unexpedled perfeftion 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 anything I found out, than for my being able to make a tobacco- 
 pipe. And though it was a very ugly clumsy thing, when it was done, 
 and only burnt red like other earthenware, yet as it was hard and firm, 
 and would draw the smoke, I was exceedingly comfqrted 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 
 
 [ 170 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 POOR ROBIN CRUSOE ! WHERE ARE YOU, ROBIN CRUSOE? 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 necessary baskets, as well as my invention showed me; though not 
 very handsome, yet they were such as were very handy and conven- 
 ient for my laying things up in, or fetching things home in. For ex- 
 ample, if I killed a goat abroad, I could hang it up in a tree, flay 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 forme, and bring them homein 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 forme 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 hopes of getting a he-goat, but I could not by any means 
 bring it to pass, till my kid grew an old goat; and I could never find 
 it in my heart to kill her, till she died at last of mere age. 
 But being now in the eleventh year of my residence, and, as I have 
 said, my ammunition growing low, I set myself to study some art to 
 trap and snare the goats, to see whether I could not catch some of 
 them alive, and particularly I wanted a she-goat great with young. 
 To this purpose I made snares to hamper them, and I do believe they 
 were more than once taken in them, but my tackle was not good, for 
 I had no wire, and I always found them broken, and my bait de- 
 voured. 
 
 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, with- 
 out setting the trap, and I could easily perceive that the goats had 
 gone in and eaten up the corn, for I could see the marks of their feet. 
 At length I set three traps in one night, and going the next morning 
 I fgund them all standing, and yet the bait eaten and gone. This was 
 
 [ 173 ] , 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 very discouraging. However, I altered my trap, and, not to trouble 
 you with particulars, going one morning to see my trap, 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 frighted out of his wits ; 
 but I had forgot then what I learned afterwarfis, that hunger will tame 
 alion. 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 sa- 
 gacious tradable creatures where they are well used. 
 
 However, for the present I let hirri 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 brpught them 
 all home. 
 
 I I 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 expedted to supply myself with goat's-flesh when I had 
 no powder or shot left, breedingsomeup tame was niy 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 in so effedtually, 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 
 
 [ 174] 
 
ROBINSON - CRUSOE 
 
 I COULD . . . CUT IT IN PIECES, AND BRING IT HOME IN A BASKET 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 contrivance, when I pitched upon a place very proper for allthescj be- 
 ing a plain open piece of meadow-land or savanna, (as our people call 
 it in the western colonies,) which had two or three little rills of fresh 
 water in it, and at one end was very woody. I say they will smile at my 
 forecast, when I shall tell them I began my enclosing of this piece of 
 ground in such a manner, that my hedge or pale must have been at 
 least two mile about. Nor was the madness of it so great as to the com- 
 pass, for if it was ten mileaboutl 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. 
 fMy 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 ofabouti5oyards in 
 length , and i oo 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 afting with some prudence, and I went to work with cour- 
 age. 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 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, 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 
 
 [ 177 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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, didlates even naturally 
 how to make use of it; so I that had never milked a cow, much less a 
 goat, or seen butter or cheese made, very readily and handily, though 
 after a great many essays and miscarriages, ma|de 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 destruc- 
 tion! How can He sweeten the bitterest providences, and give us 
 cause to praise Him for dungeons and prisons ! What a table was here 
 spread forme in a wilderness, where I saw nothing at first but to per- 
 ish 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 my absolute com- 
 mand. I could hang, draw, give 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 ser- 
 vants! Poll, as if he had been my favourite, was the only person per- 
 mitted to talk to me. My dog who was now grown very old and crazy, 
 and had 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 spe- 
 cial favourj 
 
 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 habita- 
 tion by my own hand ; but one of them having multiplied by I know 
 not what kind of creature, these were two which I had preserved tame, 
 whereas the rest ran wild in the woods, and became indeed trouble- 
 some to me at last; for they would often come into my house, and plun- 
 der 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 plenti- 
 ful manner I lived; neither could I be said to want anything but soci- 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ety, and of that in some time after this, I was like to have too much. 
 I was something impatient, as I have observed, to have the use of my 
 boat ; though very loth to run any more hazards ; and therefore some- 
 times 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 re- 
 solved 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 equi- 
 page, and in such a dress. Be pleased to take a sketch of my figure as 
 follows : 
 
 ^ I had a great high shapeless cap, made of a goat's-skin, with a flap 
 hanging down behind, as well to keep the sun from me, as to shoot the 
 rain off from running into my neck; nothing being so hurtful in these 
 climates, as the rain upon the flesh under the clothes. 
 I had a short jacket of goat's-skin, the skirts coming down to about 
 the middle of my thighs; and a pair of open-kneed breeches of the 
 same: the breeches were made of the skin of an old he-goat, whose 
 hair hung down such a length on either side, that like pantaloons it 
 reached to the middle of my legs; stockings and shoes I had none, 
 but had made me a pair of somethings, I scarce know what to call 
 them, like buskins to flap over my legs, and lace on either side like 
 spatterdashes; but of a most barbarous shape, as indeed were all the 
 rest of my clothes. 
 
 'v- 1 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 a 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 
 
 [i8i ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 shoulder ; and at the end of it, under the 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 mu- 
 latto like, as one might expedt from a man not at all careful of it, and 
 living within nineteen degrees of the equinox. My beard I had once 
 suffered to groyir till it was about a quarter of a yard long; but as I had 
 both scissors 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 moustachios or whiskers, I will not say they were long 
 enough to hang my hat upon them; but they were of a length and 
 shape monstrous enough, and such as in England would have passed 
 for frightful. 
 
 But all this is by the bye ; for as to my figure, I had so few to observe 
 me,ihat 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, diredly to the place 
 where I first brought my boat to an anchor, to getup upon the rocks ; 
 and having no boat now to take care of, I went over the land a nearer 
 way, to the same height that I was upon before, when looking forward 
 to the point of the rocks which lay out, and which I was obliged to 
 double with my boat, as is said above, I was surprised to see the sea 
 all smooth and quiet, no rippling, no motion, no current, any more 
 than in other places. 
 
 I was at a strange loss to understand this, and resolved to spend some 
 time in the observing it, to see if nothing from the sets of the tide had 
 occasioned it; but I was presently convinced how it was, viz. that the 
 tide of ebb setting from the west, and joining with the current of wa- 
 ters from some great river on the shore, must be the occasion of this 
 current; and that according as the wind blew more forcibly from the 
 
 [ 182 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 west, or from the north, this current came nearer, or went farther from 
 the shore ; for waiting thereabouts till evening, I went up to the rock 
 again,and then the tide of ebb being made, I plainly saw the current 
 again as before, only, that it ran farther off, being near half a league 
 from the shore ; whereas in my case, it set close upon the shore, and 
 hurried me and my canoe along with it, which at another time it would 
 jjot have done. 
 
 ( This observation convinced me, that I had nothing to do but to ob- 
 serve 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 re- 
 membrance of the danger I had been in, that I could not think of it 
 againwith any patience; but on the contrary,! took up another reso- 
 lution 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 understend, that now I had, as I may call it, two planta- 
 tions in the island; pne 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 the large earthen pots, of 
 which I have given an account, and with fourteen or fifteen great 
 baskets, which would hold five or six bushels each, where I laid up 
 my stores of provision, especially my corn, some in the ear cut off 
 short from the straw, and the other rubbed out with my hand. 
 As for my wall made, as before, with long stakes or piles, those piles 
 grew all like trees, and were by this time grown so big, and spread so 
 very much, that there was not the least appearance to any one's view 
 of any habitation behind them. 
 
 Near this dwelling of mine, but a little farther within the land, and 
 upon lower ground, lay my two pieces of corn-ground, which I kept 
 duly cultivated and sowed, and which duly yielded me their harvest 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 plan- 
 tation 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 efFedually 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, so I was so uneasy to see it kept entire, lest the 
 goats should break through, that I never left off till with infinite la- 
 bour I had stuck the outside of the hedge so full of small stakes, and 
 5o 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 after- 
 wards 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 sup- 
 port; 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 perfeding my enclosures to such a degree, that I might be sure of 
 
 [ 184] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 keeping them together ; which by this method indeed I so efFeftually 
 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 de- 
 pended on for my winter storeof 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 halfway between my other habitation, and the 
 place where I had laid up my boat, I generally stayed, and lay here 
 in my way thither; for I used frequently to visit my boat, and I kept 
 all things about or belonging to her in very good order ; sometimes i 
 went out in her to divert myself, but no more hazardous voyages 
 would I go, nor scarce ever above a stone's cast or two from the shore, 
 I was so apprehensive of being hurried out of my knowledge again 
 by the currents, or winds, or any other accident. But now I come to 
 anew scene of my life. 
 
 It happened one day about noon, going towards my boat, I was ex- 
 ceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore, 
 which was very plain to be seen in the sand. J stood like one thunder- 
 struck, or as if I had seen an apparition; Mistened, I looked round 
 me, I could hear nothing, nor see anything; 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 exadlly 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 imaginOut after innum- 
 erable fluttering thoughts, like a man perfedlly conifiised and out of 
 myself, I came home to my fortification, not feeling, as we say, the 
 ground I went on, but terrified to the last degree, looking behind me 
 at every two or three steps, mistaking every bush and tree, and fancy- 
 ing every stump at a distance to be a man ; nor is it possible to describe 
 how many various shapes affrighted imagination represented things 
 
 [ 185] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 to me in, how many wild ideas were found 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; no, nor could I remember the next morning; for 
 never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to earth, with more terror of 
 mind than I to this retreat. 
 
 I slept none that nightisthe farther I was from the occasion of my 
 fright, the greater my apprehensions were; which is something con- 
 trary to the nature of such things, and especially to the usual pradlice 
 of all creatures in fear: but I was so embarrassed with my own fright- 
 ful ideas of the thing, that I formed nothing but dismal imaginations 
 to myself, even though I was now a great way off of 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 amusement 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 a high 
 wind would have defaced entirely. All this seemed inconsistent with 
 the thing itself, and-with all the notions we usually entertain of the 
 subtlety of the devil. 1 
 
 Abundance of such tnings as these assisted to argue me out of all ap- 
 prehensions of its being the devil; and I presently concluded then, 
 
 [ i86] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 
 I STOOD LIKE ONE THUNDERSTRUCK 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 that it must be some more dangerous creature, viz.V^that it must be 
 some of the savages of the main land over against me^jwhohadwan- 
 der'd out to sea in their canoes ; and either driven by the currents, or 
 by contrary winds, had made the island; and had been on s'iore,but 
 were gone away again to sea, being as loth, perhaps, to have stayed in 
 this desolate island, as I would have been to have had them. 
 While these refledlions were roUingupon my mind, I was very thank- 
 ful in my thoughts, that I was so happy as not to be thereabouts at 
 that time, or that they did not see my boat, by which they would have 
 concluded that some inhabit^ts had been in the place, and perhaps 
 have searched farther for n/e. /Then terrible thoughts racked my im- 
 agination about their havingfound my boat, and that there were peo- 
 ple 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 confi- 
 dence 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 easiness, that would not sow any more corn one year than 
 wouldjust serve me till the next season, as if no accident could inter- 
 vene 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 diflfering springs are the affedlions hurried about as difi"er- 
 ing 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 ; 
 
 [ 189] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 for Ij whose only afflidtion was, that I seemed banished from human 
 society, that I was alone, circumscribed by the boundless ocean, cut 
 off from mankind, and condemned to what I called silent life; that I 
 was as one whom H eaven 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 in the island. 
 
 Such is theuneven 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 foreseewhat the ends of divinewisdommightbein 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 ab- 
 solutely as He thought fit; and who, as I was a creature who had of- 
 fended Him, had likewise ajudicial right to condemn me to what pun- 
 ishment He thought fit; and that it was my part to^ubmit to bear 
 His indignation, because I had sinned against Him. ) 
 I then reflefted that God, who was not only righteous but omnipo- 
 tent, as He had thought fit thus to punish and afflidt me, so He was 
 able to deliver me; that if He did not think fit to do it, it was my un- 
 questioned 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 diredions of His daily 
 providence. 
 
 These thoughts took me up many hours, days ; nay, I may say, weeks 
 and months; and one particular effedt of my cogitations on this oc- 
 casion, I cannot omit, viz., one morning early, lying in my bed, and 
 filled with thought about my danger from the appearance of savages, 
 I found it discomposed me very much, upon which those words of 
 
 [ 190 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 ear- 
 nestly to God for deliver- 
 ance. When I had done pray- 
 ing, I took up my Bible, and 
 opening it to read, the first 
 words that presented to me, 
 were, /Wait on the Lord, 
 and be^f good cheer, and 
 He shall strengthen thy 
 heart; wait, I say, on the 
 Lord.' It is impossible to ex- 
 press the comfort this gave 
 meJin answer I thankfully 
 laid down the Book, and was 
 no more sad, at least, not on 
 that occasion. 
 
 In the middle of the cogita- 
 tions, apprehensions and reflections, it came into my thought 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 my- 
 self 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 spedres and ap- 
 paritions ; and then are frighted at them more than anybody else^ 
 Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad again; forXnad 
 not stirred out of my castle for three days and nights; so that I began 
 
 [ 19.1 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 to starve for provisions ; 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 in- 
 deed, 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 coun- 
 try 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 my- 
 self 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 wa^any 
 similitude of fitness, that I might be assured it was myownfooC But 
 when I came to the place,/rj^, it appeared evidently to me, that when 
 I laid up my boat, I could not possibly be on shore anywhere there 
 about. Secondly, v/hen I came to measure the mark with my own foot, 
 I found my foot was not so large by a great deal ; both these things 
 filled my head with new imaginations, and gave me the vapours agaifK 
 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 pros- 
 
 [ 192 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 peft of the same, or the like booty. Then to the simple thing of dig- 
 ging 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 demol- 
 ish my bower, and tent, that they might not see any vestiges of habi- 
 tation, and be prompted to look farther, in order to find out the per- 
 sons inhabitirig^\ 
 
 These were the subj eds of the first night's cogitation, after I was come 
 home again, while the apprehensions which had so overrun my mind 
 were fresh upon me, and my head was full of vapours, as abov^/Thus 
 fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger it- 
 self, when apparent to the eyes ; and we find the burden of anxiety 
 greater by muc h, than the evil which we are anxious about ; and which 
 was worse than all this, I had not that relief in this trouble from 
 the resignation I used to practise, that I hoped to have. I looked, I 
 thought, like Saul, who complained not only that the Philistines 
 were upon him ; but that God had forsaken him ; for I did not now 
 take due ways to compose my mind, by crying to God in my distress, 
 and resting upon His providence, as I had done before, for my de- 
 fence and deliverance ; which if I had done, I had, at least, been more 
 cheerfully supported under this4iew surprise, and perhaps carried 
 through it with more resolution. ) 
 
 This confiisionof 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 waked much better composed than I had ever been before ; and 
 now I began to think sedately ;andupontheutmost debate with my- 
 self, I concluded, that this island, which was so exceedingly 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 
 
 [ 193 ] 
 
TSl ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 least shadow or figure of any people yet; and that If at any time they 
 should be driven here, it was probable they went away again as soon 
 as ever they could, seeing they had never thought fit to fix 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 same 
 manner of a semicircle, at a 
 distance from my wall, just 
 where I had planted a dou- 
 bl e row of trees, about twelve 
 years before, of which Imade 
 mention: these trees having 
 been planted so thick before, 
 they wanted but a few piles 
 to be driven between them, 
 that they should be thicker, 
 I 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 everything I could 
 
 L ^94 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 think, of, to make it strong; having in it seven little holes, about as 
 big as I might put my arm out dk. In the inside of this, I thickened 
 my wall to above ten foot thick, with continual 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 Hke my cannon, and fitted them into frames that held 
 them like a carriage, that so I could fire all the seven guns in two min- 
 utes' time. This wall I was many a weary^onth a 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; inso- 
 much, 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, growing so monstrous thick 
 and strong, that it was indeed perfedly impassable ; and no men of 
 what kind soever, would ever imagine that there was anything be- 
 yond it, much less a habitation. As for the way which I proposed to 
 myself to go in and out, for I left no avenue, it was by setting two 
 ladders; one to a part of the rock which was low, and then broke in, 
 and left room to place another ladder upon that ; so when the two lad- 
 ders were taken down, no man living could come down to me with- 
 out mischieving 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 to me. / 
 
 While this was doing, I was not altogether careless of my other af- 
 fairs; for I had a great concern upon me, for my htde herd of goats: 
 
 [195 J 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 they were not only a present supply to me upon every occasion, and 
 
 began to be sufficient to me, 
 without the expense of pow- 
 der and shot; but also with- 
 out the fatigue of hunting 
 after the wild ones, and I was 
 loth to lose the advantage of 
 them, and to have all to nurse 
 up over again. 
 To this purpose, after long 
 consideration, I could think 
 of but two ways to preserve 
 them; one was to find an- 
 other 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 con- 
 cealed 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 ^^eat 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 mid- 
 dle 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 enclo- 
 sure by nature, at least It did not want near so much labour to make 
 it 80, as the other pieces of ground I had worked so hard at, 
 
 [196] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I immediately went to work with this piece of ground, and in less 
 than a month's time, I had so fenced it round, that my flock or herd, 
 call it which you please, who were not so wild now as at first they 
 might be supposed to be, were well enough secured in it. So without 
 any further delay, I removed ten young she-goats and two he-goats 
 to this piece; and when they were there, I continued to perfedb 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 apprehen- 
 v,sions 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 afHidtion and 
 pressure of mind, surrounded with danger,and in expedlation every 
 night of being murdered and devoured before morning; and I must 
 testify from my experience, that a temper of peace, thankfulness, love 
 and afFedionjis much more the proper frame for prayer than that of 
 terror and discomposure; and that under the dread of mischief im- 
 pending, 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 affedt the mind as the others do the body ; and 
 the discomposure of the mind must necessarily be as great a dis- 
 ability as that of the body, and much greater^^aying to God being 
 properly an ad: 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 
 
 [ 197 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 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 perspedive-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 hold to look any longer; whether it 
 was a boat, or not, I do not know; but as I descended from the hill 
 I could see no more of it, so I gave it over; only I resolved to go no 
 ji^ore out without a perspeftive-glass in my pocket. 
 When I was come down the hill, to the end of the island, where in- 
 oeed I had never been before, I was presently convinced that 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 ca- 
 noes 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 viftors having taken 
 any prisoners, would bring them over to this shore, where accord- 
 ing to their dreadful customs, bdng all cannibals, they would kill 
 and eat them; of which hereafter. \ 
 
 When I was come down the hilI,to the shore, as I said above, being 
 ^he S. W. point of the island, I was perfedly 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 cockpit, where it is 
 supposed the savage wretches had sat down to their inhuman feast- 
 ings 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 inhu- 
 man, hellish brutality, and the horror of the degeneracy of human 
 
 r T98 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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, so I gat me 
 up the hill again, with all the 
 speed I could, and walked on 
 towards my own habitation.y 
 When I came a little out of 
 that part of the island, I stood 
 still awhile as amazed; and 
 then recovering myself, I 
 looked up with the utmost 
 afFedlion of my soul, and % 
 with a flood of tears in my 
 eyest gave God thanks, that 
 had cast my first lot in a part 
 of the world, where I was dis- 
 tinguished from such dread- 
 ful creatures as these; ^nd 
 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 expefting anything here; and having often, no 
 doubt, been up in the covered woody part of it, without finding 
 anything to their purpose. I knew I had been here now almost eigh- 
 
 [ ^99 ] 
 
TSi ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 teen years, and never sawthe least footsteps of human creature there 
 before ; and I might be here eighteen more, as entirely concealed as 
 I was now, if I did not discover myself to them, which I had no man- 
 ner of occasion to do, it being my only business to keep myself en- 
 tirely 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 ; 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 thinkof ever making anymore attempts 
 to bring the other boat round the island to me, lest I should meet 
 with some of these 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 satisfadtion 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 hap- 
 pen to be seen by any of them ; and particularly I was more cautious 
 of firing my gun, lest any of them being on the island, should happen 
 to hear of it; and it was therefore a very good providence to me, that 
 I had furnished myself with a tame breed of goats, that I needed not 
 hunt anymore about the woods, or shoot at them; and if I did catch 
 any of them after this, it was by traps and snares, as I had done be- 
 fore; 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 ; 
 
 [ 200 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 also I furbished up one of the great cutlasses, that I had out of the 
 ship, and made me a belt to put it on also ; so that I was now a most 
 formidable fellow to look at, when I went abroad, if you add to the 
 former description of myself, the particular of two pistols, and a 
 great broad sword, hanging at my side in a belt, but without a scab- 
 bard. 
 
 Things going on thus, as I have said, for some time, I seemed, ex- 
 cepting these cautions, to be reduced to my former calm, sedate way 
 of living; all these things tended to showing 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 refleding, how little re- 
 pining 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 con- 
 veniences, and I had dropped a good design, which I had once bent 
 my thoughts too much upon; andthatwas,totryif I could not make 
 some of my barley into malt,and then try to brew myself some bee: 
 This was really a whimsical thought, and I reproved myself oft 
 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 at- 
 tempting 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 ; andyet all these things notwithstanding, I verily believe, had 
 not these things intervened, I mean the frights and terrors I was in 
 about the savages, I had undertaken it, and perhaps brought it to 
 
 [ 20I ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 pass too\ for I seldom gave anything over without accomplishingitj 
 when I once had it in my head enough to begin it/ 
 ^ut my invention now run quite another way ; for night and day I 
 could think of nothing but how I might destroy some of these mon- 
 sters in their cruel bloody entertainment, and if possible, save the 
 viftim they should bring hither to destroy) It would take up a larger 
 volume than this whole work is intendedto be, to set down all the 
 contrivances I hatched, or rather brooded upon in my thought, 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 efFedl, unless I was to be there to do it my- 
 self; 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 pound of gunpowder, which when they 
 kindled their fire, would consequently take fire, and blowup all that 
 was near it; but as in the first place I should bevery loth to waste so 
 much powder upon them, my store being now within the quantity of 
 one barrel, so neither could I be sure of its going off at any certain 
 time, when it might surprise them, and at best, that it would do little 
 more than just blow the fire abouttheirears and fright them,butnot 
 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 was twenty I should kill them all. This fancy pleased 
 my thoughts for some weeks, and I was so full of it, that I often 
 dreamed of it; and sometimes that I was just going to let fly at them 
 in my sleep. 
 
 I went so far with it in my Imagination, that I employed myself sev- 
 
 [ 202 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 eral days to find out proosf places to put myself in ambuscade, as I 
 said, to watch for themjknd 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 put- 
 ting twenty or thirty of them to the sword, as I may call it; the hor- 
 ror 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 sideof the hill, where I was sat- 
 isfied I might securely wait till I saw any of their boats coming, and 
 might then, even before they would be ready to come on shore, con- 
 vey myself unseen into thickets of trees, in one of which there was a 
 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 pre- 
 pared two muskets and my ordinary fowling-piece. The two mus- 
 kets I loaded with a brace of slugs each, and four or five smaller bul- 
 lets, about the size of pistol bullets; and the fowling-piece I loaded 
 with near a handful of swan-shot, of the largest size ; I also loaded my 
 pistols with about four bullets each, and in this posture, well pro- 
 vided with ammunition for a second and third charge, I prepared my- 
 self for my expedition. 
 
 After I had thus laid the scheme of my design, and in my imagination 
 put it in pradtice, 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, com- 
 ing 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. 
 
 [ 203 ] 
 
T2S ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 As long as I kept up my daily tour to the hill, to look out, so long 
 also I kept up the vigour of mv:-design, and my spirits seemed to be 
 all the while in a suitable formlfor 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 farther than 
 my passions were at first fired by the horror I conceived at the un- 
 natural custom of the people of that country, who it seems had been 
 suffered by Providence in His wise disposition ofthe world, to have 
 no other guide than that of their own abominable and vitiated pas- 
 sions; and consequently were left, and perhaps had been so for some 
 ages, to a6b such horrid things, and receive such dreadful customs, as 
 nothing but nature entirely abandoned of H eaven, and adted 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 adion itself began to alter, and I began with cooler and calmer 
 thoughts to consider what it was I was going to engage in. What au- 
 thority, 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 execu- 
 tioner of H is judgments one upon another; how far these people were 
 offenders against me, and what right I had to engage in the quarrel of 
 that blood, which they shed promiscuously one upon another. I de- 
 bated this very often with myself thus : How do I know what God 
 Himself judges in this particular case? it is certain these people either 
 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 indefianceof 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 
 
 [ 204 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 more than those Christians were murderers, who often put to death 
 the prisoners taken in battle; or more frequently, upon many occa- 
 sions, putwhole 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 thus 
 gave one another was thus brutish and inhuman, yet it was really no- 
 thing to me,, these people had done me no injury. That if they at- 
 tempted me, or I saw it necessary for my immediate preservation to 
 fall upon them, something might be said for it; but that as I was yet 
 out of their power, and they had really no knowledge of me, and con- 
 sequently no design upon me; and therefore it could not be just for 
 me to fall upon them. That this would justify the condudl of the 
 Spaniards in all their barbarities practised in America, and where they 
 destroyed millionsof these people, who however they were idolaters 
 and barbarians, and had several bloody and barbarous rites in their 
 customs, such as sacrificing human bodies to their idols, were yet, as 
 to the Spaniards, very innocent people; and that the rooting them 
 out of the country is spoken of with the utmost abhorrence and de- 
 testation by even 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 fright- 
 ful and terrible to all people of humanity, or of Christian compas- 
 sion: as if the kingdom of Spain were particularly eminent for the ^ 
 produftof a race of men who were without principles of tenderness, ^ 
 or the common bowels of pity to the miserable, which is reckoned to 
 be a mark of generous temper in the mindy/ 
 These considerations really put me to a pause, and to a kind of a full- 
 stop; and I began little by little to be ofFof my designs, and to con- 
 clude I had taken wrong measures 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 
 
 [ 205 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 21 
 
 not to deliver myself, but entirely to ruin and destroy myself; for un- 
 less 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 fel- 
 lows, and I should only bringupon myself a certain destrudtion whjch 
 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 perfedlyoutofmy duty when I was laying all 
 my bloody schemed for the destrudtion of innocent creatures, I mean 
 innocent as to m^ As to the crimes they were guilty of towards one 
 another, I had nothing to do with them ; they were national, and I 
 ought to leave them tothejusticeof God,who is the governor of na- 
 tions, and knows how by national punishments to make justretribu- 
 tion for national offences; and to bring public judgments upon those 
 who offend in a public manner, by such ways as best pleases Him. 
 This appeared so clear to me now, that nothing was a greater satis- 
 fadtion to me, than that I had not been suffered todo athingwhichi 
 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 
 thanksonmy knees to God, that had thus delivered me from blood- 
 guiltinessjbeseeching Him to grant me the protedionof His provi- 
 dence, that I might not fall into the hands of the barbarians; or that 
 I might not lay my hands upon them, unless I had a more clear call 
 from Heaven to do it, in 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 thattimelneveroncewentup the hill toseewhether there were 
 any of them in sight, or to know whether any of them had been on 
 
 [ 206 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 re- 
 moved my boat, which I had on the other side 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 currents, the savages durst not, at least would not come 
 with their boats, upon any account whatsoever. 
 With my boat I carried away everything that I had left there belong- 
 ing 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 re- 
 moved, that there might not be the least shadow of any discovery, 
 or any appearance of any boat, or of any human habitation upon the 
 island. 
 
 Besides this, I kept myself, as I said, more retired than ever, and sel- 
 dom 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 another 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 ofFfrom the coast; and 
 I doubt not but they might have been several times on the shore, 
 after my apprehensions of them had made me cautious as well as be- 
 fore ; 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 
 everywhere peeping, and peeping 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 ! 
 
 [ 207 ] 
 
T«l ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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,! should be very mel- 
 ancholy, and sometimes it would last a great while; but I resolved 
 it at last all into thankfulness to that Providence, which had deliv- 
 ered 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 it 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 won- 
 derfully we are delivered, when we know nothing of ittliow 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 diredl us this way, 
 when we intended to go that way ; nay, when sense, our own incli- 
 nation, 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 overrule us to go this way; 
 and it shall afterwards appear, that had we gone that way which we 
 should have gone, and even to our imagination ought to have gone, 
 we should have been ruined and lost. Upon these, and many like 
 refledtions, I afterwards made it a certain rule with me, that when- 
 ever I found those secret hints, or pressings of my mind, to doing 
 or not doing anything that presented; or to going this way, or that 
 way, I never failed to obey the secretdidlate; though I knew no other 
 reason for it, than that such a pressure, or such a hint hung upon my 
 mind, y could give many examples of the success of this condud in 
 the Q^urse of my life; but more especially in the latter part of my 
 inhabiting this unhappy island; besides many occasions which it is 
 
 [ ao8 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 very likely I might have taken notice of, if I had seen with the same 
 eyes then, that I saw with not^ But it is never too late to be wise; 
 andl cannot but advise all considering men, whose lives areattended 
 with such extraordinary incidents as mine, or even not so extraor- 
 dinary,not to slight such secret intimations of Providence, let them 
 come from what invisible intelligence they will, that I shall not dis- 
 cuss, 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 
 neverbewithstood.jDf which I shall have occasion to give some very 
 remarkable instances, in the remainder of my solitary residence in 
 this dismal place. 
 
 ~1 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 
 thatwas nowuponme,put an end to all invention, and to all thecon- 
 trivances that I had laid for my future accommodations and con- 
 veniences. I had the careof my safety more nowupon 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 intol- 
 erably 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 burn- 
 ing of pots, and pipes, etc., into my new apartment in the woods, 
 where, after I had been some time, I found, to my unspeakable con- 
 solation, 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 agreat rock where,'by 
 mere accident, (I would say, if I did not see abundant reason to as- 
 cribe 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: 
 
 [ 209 ] 
 
T- ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 I was afraid of making a smoke about my habitation, as I said before ; 
 ~^nd yet I could not live there without baking my bread, cooking my 
 meat, etc., so I contrived to burn some wood here, as I had seen done 
 in England, under turf, until it became chark, or dry coal; and then 
 putting the fire out, I preserved the coal to carry home, and perform 
 the other gfervices which fire was wanting for at home, without danger 
 ofsmokey 
 
 But this is by the by : while I was cutting down some wood herCj I 
 perceived that behind a very thick branch of low brushwood, or un- 
 derwood, there was a kind of hollow place; I was curious to look into 
 it, and gettingwith difficulty into the mouth of it, I found it was pretty 
 large; that is to say, sufficient for me to stand upright in it, and per- 
 haps another with me ; but I must confess to you, I made more haste 
 out than I did in, when looking fartherintotheplace, and which was 
 perfeftly dark, I saw two broad shining eyes of some creature, which 
 twinkled like two stars, the dim light from the cave's mouth shining 
 diredtly in and making the refledtion. 
 
 However, after some pause, I recovered myself, and pluckingup my 
 courage, I took up a great firebrand, and in I rushed again, with the 
 stick flaming in my hand ; I had not gone three steps in, but I was al- 
 most as much frighted 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 a hat on my head, I will not answer for 
 it, that my hair might not have lifted it off. But still plucking up my 
 spirits as well as I could, and encouraging myselfa little with consid- 
 ering that the power and presence of God was everywhere, and was 
 able to proted me ; upon this I stepped forward again^dby the light 
 of the firebrand, holding it up a little over my headj saw lying on 
 the ground a most monstrous frightful old he-goat, just making his 
 will, as we say, and gasping for life, and dying indeed of 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, 
 
 [ ^^° ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 he might even lie there; for if he had frighted me so, he would cer- 
 tainly 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 foot 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 was so low, that it required me to 
 creep upon my hands and knees to go into it, and whither I went I 
 knew not ; so having no candle, I gave it over for some time ; but re- 
 solved to come again the next day, provided with candles, and a tin- 
 der-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 goat's 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 if^When I was got through the strait, I found 
 the roof rose higher up, I Delieve 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 refledted an hun- 
 dred 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 expedled, though perfedlly dark; the floor was dry and 
 level, and had a sort of small loose gravel upon it, so that there was 
 no nauseous or venomous creature to be seen, neither was there any 
 damp or wet on the sides or roof The only difficulty in it was the en- 
 trance, 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 re- 
 joicedat thediscovery, andresolvedwithoutany delay, to bring some 
 
 [ 213 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 of those things which I was most anxious about, to this place; partic- 
 ularly, I resolved to bring hither my magazine of powderjlnd 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 out- 
 most fence; and were ready also to take out upon any expedition. 
 Upon this occasion of removing my ammunition, I took occasion 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 grow- 
 ing hard, had preserved the inside like a kernel in a shell ; so that I 
 had nearlysixty pound of very good powder in thecentreofthecask, 
 and this was an agreeable discovery to me at that time ; so I carried all 
 away thither, never keeping above two or three pound of powder with 
 me inmycastle,forfearofasurpriseof 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 are 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 sav- 
 ages 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 who 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 hole there, and throw him in, and cover him with earth, than 
 ~to drag him out. 
 
 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 restof my time there, even to the last moment, un- 
 til I had laid me down and died, like the old goat in the cave. I had 
 also arrived to some little diversions and amusement, which made 
 the time pass more pleasantly with me a great deal, than it did be- 
 fore; as first, I had taught my Poll, as I noted before, to speak; and 
 
 C 214 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 mightlive afterwards, I know not ; though I know 
 they have a notion in the Brazils, that they live a hundred years; 
 perhaps poor Poll may be alive there still, calling after poor Robin 
 Crusoe, to this day. My dog was a very pleasant and loving com- 
 panion 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 pro- 
 vision 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, who I taught 
 to feed out of my hand ; and I had two more parrots which talked 
 pretty well, and would all call Robin Crusoe; but none like my first; 
 nor indeed did I take thepains with any of them thatlhaddonewith 
 him . I had also several tame sea-fowls, whose names I know not, who 
 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 LI«i, if it might but 
 
 Jiave been secured from the dread of the savages. ] 
 But it was otherwise direded; and it may not be amiss for all people 
 
 -jsrho 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 it, is 
 the most dreadful to us, is oftentimes the very means or door of our 
 deliverance, by T^ich alone we can be raised again from the afflidion 
 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 
 
T™ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 mit pretty early in the 
 morning, even before it was thorough dayligmt, I was surprised with 
 seeing a light of some fire upon the shore, at aniistance from me, of 
 about two mile 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 afflidtion, it was on my side of the island. 
 I was indeed terribly surprised at the sight, and stepped short within 
 my grove, not daring to go out, least 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 stand- 
 ing, or cut, or any of my works and improvements, they would im- 
 mediately conclude, that there were people in the place, and would 
 then never give over till they had found me out/ In this extremity 
 I went back diredbly to my castle, pulled up the ladder after me, and 
 made all things without look as wild and natural as I could. 
 Then I prepared myself within, putting myself in a posture of de- 
 fence; I loaded all my cannon, as I called them ; that is to say, my 
 muskets, which were mounted upon my new fortification, and all my 
 pistols, and resolved to defend myself to the last gasp, not forgetting 
 seriously to commend myself to the Divine protection, 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. 
 Aftersittingawhile longer, and musingwhatlshoulddo in this case, 
 I was not able to bear sitting in ignorance any longer ; so setting up 
 myladder to the side of the hill, where therewas a flat place, as lob- 
 served 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 per- 
 spedtive-glass, which I had taken on purpose, I laid me down flat on 
 
 [ai6] 
 
ROBINSON 
 
 CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 my belly, on theground, and began to lookfor the place; I presently 
 found there was no less than nine naked savages, sitting roundasmall 
 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 
 
 Ctbem, whether alive or dead I could not know. 
 They had two canoes with them,whichthey had hauled up upon the 
 shore; and as it was then tide of ebb, they seemed to me to wait for 
 the return of the flood, to go away again ; it is not easy to imagine 
 what confusion this sight put me into, especially seeing them come 
 on my side 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 the tide of flood, if they were noton shore 
 before. And having made this observation, I went abroad about my 
 harvest work with more composure) 
 
 As I expected, so it proved ; for as soon as the tide made to the west- 
 ward, I saw them all take boat, and row (or paddle, as we call it) all 
 away q^should have observed that for an hour and more before they 
 went off, they went to dancing, and I could easily discern their pos- 
 tures, and gestures, by my glasses : I could not perceive by my nicest 
 observation, but that they were stark naked, and had not the least 
 covering upon them; but whether they were men or women, that I 
 could not distinguish, j 
 
 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 ; and as soon as I gat thither, which was not less than two hours, 
 (for I could not go apace, being so loaded with arms as I was) I per- 
 ceived there had been three canoes more of savages on that place ; and 
 looking out farther, I saw they were all at sea together, and making 
 over for the main. 
 
 This was a dreadful sight to me, especially when going down to the 
 
 C 219 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 shor4j 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 bo^es, 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, 
 fit seemed evident to me, that the visits which they thus make to this 
 "^island are not very frequen^;)for it was above fifteen months before 
 any more of them came on shore there again ; that is to say, I neither 
 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 sur- 
 prise ; from whence I observe, that the expedtation of evil is more bit- 
 ter than the suffering, especially if there is no room to shake off that 
 expeftation, 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 con- 
 triving how to circumvent, and fall upon them, the very next time I 
 should see them ; especially if th ey should be divided, as they were the 
 last time, into two parties ;nordid I consider atall^that if I killed one 
 party, suppose ten, or a dozen, I was still the nexFday, or week, or 
 month, to kill another, and so another, even ad infinitum, till I should 
 be at length no less a murdeter than they were in being man-eaters ; 
 and perhaps much more so. j 
 
 I spent my days now in great perplexity, and anxiety of mind, expeft- 
 ing that I should one day or other fall into the hands of these merciless 
 creatures; and if I did at anytime venture abroad,it was notwithout 
 looking round me with the greatest care and caution imaginable; and 
 now I found to my great comfort, how happy it was that I provided 
 for a tame flock or herd of goats ; for I durst not upon any account 
 fire mygun, especially near that side of the island where theyusually 
 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 
 
 [ 220 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 three hundred canoes with them in a few days, and then I knew what 
 to exped. 
 
 However, I wore out a year and three months more, before I ever 
 saw anymore 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, 1 had a very strange encounter with them, of which 
 in its place. 
 
 The perturbation of my mind, during this fifteen or sixteen months' 
 interval, was very great; I slept unquiet, dreamed always frightful 
 dreams, and often started out of my sleep in the night. In the day 
 great troubles overwhelmed my mind, and in the night I dreamed 
 often of killing the savages, and of the reasons why I might justify 
 the doing of it; but to waive all this for a while, it was in the middle 
 of May, on the sixteenth day I think, as well as my poor wooden cal- 
 endar would reckon ; for I marked all upon the post still ; I say, it was 
 the sixteenth of May, that it blew averygreatstorm of wind,all day, 
 with a great deal of lightning and thunder, and a very foul night it 
 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 very serious thoughts 
 about my present conditio!^ I was surprised with a noiseof a gun,as 
 I thought fired at se^ ^ 
 
 This was, to be sure, i 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 imagin- 
 able, and in a trice clapped my ladder to the middle place of the rock, 
 and pulled it after me, and mounting it the second time, got to the 
 top of the hill, the very moment that a flash of fire bid me listen for 
 a second gun, which accordingly, in about half a minute, I heard, and 
 by the sound, knew that it was from that part of the sea where I was 
 
 J driven down 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 
 
 [ 221 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 these guns for signals of distress, and to obtain help. I had this pres- 
 ence 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; that I was certain, if 
 there was any such thing as a ship, they must needs see it, and no 
 doubt they did ; for as soon as ever my fire blazed up, I heard another 
 gun, and after that several others, all from the same quarter. I plied 
 my fire all night long, until day 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 a hull, I could not distinguish, no 
 not with my glasses, the distance was so g^sat, and the weather still 
 something hazy also ; at least it was so at seay 
 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 an anchor, 
 and being eager, you may be sure, to be satisfied, I took my gun in 
 my hand, and run toward the south side of the island, to the rocks 
 where I had formerly been carried away with the current, and getting 
 up there, the weather by this time being perfeftly clear, I could plainly 
 see to my great sorrow, the wreck of a ship cast away in the night, upon 
 those concealed rocks which I found, when I was out in my boat ; and 
 which rocks, as they checked the violence of the stream, and made a 
 kind of counter-stream, or eddy, were the occasion of my recovering 
 from the most desperate hopeless condition that ever I had been in 
 
 ^11 my life. 
 
 (^hus, what is one man's safety is another man's destrudtion; for it 
 seems these men, whoever they were, being out of their knowledge, 
 and the ropks being wholly underwater, 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 their firing of guns for help, especially when 
 they saw, as I imagined, my fire, filled me with many thoughts ; first, I 
 
 [ 112 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 ; andsometimes to throwitoverboardwith theirown hands. 
 Other times I imagined they had some other ship, or ships in com- 
 pany, 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, 
 ■^s all these were but conjedbures at best ; so in the condition I was in, 
 Vj^could do no more than look on upon the misery of the poor men, 
 and pity them, which had still thi"s good effed 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 learned 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 exped: 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 long- 
 ing or hankering of desires I felt in my soul upon this sight; break- 
 
 [ 223 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 ing out sometimes thus'; O that there had been but one or two; nay, 
 or but one soul saved out of this ship, to have escaped to me, that I 
 might but have had one companion, one fellow-creature to have spo- 
 ken 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 the want of ity^ 
 (There are some secret moving springs in the afFediorl's, which when 
 they are set a-going by some objeft in view, or be it some objed, 
 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 objed:, 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 the desires were so moved 
 by itjthatwhen I spokethe 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 an- 
 other so strong, that for some time I could not part them again. 
 Let the naturalists explain these things, and the reason and manner 
 of them; all I can say to them is, to describe the fadl, which was even 
 surprising to me when I found it, though I knew not from what it 
 should proceed ; it was doubtless the efFed of ardent wishes, and of 
 strong ideas formed in my mind, realizing the comfort which the con- 
 versation of one of my fellow-Christians would have been to me. 
 But it was not to be ; either their fate, or mine, or both, forbid 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 afflidion 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. H e had on no clothes, 
 but a seamen's waistcoat, a pair of open-kneed linen drawers, and a 
 blue linen shirt; but nothing to dired me so much as to guess what 
 nation he was of He had nothing in his pocket but two pieces of eight, 
 
 [ 224 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 and a tobacco-pipe; the last was to me often times more value than 
 the first.*) 
 
 It was now calm, and I had a great mind to venture out in my boat to 
 this wreck, not doubting but I might find something on board that 
 might be useful to me ; but that did not altogether press me so much, 
 as the possibility that there might be yet some living creature on 
 board, whose life I might not only save, but might by saving that life, 
 comfort my own to the last degree ; and this thought clung so to my 
 heart, that I could not be quiet, night or day, but I must venture out 
 in my boat on board this wreck; and committing the rest to 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 
 diredtion, 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 everything foe 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 basketful of raisins. And thus loading 
 myself with everything 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 agreat bag full 
 of rice, the umbrella to set up over my head for shade, another large 
 pot full of fresh water, and about two dozen of my small loaves, or 
 barley cakes, more than before, with a bottle of goat's milk and a 
 cheese ; all which, with great labour and sweat, I brought to my boat; 
 and praying to God to direcfl 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 remem- 
 brance 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 
 
 [ 225 ] 
 
TS2 ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 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 hauled my boat into a little creek on the shore, 
 I stepped out, and set me down upon a little rising bit of ground, 
 very pensive and anxious, between fear and desire about my voy- 
 age ; when, as I was musing, I could perceive that the tide was turned, 
 and the flood come on, upon which my going was for so many hours 
 impradticable. Upon this, presently it occurred to me that I should 
 go up to the highest piece of ground I could find, and observe, if I 
 could, how the sets of the tide or currents lay when the flood came in, 
 that I might judge whether if I was driven one way out, I might not 
 expedl to be driven another way home with the same rapidness of the 
 currents. This thoughtwas 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 thecurrentof theebb set out close by the south point of the island, 
 so the currentof 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 the night 
 in the canoe, under the greatwatch-coat I mentioned, I launched out. 
 I made first a little out to sea full north, till I began to feel the bene- 
 fit of the current, which set eastward, and which carried me at a great 
 rate, andyetdidnotsohurrymeasthesouthern side currenthad done 
 before, and so as to take from me all government of the boat : but hav- 
 ing a strong steerage with my paddle, I went at a great rate, direftly 
 for the wreck, and in less than two hours I came up to it. 
 It was a dismal sight to look at. The ship, which by its building was 
 Spanish, stuck fast, jammed in between two rocks; 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- 
 
 [ 226 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 mast and foremast were brought by the board; that is to say, broken 
 short off; bat her bowsprit was sound, and the head and bow ap- 
 peared firm. When I came close to her, a dog appeared upon her, 
 who seeingme 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 eat it like a ravenous wolf, that had been starv- 
 ing 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; but the first sight I met with, was two 
 **nen drowned, in the cook-room,or forecastle of the ship, with their 
 arms fast about one another Tl 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 s'trangled with the constant rushing in of the water, as much as 
 if they had been underwater. 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 bigtomed- 
 dle with. I saw several chests, which I believed belonged to some of 
 
 [ 227 ] 
 
TSl ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 the seamen; and I got two of them into the boat, without examining 
 what was in them. 
 
 Had the stern of the ship been fixed, and the forepart broken off, I 
 am persuaded I might have made a good voyage ; for by what I fou nd 
 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 dela Plata, 
 in the south part of America, beyond the Brazils, to the Havana, in 
 the Gulf of Mexico, and so perhaps to Spain. She had, no doubt, a 
 great treasure in her; butof nouseatthat time to anybody; and what 
 
 ^became of the rest of her people, I then knew not. 
 I found besides these chests, alittle 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. J 
 I reposed that night in the boat, and in the morning I resolved to har- 
 bour 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 be- 
 gan to examine the particulars. The cask of liquor I found to be a 
 kind of rum, but not such as we had at the Brazils; and in a word, 
 not at all good ; but when I came to open the chests, I found several 
 things of great use to me^or 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 goodsuccades, or sweet- 
 meats, so fastened also on top, that the saltwater had not hurt them; 
 and two more of the same, which the water had spoiled. I found some 
 very goodshirts, which werevery welcome to me; and about a dozen 
 
 [ 228 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 and half of linen white handkerchiefs, and coloured neckcloths ; the 
 former were also very welcome, being exceeding refreshing to wipe 
 my face in a hot day ; besides this, when I came to the till in the chest, 
 I found there three great bags of pieces of eight, which held about 
 eleven hundred pieces in all; andin oneof them, wrapt up inapaper, 
 sixdoubloonsof gold, and some small bars or wedges of gold; I sup- 
 pose 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 thegunner'smate, 
 though there was no powder in it, but about two poundof fine glazed 
 powder, in three small flasks, kept, I suppose, for charging their fowl- 
 ing-pieces on occasion. Upon thewhole, I got very little bythisvoy- 
 age that was of any 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 stock- 
 ings, which were things I greatly wanted, but had not had on my feet 
 now for many years. I had indeed gotten two pair of shoes now, which 
 I tookofFof thefeetof the two drownedmen,whoIsawin the wreck; 
 and I found two pair more in one of the chests, which were very wel- 
 come to me ; but they were not like our English shoes, either forease 
 or service, being rather what we call pumps than shoes^I found in 
 this 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 ofiicer. 
 
 Well, however, I lugged this money home to my cave, and laid it 
 up, as I had done that before which I brought from our own ship ; 
 but it was great pity,^s I said, that the other part of this ship had not 
 come to my share nor I am satisfied I might have loaded my canoe 
 several times over with money, which, if I had ever escaped to Eng- 
 land, would h^ye lain here safe enough till I might have come again 
 and fetched it. y 
 
 Having now Drought 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 
 
 [ 229 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 to my old habitation, where I found everything safe and quiet; so I 
 began to repose myself, live after my old fashion, and take care of my 
 family affairs; and for a while I lived easy enough, only that I was 
 more vigilant than I used to be, looked out oftener, and did not go 
 abroad so much ; and if at any time I did stir with any freedom, it was 
 always to the east part of the island, where I was pretty well satisfied 
 the savages never came, and where I could go without so many pre- 
 cautions, and such a load of arms and ammunition, as I always car- 
 ried 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 miser- 
 able, was all this two years filled with projeds 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 voy- 
 age: sometimes for a ramble one way, sometimes another; and I be- 
 lieve verily, if I had had the boat that I went from Sallee in, I should 
 
 ,.have ventured to sea, bound anywhere, I knew not whither. 
 I had been in all my circumstances a memento to those who are 
 
 "touched with the general plague of mankind, whence, for ought I 
 know, one half of their miseries flow; I mean, that of not being satis- 
 fied with the station wherein God and nature has placed them; for 
 not to look back upon my primitive condition, and the excellent ad- 
 vice of my father, the opposition to which was, as I may call it, my 
 original sin, my subsequent mistakes of the same kind had been the 
 means of my coming into this miserable condition ; for had that Provi- 
 dence, which so happily had seated me at the Brazils as a planter, 
 blessed me with confined desires, and I could have been contented 
 to have gone on gradually, I might have been by this time, I mean 
 in the time of my being in this island, one of the most considerable 
 planters in the Brazils; nay, I am persuaded that by the improve- 
 ments 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 
 an hundred thousand moidores; and what business had I to leave a 
 
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ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 settled fortune, a well-stocked plantation, improving and i ncreasing, 
 to turn super-cargo 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 door from those whose business it was to 
 fetch them ; and though it had cost us something more, yet the dif- 
 ference 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 reflexion upon 
 thefollyof 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 my- 
 self in mystation, butwas continually poring upon themeans andpos- 
 sibility 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 
 subjedl of this foolish scheme for my escape ; and how, and upon what 
 foundation, I adted. 
 
 I am now to be supposed retired into my castle, after my late voyage 
 to the wreck, my frigate laid up, and secured under water, as usual, 
 and my condition restored to what it was before; I had more wealth, 
 indeed, than I had before, but was not at all the richer; for I had no 
 more use for it than the Indians of Peru had, before the Spaniards 
 came there. 
 
 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, 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 
 
 [ 231 ] 
 
T2S ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 this island; and also of the part of my life since I came to this island. 
 In my refledions upon the state of my case since I came on shore on 
 this island, I was comparing the happy posture of my affairs in the 
 first years of my habitation here, compared to the life of anxiety, fear 
 and care, which I had lived ever since I had seen the print of a foot 
 in the sand ; not that I did not believe the savages had frequented the 
 island even all the while, and might have been several hundreds of 
 them at times on shore there; but I had never known it, and was in- 
 capable of any apprehensions about it; my satisfadtion was perfedl, 
 though my danger was the same ; and I was as happ^a not knowing 
 my danger as if I had never really been exposed to itl This furnished 
 my thoughts with many very profitable reflections, and particularly 
 this one : how infinitely good that Providence is which has provided, 
 in its government of 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 
 distradt 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. 1 
 
 After these thoughts had for some^:ime entertained me, I came to 
 refled: 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 secur- 
 ity, and with all possible tranquillity; even when, perhaps, nothing 
 but the brow of a hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night, had 
 been between me and the worst kind of destrudion, viz., that of fall- 
 ing into the hands of cannibals andsavages, 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 
 curlew. I would unjustly slander myself, if I should say I was not sin- 
 cerely thankful to my great Preserver, to whose singular proteftion 
 I acknowledged, with great humility, that all these unknown deliv- 
 erances were due ; and without which I must inevitably have fallen 
 jnto their merciless handsy^ 
 
 \ When these thoughts WCTe over, my head was for some time taken 
 
 [ 23 a ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 up in considering the nature of these wretched creatures; I mean, the 
 savages; and how it came to pass in the world that the wise Governor 
 of all things should give up any of His creatures to such inhumanity ; 
 nay, to something so much below, even brutality itself, as to devour 
 its own kind ; but as this ended in some (at that time fruitless) specu- 
 lations, it occurred to me to inquire what part of the world these 
 wretches lived in ; how far off the coast was from whence they came ; 
 what they ventured over so far from home for; what kind of boats 
 they had; and why I might notordermyself and my business so, that 
 I might be as able to go over thither, as they were to come to rne^ 
 ^I neversomuchastroubledmyself to considerwhati should do with 
 -myself when I came thither; what would become of me if I fell into 
 the hands of the savages^r 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 myself; and if I should not fall into their 
 hands, what I should do for provision, or whither I should bend my 
 course; none of these thoughts, I say, so much as came in my way; 
 but my mind was wholly bent upon the notion of my passing over 
 in my boat to the mainland. I looked back upon my present condi- 
 tion, as the most miserable that could possibly be, that I was not able 
 to throw myself into anything 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 worse came to the worst, I could but die, 
 which would put an end to all these miseries at onc^Pray note, all 
 this was the fruitof a disturbed mind, an impatient temper, made, as it 
 were, desperate by the long continuance of my troubles, and the dis- 
 appointments I had met in the wreck I had been on board of; and 
 where I had been so near the obtaining what I so earnestly longed 
 for, viz., somebody to speak to, and to learn some knowledge from 
 of the place where I was/^nd of the probable means of my deliver- 
 
 ^ 1^33 1 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 ance ; 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 H eaven, seemed to be suspended; and I had, as it were, 
 no power to turn my thoughts to anything but to the projed of a voy- 
 age to the main, which came upon me with such force, and such an 
 impetuosity of desire, that it was not to be resistecL/' 
 When this had agitated my thoughts for two hours <ir 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 fer- 
 vour of my mind about it, nature, as if I had been fatigued and ex- 
 hausted 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 anything relating to i((; but I dreamed, that as I was going out in 
 the morning as usual from my castle, I saw upon the shore two ca- 
 noes, and eleven savages coming to land, and that they brought with 
 them another savage, who they were going to kill, in order to eat him ; 
 when on a sudden the savage, that they were going to kill, jumped 
 away, and ran for his life; and I thought in my sleep that he came 
 running into my little thick grove, before my fortification, to hide 
 himself; and that I seeing him alone, and not perceiving that the 
 other sought him that way, showed myself to him,and smilingupon 
 him, encouraged him; that he kneeled down to me, seeming to pray 
 me to assist him ; upon which I showed my ladder, made him go up, 
 and carried him into my cave, and he became my servant; andthatas 
 soon as I had gotten this man, I said to myself. Now I may certainly 
 venture to the mainland; 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 forfearof being devoured; what places to venture into,and 
 what to escape. I waked with this thought, and was under such inex- 
 pressible impressions of joy at the prospeft of my escape in my dream, 
 that the disappointment 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 dejedion of spirit. 
 Upon this, however, I made this conclusion, that my only way to 
 
 [ 234 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 go about an attempt for an escape was, if possible, to get a savage into 
 my possession ; and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners, 
 who they had condemned to be eaten, and should bring thither to 
 kill; but these thoughts still were attended with this difficulty, that 
 it was impossible to effedt this without attacking a whole caravan of 
 them, and killing them all ;Jand 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 deliver- 
 ance. 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 
 afting in my own defence as much as if they were adtually assaulting 
 me and the like; I say,though the 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 an- 
 other struggled in my head a long time, the eager prevailing desire of 
 deliverance at length mastered all the rest^nd I resolved, if possi- 
 ble, to get one of those savages into my hands, costwhatitwould. My 
 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 seie them when 
 they came on shore, and leave the rest to the event, taking such 
 measures as the opportunity should present,let bewhatwould be] 
 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 half that I waited, and for great part of 
 that time went out to the west end, and to the south-west corner of 
 the island, almost every day to see for canoes, but none appeared. 
 This was very discouraging, and began to trouble me much, though 
 
 [ 235 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 I cannot say that it did in this case, as it had done some time before 
 that, viz., wear ofFthe edge of my desire to the thing. But thelonger 
 it seemed to be delayed, the more eager I was for it ; in a word, I was 
 not at first so careful to shun the sight of these savages, and avoid be- 
 ing seen by them, as I was now eager to be upon them. 
 Besides,! fancied myself able to manage one, nay, two or three sav- 
 ages, if I had them so as to make them entirely slaves to me, to do 
 whatever I should diredl 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 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 morn- 
 ing early with seeing noless than fivecanoesall on shore togetheron 
 my side the island, and the people who belonged to them all landed, 
 and outof mysight. 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 tellwhat 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,! 
 put myself into all the same postures for an attack that ! had form- 
 erly provided, and was just ready for adion if any thing had presented. 
 Havingwaited a good while, listeningtohearif they made any noise; 
 at length, being very impatient, ! set my guns at the foot of my lad- 
 der, and clambered up to the top of the hill by my two stages asusual, 
 standing so, however, that my head did not appear above the hill, so 
 that they could not perceive me by any means; here ! observed, by 
 the help ofmyperspedive glass, that they were noless than thirty in 
 number, that they had a fire kindled, and that they had meat dressed. 
 How they had cooked it, that ! knew not, or what it was; but they 
 were all dancing in I know not how many barbarous gestures and fig- 
 ures, their own way, round the fire. 
 
 While ! was thus looking on them, I perceived by my perspedtive 
 
 C 236 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 two miserable wretches dragged from their boats, where it seems they 
 were laid by, and were now brought out for the slaughter. I perceived 
 one of them immediately fell, 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 vidtim was leftstanding by himself, till they should be ready 
 for him. In thatverymomentthispoorwretch, seeing himself alittle 
 at liberty, nature inspired him with hopes of life, and he started away 
 from them, and ran with incredible swiftness along the sands diredtly 
 towards me, I mean towards that part of the coast where my habita- 
 tion was. 
 
 I was dreadfully frighted (that I must acknowledge) when I perceived 
 him to run my way ; andespecially when, as I thought, I saw him pur- 
 sued by the whole body; and now I expeded 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 be- 
 gan to recover, when I found that there was not above three men that 
 followed him, and still more was I encouraged when I found that he 
 outstripped them exceedingly in running, and gained ground of 
 them, so that if he could but hold itSor half an hour, I saw easily he 
 would fairly get away from them ally 
 
 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 saw plainly 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 plung- 
 ing in swam through in about thirty strokes or thereabouts, landed, 
 and ran on with exceeding strength and swiftness. When the three 
 persons came to the creek, I found that two of them could swim, but 
 the third could not, and that, standing on the other side, he looked 
 at the other, but went no further; and soon after went softly back 
 again, which, as it happened, was very well for him in the main. 
 
 [ ^39 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 I observed that the two who swam were yet more than twice as long 
 swimming over the creek as the fellow was that fled from therti It 
 came very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that 
 now was my time to get me 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 ran down the ladders with all possible 
 expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were both but at the foot 
 of the ladders, as I observed above; and getting up again, with the 
 same haste, to the top of the hill, I crossed toward the sea, and, hav- 
 ing a very short cut, and all down hill, clapped myself in the way, be- 
 tween the pursuers and the pursued, halloing 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 loth 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. Having knocked this fellow down, the 
 other who pursued with himstopped,as if he had been frighted, 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 or went backward, though he seemed 
 rather inclined to fly still than to come on. I halloed again to him, aiid 
 made signs to come forward, which he easily understood, and came 
 a little way, then stopped again, and then a little further, 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 ene- 
 mies 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 
 
 [ 240 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 nearer, kneeling down every ten or twelve steps in token of acknow- 
 ledgment for my saving his life. I smiled at him, and looked pleas- 
 antly, and beckoned him to come still nearer ; at length he came close 
 to me, and theh 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 
 forever. I took him up, and made much ofhim, and encouraged him 
 all I could. But there was more work to do yet, for I perceived the 
 savage whom I had 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 twenty- 
 five y ears.*^ut there was no time for such reflections now ; the savage 
 who was knocked down recovered himself so far as to sit 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 called him now, made a motion 
 to me to lend him my sword, which hung naked in a belt at 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, ex- 
 cept their own wooden swords; however, it seems, as I learned after- 
 wards, they make their wooden swords so sharp, so heavy, and the 
 wood is so hard, that they will cut ofFheads even with them, aye, and 
 arms, and that at one blow too. When he had done this, he comes 
 laughing to me in sign of triumph, and brought me the sword again, 
 and with abundance of gestures, which I did not understand, laid it 
 down with the head of the savage that he had killed just before me. 
 But that which astonished him most was to know how I had killed 
 the other Indian so far oiF, 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 
 
 [ 241 1 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 came to him, he stood like one amazed, looking at him ; turned him 
 first on one side,, then on the other; looked at the wound the bullet 
 had made, which it seems was just in his breast, where it had made 
 a hole, and no great quantity of blood had followed; but he had bled 
 inwardly,for he was quite dead. He tookup his bow and arrows, and 
 came back, so I turned to go away, and beckoned to 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 run- 
 ning ; 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 some- 
 times ; so the poor creature laid down, and went to sleep. 
 H e was a comely, handsome fellow, perfedlly well made ; with straight 
 strong limbs, not too large; tall and well shaped, and, as I reckon, 
 about twenty-six years of age. H e had a very good cou ntenance, not a 
 fierce and surly asped; but seemed to have sottiethingvery manly in 
 his face,andyethehad 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 Brazilians and Virginians, and other 
 natives of America are ; but of a bright kind of a dun olive colour, 
 
 [ 242 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 TAKING ME BV THE FOOT, SET MY FOOT UPON HIS HEAD 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 that had in it something very agreeable ; though not very easy to de- 
 scribe. His face was round and plump; his nose small, not flat like 
 the negroeSj a very good mouth, thin lips, and his fine teeth 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 theground,"with all the possible signs of a humble thank- 
 ful disposition, making many antic gestures to showit. 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 subjedtion, servitude, and submission imaginable, to 
 let me know how 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; I called him so for the memory of the 
 time, r 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 com- 
 plied 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 beck- 
 oned to him to come with me, and let him know I would give him 
 some clothes, at which he seemed very glad, for he was stark naked. 
 As we went by the place where he had buried the two men, he pointed 
 exaftly to the place, and showed me the marks that he had made to 
 find them again, making signs to me that we should dig them up 
 again, and eat them. At this I appeared very angry, expressed my 
 abhorrence of it, made as if I would vomit at the thoughts of it, and 
 beckoned with my hand to him to come away, which he did immedi- 
 ately, 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, 
 
 [ 245 ] 
 
TSM ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 and saw plainly the place where they had been, but no appearance oi 
 them, or of their canoes ; so that itwas plain they were gone,andhad 
 left their two comrades behind them, without any search after them.^ 
 But I was not content with this discovery ; but having now more coui> 
 age, 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 fuller intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my very 
 blood ran chill in my veins,andmy heart sunk within me, at thehor- 
 ror of the spedlacle. Indeed, it was a dreadful sight, at least It was so 
 to me, though Friday made nothing of it. The place was covered with 
 human bones, the ground dyed with their blood, 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 viftory over their enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands, and 
 the bones of tlwee 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 
 subjefts it seems he had been one of; and thatthey hadtakenagreat 
 numberof prisoners, allwhich were carried to several places by those 
 that had taken them in the fight,in order to feast upon them,as was 
 done here by these wretches upon those they brought hither. 
 I caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever 
 remained, and lay them together on a heap, and make a great fire 
 upon it, and burn them all to ashes. I found Friday had still a han- 
 kering 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.^ 
 
 ^ [ 246 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I TOOK MY MAN FRIDAY WITH ME 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 \^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 conven- 
 ient and fashionable enough ; and thus he was clothed for the pres- 
 ent, tolerably well; and was mightywell 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 insideof my innermost wall, without making so much noise in 
 getting over, that it must needs waken me; for my first wall had now 
 a complete roof over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and lean- 
 ing up to the side of the hill, which was again laid cross with smaller 
 sti KS instead of laths, and then thatched over a great thickness with 
 the rice straw, which was strong like reeds ; and at the hole or place 
 which was left to go in or out by the ladder, I had placed a kind of 
 trap-door which, if it had been attempted on the outside, would not 
 have opened at all, but would have fallen down, and made a great 
 noise ; 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 
 
 [ H9 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 falthfulj loving, sincere servant, than Friday was tome; without pas- 
 sions, sullenness or designs, perfedlly obliged and engaged; his very 
 afFedbionswere 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 pre- 
 cautions, 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 gov- 
 ernment of the works of His hands, to take from so great a part of 
 theworldjof 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 affedtions, the same 
 sentiments of kindness and obligation, the same passions and resent- 
 ments 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 ofi^er to 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 refledling, 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 
 Instrudlion, the Spirit of God, and by the knowledge of His Word, 
 added to our understanding ; and why it has pleased God to hide the 
 like 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 itwere arraign the justice of so arbitrary a dis- 
 position of things, that should hide that light from some, and reveal 
 it to others, and yet exped a like duty from both . But I shut it up, and 
 checked my thoughts with this conclusion : ( i st) that we did not know 
 by what light and law these should be condemned; but that as God 
 was necessarily, and by the nature of His being, infinitely holy and 
 
 [ 250 1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 (2nd) that still, as we 
 are all the 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 everything, that was pro- 
 per 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 yso 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 him 
 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, says 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 sav- 
 age 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 dowi^ 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 em- 
 bracing my kn^es, said agreat many things I did not understand ; but 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 I could easily see that the meaning was to pray me not to kill him. / 
 I soon found a way to convince him that I would do him no harm, 
 and taking him up by the hand laughed at him, and pointed to the 
 kid which I had killed, beckoned 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, pointed 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 it fall, I made him uriders!ta!nd 
 that I would shoot and kill that bird; accordingly I fired and bade 
 him look, and immediately he saw the parrot fall He stood like one 
 frighted again, notwithstanding all I had said to him ; and I foundhe 
 was the more amazed, because he did not see me put anything into 
 the gun, but thought that there must be some wonderful fund of 
 death and destrudion in that thing, able to kill man, beast, bird, or 
 anything, near or far off; and the astonishment this created in him 
 was such, as could not wear off for a long time ; and I believe, if I 
 would have let him, he would have worshipped me and my gun. As 
 for the gun itself, he would not so much as touch it for several days 
 after; but would speak to it, and talk to it, as if it had answered him, 
 when he was by himself; which, as I afterwards learned of him, was 
 to desire it not to kill him.j 
 
 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 stayed some 
 time ; for the parrot not being quite dead, was fluttered away 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 thekid,and the same eveningltook the skinoff,and 
 cut it out as well as I could; and having a pot for that purpose, I 
 
 [ 254 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 boiled or stewed some of the flesh, and made some very good broth; 
 and after I had begun to eat some, I gave some to my man, who 
 seemed very glad of it, and liked it very well; but that which was 
 strangest to him, was, to see me eat salt with it; he made a sign to me, 
 that the salt was not good to eat, and putting a little into his own 
 mouth,he seemed to nauseate it,and would spit andsputter at it, wash- 
 ing 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 andsputter 
 for want of salt, as fast as he had done at the salt ; but it would not do, 
 he would never care for salt with his meat,^r in his broth ; at least, 
 not a great while, and then but a very, little. ) 
 Having thus fed him with boiled meat andoroth, 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 sbon un- 
 
 [ 257 1 
 
rm ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 (ierstpp4 hQ>v to dp it as well as I, especially after he had seen what 
 thpipe^ning qf ityp^s,and tl^at itwa§ to makp bread of; fpj- after that 
 
 I let him see me makp my bread, and bake it foOjand in a little time 
 Friday was a^ble to dp all the work for me, as well as I could dp it 
 mysplf. 
 
 I begap now tg cpnsider,that having two mouths to feed, instead pf 
 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 yirqrked very willingly and very hard, but did it very 
 cheerfvf!ly,and J told him what itwas for;that itwas for corn to make 
 itipre bread, because he was now with me, and that I might have 
 enougli for him, and myself too. He appeared very sensible of that 
 part, and Ipt me know that he thought I had much more labour upon 
 mpon his account than I had formyself; and that hewouldwork the 
 harder fpr me, if I would tell him what to do. 
 vThis was the pleasantest year of all the life I led in this place ; Friday 
 pegan to talk pretty well, and understand the names of almost every- 
 thing I had occasion to call for, and of every p|ace I had to send hini 
 tp, and talked a great deal to me; so that, in short, I began now to 
 have some use for my tongue again, which indeed I had very little 
 occasion fpr before; that is to say, about speech. Besides the pleas- 
 ure of talking to him, I had a singular sa|:isfa6lion in the fellow him- 
 
 [ 258 ;| 
 
ROBINSON GRUSO 
 
 self; his simple unfeigned hctttfesty appeared to nle hibrfe irid ihbfe 
 every dayiatld I be^an rfeally to 10\>^e tHfe creature; atid On hiis lide, I 
 believe he loved me more thin it >^as jidSsible for hiih tVtr tb lOve 
 anything before. 
 
 I had a mind onee to try if he had ahy hankering ihcliiiatibii to his 
 own country again, and having learned him English So well thai he 
 could ahsWer me almofet any qiaestiohs, t asked hihi #hethei^ trie tia- 
 tion that he beloriged to nevei- conquered in battle j it whifch he srhiled; 
 and saidi Yes, yes, we always fight the bettei-; that is, he iiielHt al- 
 ways get the better in fight; and so we begari the follOwihg discourse: 
 You always fight the better ! said I ; how came you to be taken pris- 
 oner then, Friday ? 
 
 FridaIt. My nation beat much, for all that. 
 
 MAsTER. How beat? if your nation beat them, hOw cahie ydu to be 
 takeii? 
 
 Friday. They more many than my nation lii the place where nie 
 
 Was; they take one, two, three, and me; hty Mtidii Over beat theni 
 
 in the yonder place, where me no waS; there my hatibfi take oncj 
 
 two, great thousand; 
 
 Master. But why did not your Side recover yOu frOffi the hands of 
 
 your enemies then? 
 
 Friday. They run one, two, three, and me, and make go in thg ca- 
 noe; my nation have no canoe that time. 
 
 Master. Well, Friday, and what does your nation do with thg meh 
 
 they take? do they carry them away, and eat them; as thfese did? 
 
 FrIday. Yes; my riafcion eat mans too, eat all u|i. 
 
 Master; Where do they cafry them? 
 
 Friday. Go to other ^lace where they think. 
 
 Master. Do they come hither? 
 
 Friday. Yes, yes; they eome hither; cofaie other else place. 
 
 Master. Have you been here with therfa? 
 
 Friday. Yes; I been here; [pointing totheN.W.side of the island] 
 
 which it seems was their side. 
 
 By this I understood, that my man Friday had fbrmerlybeen among 
 
 [ ^59 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 21 
 
 the savages, who used to come on shore on the farther part of the 
 Island, on the same 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 eat up twenty 
 
 two women, and one 
 
 men, 
 
 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, be- 
 cause it introduces what fol- 
 lows; that after I had had 
 this discourse with him, I 
 asked him ho w 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 the sea, there 
 was a current, and wind, always one way in the morning, the other in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 This I understood to be no more than the sets of the tide, as going 
 out, or coming in; but I afterwards understood, it was occasioned by 
 the great draft and reflux of the mighty river Oroonooko, In the 
 mouth, or the gulf of which river, as I found afterwards, our Island 
 lay; and 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 inhabi- 
 tants, 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 
 
 [ 260 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 other name than Caribs ; from whence I easily understood that these 
 were the Caribbees, which our maps place on the part of America 
 which reaches from the mouth of the river Oroonooko to Guiana, 
 and onwards to St. Martha. He told me that up a great way beyend 
 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 all which I un- 
 derstood, he meant the Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had 
 been spread over the whole countries, and was remembered by all 
 the nations from father to son/) 
 
 I inquired if he could tell me h(w 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, or make him describe 
 to me what he meant by two canoe, till at last, with great difficulty,! 
 found he meant 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 has 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 un- 
 derstand 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 we walked on, and the hills, and woods; he told me it was 
 one old Benarauckee, that lived beyond all. He could describe noth- 
 ing 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 perfedt look of inno- 
 cence, said. All things do say O to him. I asked him if the people 
 who die in his country went away anywhere; he said yes, they all 
 
 [261 ] 
 
TSi ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 went to Benamuckee; then I asked him whether these they eat up 
 went thither top, he said yes. 
 
 From these things, I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the 
 true Gofi. I told him that the great Maker of all things lived up 
 there, pointing up towards l^eaven. That He governs the world by 
 the same power and providence by which He had made it. That He 
 was omnipotent, could do everything for us, give everything to us, 
 take everything frqm 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 tpld 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, who he called 
 their Oowocakee, that is, as I made him explain it to me, their reli- 
 gious, or piergv, and fhat they went to say O, (so he called saying 
 prayers) and then cajne 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 religions in the world, even among the most brutish and barbar- 
 ous savages. 
 
 I endeavoured to clearup this fraud, to my man Friday, and told him 
 that the pretence of their old men going up the mountains, to say O 
 fQ their god Benamuckee, was a cheat, and their bringing word from 
 thence what he said, was much more so ; that if they met with any 
 answer, or spake with any one there, it must be with an evil spirit. 
 And then I entered into a long discourse with him about the devil, 
 the 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 
 
 [ 262 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 worshipped instead of God, and as God; and the many straiagenis 
 he made use of to delude mankind to his ruin; hoW he had a secret 
 access to our passions, and to our ^fFfediohs, to adapt His snares so 
 to our inclinations, as to cause us even to be oui- own temptersi and tb 
 run upon our destrudtion by dur o\^n choice. 
 I found it was not so easy to imprint right notions in his niind^bbut 
 the devil, as it was about the being of a Gdd. Nature assisted kll niy 
 arguments to evidence td Hiin ^ even the Hecessity of a great first cause 
 and over-rixling governing power; a Secret dit"fe£tingPrGiVidehce, and 
 of the equity, and justice; of paying homage to Him that made Us, 
 and the like. But there appealed nothing of all this in the nOtioii of 
 an evil spirit; of his oi-iginal, his being, his nature; and above all of his 
 inclination to do evily and to di-aw us in to do sb too ; arid the pbbt- 
 creatui-e puzzled me once in sueh a rhannei-; by a question merely- 
 natural and innocent; that I scarce ktieW what tb say tb him. I had 
 been talking a gteat deal to him of the j^owei- of God, His omnipo- 
 tence. His dreadful antipathy tb sin, His being a consuming fire to 
 the workeirs of iniquity ; hbw, as He had made iiS all. He COUld de- 
 stroy us ahd all this world in a moment; and He listfened with great 
 seriousness to me all the while. 
 
 After this; I had been tfeUing hiiii hbw the deVil wais Gbd's enelti^iii 
 the hearts of meiij and used dll his malice ihd skill tb defeat tKe gbbd 
 dfesighs of Pfbvidence; and to ruin the Hingdom of Christ in the 
 wdrld; and the like. Well, says Friday^ but ybu say, Gdd Issbstl-bllgi 
 so great, is He not much strong; much mi^ht as the devil? Yie§,yes; 
 says I, Friday, God is stronger than the devil; God is above tHe devil, 
 and therefore we pray to God to tread him down undfer our feet, and 
 fenable us to resist his temptations and querich his fiety ddrtS. But; 
 says he again^ if God niuch strong, mUch might as the devil, t?Hy God 
 no kill the devil; so make hiin no moi-e do wicked? 
 I wds strangely stirprised at his question, and after all, though 1 wd§ 
 riow an old iiian, yet I Was but a yoitng dottor, ahd ill ettbU^h quali- 
 fied for a casuist, or a solver of difficulties. Ahd at first I could hot 
 tell what to say, so I pretended not to hear him, and asked hini what 
 
 [ ^63 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 I, when we do wicked things here that offendHim, We are 
 preserved to repent and be pardoned. He muses a while at this ; Well, 
 well, says he, mighty affedionately, 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 crea- 
 tures 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 the 
 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 sandifier 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 something a good way off, I seriously prayed to God 
 that H e would enable me to instrud savingly this poor savage, assist- 
 ing by His Spirit the heart of the poor ignorant creature, to receive 
 the light of the knowledge of God In Christ, reconciling him to Him- 
 self, 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 
 
 [ 264] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 with him upon the subjedl of the redemption of man by the Saviour 
 of the world, and of the dodrine of the Gospel preached from heaven, 
 viz., of 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 
 howfor 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 instrudlion, and must acknowledge 
 what I believe all that adt upon the same principle will find, that in 
 laying things open to him, I really informed and instrufted myself 
 in many things, that either I did not know, or had not fully consid- 
 ered before, but which occurred naturally to my mind, upon my 
 searching into them, for the information of this poor savage; and I 
 had more afFedtion 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 set lighter upon me, my habitation grew com- 
 fortable to me beyond measure; and when I reflefted that in this soli- 
 tary life which I had been confined to, I had not only been moved my- 
 self to look up to heaven, and to seek to the Hand that had brought 
 me there ; 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 
 dodlrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, to know whom is life eter- 
 nal; I say, when I refleded upon all these things, a secret joy run 
 through every part of my soul, and I frequently rejoiced that ever I 
 was brought to this place, which I had so often thought the most 
 dreadful of all aiBidtions that could possibly have befallen m^ 
 In this thankful frame I continued all the remainder of my time, and 
 the conversation which employed the hours between Friday and I, 
 was such, as made the three years which we lived there together per- 
 fectly happyC if any such thing as complete happiness can be found 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 
 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 instrud:, than if we had been 
 in England. ) 
 
 I always applied myself in reading the Scripture, to 
 let him know, as well as I could, the meaning ofwhat 
 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 mere 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 doftrine of 
 salvation by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in 
 the Word of God ; so easy to be received and under- 
 stood. That as the bare reading the Scripture made 
 me capable of understanding enough of my duty, 
 to carry me direftly 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 prac- 
 
 [ 266 ] 
 

 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ai 
 
 tice, and obedience to all God's commands, and this 
 without any teacheror instrudior — I mean, human ; 
 so the same plain instrudlion 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 all the disputes, wranglings, strife, and conten- 
 tion, which has happened in the world about reli- 
 gion, whether niceties in dodtrines, or schemes of 
 church government, they were all perfedlly useless 
 to us; as for aught I can yet see, they have been to 
 all the rest of 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 instruding us by His Word, leading 
 us into all truth, and making us both willing and 
 obedient to the instrudion 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 orderL' 
 After Friday and I became more intimately ac- 
 
 
TSI ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 quainted, 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 bullet, and taught 
 him how to shoot. I gave him a knife, which he was wonderfully de- 
 lighted with, and I made him a belt, with a frog hanging to it, such as 
 in England we wear hangers in ; and in the frog, instead of a hanger, 
 I gave him a hatchet, which was not only as good a weapon in some 
 cases, but much more useful upon other occasions. 
 I described to him the country of Europe, and particularly England, 
 which I came from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, howwe 
 behaved to one another; and how we traded in ships to all parts of 
 the world. I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on 
 board of, and showed him, as near as I could, the place where she lay; 
 but she was all beaten in pieces before, and gone. 
 I showed him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we escaped, 
 and which I could not stir with my whole strength then, but was now 
 fallen almost all to pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood mus- 
 ing a great while, and said nothing ; I asked him what it was he stud- 
 ied 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 ex- 
 amined farther 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 was any 
 
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ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 white mansj as he called them, in the boat ? Yes, he said, the boat full 
 white mans. I asked him how many ; he told upon his fingers seven- 
 teen. I asked him then what become of them ? he told me. They live, 
 they dwell at my nation.) 
 
 This put new thoughts mto my head; 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 vid:- 
 uals to live. I asked him, how it came to pass they did not kill them 
 and eat them ? H e said. No, they make brother with them ; that is, as 
 I understood him, a truce. And then he added. They no eat 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 upon the top of 
 the hill, at the east side of the island, from whence, as I have said, I 
 had in a clear day discovered the main, or continent of America, Fri- 
 day, the weather being very serene, looks very earnestly towards the 
 mainland, 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? Oh joy ! says he, oh glad! there see my country, 
 there my nation ! 
 
 I observed an cxtiaordinary sense of pleasure appeared in his face, and 
 his eyes sparkled, and his countenance discovered a strange eager- 
 ness, as if he had a mind to be in his own country again ; and this ob- 
 servation of mine put a great many thoughts into me, which made 
 me at first not so easy about my new man Friday as I was before ; and 
 I made no doubt but that if Friday could get back to his own nation 
 again, he would not only forget all his religion, but all his obligation 
 to me; and would be forward enough to give his countrymen an ac- 
 count of me, and come back perhaps with a hundred or two of them, 
 
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Ta£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 irid make a feast upon ffife^ at ^hleh he might Be as merry as he iised 
 to be with those of his efiemies, when they were takeii in war. 
 But I wironged the p66r hondst ereatufe vtry miich, foi- which I wa^ 
 very sorry afterwards(However,as my jealousy increafeed^ and held 
 me some weeksj I was a little more cireumspedt^ and not sd familidi 
 and kind to him as before; in which I was certainly in the wrong too, 
 the honest grateful creature having no thought about it^ bilt What 
 consisted with the best principles, both as a religioti^ Christian, and 
 as a grateful friend, as appeared afterwards to nly full satisfadlioi^. 
 While my jealousy of him lasted^ you may be sure I was every day 
 purhping him to See if he wduld discover ahy of the new tHoughb 
 which I Suspefted were in hirii ; bUt I found everything he said was 
 so hohestj and ^b inriocent, that I coiild find nothiiig to nourish hiy 
 suspicion ; and in spite of all my uneasiness he made me at last entil-ely 
 his own again, nor did he ih the lea§t perfceive that I was uneasy, and 
 therefore I could not suspedl him of deceit. 
 
 One day walking up the same hillj but the i^eathbr being hazy at sea, 
 So that we eould not see the continent,! called to hiniiand saidj Fri- 
 day, do not you wish yourself in yodr own eouhiry, your own hatiari ? 
 Yes, he said, he be much oh glad to be at his own nation. What wduld 
 you do there ? said I ; would ybu turn wild again, eat men's flesh^gaiiij 
 and be a saV^a^e as ybu were bfefbre? He Idoked full of conceriii and 
 shdkifaghis head saidi No, noj Friday tell them to livegoodi tell them 
 to pray God, tell them tb eat corn-bread, cattlfe-flesh, milkj no eat man 
 again.(^hy then, said I to him, they will kill you. He looked grave 
 at thatj arid then saidj Noj they no kill me, they willing love learn; 
 He meant by thls3 they wbuld be willing td learn; He added, thif 
 learnt hiueh of the bearded mans that come in the bodt; Thfeh I asked 
 him if he >vould go back to them? He smiled at that, and toldlne he 
 eould ndt swim So far, I tdld him I would mdke a eanofe for hitn. He 
 toldme hewould gb^if I would go \^ith him. I go 1 says I, why, thev 
 will eat rtie if I feme there; No, no, §ays hej me make thby no edtyouO 
 me make they much Ibve you. He mednt he would tell them howl 
 had killed his enemies, and saved his life, dnd so he wbuld make them 
 
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ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 love me; then \\e Jojfi me,asvppll as h^ CQul^jhow ]cin4 tljey wereto 
 seventeen wliite men, or bea|-4ed men, as he called them, ^ho canie 
 on shore there in distress. 
 
 prqm this tinqe I confess I Ji^d a n^incl |o venture oyer, ajid see if I 
 C0UI4 possibly join with thpse bear^gd ri^en, who I piadp 119 doubt 
 were Spaniards or Portuguese ; tiqt dqubting but if I could we might 
 find some method to escape frpip tjienpp, being uppt^ the continent, 
 and a good company together ; better than I cpulci from an isl^nfl forty 
 ^ijpsoffthe shore, apdalpneyvithout help. Sqaftprspniedays Itook 
 Friday to work again, by way of djspourse, anfi told him I wqujd giye 
 him a boat to go back to his own natipn ; and accordingly J carried 
 him tp rny frigatp which lay 011 |:hp other §ide of the i$lan4,and hay- 
 ing cleare4 i^ pf wate^, fpr I always kept it sunk in t|if w^tpr, | b|-ought 
 it piat, showed it him, and we both wenf intp it. 
 I found he was a most 4exterous fellow at maiiaging it, would iiiake 
 it go almpst as swift and fast again as I cpuld; so when he yvas jn, I 
 s^i4 tq him, Wei}, nqvp, Friday, shall we gp tq yqur nation ? H e lppke4 
 very dull at piy saying so, which it seems was becaijse he thpught the 
 l^qat too small to go so far. J tol4 hirn then I ha4 a bigger; sp the ne?t 
 day I went to the place where the first boat lay which I had made, |)ut 
 which I could not get intp w^ter. I^p s^i4 thaj: was bjg enqugh ; but 
 then as I ha4 taken np care of it, an4 it ha4 lain two or three-and- 
 twenty years t)iere, the sun had split and dried it, so that it was in a 
 manner rotten. Friday tqld me such a bpat would dp ye;7 well, and 
 \5?ould carry much enough vittle, drink, |)rea4; that was his way of 
 talking. 
 
 Upon the whole, I was by this time so fixe4 upon my design of going 
 over with him to the continent, that I tol4 him we would go and make 
 qneas bigasthat,andheshoul4gohqniein^t. He answered not one 
 word, but looke4 very grave and sa4. 1 aske4 him what was the mat- 
 ter with hjmiTHe aske4 me again thus : Why, you angry mad wifh 
 Friday, what n^e done? I aske4 him what he meant; I told him I was 
 nqt ^ngry with him af §}|. T^q angry ! no angry ! s^ys he, repeating the 
 \5?Qr4s §PYpral tifnes."^Yhy sei]4 Fri4sy \^9^^ WiY 'P Wy patipn ? Why 
 
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Tii£ ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 (says I ) , Friday, did you not say you wished you were there ? Yes, yes, 
 says he, wish we both there, no wish Friday there, no master there. 
 In a word, he would not think of going there without me ; I go there ! 
 Friday (says I), what shall I do there? He turned very quick upon 
 me at this. You do great deal much good, say s he ; you teach wild mans 
 be good sober tame mans ; you tell them know God, pray God, and 
 live new life. Alas! Friday (says I),thouknowestnotwhat thousay- 
 est; I am but an ignorant man myself. Yes, yes, says he, you teachee 
 me good, you teachee them good. No, no, Friday (says I), you shall 
 go without me; leave me here to live by myself, as I did before. He 
 looked confused again at that word, and running to one of the hatchets 
 which he used to wear, he takes it up hastily, comes and gives it me. 
 What must I do with this ? says I to him. You take, kill Friday, says 
 he. What must I kill you for? said I again. He returns very quick. 
 What you send Friday away for? Take, kill Friday, no send Friday 
 away. This he spoke so earnestly, that I saw tears stand in his eyes. 
 In a word, I so plainly discovered the utmost afFedtion 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 afFedion 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 
 afFediion to the people, and his hopes of my doing them good ; a thing 
 which as I had no notion of myself, s^ I had not the least thought, or 
 intention, or desire of undertaking ityfeut still I foundastrongincli- 
 nation to my attempting an escape as above, founded on the sup- 
 position gathered from the discourse, viz., that there were seventeen 
 bearded men there; and therefore, without any more delay, I went 
 to work with Friday to find out a great tree proper to fell, and make 
 a large periagua or canoe to undertake the voyage. There were trees 
 enough in the island to have built a little fleet, notof periaguas and 
 canoes, 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 
 
 [ 272 "1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 was made, to avoid the mistake I committed at firstj, '' 
 At last, Friday pitched upon a tree, for I found he knew much bet- 
 ter than I wh^t kind of wood was fittest for it; nor can I tell to this 
 day what wood to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very 
 like the tree we call fustic, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, 
 for it was much of the same colour and smell. Friday was for burn- 
 ing the hollow or cavity of this tree out to make it for a boat. But I 
 showed him how rather to cut it out with tools, which, after I had 
 showed him how to use, he did very handily, and in about a month's 
 hard labour we finished it, and made it very handsome, especially 
 when with our axes, which I showed him how to handle, we cut and 
 hewed the outside into the true shape of a boat; after this, however, 
 it cost us near a fortnight's time to get her along, as it were inch by 
 inch, upon 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 howswift my man Friday would man- 
 age her, turn her, and paddle her along, so I asked him if he would 
 go, andif wemightventureover in her ; Yes,he said, heventureover 
 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 eagy 
 enough to get; so I pitched upon a straight young cedar- tree, which 
 I foundnear the place,andwhich therewas great plenty of in the island, 
 and I set Friday to work to cut it down, and gave him direftions 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 six-and-twenty years by me, and had not been 
 very careful to preserve them, not imagining that I should ever have 
 this kind of use for them, I did not doubt but they were all rotten, 
 and indeed most of them were so;however, I found two pieces which 
 appeared pretty good, and with these I went towork,andwithagreat 
 deal of pains, and awkward tedious stitching (you may be sure) fgr 
 want of needles, I at length made a three-cornered ugly thing, Ukc 
 
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T™ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 what we call in England a shoulder of mutton sail, to go with a boom 
 at bottom, and a little short sprit at the top, such as usually our ship's 
 long-boats sail with, and such as I best knew how to manage; because 
 it was such a one as I had to the boat in which I made my escape from 
 Barbary, as related in the first part of my story. 
 I was near two months performing this last work, viz., rigging and 
 fitting my mast and sails ; for I finished th em 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 steerwith; and though I was but a bungling shipwright, yet 
 as I knew the usefulness, and even necessity ofsuch 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 too, I had my man Friday to teach as to what 
 belonged to the navigation of my boat; forthough he knew very well 
 how to paddle a canoe, he knew nothing what belonged to a sail and 
 a rudder; and was the most amazed when he sawmework theboatto 
 and again in the sea by the rudder,and how the sail jibbed, 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 under- 
 stand 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 the time. I kept the anni- 
 versary 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 
 
 [276] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 
 effedhially and speedily deliverecf; for I had an invincible impres- 
 sion 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, fencing, as usual; I gathered and 
 cured my grapes, and did every necessary thing as before^) / 
 The rainy season was in the meantime upon me, when I kept more 
 within doors than at other times ; so I had stowed our new vessel as 
 secure as we could, bringing her up into the creek, where, as I said in 
 the beginning, I landed my rafts from the ship, and hauling her up to 
 the shore, at high-water mark, I made my man Friday dig a little 
 dock, just big enough to hold her, and just deep enough to give her 
 water enough to float in; and then when the tide was out, we made a 
 strong dam across the end of it, to keep the water out; and so she lay 
 dry as to the tide from the sea ; and to keep the rain off, we laid a great 
 many boughs of trees, so thick, that she was as well thatched as a 
 house ; and thus we waited for the months of November and Decem- 
 ber, in which I designed to make my adventure. 
 When the settled season began to come in, as the thought of my de- 
 sign returned with the fair weather, I was preparing daily for the 
 voyage ; and the first thing I did, was to lay by a certain quantity of 
 provisions, being the stores for our 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 twice a week, for 
 the sake of the eggs, as well as the flesh. Friday had not been long 
 gone, when he came running back, and flew over my outer wall, or 
 fence, like one that felt not the ground, or the steps he set his feet 
 on ; and before I had time to speak to him, he cries out to me, O mas- 
 ter! O master! O sorrow! O bad. What's the matter, Friday? says 
 I. O yonder, there, says he, one, two, three canoe ! one, two, three ! 
 By his way of speaking, I concluded there were six ; but on inquiry, 
 
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TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 I found it was but three. Well, Friday, says I, do not be frighted; so 
 I heartened him up as well as I could. However, I saw the poor fel- 
 low was most terribly scared ; for nothing ran in his head but that they 
 were come to look for him, and would cut him in pieces, and eat him ; 
 and the poor fellow trembled so, that I scarce knew what to do with 
 him. I comforted him as well as I could, and told him I was in as much 
 danger as he, and that they would eat me as well as him ; but, says I, 
 Friday, we must resolve to fight them ; can 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 bid 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 fowl- 
 ing-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 perspedtive-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 feastindeed), 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 shorewas 
 low, and where a thick wood came close almost down to the sea^his, 
 with the abhorrence of the inhuman errand these wretcheV came 
 about, filled me with such indignation, that I came down again to 
 Friday, and told him I was resolved to go down to them, and kill them 
 all ; and asked him if he would stand by me ? H e was now gotten over 
 
 [ 280] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 bullets; and as to orders, I charged him to 
 keep close behind me, and not to stir, or shoot, or do anything, till 
 I bid him ; and in the meantime, 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 should be discovered, which I had seen by my 
 
 ^lass 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 peo- 
 ple, who had neither done, or intended me any wrong? Who as to 
 me were innocent, and whose barbarous customs were their own dis- 
 aster, 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 adions, much less an executioner of His justice^ that" 
 whenever He thought fit, he would take the cause into His own 
 hands, and by national vengeance punish them as a people, for na- 
 tional crime^ but that in the meantime, it was noneof my business; 
 that it was trufe, 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 resped: to me. These things were so warmly pressed upon my 
 J [ 281 ] 
 
T™ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 thoughts, all the way as I went, that I resolved I would only go and 
 place myself near them, that I might observe their barbarous feast, 
 and that I would ad: then as God should dired ; but that unless some- 
 thing 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 allpossiblewari- 
 ness 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 themj 
 only that one corner of the wood lay between me and thera; here I 
 called softly to Friday, and showing 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 beplainly 
 viewed there ; that they were all about their fire, eating the flesh of 
 one of their prisoners ; and that another lay bound upon the sand, a 
 little from them, which he said they would kill next, and which fired 
 all the very soul within me (he told me it was not one of their nation; 
 but one of the bearded men, who he had told me of, that came to their 
 country in the boat; I was filled with horror at the very naming the 
 white-bearded man, and going to the tree, I saw plainly by my glass, 
 a white man who lay upon the beach of the sea, with his hands and 
 his feet tied, with flags, or things like rushes; and that he was an Eu- 
 ropean, and had clothes on. 1 
 
 There was another tree, and a little thicket beyond it, about fifty yards 
 nearer to them than the placewherel was,whichbygoingalittleway 
 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 
 
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ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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, says I, do exaftly 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 
 
 ^hot, 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 ali of them, who were not hurt, 
 jumped up upon their feet, but did not immediately know which way 
 to run, or which way to look; for they knew not from whence their 
 destru<3:ion 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 saw me cock and present, he did the same 
 again ; Are you ready, Friday ? said I ; Yes, says he ; Let fly then, says 
 I, in the name of God, and with that I fired again among the amazed 
 wretches, and so did Friday; and as our pieces were now loaded with 
 what I called swan-shot, or small pistol bullets, we found only two 
 drop; but so many were wounded, that they ran about yelling, and 
 screaming, like mad creatures, all bloody, and miserably wounded, 
 most of them; whereof three more fell quickly after, though not 
 
 ^uite dead. 
 Now, Friday, says I, laying down the discharged pieces, and taking 
 
 ■^p the musket, which was yet loaded; follow me, says I, which he 
 did, with a great deal of courage, upon which I rushed out of the 
 wood, and showed myself, and Friday close at my foot ; as soon as 
 I perceived they saw me, I shouted as loud as I could, and bade Fri- 
 day do so too; and running as fast as I could, which by the way, was 
 not very fast, being laden with arms as I was, I made diredtly towards 
 the poor vidim, who was, as I said, lying upon the beach, or shore, 
 
 [ 283 ] 
 
T«S ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 between the place where they sat, and the seaTjthe 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, andhadjumped 
 into a canoe, and three more of the rest made the same way; I turned 
 to Friday, and bid 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 of a 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 him, I pulled out my knife, and cut 
 
 jthe flags that bound the poor vidim, 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 ofmypocket, 
 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 Espagnol ; and being a little recov- 
 ered, 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 
 at in the boat; for as three of them fell with the hurt they received, 
 so the other two fell with the fright. 
 
 Ikept mypiece in my hand still, without firing, beingwilling to keep 
 
 r. 284 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 my charge ready; because I had given the Spaniard my pistol, and 
 sword ; so I called to Friday, and hade him run up to the tree, from 
 whence we first fired,ajid fetch thearms which lay there, that had been 
 discharged, which he did with great swiftness; and then giving him 
 myanusket, I sat down myself to loadall 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 savageSjwho made at him with one of theirgreat wooden swords, 
 the sameweapon thatwasto have killed him before, if I hadnotpre- 
 vented it jQThe Spaniard, who was as bold, and as brave as could be im- 
 agined, though weak, had fought this Indian a good while, and had 
 cut him two great wounds on hisiiead; but the savage being a stout 
 lusty fellow, closing in with hiny r 
 had thrown him down (being faint) 
 and was wringing my sword out 
 of his hand, when the Spaniard, 
 though undermost,wisely quitting 
 the sword, drew the pistol from his 
 ^rdk, shot thesavage through the 
 body, and killed him upon the 
 spot; before I, who was ronningto 
 help him, could<:ome near him. 
 iFriday being now left to his liberty, 
 pursued the flying wretches with 
 no weapon in his hand, but his 
 -haitohet; and with that Jie des- 
 patched,th0se1;hree,who,asl said 
 before, were wounded at first and 
 fallen, and all the rest he could 
 come .up with, and Jrhe Spaniard 
 coming to me for agun,.I gave him 
 one of the fowling-pieces, with 
 which he pursued two of the sav- 
 •ages, and wounded them both; but as he was not able to run, they 
 
 [ 287 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 both got from him into the wood, where Friday pursued them, and 
 killedoneof them; but the other was too nimble for him, and though 
 he was wounded, yet had plu nged himself into the sea, and swam with 
 all his might off to those two who wereleft 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 ac- 
 count of the rest is as follows: 
 3 killed at our first 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. 
 I killed by ditto, in the wood. 
 
 3 killed by the Spaniard. 
 
 4 killed, being found dropped here and there of their wounds, 
 
 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 shots at them, I did not find 
 that he hit any of them. Friday would fain have had me take one of 
 their canoes, and pursue them; and indeed I was very anxious about 
 their escape, lest carrying the news home to their people, they should 
 come back perhaps with two or three hundred of their canoes, and 
 devour us by mere multitude ; so I consented to pursue them by sea, 
 and running to one of their canoes, I jumped in, and bade Friday 
 follow me ; but when I was in the canoe, I was surprised to find an- 
 other poor creature lie there alive, bound hand and foot, as the Span- 
 iard 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 heSis, and had been 
 tied so long, that he had really but little life in him.j 
 I immediately cut the twisted flags, or rushes,whiclrchey had bound 
 ;him with, and would have helped him up; but he could not stand, or 
 
 [ 288 "1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 speak, but groaned most piteously, believing it seems still that he was 
 /Tonly unbound in order to be killed. 
 
 / When Friday came to him, I bade him speak to him, and tell him of 
 his deliverance, and pulling out my bottle, made him give the poor 
 wretch a dram, which, with the news of his being delivered, revived 
 him, and he sat up in the boat; but when Friday came to hear him 
 speak, and look in his face, it would have moved any one to tears, to 
 have seen how Friday kissed him, 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 distradled creature. It was a good while 
 before I could make him speak to me, or tell me what was the matter ; 
 but when he came a little to himself, he told me, that it was his father. 
 It is not easy for me to express how it moved me to see what ecstasy 
 and filial afFedlion had worked in this poor savage, at the sight of his 
 father, and of his being delivered from death; nor indeed can I des- 
 cribe half the extravagances of his afFedtion 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 bind- 
 ing, 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 aftion 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 
 notfindinmy heart to take him ofFforsometime. Butafter I thought 
 he could leave him a little, I called him to me, and he came jumping 
 
 r 289 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 and laughing, and pleased in 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 him- 
 self, 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 hand- 
 ful 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 foot 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 hewent, andinaquarter 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 got two more cakes, or loaves of bread. The bread he gave me, 
 but the water he carried to his father. However, as I was very thirsty 
 too, I took a little sup of it. 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 to 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 sawthatupon 
 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 hand- 
 ful of raisins; he looked up in my face with all the tokens dfgratitude 
 and thankfulness that could appear in any countenance; put was so 
 weak, notwithstanding he had so exerted himself in the ifight, that he 
 
 [ 290 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 WHEN HE CAME A LITTLE TO HIMSELF, HE TOLD ME, THAT IT WAS HIS FATHER 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 could not stand up upon his feet. He tried to do ittwo 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 affedlionate creature every two minutes, or per- 
 ^laps 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 lead him to the 
 boat, and then he\hould carry him to our dwelling, where I would 
 take care of him. But Friday, a lusty strong fellow, took the Span- 
 iard 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 him 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 ca- 
 noe. As he passed me, I spoke to him, and asked him whither he 
 went ; he told me. Go fetch more boat. So away he went like the wind ; 
 for sure never man or horse run like him, and he had the other canoe 
 in the creek almost as soon as I got to it by land; so he wafted me 
 over, and then went to help our new guests out of the boat, which he 
 did ; but they were neither of them able to walk, so that poor Friday 
 knew not what to do. 
 
 To remedy this, I went to work in my thought; and calling to Fri- 
 day to bid them to 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 
 
 [ ^93 ] 
 
TS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 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 groveof young wood which 
 I had planted. And here we made them two beds of such things as 
 I had, viz., of good rice-straw, with blankets laid upon it to lie on, 
 _and another to cover them on each bed. 
 
 My island was now peopled, and I thought my self very rich in sub- 
 — jefts ; and it was a merry refledion 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, sndly. My 
 people were perfectly subjeded. 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 of it, for me. It was remarkable too, we had 
 but three subjeds, and they were of three diflFerent religions. My man 
 Friday was a Protestant, his father was a Pagan and a cannibal, and 
 the Spaniard was a Papist. However, I allowed liberty of conscience 
 throughout my dominions. But this is by the way: 
 As soon as I had secured my two weak rescued prisoners, and given 
 
 them shelter, and a place to rest 
 them upon, I began to thinkof mak- 
 ing some provision for them. And 
 the first thing I did, I ordered Fri- 
 day to take a yearling goat, betwixt 
 a kid and a goat, out of my particu- 
 lar flock, to be killed, when I cut off 
 the hinder quarter, and chopping it 
 into small pieces, I set Friday to 
 work to boiling and stewing, and 
 made them a very good dish, I as- 
 sure you, of flesh and broth, having 
 put some barley and rice also into the broth ; and as I cooked it with- 
 out doors, for I made no fire within my inner wall, so I carried it all 
 
 [ 294 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 into the new tent; and having set a table there for them, I sat down 
 and eat my own 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 Spaniarjd-t-oo ; 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, arid go and fetch our muskets and other firearms, 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 do- 
 ing myself; nay, I could not b^r to see them, if I went thatway. All 
 which he pundtually 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 point- 
 ing to the placed 
 
 I then began to'enter into a little conversation with mytwo new sub- 
 jects; and first I set Friday to inquire of his father, what he thought 
 of the escape of the savages in that canoe, and whetherwe might ex- 
 pe6t a return of them with a power too great forus to resist. His first 
 opinion was, that the savages in the boat could never 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 nojE ; but it was his opinion that they were so dreadfully frighted 
 with the Wnner of their being attacked, the noise and the fire, that 
 he believed they would tell their people they were all killed by thun- 
 der and lightning, not by the hand of man, and that the two which 
 appeared, viz., Friday and me, were two heavenly spirits or furies, 
 come down to destroy them, and notmen with weapons. Thishesaid 
 he knew, because he heard them all cry out so in their language to 
 one another, for it was impossible to them to conceive that a man 
 
 [ ^9S ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 could dart fire, and speak thunder, and kill at a distance without lift- 
 ing up the hand, as was done now. And this old savage was in the 
 right; for, as I understood since by other hands, the savages never 
 attempted to go over to the island afterwards ; they were so terrified 
 with the accounts given by those four men (for it seems they did es- 
 cape 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 appre- 
 hensions for a good while, and kept always upon my guard, I and all 
 my army ; for as we were now four of us, I would have ventured upon 
 a hundred of them fairly in the open field at any time. 
 In a little time, however, no more canoes appearing, the fear of their 
 coming wore off, and I began to take my former thoughts of a voy- 
 age to the main into consideration, being likewise assured by Friday's 
 father, that I might depend on good usage from their nation on his 
 account, if I would go. 
 
 ^But my thoughts were a little suspended when I had a serious dis- 
 burse with the Spaniard, and when I understood that there were six- 
 teen 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 in- 
 deed 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 Hav- 
 ana, being direfted to leave their lading 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 the first ship was lost, and that these escaped through 
 infinite dangers and hazards, and arrived almost starved on the canni- 
 bal coast, where they expedled to have been devoured every moment. 
 He told me they had some arms with them, but they were perfedtly 
 useless, for that they had neither powder or 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. 
 
 [ 296 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 I asked him what he thought would become of them there, and if they 
 had formed no design of making any escape ? He said they had many 
 consultations about it, but that having neither vessel, or tools to build 
 one, or provisions of any kind, their councils always ended in tears 
 and despair. 
 
 I asked him how he thought they would receive a proposal from me 
 which might tend towards an escape? And whether, if they were all 
 here, it might not be done? I told him with freedom I feared mostly 
 their treachery and ill usage of me, if I put my life in 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 expefted. I told him it 
 would be very hard that I should be the instrument of their deliver- 
 ance, 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 deliveredup to the savages, and be devoured alive, than 
 fall into the merciless claws of the priests,"and be carried into the In- 
 quisition. 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 Brazils 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 theirsolemn oath that they sRtould be ab- 
 solutely under my leading as their commander and captains and that 
 they should swear upon the Holy Sacraments and the Gospel to be 
 
 [ 297 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 true to me, and to go to such Christian country as that I should agree 
 to, and no other; and to be direfted wholly and absolutely by my or- 
 ders 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 orders ; and that 
 he would take my side to the last drop of his blood if there should 
 happen the least breach of faith among his countrymen. 
 He told me they were all of them very civil honest men, and they were 
 under the 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 pos- 
 sible, and to send the old savage and this Spaniard over to them to 
 treat. But when we had gotten all things in a readiness to go, the 
 Spaniard himself started an objedion, 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 ofl?"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 ricel had laid up, which as it was more than sufficient formyself, 
 so it was not sufficient, at least without good husbandry, formy fam- 
 ily, now it was increased to number four; but much less would it be 
 sufficientif his countrymen, who were, as he said, fourteen still alive, 
 should come over. And least of all should it be sufficient to viftual 
 our vessel, if we should bijild one, for a voyage to any of the Chris- 
 tian colonies ofAmeric^T So he told me he thought it would be more 
 advisable 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 
 
 [ 298 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 another harvest that we might have a supply of corn for his country- 
 men 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 Is- 
 rael, though they rejoiced at first for their being delivered out of 
 Egypt, yet rebelled even against God Himself that delivered them, 
 when they came to want bread in the wilderness. ■ 
 His caution was so seasonable, and his advice so good, that I could 
 not but be very well pleased with his proposal, as well as I was sat- 
 isfied 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 seedtime, 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 expeft 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 piirpose, I marked out several trees which I 
 thought fit for our workjVnd I set Friday and his father to cutting 
 them down ; and then I c^sed the Spaniard, to whom I imparted my 
 thoughton that affair, tooverseeanddirefttheirwork. I showed them 
 with what indefatigable pains I had hewed a large tree into single 
 planks, and I caused them to do the like, till they had made about a 
 dozen large planks of good oak, near % foot broad, 3 5 foot long, and 
 from 1 inches to 4 inches thick : What prodigious labour it took up, 
 
 ^ny one may imagine. 
 
 , At the same tim©jl contrived to increasemylittleflock of tamegoats 
 as much as I could ; and to this purpose, I made Friday and the Span- 
 ^ [ 299 ] 
 
TS2 ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 iard go out one day, and myself with Friday the next day ; for we took 
 our turns; and by this means we got above 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 cur- 
 ing the grapes coming on, I caused such a prodigious quantity to be 
 hung up in the sun, that I believe, had we been at Alicant, where 
 the raisins of the sun are cured, we could have filled sixty or eighty 
 barrels; and these with our bread was a great part of our food, and 
 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 our twenty-two bushels of barley, we 
 brought in and thrashed out above two hundred and twenty bushels ; 
 and the like in proportion of therice, 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 ourmagazineof 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 theguests I exped:ed,I 
 gave the Spaniard leave to go over to the main, to see what he could 
 do with those he had left behind him there. I gave him a strift charge 
 in writing, not to bring any man with him, who would not first swear 
 inthepresenceof himself andof the old savage, that hewouldnoway 
 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 subjedted by 
 his commands; and that this should be put in writing, and signed 
 
 [ .300 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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.i 
 
 Unadr these instruftions, the Spaniard, and the oldsavage, 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 occasion. 
 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 them- 
 selves for many days, and sufficient for all their countrymen for about 
 eight days' time; and wishing them a good voyage, I saw them go, 
 agreeing with them about a signal they should hang out at their re- 
 turn, by which I should know them again, when they came back, at 
 a distance, before they came on shore. 
 
 They went away with afair gale on the day that the moon was at full 
 by my account, in the month of Oftober ; but as for an exad reck- 
 oning of days, after I had once lost it, I could never recover it again ; 
 norhad 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 had waited for them, when a strange 
 and unforeseen accident intervened, ofwhich the like has not perhaps 
 been heard of in historyC I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning, 
 when my man Friday caifte running in toVne, and called aloud. Mas- 
 ter, master, they are come, they are comel 
 
 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 
 
 [ 301 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 southern- 
 most end of the islanc^ Upon this I called Friday in, and bid him lie 
 close, for these were not the people we looked for, and that we might 
 not know yet whether they were friends or enemies./ 
 In the next place, I went in to fetch my perspedtive glass, to seewhat 
 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 
 
 anything, 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 halPs distance 
 from mesouth-south-east, but not 
 above aJeague and a half from the 
 shore( By my observation it ap- 
 peared 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 who I had reason to 
 believe was manned by my own 
 countrymen, and consequently 
 friends, was such as I cannot de- 
 scribe, but yet I had some secret 
 doubts hung about me, I cannot 
 tell from whence they came, bid- 
 ding 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 
 
 [ 3°^ ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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. 
 
 Lf t no man despise the secret hints and notices of danger, which 
 sometimes are given him, when he may think there is no possibility 
 gf its being real. That such hints and notices are given us, I believe 
 few that have made any observations 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 ques- 
 tion ; 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 admoni- 
 tion, come it from whence it will, I had been undone inevitably and 
 in a far worse condition than before, as you will see presently. / - 
 I had not kept myself long in this posture, but I saw the boat draw 
 near the shore, as if they looked for a creek to thrust in at for the con- 
 venience 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 
 mn 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 soon have beaten me out of 
 my castle, and perhaps have plundered me of all I had. 
 When they were on shore, I was fully satisfied that they were Eng- 
 lishmen; at least, most of them; one or two I thought were Dutch ; 
 but it did not prove stCThere were in all eleven men, whereof three 
 pfthem 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 but of the boat as prisoners/One of the three I could perceive 
 using the most passionate gestures of entreaty, afflidion and despair, 
 even to a kind of extravagance ; the other two I could perceive lifted 
 
 [ 303 ] 
 
T2S ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 up their hands sometimes, and appeared concerned indeed, but not 
 to such a degree as the first, 
 
 I was perfedlly confounded at the sight, and knew not what the mean- 
 ing of it should be. Friday called out to me in English, as well as he 
 could7o master! You see English mans eat prisoner as well as sav- 
 agerttans. Why, says I, Friday, do you think they are a going to eat 
 them then ? Yes, says Friday, they will eat them. No, no, says I, Fri- 
 day, I am afraid they '^ll murder them indeed, but you may be sure 
 they will not eat themy 
 
 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 expedled to see him fall 
 every moment, at which all the blood in my body seemed to run chill 
 in my veins. 
 
 I wished heartily now for my Spaniard, and the savage that was gone 
 with him ; or that I had any way to have come undiscovered within 
 shot of them, that I might have rescued the three men; for I saw no 
 firearms 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 run scattering about the land, 
 as if they wanted to see the country. I observed that the three other 
 men had liberty to go also where they pleased; but they sat down 
 all tfiisee upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like men in de- 
 spair.) 
 
 Thi^ut me in mind of the first time when I came on shore, and be- 
 gan to look about me: how I gave myself over for lost; how wildly 
 I looked round me; what dreadful apprehensions I had; and how I 
 lodged in the tree all night for fear of being devoured by wild beasts. 
 As I knew nothing that night of the supply I was to receive by the 
 providential driving of the ship nearer the land, by the storms and 
 tide, by which I have since been so long nourished and supported ; 
 
 [ .304 1 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 fs6 these three poor desolate men knew nothing how certain of deliv- 
 ^ance and supply they were, how near it was to them, and how ef- 
 fediually and really they were in a condition of safety, at the same 
 time that they thought themselves lost, and their case desperate. 
 So little do we see before us in the world, and so much reason have 
 we to depend cheerflilly 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 hy the means by which they 
 seem to be brought to their destrudtion/ 
 
 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 a 
 place they were in ; they had carelessly stayed 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, hav- 
 ing 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 forethought, 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 will float next tide; by which I was fully confirmed in 
 the main inquiry, of what countrymen they were. 
 All this while I kept myself very close, not once daring to stir out of 
 my castle any farther than to my place of observation, near the top 
 of the hill; and very glad I was, to think how well it was fortified. I 
 knew it was no less than ten hours before the boat could be on float 
 
 [ 305 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 again, and by that time it would be dark, and I might be at more lib- 
 erty 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, who I had made an excel- 
 lent marksman with his gun, to load himself with arms. I took my- 
 self two fowling-pieces, and I gave him three muskets ; my figure 
 indeed was very fierce; I had my formidable goatskin coat on, with 
 the great cap I have mentioned, a naked sword by my side, two pis- 
 tols in my belt, and a gun upon each shoulder. 
 It was my design, as I said above, not to have made any attempt till 
 itwas 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 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 some- 
 thing of their condition. Immediately I marched in the figure as 
 above, m y man Friday at a good distance behind me, as formidable 
 
 for his arms as I, but not making 
 quite so staring a spedtre-like figure 
 as^ I did. 
 
 \I came as near them undiscovered as 
 rtould, 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 per- 
 ceived them just going to fly from me, when I spoke to them in Eng- 
 lish : Gentlemen, said I ; do not be surprised at me ; perhaps you may 
 
 [306] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 have a friend near you when you did not exped it. He must be sent 
 dire(aiyfromHeaven,then,saidoneof them verygravelyto 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, look- 
 ing like one astonished, returned, Am I talking to God, or man? Is 
 it a real man, or an angel ? Be in no fear about that, sir, said I, if God 
 had sent an angel to relieve you, he Would have come better clothed, 
 and armed after another manner than you see me 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 murderers 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 mur- 
 der 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 expeifted 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 lie, sir, said he, pointing to a thicket of 
 trees; my heart trembles, for fear they have seen us, and heard you 
 speak; if they have they will naturally murder us all. 
 Have they any firearms? 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 show any 
 mercy to; but if they were secured, he believed all the rest would re- 
 turn to their duty. I asked him which they were. H e told me he could 
 
 [ 307 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 not at that distance describe them; but he would obey my orders in 
 anything I would dired. Well, says I, let us retreat out of their view 
 or hearing, lest they awake, and we will resolve further. So they will- 
 ingly 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 propo- 
 sals, by telling me, that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be 
 wholly diredted and commanded by me in everything; and if the ship 
 was not recovered, he would live and die 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. i. 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 meantime be governed by my orders. 
 2. That if the ship is,ormay be recovered, you will carry me and my 
 man to England passage free. 
 
 He gave me all the assurances that the invention and faith of man 
 could devise, that he would comply with these most reasonable de- 
 mands, 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 showed 
 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 
 anything; but the bestmethodi could think of was to fire upon them 
 at once, as they lay; and if any was not killed at the first volley, and 
 offered to submit, we might save them, and so put it wholly upon 
 God's providence to dire<a the shot. 
 
 He said very modestly, that he was loth to kill them, if he could help 
 it, but that those two were incorrigible villains, and had been the au- 
 thors of all the mutiny in the ship, and if they escaped we should all 
 be undone still; for they would go on board, and bring the whole 
 ship's company, and destroy us all. Well, then, says I, necessity 
 
 [308 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 legitimates my advice ; for it is the only way to save our lives. How- 
 ever, 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 of themenwho hehadsaidwere the heads of the mutiny? 
 He said. No. Well, then, said I, you may let them escape, and Provi- 
 dence seems to have awakened them on purpose to save themselves. 
 Now, says I, if the rest escape you, it is your fault. 
 Animated with this, he took the musket I had given him in his hand, 
 and a pistol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with each man 
 apiece in his hand. The two men who were with him going first, made 
 some noise, at which one of theseamen who was awake, turnedabout, 
 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 upon 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 cry upon God to forgive his villainy, and with that word 
 knocked him down with the stock of his musket, so that he never 
 spoke more. There were three more in the company, and one of them 
 was also slightly wounded. By this time I was come, and when they 
 saw their danger, and that it was in vain to resist, they begged for 
 mercjl The captain told them he would spare their lives if they would 
 give hihr 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 J amaica, from whence 
 they came. Theygavehimalltheprotestationsof their sincerity that 
 could be desired, and he was willing to believe them, and spare their 
 lives, which I was not against, only that I obliged him to keep them 
 bound hand and foot while they were upon the island J 
 While this was doing, I sent Friday with the captain s mate to the 
 
 [ 309 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 (hap- 
 pily 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 ourviftory 
 was complete. 
 
 It now remained, that the captain and I should inquire into one an- 
 other's circumstanc^. I began first, and told him my whole history, 
 which he heard with an attention even to amazement; and particu- 
 larly, at the wonderful manner of my being furnished with provisions 
 and ammunition ; and indeed, as my story is a whole colleftion of won- 
 ders, it afFed:ed him deeply] but when herefleded 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 apartment, 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 showed them all the contrivances I had made, during my 
 long, long inhabiting that place. 
 
 All I showed them, all I said to them, was perfedly amazing; but 
 above all, the captain admired my fortification, and how perfeiftly I 
 had concealed my retreat with a grove of trees, which having been 
 now planted near twenty years, and the trees growing much faster 
 than in England, was become a little wood, and so thick, that it was 
 unpassable inanypartof it,butatthatone side, where I had reserved 
 my httle winding passage into it. I told him, this was my castle, and 
 my residence ; but th^t I had a seat in the country, as most princes 
 have, whither I could retreat upon occasion, and I would show 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 perfedly at a loss what measures to take; for that there were 
 still six-and-twenty hands on board, who having entered into a cursed 
 conspiracy , by which they had all forfeited their lives to the law, would 
 
 r 310 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 tliere would be no attacking them, with so small a num- 
 ber 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,andbe 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 everything out of her, leave her so far useless as not to be 
 fit to swim. Accordingly we went on board, took the arms whieh were 
 left on board, out of her, and whatever else we found there Jwbich 
 was a bottle of brandy, and another of rum, a few biscuit cak6s, a 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 none left for many years. 
 When we had carried all these things on shore (the oars, mast, sail, 
 and rudder of the boat,were carried away before, as above) we knocked 
 a great hole in her bottom, that if they had come strong enough to 
 master us, yet they could not carry off the boat. 
 Indeed, it was notmuch in my thoughts, that we could be able to re- 
 cover 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 
 
 [3" ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 would not float her off at high-water-mark; and besides, had broke 
 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 sig- 
 nals 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 my glasses, 
 hoist another boat out, and row towards the shore ; and we found as 
 they approached, that thereYere no less than ten men in her, and that 
 they had firearms with themi. 
 
 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 as for the boatswain, who it seems was the chief officer among 
 them, and all the rest, they were as outrageous as any of the ship's 
 crew, and were no doubt made desperate in their new enterprise, and 
 terribly apprehensive he was, that they would be too powerful for us. 
 I smiled at him, and told him, that men in our circumstances were past 
 the operation of fea^. That seeing almost every condition that could 
 be, was better than that which we were supposed to be in, we ought 
 to exped 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 pros- 
 pedlof it. What's that? says he. Why, said I, it is, that as you say, 
 
 [ 312 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 
 is our own, and shall die, or live, as they behave to $s^ 
 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, con- 
 sidered of separating our prisoners, and had indeed secured them 
 effedlually. 
 
 Two of them, of whom the captain was less assured than ordinary,! 
 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 theirway out of the wood, 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 prom- 
 ised 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 our- 
 selves) for their comfort; and they did not know but that he stood 
 sentinel over them at the entrance. 
 
 [ 3^3 ] 
 
JSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 The other prisoners had better usage ; two of them were kept pin- 
 ioned indeed, because the captain was not free to trust them ; but the 
 other two were taken into my service upon their captain's recom- 
 mendation, 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 c^tain 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 run 
 their boat into the beach, and came all on shore, hauling the boat up 
 after them, which I was glad to see ; for I was afraid they would rather 
 have left the boat at an anchor, some distance from the shore, with 
 some hands in her, to guard her; and so we should not be able to seize 
 the boat. 
 
 Being on shore, the first thing they did, they ran all to their other 
 boat, and it was easy to see that they were under a great surprise, to 
 find her stripped as above, of all that was in her, and a great hole in 
 her bottom. 
 
 After they had mused a while upon this, they set up two or three 
 great shouts, 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 in- 
 deed we heard, and the echoes made the woods ring; but it was all 
 one, those in the cave we were sure could not hear, and those in our 
 keeping, though they heard it well enough, yet durst give no answer 
 
 -to them. 
 They were so astonished at the surprise of this, that as they told us 
 
 -afterwards, they resolved to go all on board again to their ship, and 
 let them know that the men were all murdered, and the long-boat 
 staved ; accordingly they immediately launched their boat again and 
 gat all of them on board. 
 
 The captain was terribly amazed, and even confounded at this, be- 
 lieving 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 
 
 [314] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 conduift, 
 which it seems they consulted together upon, viz., to leave three men 
 in the boat, and the^Bst^o on shore, and go up into the country to 
 look for their fellows, j 
 
 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 advan- 
 tage 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 impos- 
 sible 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 oflF, that we might 
 have come abroad. 
 
 But when they were come to the brow of the hill, where they could 
 see a great way into the valleys and woods, which lay towards the 
 north-east part, and where the island lay lowest, they shouted, and 
 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 un- 
 der 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 
 
 [315 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 of theirs, viz., that perhaps they would all fire a volley again, to en- 
 deavour 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 blood- 
 shed : I liked the proposal, provided it was done while we were near 
 enough to come up to them, before they could load their pieces 
 again. 
 
 But this event did not happen, and we lay still a long time, very ir- 
 resolute what course to take; at length I told them, there would be 
 nothing to be done in my opinion till night, and then if they did not 
 return to the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get between them, 
 and the shore, and so might use some stratagem with them in the boat, 
 to get them on shore. 
 
 We waited a great while, though very impatient for their remov- 
 ing; and were very uneasy, when after long consultations, we saw 
 them start all up, and march down toward the sea. It seems they had 
 such dreadful apprehensions upon them, of the danger of the place, 
 that they resolved to go on board the ship again, give their com- 
 panions over for lost, and so go on with their intended voyage with 
 the ship. 
 
 As soon as I perceived them go towards the shore, I imagined it to 
 be as it really was, that they had given over their search, and were for 
 going back again ; and the captain, as soon as I told him my thoughts, 
 was ready to sink at the apprehensions of it ; but I presently thought 
 of a stratagem to fetch them back again, and which answered my end 
 to a tittle. 
 (^ I ordered Friday, and the captain's mate, to go over the little creek 
 Westward, towards the place where the savages came on shore, when 
 Friday was rescued ; and as soon as they came to a little rising ground, 
 at about half a mile distance, I bade them halloo as loud as they could, 
 and wait till they found the seamen heard them; that as soon as ever 
 they heard the seamen answer them, they should return it again, and 
 then keeping out of sight, take a round, always answering when the 
 other hallooed, to draw them as far into the island, and among the 
 
 I 3^6 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 woods, as possible, and then wheel about again to me, by such ways 
 as I dlrefted them. 
 
 They were just going into the boat, when Friday and the mate hal- 
 looed, and they presently 
 heard them, and answering, 
 run along the shore west- 
 ward, towards the voice they 
 heard, when they were pre- 
 sently stopped by the creek, 
 where the water being up, 
 they could not get over, and 
 called for the boat to come 
 up, and set ther i over, as in- 
 deed I expedted 
 When they had set them- 
 selves over, I observed, that 
 the boat being gone up agood 
 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 hei 
 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 cross- 
 ing the creek out of their sight, we surprised 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 go- 
 ing 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 
 
 [ 317 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 the mutiny as the rest of thecrew,andthereforewaseasily persuaded, 
 not only to yield, but afterwards to join very sincere with us. 
 In the meantime, Friday and the captain's mate so well managed their 
 business with the rest, that they drew them by hallooing and answer- 
 ing, 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 theywere 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 
 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 be- 
 fore they came quite up, calling to those behind to come along, and 
 could also hear them answer and complain, how lame and tired they 
 were, and not able to come any faster, which was very welcome news 
 to us. 
 
 At length they came up to the boat; but it is 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 inhabi- 
 tants in it, and they should all be murdered, or else there were devils 
 and spirits in it, and they should be all carried away and devoured. 
 They 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 again, and walk about 
 
 ^-again, and so over the same thing again. 
 
 yMy men would fain have me give 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 own men, knowing 
 
 [318] 
 
ROBINSOIH CRUSOE 
 
 the others were very well armedyl' resolved to wait to see if they did 
 not separate; and therefore toiiiake sureof them, I drewmyambus- 
 cade 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, but that the boatswain, who 
 was the principal ringleader of the mutiny, and had now shown him- 
 self the most dejedled and dispirited of all the rest, came walking 
 towards them with two more of their crew; the captain was so eager, 
 as having this principal rogue so much in his power, that he could 
 hardly have patience to let him come so near, as to be sure of him; 
 for they only heard his tongue before. But when they came nearer, 
 the captain and Friday starting up on their feet, let fly at them. 
 The boatswain was killed upon the spot, the next man was shot into 
 the body, and fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour or 
 two after; and the third run for it. 
 / At the noise of the fire, I immediately advanced with my whole army, 
 which was now eight men, viz., myself generalissimo, Friday my lieu- 
 tenant-general, the captain and his two men, and the three prisoners 
 of war, whom we 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 we had left in the boat, who was 
 now onetof us, call to 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 condi- 
 tion 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 's our captain, and fifty men with him, have 
 
 [ 3^9 ] 
 
TSl ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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, you are all 
 
 lost. , 
 
 Will they give us quarter then (says Tom Smith), and we will yield ? 
 I '11 go and ask, if you promise to yield, says Robinson; so he asked 
 the captain, and the captain then himself calls out. You Smith, you 
 know my voice, if you lay down your arms immediately, and sub- 
 jpit, you shall have your lives all but Will Atkins. 
 Upon this. Will Atkins cried out, For God's sake, captain, give me 
 quarter, what have I done ? They have been all as bad as I , which by 
 the way was not true neither; for it seems this Will Atkins was the 
 first man that laid hold of the captain, when they first mutinied, and 
 used him barbarously, in tying his hands, and giving him injurious 
 language. However, the captain told him he must lay down his arms 
 at discretion, and trust to the governor's mercy, by which he meant 
 me; for they all called me governor. 
 
 I n 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 repaipthe boat, and think of seizing the ship; 
 and as for the captain, now he had leisure to parley with them. He 
 expostulated with them upon the villainy of their pradtices 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 com- 
 mander'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 dired 
 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 
 
 [ 320 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 he had given them all quarter, he supposed he would send them to 
 England to be dealt with there, as justice required, except Atkins, 
 who 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 fidion of his own, yet it had its desired effeA ; 
 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 foryou ; and presently the captain replied. Tell 
 his excellency,! am just a coming. This more perfedrly 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 projedl for seizing 
 the ship, which he liked of wonderfully well, and resolved to put it 
 1^ execution the next morning. 
 But in order to execute it with more art, and 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 captaini 
 They conveyed them to the cave, as to a prison^ and it was indeed a 
 dismal place, especially to men in their condition. 
 The other I ordered to my bower, as I called it, of which I have given 
 a full 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 
 
 [ 321 ] 
 
TSI ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 ship. He talked to them of the injury done him, of the condition they 
 were brought to;andthatthoughthegovernor had given them quar- 
 ter for their Uves as to the present adion, yet that if they were sent 
 to England, they would all be hanged in chains, to be sure ; but that 
 if they would join in so just an attempt, as to recover the ship, he 
 would have the governor's engagement for their pardon. 
 Any one may guess how readily such a proposal would be accepted 
 by men in their condition ; they fell down on their knees to the cap- 
 tain, 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 mustgo 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. 
 
 H owever, that we might be very secure, I told him he should go back 
 ■again, and choose out those five, and tell them, they might see that 
 he did not want men, that he would take out those five to be his as- 
 sistants, and that the governor would keep the other two, and the 
 three that were sent prisoners to the castle (my cave), as hostages, for 
 thefidelity of thosefive;andthatif theyproved unfaithfulin theexe- 
 cutioi^, the five hostages should be hanged in chains alive upon the 
 shore. 
 
 Thisiooked 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 : i . The cap- 
 Jain, his mate, and passenger, a. Theii the two prisoners of the first 
 gang, to whom, having their charadters from the captain, I had given 
 their liberty, and trusted them with arms. 3. The other two whom I 
 had 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 
 
 [ 322 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 were twelve in all, besides five we kept prisoners in the cave, fot 
 hostagesN 
 
 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 vidtuals. 
 
 As to the five in the cave, I resolved to keep them fast, but Friday 
 went in twice a day to them, to supply them with necessaries; and I 
 made the other two carry provisions to a certain distance, where Fri- 
 day was to take it. 
 
 'when I showed 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 they should not 
 stir anywhere, but by my diredlion ; that if they did, they should be 
 fetched into the castle, and be laid in irons ; so that as we never suf- 
 fered them to see m^e as governor, so I now appeared aS another per- 
 son, and spoke of tHe governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like, 
 upon all occasions, i 
 
 The captain now hpi 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 they had brought off the men and the boat, but that it was a 
 long time before they hard found them, and the like ) holding them 
 in a chat till they came to the ship's side; when the captain and the 
 mate entering first with their arms, immediately knocked down the 
 second mate and carpenter with the butt-end of their muskets, being 
 very faithfully seconded by their men ; they secured all the rest that 
 were upon the main and quarter decks, and began to fasten the hatches 
 to keep them down who were below, when the other boat and their 
 men entering atthe fore chains, secured the forecastle of the ship, and 
 
 [ 3^3 ] 
 
TSE ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 the scuttle which went down into the cook-room, 
 making three men they found there prisoners. 
 When this was done, and all safe upon deck, the cap- 
 tain 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 firearms in their 
 hands; and when the mate with a crow split open 
 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 bullet 
 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 ef- 
 feftually, without any more lives lost. 
 As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain 
 ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the sig- 
 nal 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 
 
 C324] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 
 
 ^^ir^feitMfiaa 
 
 till near two o'clock in the morning. 
 Having thus heard the signal plainly, I laid me 
 down; and it having been a day of great fatigue to 
 me, I slept very sound, till I was something sur- 
 prised with the noise of a gun ; and presently starting 
 up, I heard a man call me by the name of governor, 
 and presently I knew the captain's voice, when 
 climbingup 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 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 thelittle creek; and the tide being up, the captain 
 had brought the pinnace in near the place where I at 
 first landed my rafts, and so landed just at my door. 
 I was at first ready to sink down with the surprise. 
 For I saw my deliverance indeed visibly put into 
 my hands, all things easy, and a large ship just ready 
 to carry me away whither I pleased to go. At first, 
 for some time, I was not able to answer him one 
 
 
 [ 325 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 21 
 
 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 pur- 
 pose for me; after I had drank it, I sat down upon the ground; and 
 though it brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before I could 
 speak a word to him. 
 
 All this 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 me and bring me to myself; but such was the flood 
 of joy in my breast, that it put all my spirits into confusion ; at last it 
 broke out into tears, and in a little while after, I recovered my speech. 
 Then I took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer ; and we re- 
 joiced together. I told him, I looked upon him as a man sent from 
 Heaven to deliver me, and that the whole transaftion 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 re- 
 motest 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 acknow- 
 ledged to proceed? 
 
 When we had talked a while, the captain told me, he had brought 
 me some little refreshment, such as the ship afforded, and such as the 
 wretches that had been so long his masters had not plundered him 
 of. Upon this he called aloud to the boat, and bid 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 was to be carried away along with them, 
 but as if I had been to dwell upon the island still, and they were to 
 
 ^o without me. 
 
 / First he had brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial wa- 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ters, six large bottles of Madeira wine; the bottles held two quarts 
 apiece; two pound of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of 
 the ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of pease, and about 
 a hundred weight of biscuit. 
 
 H e 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. Butneverwas anything in theworldof that 
 kind so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy, as it was to me to wear 
 such clothes at their first putting on. j 
 
 After these ceremonies past, and after^l his good 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, who we knew to be incorrigible and refradory to the last de- 
 gree ; 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 Eng- 
 lish colony he could come at; and I found that the captain himself 
 was very anxious about it. 
 
 Upon this, I told him, thatif he desired it I durst undertake to bring 
 "•the two men he spoke of, to make it their own request that he should 
 leave them upon the island. I should be very glad of that, says the 
 captain, with all my heart.) 
 
 Well, says I, I will send ror them up, 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. 
 
 [ 327 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 22 
 
 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 villainous 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 diredion 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 villainy ; 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 fad, as by my com- 
 mission they could not doubt I had authority to do. 
 One of them answered in the name of the rest, that they had noth- 
 -ing to say but this, that when they were taken, the captain promised 
 them their lives, and they humbly implored my mercy; but I told 
 them, I knew not what mercy to show them; for as for myself, I 
 had resolved to quit the island with all my men, and had taken pas- 
 sage 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 ven- 
 ture 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 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 
 
 C 3^8 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 THEY MIGHT SEE HIM HANGING AT THE YARD-ARM 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 it, he might 
 take them again if he could catch them. 
 
 Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at 
 liberty, and bade them retire into the woods to the place whence they 
 came, and I would leave them some firearms, 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 J 
 When the captain was gone, I sent for the men up to me to my apart- 
 ment, and entered seriously into discourse with them of their circum- 
 stances. I told them, I thought they had made a right choice ; that if 
 the captain carried them away, they would certainly be hanged. I 
 showed them the new captain, hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, 
 and told them they had nothing less to expedt. 
 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 fhe place, and of my coming to it; showed 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 also of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be 
 expefted; for whom I left a lett^ and made them promise to treat 
 them in common with themselves/ 
 
 I left them myfirearms, viz., five rtiuskets, three fowling-pieces, and 
 three swords, I had above a barrel and half of powder left; for after 
 the first year or two, I used but little, and wasted none. I gave them 
 a description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to milk 
 and fatten them, and to make both butter and cheese. 
 In a word, I gave them everypartof my own story; and I told them, 
 
 [ 331 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 21 
 
 I would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gun- 
 powder more, and some garden-seeds, which I told them I would 
 have been very glad of; also I gave them the bag of pease which the 
 captain had brought me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and in- 
 crease 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 o n board, and were some time after soundly whipped 
 and pickled, after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows. 
 Some time after this the boat was ordered on shore, the tide being up, 
 with the things promised to the men, to which the captain at my inter- 
 cession 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 any vessel to take them in I would 
 
 .jiot forget them. 
 When I took leave of this island, I carried on board for relics the 
 
 "^reat goat's-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and my parrot; 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; as 
 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 yean 686, after I had been upon it eight-and- 
 twenty years, two months, and nineteen days; being delivered from 
 this second captivity the same day of the month that I firstyiade 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 
 
 [ 33^ ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ^f June, in the year r687,having been thirty-and-five years absent. 
 When I came to England I was as perfedt a stranger to all the world 
 ^as if I had never been known 
 there. My benefador and 
 faithful steward, who I had 
 left in trust with my money, 
 was alive; but had had great 
 misfortunes in the world; 
 was become a widow the sec- 
 ond 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 al- 
 low 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 suffi- 
 cient 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 extinft, except that I found two sisters, 
 and two of the children of one of my brothers ; and as I had been long 
 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 exped:, and 
 this was that the master of the ship, who 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 
 ggm? nifrgh^nt? ppncerned, and all together they made me a very 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 22 
 
 handsome complitnent upon the subjeft, and a present of almost two 
 hundred pounds sterling. 
 
 But after making several refledtions 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 in- 
 formation of the state of my plantation in the Brazils, and of what 
 was become of my partner, who I-4iad 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 
 ramblings,and provlnga most faithful servant upon all occasions. 
 When I came to Lisbon, I found out by inquiry, and to my particu- 
 lar satisfaftion, my old friend the captain of the ship, who first took 
 me up at sea, ofFof 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 Brazil trade. The old man 
 did not know me, and, indeed, I hardly knew him; but I soon 
 brought him to my remembrance, and as soon brought myself to 
 his remembrance, when I told him who I was. 
 After some passionate expressions of the old acquaintance, I in- 
 quired, you may be sure, after my plantation and my partner. The 
 old man told me he had not been in the Brazils for about nine years; 
 but that he could assure me that when he came away my partner was 
 living, but the trustees, who I had joined with him to take cogni- 
 zance of my part, were both dead ; th^however, he believed that I 
 would have a very good account of the improvement of the planta- 
 tion; for that upon the general belief of my being cast away and 
 drowned, my trustees had given in the accountof the produce of my 
 part of the plantation to the Procurator Fiscal, who had appropri- 
 ated 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 should be restored ; only that the improvement, or an- 
 
 [ 334 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 nual produftion, 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 proviedore, or steward of the monastery, had 
 taken great care all along, that the incumbent, that is to say my part- 
 ner, gave every year a faithful account of the produce, of which they 
 received duly my mpiety. 
 
 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 ob- 
 struftion to my possessing my just right in the moiety? 
 He told me he could not tell exaftly to what degree the plantation 
 was improved; but this he knew, that my partner was grown exceed- 
 ing 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, er re- 
 ligious house, amounted to above two hundred moidores ayear ^chat 
 as to my being restored to a quiet possession of it, there was no ques- 
 tion to be made of that, my partner being alive to witness my title, 
 and my name being also enrolled in the register of the country; also 
 he told me that the survivors of my two trustees were very fair honest 
 peopl e, and very wealth y; and he believed I would not only have their 
 assistance for putting me in possession, but would find a very consid- 
 erable sum of money in their hands, for my account, being the produce 
 of the farm while their fathers held the trust, and before it was given 
 up as above, which, as he remembered, was for about twelve years. 
 I showed myself a little concerned and uneasy at this account, and 
 inquired of the old captain how it came to pass that the trustees should 
 thus dispose my efFe6ls,when he knew that I had made my will, and 
 had made him, the Portuguese captain, my universal heir, etc. 
 H e told me that was true, but that as there was no proof of my being 
 dead, he could not ad: as executor until some certain account should 
 come of my death, and that besides, he was not willing to intermed- 
 dle 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 be- 
 
 [ 33$ 1 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 ing dead or alive, he would have acfted by procuration, and taken pos- 
 session of the ingenio,so they called the sugar-house, and had given 
 his son, who was now at the Brazils, 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 part- 
 ner and trustees did offer to account to me in your name for six or 
 eight of the first years of profits, 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 merchant's trustees, being always de- 
 livered in goods, viz., tobacco in roll, and sugar in chests, besides rum, 
 molasses,etc.,which is the consequence of a sugarwork; and I found 
 by this account that every year the income considerably increased : 
 but as above, the disbursement being large, the sum at first w^as small. 
 However, the old man let me see that hewas debtor to me 470 moi- 
 dores of gold, besides 60 chests of sugar, and 15 double rolls of to- 
 bacco, which were lost in his ship; he having been shipwrecked com- 
 ing 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 younnecessity; and as soon as my son 
 returns you shall be fully satisfied. 
 
 Upon this, he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me 160 Portugal 
 moidores in gold; and giving me the writing of his title to the ship, 
 which his son was gone to the Brazils in, of which he was a quarter 
 part owner, and his son another, he puts them both into my hands 
 for security of the rest. 
 
 I 336 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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. There- 
 fore, 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. 
 Everything the good man said was full of afFedion, and I could 
 hardly refrain from tears while he spoke. In short, I took loo 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 that as to the bill of sale of his part in his son's 
 ship, I would not take it by any means ; but that if I wanted the 
 money, I found he was honest enough to pay me ; and if I did not, 
 but came to receive what he gave me reason to expedt, I would never 
 have a penny more from him. 
 
 When this was passed, the old man began to ask me. If he should 
 put me into 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 Brazil, 
 he made me enter my name in a public register, with his affidavit, 
 affirming upon oath that I was alive, and that I was the same person 
 who took up the land for the planting the said plantation at first. 
 This being regularly attested by a notary, and a procuration affixed, 
 he diredted 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 anything was more honourable than the proceedings upon 
 this procuration ; for in less *-han seven months I received a large 
 
 [ 337 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 packet from the survivors of my trustees the merchants for, whose 
 account I went to sea, in which were the following particular letters 
 and papers enclosed. 
 
 First, There was the account current of the produce of my farm, or 
 plantation, from the year when their fathers had balanced with my 
 old Portugal captain, being for six years ; the balance appeared to be 
 1 1 74 moidores in my favour. 
 
 Secondly, There was the account of four years more while they kept 
 the efFeds in their hands, before the government claimed the admin- 
 istration, as being the effefts of a person not to be found, which they 
 call Civil Death; and the balance of this, the value of the plantation 
 increasing, amounted to 3241 moidores. 
 
 Thirdly, There was the prior of the Augustines' account, who had 
 received the profits for above fourteen years ; but not being to ac- 
 count for what was disposed to the hospital, very honestly declared 
 he had 872 moidores not distributed, which he acknowledged to my 
 
 ^-^ccount; as to the King's part, that refunded nothing. 
 
 There was a letter of my partner's congratulating meveryafFedtion- 
 
 ^- ately upon my being alive, giving me an account how the estate was 
 improved, and what it produced a year, with a particular of the num- 
 ber 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 meantime to 
 give him orders to whom he should deliver my effedts, if I did not 
 come myself; concluding with a hearty tender of his friendship, and 
 that of his family, and sent me, as a present, seven fine leopards' 
 skins, which he had it seems received from Africa by some other ship 
 which he had sent thither, and who it seems had made a better voy- 
 age than I. He sent me also five chests of excellent sweetmeats, and 
 a hundred pieces of gold uncoined, not quite so large as moidores. 
 By the same fleet, my two merchant trustees shipped me 1 200 chests 6f 
 sugar, 800 rolls of tobacco, and the rest of the whole account in gold. ] 
 
 [ 338 ] ^ 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 / 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 Brazil ships come 
 all in fleets, the same ships wjiich brought my letters brought rhy 
 goods ; and the effeds 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 sud^ sur- 
 prise 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 phy- 
 sician 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 re- 
 lief, 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 sterling in money, 
 and had an estate, as I might well call it, in the Brazils, 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 under- 
 stand, or how to compose myself, for the enjoyment of it. 
 The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefadtor, 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 showed 
 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 bedrawn,impoweringhim tabe 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 
 rriy name; and a clause in the end, being a grant of 100 moidores a 
 year to him, during his life, out of the effeds, and 50 moidores a year 
 
 [ 339 ] 
 
T22 ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 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 
 
 rto 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 with- 
 out lock or key, till it grew mouldy and tarnished before anybody 
 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 Brazils 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 effefts 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 aught I knew, might be in debt; so that, in a word, I 
 had no way but to go back to England myself, and take my effefts 
 with me. 
 
 It was some months however before I resolved upon this ; and there- 
 fore, as I had rewarded the old captain fully, and to his satisfadtion, 
 who had been my former benefa6lor,so I began to think of my poor 
 widow, whose husband had been my first benefador, and she, while 
 it was in her power, my faithful steward and instructor. So the first 
 thing I did, I got a merchant in Lisbon to write to his correspondent 
 in London, not only to pay a bill, but to go find her out, and carry 
 her in money a hundred pounds from me, and to talk with her, and 
 comfort her in her poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, have 
 a further supply; at the same time I sent my two sisters in the coun- 
 try, each of them a 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. ; 
 
 [ 340 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 Brazils, and leave things safe behind me; and 
 this greatly perplexed me. 
 
 I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils, 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 presentlyjfHowever, it was not 
 religion that kept me from going therefor 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 reli- 
 gion to die with, 
 
 But, as I have said, this was not the main thing that kept me from 
 going to the Brazils, but that really I did not know with whom to 
 leave my efFeds behind me; so I resolved at last to go to England 
 with it, where, if I arrived,! concluded I should make some acquain- 
 tance, or find some relations that would be faithful to me; and ac- 
 cordingly I prepared to go for England with all my wealth. 
 In order to prepare things for my going home, I first, the Brazil 
 fleet being just going away, resolved to give answers suitable to the 
 just and faithfulaccountof things I had from thence; and first to the 
 Prior of St. Augustine I wrote a letter full of thanks for their just 
 dealings, and the ofi^er of the 872 moidores, which was undisposed 
 of, which I desired might be given, 500 to the monastery,and 372 to 
 the poor, as the prior should diredt, 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 ac- 
 knowledgment that so much justice and honesty called for; as for 
 sending them any present, they were far above having any occasion 
 of it. 
 Lastly,! wrote to my partner, acknowledging his industry in the im- 
 
 [ 341 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 proving 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 in- 
 formed me he had; with two pieces of fine English broad-cloth, the 
 best I could get in Lisbon, five pieces of black baise, and some Flan- 
 ders lace of a good value. 
 
 Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and turned all my ef- 
 feds into good bills of exchange, my next difficulty was, which way 
 to go to Englaria. I had been accustomed enough to the sea, and yet 
 
 I had a strange avTsrsion to going to England by sea at that tinie ;M.nd 
 though I could give no reason for it, yet the difficulty increase^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. 
 
 I I is true, I had been very unfortunate by sea, and this might be some 
 of the reason. But let no man slight^he strong impulses of his own 
 thoughts in cases of such momerit. 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 Jlgerine, 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 mis- 
 erable; and in which most, it was hard to sav/ 
 
 Having been thus harassed in my thought^my old pilot, to whom 
 I communicated everything, pressed me earnestly not to go by sea, 
 but either to go by land to the Groyne, and cross over the Bay of 
 Biscay to Rochelle,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. 
 
 [ 342 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 In a word, I was so prepossessed against my going by sea at all, ex- 
 cept 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 gentlemaij^he son of a merchant in Lisbon, who 
 was willing to travel with me( After which, we picked up two more 
 English merchants also, and two young Portuguese gentlemen, the 
 last going to Paris only ; so that we were in all six of us, and five ser- 
 vants ; the two merchants and the two Portuguese contenting them- 
 selves 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 on the roadp J 
 
 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 I shall 
 trouble you now with none of my land-journal. But some adventures 
 that happened to us in this tedious and difficult journey, I must not 
 omit. 
 
 When we came to Madrid, we being all of us strangers to Spain, were 
 willing to stay some time to see the Court of Spain, and to see what 
 was worth observing; but it being the latter part of the summer, we 
 hastened away, and set out from Madrid about the middle of Ofto- 
 ber. 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 coun- 
 tries where we could scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insuffer- 
 
 [ 343 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 able; 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 Pyr- 
 enean mountains, so very keen, so severely cold, as to be intolerable, 
 
 ^and to endanger benumbing and perishing of our fingers and toes. 
 Poor Friday was really frighted when he saw the mountains all cov- 
 ered with snow, and felt cold weather, which he had never seen or felt 
 before in his life.] 
 
 To mend the matter, when we came to 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 be- 
 fore, were now quite impassable. For in a word, the snow lay in some 
 places too thick for us to travel ; and being not hard frozen, as is the 
 case in northern countries, there was no going without being in dan- 
 ger of being buried alive every step. We stayed no less than twenty 
 days at Pampeluna; when seeing the winter coming on, and no Uke- 
 lihood of its being better; for it was the severest winter all over 
 Europe that had been known in the memory of man, I proposed 
 that we should all go away to Fontarabia, and there take shipping 
 for Bordeaux, which was a very little voyage. 
 But while we were considering this, there came in four French gen- 
 tlemen, who having been stopped on the French side of the passes, 
 as we were on the Spanish, had found out a guide, who traversing 
 the country near the head of Languedoc, had brought them over the 
 mountains by such ways, that they were not much incommoded with 
 the snow; and where they met with snow in any quantity, they said 
 
 _^t 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 suf- 
 ficiently to protedl ourselves from wild beasts ; for he said, upon these^ 
 great snows, it was frequent for some wolves to show themselves at 
 the foot of the mountains, being made ravenous for want of food, the 
 ground being covered with snow. We told him we were well enough 
 prepared for such creatures as they were, if he would ensure us from 
 
 [ 344 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 tliat 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 direftly back with us, on the same road that 
 we came from Madrid, above twenty miles; when being passed two 
 rivers, and come into the plain country, we found ourselves in a warm 
 climate again, where the cou ntry was pleasant, and no snow to be seen ; 
 but on a sudden, turning to his left, he approached the mountains an- 
 other way ; and though it is true, the hills and precipices looked dread- 
 ful, yet he made so many tours, such meanders, and led us by such 
 winding ways, that we were insensibly passed the height of the moun- 
 tains, without being much encumbered with the snow; and all on a 
 sudden, he showed us the pleasant fruitful provinces of Languedoc 
 and Gascoign, all green and flourishing; though indeed it was 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 bids 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. 
 
 Itwas 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 holloaed and cried out to us most lust- 
 ily; my man Friday being next me, I bid him ride up, and see what 
 
 [345] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 was the matter; as soon as Friday came in Sight of the man, he hol- 
 loaed as loud as the other, O master! O master! but like a bold fel- 
 low, rode diredly up to the poor man, and with his pistol shot the 
 ^olf that attacked him into the head. 
 
 It was happy for the poor man, that it was my man Friday; for he 
 "liaving 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 havte perhaps 
 either missed the wolf, or endangered shooting the many 
 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 howling 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 were 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 fas- 
 tened 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 his horse, when Friday came up 
 and shot the wolf. 
 
 It is easy to suppose, that at the noise of Friday's pistol, we all mended 
 ^ur pace, and rid up as fast as the way (which was very difficult) would 
 giveus leave, to seewhatwas the matter; as soon as we came clearof 
 the trees, which blinded us before, we saw clearly what had been the 
 case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide ; though we did 
 not presently discern what kind of creature itwas 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 creat- 
 ure, and does not gallop as the wolf does, who is swift, and light; so 
 
 [346] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 he has two particular qualities, which generally are the rule of his 
 adions; first, as to men, who are not his proper prey ; I say, not his 
 proper prey; because though I cannot say what excessive hunger 
 might do, which was now their case, the ground being all covered 
 with snow; but 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; but then 
 you must take care to be very civil to him, and give him the road ; for 
 he is a very nice gentleman, he won't go a step out of his way for a 
 prince; nay, if you are really afraid, your best way is to look another 
 way, and keep going on; for sometimes if you stop, and stand still, 
 and Ipok steadily at him, he takes it for an affront ; but if you throw or 
 toss anything 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 his other 
 business aside to pursue his revenge; for he will have satisfadtion in 
 ppint of honour ; that is his first quality. The next is, that if he be once 
 affronted, he will never leaveyou, nightor day, till he has his revenge ; 
 but follows 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 the 
 sudden, we spied the bear come out of the wood, and a vast monstrous 
 one it was, the biggest by far that ever I saw^We were all a little sur- 
 prised, when we saw him ; but when Friday hew him, it was easy to 
 see joy and courage in the fellow's countenance. O ! O ! O ! says Fri- 
 day, three times, pointing to him; O master ! You give me te leave ! 
 Me shakee te band with him. Me make you good laugh. 
 I was surprised to see the fellow so pleased. You fool you, says 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 show you good laugh ; so down he sits, and gets his boots off in 
 a moment, and puts on a pair of pumps (as we call the flat shoes they 
 wear) which he had in his pocket, gives my other sdrvant his horse, 
 and with his gun away he flew swift like the wind. / 
 
 [ 347 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 21 
 
 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 un- 
 derstand him; Hark ye, hark ye, says Friday, me speakee wit you. 
 We followed at a distance ; for now being come down on the Gascoign 
 side of the mountains, we were entered a vast great forest, where the 
 country was plain, and pretty open, thoughmany 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 
 show 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 long strides, and shuffling along at a strange 
 rate, so as would have 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 back 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 foot 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 to 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 mon- 
 strously heavy. I was amazed at the folly, as I thoughtit,of my man, 
 and could not for my life see anything to laugh at yet, till seeing the 
 
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ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 ^ear get up the tree, we all rode nearer to him. 
 When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small end 
 
 ■-of a large limb of the tree, and the bear got about halfway 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, atwhich 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 no come farther, pray you come farther; so he 
 left jumping andshaking the tree; and the bear,just as if he had un- 
 derstood what he said, did come a littl^further, then he fell a jump- 
 ing again, and the bear stopped again. / 
 
 We thought now was a good time to-Knock him on the head, and I 
 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; hewouldhave said. By and by; however, to shorten the story, 
 Friday danced so much, and the bear stood so ticklish, that we were 
 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 go out far enough to be thrown down, but clings fast with his 
 great broad claws and feet, so that we could not imagine what would 
 be the end of it, and 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 far- 
 ther ; Well, well, says Friday, you no come farther, me go, mego ; you 
 no come to me, me go 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 run to his 
 gun, takes it up, and stands still. 
 Well, said I to him, Friday, what will you do now? Why don't you 
 
 [ 349 ] 
 
TS£ ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 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 sees his enemy gone, he comes back 
 from the bough wherejie stood, but did it mighty leisurely, looking 
 behind him every ste^and coming backward till he got into the body 
 of the tree; thehj with the same hinder end foremost, he came down 
 the tree, grasping it with his claws, and moving one footat a time very 
 leisurely; at this junftuire, and just before he could set his hind feet 
 upon thfe ground, Friday stepped up close to him, claft the muzzle 
 of his piece into his ear, and shot him dead as a stone^ 
 Then the rogue turned about to see if we did not laugh, and whten he 
 saw we were pleased by out looks^ he falls a kughing himself very 
 loud. So we kill bear in my country, says Friday. So you kill them, 
 says I ; why you have no guns. No, says he, no gun, but shoot much 
 great 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 hiy head ; and, indeed, except the 
 noise I once heard on the shoreof Africa, of which I have said some- 
 thing already, I never heard anything that filled me with so much 
 horror. 
 
 These things, and the approach of night, called us off, or else, as Fri- 
 day would have had us, we should certainly have taken the skin of 
 this monstrous creatureofF, which wasworthsaving; butwe 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 snoWj though not so deep and dan- 
 gerous as on the mountaihs, 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 j where they surprised the country people, killed a great 
 many of their sheep and horses, and some people too. 
 Wehadone dangerous place to pass, which our guide told us if there 
 were any more wolves in the country we should find them there ; and 
 
 [ 35<^ ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 this was in 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 our sight in a few moments. 
 
 Upon this our guide, who, by the way, was a wretched faint-hearted 
 fellow, bid us keep in a ready posture, for he believed there were more 
 wolves a coming. 
 
 We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us, but we saw no more 
 wolves 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 oc- 
 casion enough to look about us. The first objedl 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 suflfer him by any means ; for I found we were like to have more 
 business upon our hands than we were aware of. We were not gone 
 half over the plain, but we began to hear the wolves howl in the wood 
 on our left in a frightfiil manner, and presently after we saw about a 
 hundred coming on diredlly towards us, all in a body, and most of 
 them in a line, as regularly as an army drawn up by experienced offi- 
 cers. 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 
 
 [ 353 ] 
 
TS2 ADVENTURES ^ 
 
 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 fusees again, but stand 
 ready with every one a pistol — for we were all armed with a fusee, 
 and a pair of pistols each man ; so we were by this method able to fire 
 six volleys, half of us at a time. However, at present we had no ne- 
 cessity; 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 be- 
 ing shot into the head, dropped ; several others were wounded, and 
 went bleeding ofi^, 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 man, 
 I caused all our company to holloa as loud as they 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 going; but we had but little more than loaded 
 our fusees, and put ourselves into a readiness, when we heard a ter- 
 rible noise in the same wood, on our left, only that it was farther on- 
 i ward the same way we were to go. 
 The night was coming on, and the light began to be dusky, which 
 made it worse on our side; but the noise increasing, we could easily 
 perceive that it was the howling and yelling of those hellish creatures ; 
 and on a sudden, we perceived two or three troops of wolves, one on 
 our left, one behind us, and one 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 came in view of the entrance of a wood, through which 
 we were to pass, at the farther side of the plain ; but we were greatly 
 surprised, when coming nearer the lane, or pa^s, we saw a confused 
 number of wolves standing just at the entrance) 
 
 [ 354 ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 thathe could notholditatthatrate,wedoubtednot but 
 diey would get up with him at last, and no question but they did. 
 But here we had a most horrible sight; for riding up to the entrance 
 
 ^here the horse came out, we found the carcass of another horse, and J 
 of two men, devoured by the ravenous creatures, and one of the men 
 was no doubt the same who we heard fire the gun; for there lay a gun 
 just by him, fired off; but as to the man, his head, and the upper part 
 of his body was eaten upr\ 
 
 This filled us with horrcrf, 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 at a little way from it, there lay 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 those trees, and 
 placing ourselves in a line, behind one long tree, I advised them all 
 to light, and keeping that tree before us, for a breastwork, to stand in 
 
 ^*^iangle, 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 the 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 tire as before, every other man; and they took 
 their aim sasure, that indeed they killed several of the wolves at the 
 first volley. J 
 
 When we had fired our second volley of our fusees, we thought they 
 stopped a little, and I hoped they would have gone oiF; but it was but 
 a moment; for others came forward again ; so we fired two volleys of 
 
 [ 355 ] 
 
TSi ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 our pistols, and I believe in these four firings, we had killed seven- 
 teen or eighteen of them, and lamed twice as many ; yet they came on 
 again. 
 
 I was loth to spend our last shot too hastily; so I called my servant, 
 not my man Friday, for he was better employed; for with the great- 
 est dexterity imaginable, he had charged my fusee, 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 alarg^train; he did so, and had but just 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; 
 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 despatched these in an instant, and the rest were so 
 frighted with the light, which the night, for it wa&Bow very near dark, 
 made more terrible, that they drew back a little, j 
 Upon which I ordered our last pistol 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, who we found strug- 
 gling on the ground, and fell a cutting them with our swords, which 
 answered our expedtation ; for the crying and howling they made, was 
 better understood by their fellows, so that they all 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 
 wentjSeveral 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 broke into the village in the 
 night, 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 cat- 
 tle, and indeed their people. 
 
 [356] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 OUT RUSHED A HORSE, . . . FLYING LIKE THE WIND 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 The next morning our guide was so ill, and his limbs 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 Thoulouse, where we 
 found a warm climate, a fruitful pleasant country, and no snow, no 
 wolves, or anything like them; but when we told our story at Thou- 
 louse, they told us it was nothing but what was ordinary in the great 
 forest at the fo^t of the mountains, especially when the snow lay on 
 the groundMBut they inquired much what kind of a guide we had 
 gotten, that would venture to bring us that way in such a severe sea- 
 son ; 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 which 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 for so much their own, when 
 men were on their backs, as otherwise ; and withal they told us, that at 
 last, if we had stood altogether, and left our horses, they would have 
 been so eager to have devoured them, that we might have come off 
 safe, especially having our firearms in our hands, and being so many 
 in number. 
 
 For my part, I was never so sensible of danger in my life; for seeing 
 about three hundred 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 moun- 
 tains again ; I think I would much rather go a thousand-lgagues 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, 
 
 [ 3S9 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2E 
 
 with much more advantage than lean. I travelled from Thoulouse to 
 Paris, and without any considerable stay, came to Calais, and landed 
 safe at Dover, the fourteenth of January, after having had a severely 
 cold season to travel in. 
 
 I was now come to the centre ofmy 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 everything that I was perfedtly easy as to the security ofmy ef- 
 fedls; and, indeed, I was very happy from my beginning, and now to 
 
 -^e 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 Brazils ; but now another scruple 
 came in my 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 Brazils 
 for me, much less going to settle there, unless I resolved to embrace 
 the Roman Catholic religion without any reserve, unless on the other 
 hand I resolved to be a sacrifice to my principles, be a martyr for re- 
 ligion, and die in the Inquisition. So I resolved to stay it home, and 
 if I could find means for it to dispose ofmy 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 mer- 
 chants, the survivors of my trustees, who lived in the Brazils, who 
 must fully understand the value of it, who lived upon the spot, and 
 who I knew were very rich, so that he believed they would be fond of 
 buying it; he did not doubt but I should make four or five thousand 
 pieces of eight the more of it. 
 
 Accordingly I agreed, gave him order 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 
 
 [360] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 33jOoo 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 
 4rom Lisbon and sent it to my old man, who sent me 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 moi- 
 dores afterwards to his son for his life, which I had promised them, 
 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 show the like of. Beginning foolishly, but closing 
 much more happily than any part of it ever gave me leave so 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, not many relations, nor, however rich, had I con- 
 tracted much acquaintance ; and though I had sold my estate in the 
 Brazils, yet I could not keep the 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 had left there 
 had used them. 
 
 My true friend, the widow, earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so 
 far prevailed with me that for almost seven years she prevented my 
 running abroad, during which time I took my two nephews, the chil- 
 dren of one of my brothers, into my care. The eldest, having some- 
 thing of his own, I bred up as a gentleman, and gave 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 mar- 
 
 [361 ] 
 
TSS ADVENTURES 2£ 
 
 ried, 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 was in the year 1 694. 
 
 In this voyage I visited my new colony in the island, saw my suc- 
 cessors, 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 subjefted to the Spaniards, how honestly the Spaniards used 
 them; a history, if it were entered into, as full of variety and won- 
 derful 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 improvements they made upon the island itself, and how 
 five of them made an attempt upon the mainland, 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 island into parts with them, and reserved 
 to myself the property of the whole, but gave them such parts re- 
 spedively 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 Brazils, from whence I sent a bark, 
 which I bought there, with more people to the island; as to the Eng- 
 lishmen, I promised them to send them a good cargo of necessaries, 
 if they would apply themselves to planting, which I afterwards per- 
 formed. And 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 Brazils five cows, three of them being big with calf, some 
 
 I 3^^ ] 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 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 
 three 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 in- 
 cidents in some new adventures of my own, for 
 ten years more, I may perhaps give 
 a farther account of 
 hereafter. )