Trinity College Library 
 
 Durham, N. C. 
 

 [US 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/lifestrangeadven01defo_0 
 
DANIEL DEFOE 
 
3Djr Htorrstoc iLitcraturc petite 
 
 THE LIFE AND STRANGE ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
 OF YORK, MARINER 
 
 BY 
 
 DANIEL DEFOE 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY SKETCH AND NOTES 
 
 J>~?0 b'f 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 ®be Cttfccrjtfibe prrfjtf Cambridge 
 
Copyright, 1895, 
 
 ®E HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 
 
 AU rights reserved. 
 
<3 
 
 
 
 a / -/ 7 pZ, 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 3HAPTEB 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introductory Sketch . 
 
 Author’s Preface . 
 
 I. First Trial of the Sea 
 
 II. A Captive among the Moors . 
 
 III. Escape from Captivity . 
 
 IV. The Voyage to Guinea 
 
 / J , V. The Shipwreck .... 
 
 VI. The Raft 
 
 VII. Unloading the Ship 
 
 VIII. The First Habitation 
 
 IX. Balancing Accounts 
 
 X. The Journal 
 
 XI. Exploration of the Island 
 
 XII. Regular Life 
 
 XIII. Building a Boat .... 
 
 XIV. Monarch of All He surveyed 
 
 XV. A Voyage of Discovery 
 
 XVI. His Animal Kingdom . 
 
 XVII. The Footprint .... 
 XVIII. The Fortification . . • . 
 
 XIX. The Old Goat and the Cave 
 
 XX. The Return of the Savages . 
 
 XXI. The Wreck 
 
 XXII. The Longing for Escape . 
 
 XXIII. Man Friday 
 
 XXIV. The Christianizing of Friday 
 
 XXV. Plans to reach the Mainland . 
 
 XXVI. The Fight with Cannibals 
 XXVII. Robinson Crusoe and his Subjects 
 XXVIII. The Coming of Englishmen 
 XXIX. The Fight with Mutineers . 
 
 XXX. Robinson Crusoe leaves his Island 
 
 zx 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 25 
 
 41 
 
 50 ' 
 
 59 
 
 65 
 
 72 
 
 80 
 
 88 
 
 135 
 
 140 
 
 156 
 
 162 
 
 172 - 
 
 182 
 
 189 
 
 204 
 
 220 
 
 229 
 
 235 
 
 249 
 
 255 
 
 272 
 
 287 
 
 294 
 
 308 
 
 318 
 
 331 
 
 355 
 
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 It is a fact which throws great light upon the mean* 
 ing of literature that J)aniel D efoe, the author of 
 Robinson Crusoe , was as voluminous a writ er as Si* 
 Walter Scott, and yet his name is kept really alive by 
 a single book. . In this year of 1895 a new, carefully 
 edited series of Defoe’s writings has appeared in six, 
 teen volumes, but the editor has confined his selection 
 to whole books ; in point of fact a list of Defoe’s writ- 
 ings, confessedly incomplete, counts up at least two 
 hundred and fifty books and pamphlets, and this does 
 not take into account a great mass of newspaper writ- 
 ing. The list includes several narratives, real and 
 fictitious, in which the same sort of power is shown as 
 one discovers in Robinson Crusoe , yet it is very clear 
 that these narratives have but a curious interest for 
 students of literature to-day, while the one great book 
 is read by thousands upon thousands who do not think 
 of it as literature at all. What is the explanation of 
 this most interesting fact? For a partial explanation 
 we need to know something of the man behind the 
 book, and it is not very difficult to trace the outward 
 course of his life, though, in spite of his unnumbered 
 writings, it is by no means easy to get at the real man 
 himself. 
 
 We must bear in mind that Robinso n Cm me wtn 
 not the early work of a writer. It was not, for ex- 
 ample, like Two Years Before the Mast , written by a 
 young man at the beginning of his career and repre- 
 
vi 
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 senting a youthful experience and a youthful spirit, 
 to be followed by arduous labor in a profession. De- 
 foe was nearly sixty years old when he ..wrote hi s 
 famous book^a nd was broken by years of toil and 
 ti’ouble. He was born in London in 1659 . 1 His 
 father and his grandfather before him wrote their 
 name Foe, and apparently the form DeFoe or Defoe 
 grew out of the signature D. Foe which the author 
 used in the early years of his career. Daniel’s father 
 was a butcher and a Nonconformist, who intended his 
 son to be a minister, and placed him at school for this 
 purpose. The boy continued in study with this in view 
 until he was nineteen, when he abruptly turned aside 
 from the plan to make him a minister and took up 
 the trade of a hosier. His own explanation, later in 
 life, indicates that he saw in the profession as then 
 followed an ignoble set of men, too dependent on de- 
 nominational aid and liable to be hampered in the 
 free expression of their opinion. He was not forced 
 out of the pulpit by any lack of religious feeling, for 
 he appears to have remained through life a man of 
 strong religious nature, but in all probability he felt, 
 rather than clearly saw, as a young man, that his rest- 
 less, impetuous spirit, and his sensitive temperament 
 ill fitted him for a position calling for circumspect be- 
 havior and repression of self. 
 
 At the school where he was trained he had this ad- 
 vantage, which he might have missed in more strictly 
 academic centres, of being well drilled in the use of 
 the English language, and inasmuch as the school was 
 connected with a party which was political as well as 
 
 1 This is the date given by Mr. Aitken, the latest biographer 
 of Defoe, though Mr. Minto, who wrote the volume on Defoe in 
 the English Men of Letters Series, makes the date 1061, 
 
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. vii 
 
 religious, and the time of his youth was one of great 
 strife in church and state, Defoe, instinct with a 
 love of contention, quickly learned to be a pamphlet- 
 eer and debater instead of a preacher of sermons. 
 He began writing when he was about twenty-four, 
 and bis authorship seems to have been as early as his 
 establishment in trade on his own account, and just 
 previous to his marriage, which took place on New 
 Year’s Day, 1684. * 
 
 It is well to look for a moment at the England of 
 Defoe’s early manhood, for he was to play no unim- 
 portant part in the affairs which marked the close of 
 the personal monarchy and the establishment of con- 
 stitutional monarchy. The rising tide of protest on 
 the part of the great middle class of English people 
 was nearing its flood when Defoe came into tiie use 
 of his powers. The short-lived Commonwealth under 
 Cromwell came to an end at the time of Defoe’s birth, 
 but though the Stuart family returned to the throne, 
 bringing with it a more or less open friendliness with 
 the Church of Rome, the Protestant faith was more 
 deeply established and had its stronghold in the mer- 
 cantile class. King Charles II. had lived during his 
 enforced absence from England in full view of the 
 French court, and the absolutism of the French mon- 
 arch was his ideal. He was not a man of religious 
 feelings, and for policy he upheld the established 
 Church of England, but such sympathy as he had 
 with religion belonged with the faith supported by the 
 king of France. Meanwhile the Church of England, 
 which was strongly in the ascendancy in government, 
 used the Nonconformists with great harshness, with 
 the i*esult that a common cause was made between 
 politics and religion, and Parliament began slowly to 
 
via INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 array itself against the king. Charles was secretly a 
 pensioner of Louis XIV., the king of France, who dic- 
 tated his policy, hut so dishonorable a relation, even 
 when not clearly known, could not fail to affect public 
 feeling, and though the English and Dutch had been 
 at war in consequence of the intrigues of Louis, the 
 patriots who were coming into control of England 
 now brought about what is known as the Triple Alli- 
 ance, by which the three Protestant powers, England, 
 Holland, and Sweden, were banded together to check 
 the movements of Louis. 
 
 Charles affected to be at the head of this popular 
 English measure. In reality, he was now enter- 
 ing upon a farther course of duplicity designed to 
 strengthen his personal power and to bring in, there 
 can be little doubt, the supremacy of the Roman 
 Catholic Church. He looked to Louis for aid, and 
 entered into a secret treaty with him by which Eng- 
 land was to join France in an attack on Holland. It 
 is difficult for us to understand, and the fact can be 
 explained only by a careful statement of the political 
 complications, how the king plunged England again 
 into war with Holland. The main thing to be borne 
 in mind is the steadily growing alarm in England 
 against the possibility of a substitution of the Roman 
 Catholic faith for Protestantism, an alarm which be- 
 came little short of a panic when a pretended Popish 
 plot was divulged in 1678. In a series of measures 
 an unsuccessful attempt was made to provide for a 
 Protestant succession by excluding James the brother 
 of Charles II. from a right to the throne, and the 
 Duke of Monmouth, a son of Charles II., appearing 
 to side with the Nonconformists became the hero of 
 the hour. The Whigs, as the opponents of the Tories 
 
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 IX 
 
 or court party were called, became at last so frenzied 
 that they were involved in a plot to kill King Charles, 
 and the discovery and punishment of the plot in- 
 creased for a time the absolutism of Charles. 
 
 Suddenly in 1685, Charles died, and was followed 
 by James II., who, once firmly seated, devoted himself 
 quite as strenuously as his brother to accomplishing the 
 same ends. As a consequence Monmouth attempted 
 to concentrate about himself the opposition, and raised 
 an army which was defeated at Sedgemoor, and Mon- 
 mouth himself was executed. But the king followed 
 his victory with a series of merciless persecutions, 
 and as if to confirm the saying, “ whom the Gods de- 
 stroy they first make mad,” he alienated his supporters 
 in the Church of England, heaped favors upon the 
 Homan Catholics, and though he endeavored by a 
 policy of toleration to bring the Nonconformists to 
 his side, his designs were too apparent to blind the 
 more intelligent among them. At last his attacks on 
 the liberty of England aroused such determined an- 
 tagonism that the Whigs deliberately invited William, 
 Prince of Orange, to come over from Holland and 
 wrest the throne from their own king, and in 1689 a 
 revolution was accomplished by which William and 
 Mary were king and queen of England. 
 
 Defoe was no mere pamphleteer in these stirring 
 times. He was out with Monmouth, but though three 
 of his old school-fellows were captured and put to 
 death, Defoe escaped. His business took him on 
 journeys to Spain and Portugal, and he had clearly a 
 strong turn for adventure. But after all, his interest 
 in affairs was political and r'eligious rather than per- 
 sonal. In those days the newspapers were what their 
 name implied, purveyors of news : they did not offer 
 
X 
 
 INTR OD UCTOR Y SEE TCH. 
 
 opinions. To discuss the meaning of the news was 
 the business of writers who were on one side or the 
 other in public affairs, often men in the employ of 
 the crown or one of the great noblemen who might 
 be in opposition, and the vehicle of their writing was 
 the pamphlet. An official censorship of the press ex- 
 isted, and the writer of a specially severe attack on 
 the government was in great danger of being arrested 
 and made to pay the penalty of a fine or imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Defoe welcomed the coming of William with enthu- 
 siasm, and during that king’s reign, from 1689 to 1702, 
 he was an ardent supporter of the government. The 
 ten years which closed with the king’s death were 
 years of prosperity with Defoe. In 1692 he met with 
 business reverses, and for a time his personal affairs 
 were in confusion ; but he busied himself with public 
 interests, and was rewarded by an office which appears 
 to have tided him over financial straits. At any rate 
 he again engaged in business, this time in the manu- 
 facture of bricks and tiles, and became so prosperous 
 that he shortly wiped out the debts incurred in his 
 former venture. From all appearances Defoe, if he 
 had turned all his energies into business, might have 
 been a very successful man ; but from the first he was 
 quite as much concerned with politics and the manage- 
 ment of public affairs as with his own private fortune. 
 He signalized himself in 1697 by issuing a pamphlet 
 in defence of the king’s policy of maintaining a stand- 
 ing army, in which he showed a trenchant use of 
 the English language and a very strong faculty for 
 argument. In this pamphlet, as in his later writings, 
 he wrote so that everybody could understand what he 
 said, — no mean accomplishment in an, age when a 
 
INTR OD UC TOR Y SEE TCH. 
 
 xi 
 
 rotund, sonorous use of English was admired by 
 scholars. This pamphlet was followed by another of 
 a very varied character, since it was occupied with all 
 sorts of projects for increasing the revenue of the 
 government and carrying forward the material and 
 social prosperity of the kingdom. What strikes one 
 in this work is the marvellous ingenuity of the writer. 
 His restless mind seized hold of all manner of schemes 
 then in the air and his ready wit played with them, 
 shaping them into practical form and marshalling 
 these varied forces into order. 
 
 Toward the close of William’s reign England was 
 thrown into great perplexity by the change in Conti- 
 nental affairs which made Spain and Italy virtually 
 a part of the French kingdom and jeopardized the 
 safety of Holland. Defoe wrote ardently in support 
 of William’s policy, which was to strengthen the bonds 
 between England and Holland, but there was a very 
 strong opposition to the king, who became very un- 
 popular. The hidden suspicion of him as after all a 
 foreigner broke out into virulent abuse, and in de- 
 fence of the king Defoe wrote a piece of satire, called 
 The Tt •ue-Born Englishman , which was so full of 
 clever hits that even the enemies of the king stopped 
 to laugh over it. The purport of the poem was a re- 
 tort that the English people were the most mongrel 
 race on the face of the earth, and it was preposterous 
 in them to mock at William as a foreigner. These 
 valiant services rendered the king were rewarded by 
 a personal attachment of William to Defoe, and had 
 the king’s reign been longer, Defoe’s life might have 
 had a different course. 
 
 With the coming of Anne to the throne Defoe’s 
 troubles began, and they took their rise in the publi- 
 
xii INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 cation by liim of a book which gave equal offence to 
 dissenters and high churchmen, and for which he 
 was set in the pillory and confined for over a year 
 in Newgate prison. Two or three important conse- 
 quences flowed from this. He made the acquaintance 
 within the prison walls of a great variety of adven- 
 turers and rogues as well as unfortunate men, and ac- 
 cumulated material for some of his notable narratives ; 
 his business went to pieces for lack of his superinten- 
 dence, and he came out of prison by favor of a new 
 ministry and devoted himself thereafter to writing, 
 largely in the pay of the administration. For fifteen 
 years, that is, during all the reign of Queen Anne and 
 the early years of George I., he was a political writer, 
 serving first one master and then another. Especially 
 notable was a publication which he entered upon 
 while still in Newgate and which he carried on for 
 about ten years, a journal whose short name was The 
 Review , in which he adopted, the newspaper form but 
 preserved the pamphlet spirit, and filled it with vigor- 
 ous writings on affairs especiallj r in connection with 
 the war which was now waging between England and 
 France. During this time he was incessantly issuing 
 pamphlets as well, and when Queen Anne died and 
 the succession to the throne brought in fresh compli- 
 cations in public life, Defoe’s energies became intense. 
 His writings, moreover, were not confined to topics of 
 a distinctly political or commercial nature. He was 
 a versatile journalist, who could turn his hand to any- 
 thing from society news to grave discussion, and so 
 inventive withal that when there was no news stirring 
 he would manufacture a sensation, like an account of 
 an extraordinary blowing up of an island in the West 
 Indies. If anybody of consequence died Defoe was 
 
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. xiii 
 
 ready with a long biography of him, and he seized 
 upon every incident that came in his way as an oppor- 
 tunity for weaving some elaborate story about it. In 
 a word, he lived during this period in a society which 
 was full of intrigue, of plot and counterplot, and with 
 his brilliant, restless mind, and his one occupation as 
 a writer, he was entangled in a mesh of truth and 
 falsehood which makes it extremely difficult to disen- 
 tangle the real man from the dexterous plier of the 
 trade of writing. 
 
 Nevertheless, if one holds to two or three important 
 clues, he may come better to understand the author 
 of Robinson Crusoe. Defoe was first and last a 
 stur dy patri ot. From the time when he was out with 
 Monmouth to the end of bis days he was ready to die 
 for his country, and to him England was a Protestant 
 land, and a home of freedom. Then he was a parti- 
 san i n r eligion. He believed there were two parties, 
 headed the one by God, the other by the Devil, and 
 he kept up through life a sort of dramatic representa- 
 tion in his mind, and was prepared at any time to out- 
 wit the Devil if he could. He was, moreover, in spite 
 of knocking about among men and being in the thick 
 of things, an essentially lonely man, lonely in his 
 mind, and if certain vague stories may be taken with 
 literal truth, lonely in his own household. Above all 
 he was a man gifted with a powe rful imaginatio n 
 which laid hold not of remote but of near objects. 
 It was a vivid imagination. He saw men and things 
 with extraordinary clearness, and he was tremen- 
 dously interested in life. 
 
 When we take all these things into account we can 
 better understand the part which his immortal book 
 bore in his life. It came, it will be remembered, late 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 in his career, when he hacl passed through the storm- 
 iest period of his political activity, and was plunged 
 deep in all manner of journalistic pursuits. The more 
 intensely occupied a lonely man may be, the more 
 surely is there a quiet place in his mind to which he 
 retreats. It needs only for an occasion to arise when 
 the real man will assert himself almost without know- 
 ing it, and he will unconsciously lay bare the very 
 heart of his life. 
 
 Such an occasion came now to Defoe. Just as he 
 had taken all manner of incidents which came in his 
 way and played with them for the entertainment of 
 his readers, so now he happened upon a strange ad- 
 venture which was everybody’s possession, but which 
 he, by the illumination of his genius, was to turn into 
 a great piece of art, to be spoken of in somewhat the 
 same terms as we use when we speak of the Odyssey. 
 There was a certain Alexander Selkirk or Selcraig, 
 a sailing master, who in 1704, having quarrelled with 
 the captain of his vessel, went ashore on the island of 
 Juan Fernandez off the Pacific coast of South Amer- 
 ica, and remained there four years and four months, 
 when he was taken off by an English vessel and 
 brought back to his country. The narrative of his 
 adventures was given more than once, one writer be- 
 ing Richard Steele, and the facts of his life on the 
 island are thus condensed by Mr. Aitken : “ Selkirk 
 was provided with a sea-chest, clothes, and bedding, 
 a fire-lock, some gunpowder and bullets, a hatchet, 
 knife, and kettle, a Bible and other books, and a few 
 pounds of tobacco. On the island there were only 
 goats, cats, and rats ; but turtles abounded, lie 
 made use also of the cabbage and pimento trees. 
 For some time he w'as melancholy from the want of 
 
DEFOE'S HOME IN WHICH HE WROTE ROBINSON CRUSOE 
 
when 
 it know- 
 
Robinson Crusoe says his island lay between Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco 
 
 river. 
 
 Sec page 274. ( ^ 
 
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York 
 a good family, though not of that country, my fat 
 
 being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at H ull,; 
 lie got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off 
 his trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he 
 had married my mother, whose relations were named 
 Robinson, a very good family in that country, and 
 from whom I was called Robinson Ivreutznaer ; but! 
 by the usual corruption of words in England we are 
 now called, nay, we call ourselves, and write our name, 
 Crusoe, and so my companions always called me. 
 
 I had two elder brothers, one of which was lieu- 
 tenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in 
 Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous Colonel 
 Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk 
 against the Spaniards ; what became of my second 
 brother I never knew, any more than my father and 
 mother did know what was become of me. 
 
 Being the third son of the family, and not bred to 
 
2 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 any trade, my head began to be filled very early with 
 ramblingjjioughts . My father, who was very ancient, 
 bad given me a competent share of learning, as far as 
 bouse education and a country free school generally 
 goes, and designed me for the law ; but I would be 
 satisfied with nothing but going to sea ; and my in- 
 clination to this led me so strongly against the will, 
 nay, the commands, of my father, and against all the 
 entreaties and persuasions of my mother and other 
 friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in that 
 propension of nature tending directly to the life of 
 misery which was to befall me. 
 
 My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious 
 and excellent counsel agaiust what he foresaw was my 
 design. He called me one morning; into his chamber, 
 where he was confined by the gout, and expostulated 
 very warmly with me upon this subject. He asked me 
 what reasons more than a mere wandering inclination 
 I had for leaving my father’s house and my native 
 country, where I might be well introduced, and had a 
 prospect of raising my fortunes by application and in- 
 dustry, with a life of ease and pleasure. He told me 
 it was for men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or 
 of aspiring superior fortunes on the other, who went 
 abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and 
 make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature 
 out of the common road ; that these things were all 
 either too far above me, or too far below me ; that 
 mine was the middle state, or what might be called the 
 upper station of low life, which he had found by long 
 ^experience was the best state in the world, the most 
 M suited to human happiness, not exposed to the mis- 
 \ leries and hardships, the labor and sufferings, of the 
 <f®6chanic part of mankind, and not embarrassed with 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 3 
 
 the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy of the upper 
 part of mankind. He told me I might judge of the 
 happiness of this state by this one thing, viz., that this"! 
 was the state of life which all other people envied ; ft 
 that kings have frequently lamented the miserable 
 consequences of being born to great things, and wished 
 they had been placed in the middle of the two ex- 
 tremes, between the mean and the great ; that the 
 wise man gave his testimony to this as the just stand- 
 ard of true felicity, when he prayed to have neither 
 poverty nor riches. 
 
 He bid me observe it, and I should always find, that 
 the calamities of life were shared among the upper 
 and lower part of mankind ; but that the middle station 
 had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so 
 many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of man- 
 kind. Nay, they were not subjected to so many 
 distempers and uneasinesses either of body or mind 
 as those were who, b y vicious l iving, or»d 1 
 
 tra vacancies on one hand , or by hard labor, want of 
 necessaries, and mean or insufficient diet on the othe r 
 jiand, bring distempers upon themselves by the natural 
 
 consequences of their way of livum ^ that the middle , 
 station of life was calculated for all kind of virtues 
 and all kind of enjoyments ; that peace and plenty 
 were the handmaids of a middle fortune ; that tem- 
 perance, moderation, quietness, health, society, ah 
 agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were 
 blessings attending the middle station of life ; that 
 this way men went silently and smoothly through the 
 world, and comfortably out of it, not embarrassed with 
 the labors of the hands or of the head, not sold to the 
 life of slavery for daily bread, or harassed with per- 
 plexed circumstances which rob the soul of peace, and 
 
4 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the body of rest ; not enraged with the passion of 
 envy, or secret burning lust of ambition for great 
 things ; but in easy circumstances sliding gently 
 through the world, and sensibly tasting the sweets of 
 living, without the bitter, 'feeling that they are happy, 
 and learning by every day’s experience to know it 
 . more sensibly. 
 
 After this, he pressed me earnestly, and in the most 
 affectionate manner, ypot to p lay the youhg maif, not to 
 precipitate myself into miseries whiclTTNature 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 endeavor to 
 enter me fairly into the station of life which he had 
 been just recommending to me ; and that if I was not 
 very easy and happy in the world it must be my mere 
 fate or fault that must hinder it, and that he should 
 have nothing to answer for, having thus discharged 
 his duty in warning me against measures which he 
 Trnew would be to my hurt ; in a word, that as he 
 would do very kind things for me if I would stay and 
 I settle at home as he directed, so he would not have so 
 I much hand in my misfortunes as to give me any en- 
 “^Gouragement 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 ven- 
 ture to say to me, that if I did take this foolish step, 
 
 S 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. 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 5 
 
 I observed in- this last part of his discourse, which 
 was truly prophetic, though I suppose my father did 
 not know it to be so himself — I say, I observed the 
 tears run down his face very plentifully, and espe- 
 cially when he spoke of my brother who was killed ; 
 and that when he spoke of my having leisure to repent, 
 and none to assist me, he was so moved that he broke 
 off the discourse, and told me his heart was so full he 
 could say no more to me. 
 
 I was sincerely affected with this discourse, as in- 
 deed who could be otherwise? and I x-esolved 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, 1 , 
 did not act so hastily neither as my first heat of reso- 
 lution 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 e ighteen 
 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 
 
6 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 me she knew it would be to no purpose to speak to 
 my father upon any such subject ; that he knew too 
 well what was my interest to give his consent to any- 
 thing so much for my hurt, and that she wondered 
 how I could think of any such thing after such a dis- 
 course as I had had with my father, and such kind 
 and tender expressions as she knew my father had 
 used to me ; and that, in short, if I would ruin myself 
 there was no help for me ; but I might depend I 
 should never have their consent to it; that for her 
 part, she would not have so much hand in my destruc- 
 tion, and I should never have it to say that my mother 
 was willing when my father was not. 
 
 Though my mother refused to move it to my father, 
 yet, as I have heard afterwards, she reported all the 
 discourse to him, and that my father, after showing a 
 great concern at it, said to her with a sigh, “ That boy 
 might be happy if he would stay at home, but if he 
 goes abroad he will be the miserablest wretch that 
 was ever born : I can give no consent to it.” 
 
 It was not till almost a year after this that I broke 
 loose, though in the meantime I continued obstinately 
 deaf to all proposals of settling to business, and fre- 
 quently expostulating with my father and mother 
 about their being so positively determined against 
 what they knew my inclinations prompted me to. 
 But being one day at Hull, where I went casually, 
 and without any purpose of making an elopement 
 that time • T being there, and one of my com- 
 panions being going by sea to London, in his father’s 
 ship, and prompting me to go with them, with the 
 common allurement of seafaring men, viz., that it 
 should cost me nothing for my passage, I consulted 
 neither father nor mother any more, nor so much as 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 7 
 
 sent them word of it ; but leaving them to hear of it ' 
 as they might, without asking God’s blessing, or my , 
 father’s, without any consideration of circumstances \ 
 or consequences, and in an ill hour, God knows, on 
 the first of September, 1651, I went on board a ship___ 
 bound for London. Never any young adventurer’s 
 misfortunes, I believe, began sooner, or continued 
 longer than mine. The ship was no sooner gotten 
 out of the Humber, but the wind began to blow, and 
 the waves to rise in a most frightful manner ; and as 
 I had never been at sea before, I was most inexpress- 
 ibly sick in body, and terrified in my mind. I began 
 now seriously to reflect upon what I had done, and 
 how justly I was overtaken by the judgment of Heaven 
 for my wicked leaving my father’s house, and aban- 
 doning my duty ; all the good counsel of my parents, 
 my father’s tears and my mother’s entreaties, came 
 now fresh into my mind, and my conscience, which 
 was not yet come to the pitch of hardn ess wln jdi it has 
 been since, reproached lne _ with'~nTe^contempt of ad- 
 vice, and the breach of my duty to God and my father. 
 
 All this while the storm increased, and the sea, 
 which I had never been upon before, went very high, 
 though nothing like what I have seen many times 
 since ; no, nor like what I saw a few days after. But 
 it was enough to affect me then, who was but a young 
 sailor, and had never known anything of the matter. 
 
 I expected every wave would have swallowed us up, 
 and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought, 
 in the trough or hollow of the sea, we should never 
 rise more ; and in this agony of mind I made many 
 vows and resolutions, that if it would please God here 
 to spare my life this one voyage, if ever I got once 
 my foot upon dry land again I would go directly 
 
8 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 home to my father, and never set it into a ship again 
 while I lived ; that I would take his advice, and never 
 run myself into such miseries as these any more. 
 Now I saw plainly the goodness of his observations 
 about the middle station of life, how easy, how com- 
 fortably he had lived all his days, and never had been 
 exposed to tempests at sea, or troubles on shore ; and 
 I resolved that I would, like a true repenting prodi- 
 gal, go home to my father. 
 
 ^ These wise and sober thoughts continued all the 
 while the storm continued, and indeed some time 
 after ; but the next day the wind was abated and the 
 sea calmer, and I began to be a little inured to it. 
 llowever, I was very grave for all that day, being 
 also a little seasick still ; but towards night the weather 
 cleared up, the wind was quite over, and a charming 
 fine evening followed ; the sun went down perfectly 
 clear, and rose so the next morning ; and having little 
 or no wind, and a smooth sea, the sun shining upon it, 
 the sight was, as I thought, the most delightful that 
 ever I saw. 
 
 I had slept well in the night, and was now no more 
 seasick 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 con- 
 tinue, 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 war- 
 rant you were frighted, wa’n’t you, last night, when it 
 blew but a capful of wind ? ” “A capful, d’ 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 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 9 
 
 and sea-room, and we think nothing of sueli a squall 
 of wind as that ; but you ’re but a fresh-water sailor, 
 Bob. Come, let us make a bowl of punch, and we ’ll 
 forget all that ; d’ ye see what charming weather ’t is 
 now ? ” To make short this sad part of my story, we 
 went the old way of all sailors ; the punch was made, 
 
 and I was made drunk with it, and in that one night’s 
 wickedness I drowned all my repentance, all my re- 
 flections upon my past conduct, and all my resolutions 
 for my future. In a word, as the sea was returned to 
 its smoothness of surface and settled calmness by the 
 abatement of that storm, so the hurry of my thoughts 
 being over, my fears and apprehensions of being swal- 
 lowed up by the sea being forgotten, and the current 
 of my former desires returned, I entirely forgot the 
 vows and promises that I made in my distress. I 
 found indeed some intervals of reflection, and the se- 
 rious thoughts did, as it were, endeavor 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 victory over 
 conscience as any young fellow that resolved not to be 
 troubled with it could desire. But I was to have an- 
 other 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 con- 
 fess 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 
 
10 
 
 'ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 tlie storm. ’Here we were obliged to come to an an- 
 chor, and here we lay, the wind continuing contrary, 
 viz., at southwest, for seven or eight days, during 
 which time a great many ships from Newcastle came 
 into the same roads, as the common harbor 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 harbor, 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 in- 
 creased, and we had all hands at work to strike our 
 topmasts, and 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 ahead, and the cables veered out to the 
 better end. 
 
 By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed, and 
 now I began to see terror and amazement in the faces 
 even of the seamen themselves. The master, though 
 vigilant to the business of preserving the ship, yet as 
 he went in and out of his cabin by me, I could hear 
 him softly to himself say several times, “ Lord, be 
 merciful to us, we shall be all lost, we shall be all un- 
 done ; ” 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 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 11 
 
 reassume tlie first penitence, which I had so appar- 
 ently trampled upon, and hardened myself against ; 
 I thought the bitterness of death had been past, and 
 that this would be nothing too, like the first. But 
 when the master himself came by me, as I said just 
 now, and said we should be all lost, I was dreadfully 
 frighted ; I got up out of my cabin, and looked out. 
 But such a dismal sight I never saw ; the sea went 
 mountains high, and broke upon us every three or 
 four minutes ; when I could look about, I could see 
 nothing but distress round us. Two ships that rid 
 near us we found had, cut their masts by the board, 
 being deep loaden ; and our men cried out that a ship 
 which rid about a mile ahead of us was foundered. 
 Two more ships, being driven from their anchors, 
 were run out of the roads to sea at all adventures, 
 and that with not a mast standing. The light ships 
 fared the best, as not so much laboring in the sea; 
 but two or three of them drove, and came close by us, 
 running away with only their sprit-sail out before the 
 wind. 
 
 Towards evening the mate and boatswain begged 
 the master of our ship to let them cut away the fore- 
 mast, which he was very unwilling to. But the boat- 
 swain protesting to him that if he did not the ship 
 would founder, he consented ; and when they had cut 
 away the 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 
 
12 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 upon account of my former convictions, and the hav- 
 ing returned from them to the resolutions I had wick- 
 edly 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 acknow- 
 ledged they had never known a worse. We had a 
 good ship, but she was deep loaden, and wallowed in 
 the sea, that the seamen every now and then cried 
 out she would founder. It was my advantage in one 
 respect, that I did not know what they meant by 
 founder till I inquired. However, the storm was so 
 violent that I saw what is not often seen, the master, 
 the boatswain, and some others more sensible than 
 the rest, at their prayers, and expecting every mo- 
 ment when the ship would go to the bottom. In the 
 middle of the night, and under all the rest of our dis- 
 tresses, 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 me, and told 
 me that I, that was able to do nothing before, was as 
 well able to pump as another ; at which I stirred up 
 and went to the pump and worked very heartily. 
 While this was doing, the master seeing some light 
 colliers who, not able to ride out the storm, were 
 obliged to slip and run away to sea, and would come 
 near us, ordered to fire a gun as a signal of distress 
 I, who knew nothing what that meant, was so sur- 
 prised that I thought the ship had broke, or some 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 13 
 
 dreadful thing had happened. In a word, I was so 
 surprised that I fell down in 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 ahead 
 of us, ventured a boat out to help us. It was with 
 the utmost hazard the boat came near us, but it was 
 impossible for us to get on board, or for the boat to 
 lie near the ship’s side, till at last the men rowing 
 very heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours, 
 our men cast them a rope over the stern with a buoy 
 to it, and then veered it out a great length, which 
 they after great labor and hazard took hold of, and 
 we hauled them close under our stern, and got all 
 into their boat. It was to no purpose for them or us 
 after we were in the boat to think of reaching to their 
 own ship, so all agreed to let her drive, and only to 
 pull her in toward 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 nor’ ward, sloping towards the shore almost as 
 far as Winterton Ness . 
 
 We were not much more than a quarter of an hour 
 out of our ship but we saw her sink, and then I under 
 
14 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 stood 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 tne, 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 labor- 
 ing at the oar to bring the boat near the shore, we 
 could see, when, our boat mounting the waves, we 
 were able to see the shore, a great many people run- 
 ning along the shore to assist us when we should come 
 \ near. But we made but slow way towards the shore, 
 nor were we able to reach the shore, till being past 
 the 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 afterwards on foot to Yarmouth, 
 where, as unfortunate men, we were used with great 
 humanity as well by the magistrates of the town, who 
 assigned us good quarters, as by particular merchants 
 and owners of ships, and had money given us sufficient 
 to carry us either to London or back to Hull, as we 
 thought fit. 
 
 Had I now had the sense to have gone back to Hull, 
 and have gone home, I had been happy, and my father, 
 an emblem of our blessed Saviour’s parable, had even 
 killed the fatted calf for me ; for hearing the ship I 
 went away in was cast away in Yarmouth Road, it was 
 a great while before he had any assurance that I was 
 not drowned. 
 
 But my ill fate push ed me o n now with an -abstinacv 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEA. 
 
 15 
 
 t hat nothing could resist : and though I had several 
 times loud calls from my reason and my more com- 
 posed 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 overruling decree that hurries us on to be 
 the instruments of our own destruction, even though it 
 he before us, and that we rush upon it with our eyes 
 open. Certainly nothing hut some such decreed un- 
 avoidable misery attending, and which it was impos- 
 sible for me to escape, could have pushed me forward 
 against the calm reasonings and persuasions of my 
 most retired thoughts, and against two such visible 
 instructions as I had met with in my first attempt. 
 
 My comrade, who had helped to harden me before, 
 and who was the master’s son, was now loss forward 
 than I. The first time he spoke to me after we were 
 at Yarmouth, which was not till two or three days, for 
 we were separated in the town to several quarters — I 
 say, the first time he saw me, it appeared his tone was 
 altered, and, looking very melancholy and shaking his 
 head, asked me how I did ; and telling his father who 
 I was, and how I had come this voyage only for a 
 trial in order to go farther abroad, his father turning 
 to me with a very grave and concerned tone, “ Young 
 man,” says he, “ you ought never to go to sea anj 
 more; you ought to take this for a plain and visible 
 token that you are not to be a seafaring man.” “ Why 
 sir,” said I, “will you go to sea no more?” “ Tliac 
 is another case,” said he ; “ it is my calling, and there- 
 fore my duty ; but as you made this vojmge for a trial, 
 you see what a taste Heaven has given you of what 
 you are to expect if you persist ; perhaps this is all j 
 befallen us on your account, like Jonah in the ship of 1 
 Tarshisli. Pray,” continues he, “ what are you ? and 
 
 / 
 
16 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 on wliat account did you go to sea?” Upon that 1 
 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 miclit see a. 
 yisible hand of Heaven against me. “ And, young 
 man,” said he, “ depen tTupon' it~ if yoTi do not go back, 
 wherever you go you will meet with nothing but disas- 
 ters and disappointments, till your father’s words are 
 fulfilled upon you.” 
 
 We parted soon after ; for I made him little answer, 
 and I saw him no more ; which way he went, I know 
 not. As for me, having some money in my pocket, I 
 travelled to London by land ; and there, as well as on 
 the road, had many struggles with myself what course 
 of life I should take, and whether I should go home, 
 or go to sea. 
 
 As to going home, shame opposed the best motions 
 that offered to my thoughts ; and it immediately 
 occurred to me how I should be laughed at among the 
 neighbors, and should be ashamed to see, not my 
 father and mother only, but even everybody else ; 
 f^om whence I have since often observed how incon- 
 gruous and irrational the common temper of mankind 
 is, especially of youth, to that reason which ought to 
 \guide them in such cases, viz., that they are not 
 ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; not 
 
FIRST TRIAL OF TIIE SEA. 
 
 1 
 
 ashamed of the action for which they ought justly t 
 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 ting 
 uncertain what measures to take, and what course o 
 life to lead. An iri-Pgigtihlp rplnpf.nnpp Prm tinued t o 
 going home ; and as I stayed a while, the remembr ance 
 of the distress I had been in wore off; and as tba 
 abated, the little motion I had in my desires to a re- 
 turn wore off with it, till at last I quite laid aside th 
 thoughts of it, and looked out for a voyage. / 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 A CAPTIVE AMONG THE MOORS. 
 
 — That ev il i nflnrnrn whirh carried me first away 
 from my father’s house, that hurried me into the wild 
 and indigested notion of raising my fortune, and that 
 impressed those conceits so forcibly upon me as to 
 make me deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties 
 and even command of my father — I say, the same 
 influence, whatever it was, presented the most unfor- 
 tunate of all enterprises to my view ; and I went on 
 board a vessel bound to the coast of Africa, or, as our 
 sailors vulgarly call it, a voyage to Guinea. 
 
 It was my great misfortune that in all these adven- 
 tures I did not ship myself as a sailor, whereby, 
 though I might indeed have worked a little harder 
 than ordinary, yet at the same time I had 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 worse, so I did here ; for having money in my 
 pocket, and good clothes upon my back, I would 
 always go on board in the habit of a gentleman ; and 
 so I neither had any business in the ship, nor learned 
 to do any. 
 
 It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good 
 company in London, which does not always happen to 
 such loose and misguided young fellows as I then was, 
 the devil generally not omitting to lay some snare for 
 
A CAPTIVE AMONG THE MOORS. 
 
 19 
 
 them very early ; but it was not so with me. I first 
 fell acquainted with the master of a ship who had been 
 on the coast of Guinea, and who, having had very 
 good success there, was resolved to go again ; and 
 who, taking a fancy to my conversation, which was 
 not at all disagreeable at that time, hearing me say I 
 had a mind to see the world, told me if I would go the 
 voyage with him I should be at no expense ; I should 
 be his messmate and his companion ; and if I could 
 carry anything with me, I should have all the advan- 
 tage of it that the trade would admit, and perhaps I 
 might meet with some encouragement. 
 
 I embraced the offer ; and, entering into a strict 
 friendship with this captain, who was an honest and 
 plain-dealing man, I went the voyage with him, and 
 carried a small adventure with me, which, by the dis- 
 interested honesty of my friend the captain, I increased 
 very considerably, for I carried about £40 in such 
 toys and tidfles as the captain directed 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 sav was 
 successful in nil my adventures, and which I owe to 
 
 + 1,0 in+QgriMfy honest, v 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 ob- 
 servation, and, in short, to understand some things 
 ~hat were needful to be understood by a sailor. For, 
 as he took delight to introduce me, I took delight to 
 learn ; and, in a word, this voyage made me both a 
 sailor and a merchant ; for I hnm Q fivff 
 
20 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 pounds nine ounces of gold-dust for my adventure, 
 which yielded me in London at my return almost <£300, 
 and this filled me with those aspiring thoughts which , 
 fcgvft sinp. e so completed my ruin . 
 
 Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too ; 
 particularly, that I was continually sick, being thrown 
 into a violent calenture by the excessive heat of the 
 climate ; our principal trading being upon the coast, 
 from the latitude of fifteen degrees north even to the 
 line itself. 
 
 I was now set up for a Guinea trader; and my friend, 
 to my great misfortune, dying soon after his arrival, I 
 resolved to go the same voyage again, and I embarked 
 in the same vessel with one who was his mate in the 
 former voyage, and had now got the command of the 
 ship. This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man 
 made ; for though I did not carry quite £100 of my 
 new-gained wealth, so that I had <£200 left, and which 
 I lodged with my friend’s widow, who was very just 
 to me, yet I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voy- 
 age ; and the first was this, viz., our ship making her 
 course toward the Canary Islands, or rather between 
 those islands and the African shore, was surprised in 
 the gray 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; fiut 
 finding the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly 
 come up with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight, 
 our ship having twelve guns, and the rogue eighteen. 
 About three in the afternoon he came up with us, and 
 bringing to, by mistake, just athwart our quarter, 
 instead of athwart our stern, as he intended, we 
 brought eight of our guns to bear on that side, and 
 
A CAPTIVE AMONG THE MOORS. 
 
 21 
 
 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 two hundred men which he 
 had on board. However, we had not a man touched, 
 all our men keeping close. He prepared to attack us 
 again, and we to defend ourselves ; but laying us on 
 board the next time upon our other quarter, he entered 
 sixty men upon our decks, who immediately fell to 
 cutting and hacking the decks and rigging. We plied 
 them with small-shot, half-pikes, powder-chests, and 
 such like, and cleared our deck of them twice, 
 ever, to cut short this melancholy part of our 
 our ship being disabled, and three of our men 
 and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield, and 
 carried all prisoners into Sallee, a port 
 the Moors. 
 
 The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at 
 first I apprehended, nor was I carried up the country 
 to the emperor’s court, as the rest of our men were, 
 but was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper 
 prize, and made his slave, being young and nimble, 
 and fit for his business. At this surprising c.hn.ngp 
 of my circumstances from a merchant to n. misemblft 
 
 slave. I wa s — p e rfect l y over wli el nu uL; — aud — mw . T 
 
 looked back upon my father’s prophetic discourse to 
 
 me, that I should b e misera ble, and have none to re-- 
 lieve idp.^ which I thought was now so effectually 
 brought to pass that it could not be worse ; that now 
 the hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I was un- 
 done without redemption. But alas ! this was but a 
 taste of the misery I -was to go through, as will appear 
 in the sequel of this story. 
 
 As my new patron, or master, had taken me home 
 to his house, so I was in hopes that he would take me 
 
22 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 that then I 
 should be set at liberty. But this hope of mine was 
 soon taken away ; for when he went to sea, he left me 
 on shore to look after his little garden, and do the 
 common drudgery of slaves about his house ; and 
 when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered 
 me to lie in the cabin to look after the ship. 
 
 Here I meditated nothing but my escape, and what 
 method I might take to effect it, but found no way 
 that had the least probability in it. Nothing pre- 
 sented to make the supposition of it rational ; for I 
 had nobody to communicate it to that would embark 
 with me, no .fellow-slave, no Englishman, Irishman, 
 or Scotsman there but myself so that for two years , 
 though I often pleased myself with the imagination, 
 yet I never had the least encouraging prospect of put- 
 ting it in practice. 
 
 After about two years an odd circumstance pre- 
 sented 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 fit- 
 ting out his ship, which, as I heard, was for want of 
 money, he used constantly, once or twice a week, some- 
 times oftener, if the weather was fair, to take the 
 ship’s pinnace, and go out into the road a-fishing'; 
 and as he always took me and a young Maresco with 
 him to row the boat, we made him very merry, and I 
 proved very dexterous in catching fish ; insomuch, 
 that sometimes he would send me with a Moor, one of 
 his kinsmen, and the youth the Maresco, as they called 
 him, to catch a dish of fish for him. 
 
 It happened one time that, going a-fishing in a 
 
A CAPTIVE AMONG THE MOORS. 
 
 23 
 
 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 labored all day, and all the next night, and when 
 the morning came we found we had pulled off to sea 
 instead of pulling in for the shore, and that we were 
 at least two leagues from the shore. However, we 
 got well in again, though with a great deal of labor, 
 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 hav- 
 ing lying by him the long-boat of our English ship 
 which he had taken, he resolved he would not go 
 a-fisliing any more without a compass and some pro- 
 vision ; so he ordered the carpenter of his ship, who 
 also was an English slave, to build a little stateroom, 
 or cabin, in the middle of the long-boat, like that of a 
 barge, with a place to stand behind it to steer and 
 haul 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 should'er-of-mutton sail ; and the boom 
 jibbed over the top of the cabin, which lay very snug 
 and low, and had in it room for him to lie, with a 
 slave or two, and a table to eat on, with some small 
 lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor as he 
 thought fit to drink ; particularly his bread, rice, and 
 coffee. 
 
 We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing, 
 and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he 
 never went without me. It happened that he had ap- 
 pointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or 
 for fish, with two or three Moors of some distinction 
 
24 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 in that place, and for whom he had provided extraor. 
 dinarily ; and had therefore sent on board the boat 
 overnight a larger store of provisions than ordinary ; 
 and had ordered me to get ready three fuzees with 
 powder and shot, which were on board his ship, for 
 that they designed some sport of fowling as well as 
 fishing. 
 
 I got all things ready as he had directed, and 
 waited the next morning with the boat, washed clean, 
 her ancient and pendants out, and everything to ac- 
 commodate his guests ; when by and by my patron 
 came on board alone, and told me his guests had put 
 off going, upon some business that fell out, and 
 ordered me with the man and boy, as usual, to go out 
 with the boat and catch them some fish, for that his 
 friends were to sup at his house ; and commanded 
 that as soon as I 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 little ship at my command ; 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 anywhere, to get out of that place, 
 
 A was my way. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 My first contrivance was to make a pretence to 
 speak to this Moor, to get something for our subsis- 
 tence 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 the make were taken 
 out of some English prize ; and I conveyed them into 
 the boat while the Moor was on shore, as if they had 
 been there before for our master. I conveyed also a 
 great lump of 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 great use to us afterwards, especially the wax te 
 make candles. Another trick I tried upon him, which 
 he innocently came into also. His name was Ismael, 
 who they calEMuly, or Moely ; so I called to him, 
 t /-Moely,” saitlk “ our patron’s guns are on board 
 the boat ; can you not get a little powder and shot ? 
 it may be we may kill some alcamies ” (a fowl like our 
 curlews) “for ourselves, for I know he keeps the gun- 
 ner’s stores in the ship.” “ Yes,” says he, “ I ’ll 
 bring some ; ” and accordingly he brought a great 
 leather pouch which held about a pound and a half of 
 powder, or rather more ; and another with shot, that 
 
 r 1 
 
26 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 had five or six pounds, with some bullets, and put all 
 into the boat. At the same time I had found soimi 
 powder of my master’s in the great cabin, with which 
 I filled one ol the large bottles in the case, which was 
 almost empty, pouring what was in it into another : 
 and thus furnished 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 sui’e 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 the horrid place where I was, and leave the rest 
 to Fate. 
 
 After we had fished some time and catehed 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 her to as if 
 I would fish ; wnen 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 sur- 
 prise with my arm under his twist, and tossed him 
 clear overboard into the sea. He rose immediately, 
 for he swam like a cork, and called to me, begged to 
 be taken in, told me he would go all the world over 
 with me. He swam so strong after the boat that he 
 would have reached me very quickly, there being but 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 27 
 
 little wind ; upon which I stepped into the cabin, and 
 fetching one of the fowling-pieces, I presented it at 
 him, and told him I had done him no hurt, and if he 
 would be quiet I would do him none. “ But,” said I, 
 “ you swim well enough to reach to the shore, and the 
 sea is calm ; make the best of your way to shore, and 
 I will do you no harm ; but if you come near the 
 boat I ’ll shoot you through the head, for I am re- 
 solved to have my liberty.” So he turned himself 
 
 about, and swa m f»T out! T mnlrn Tw J niili t 
 
 blithe renehod i t . with . for Iip wns an PYCidlen t 
 
 swimmer . - dvtwf 
 
 I could have been content to have taken this Moor 
 with me, and have drowned the boy, but there was no 
 venturing to trust him. When he was gone I turned 
 to the boy, whom they called Xury, and said to him, 
 “ Xury, if you will be faithful to me I ’ll make you 
 a great man ; but if you will not stroke your face to 
 be true to me,” that is, swear by Mahomet and his 
 father’s beard, “ I must throw you into the sea too.” 
 The boy smiled in my face, and spoke so innocently 
 that I could not mistrust him, and swore to be faith- 
 ful to me, and go all over the world with me. 
 
 While I was in view of the Moor that was swim- 
 ming, I stood out directly to sea with the boat, rather 
 stretching to windward, that they might think me 
 gone towards the straits’ mouth (as indeed any one 
 that had been in their wits must have been supposed 
 to do) ; for who would have supposed we were sailed 
 on to the southward to the truly barbarian coast, where 
 whole nations of negroes were sure to surround us with 
 their canoes, and destroy us ; where we could ne’er 
 once go on shore but we should be devoured by savage 
 beasts, or more merciless savages of human kind? 
 
28 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening I 
 changed my course, and steered directly south and by 
 east, bending my course a little toward the east, that 
 I might keep in with the shore ; and having a fair, 
 fresh gale of wind, and a smooth, quiet sea, I made 
 such sail that I believe by the next day at three 
 o’clock in the afternoon, when I first made the land, 
 I could not be less than a hundred and fifty miles 
 south of Sallee ; quite beyond the Emperor of Mo- 
 rocco’s dominions, or indeed of any other king there- 
 abouts, for we saw no people. 
 
 Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, 
 and the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into 
 their hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore, or 
 come to an anchor, the wind continuing fair, till I 
 had sailed in that manner five days ; and then the 
 wind shifting to the southward, I concluded also that 
 if any of our vessels were in chase of me, they also 
 would now give over ; so I ventured to make to the 
 coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little 
 river, I knew not what or where ; neither what lati- 
 tude, what country, what nations, or what river. I 
 neither saw, nor desired to see, any people ; the princi- 
 pal 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 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY 
 
 29 
 
 them run way.” Such English Xury spoke by con- 
 versing among us slaves. However, I was glad to see 
 die 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 seashore and 
 run into the water, wallowing and washing themselves 
 for the pleasure of cooling themselves ; and they made 
 such hideous howlings and yellings that I never in- 
 deed heard the like. 
 
 Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed so was I 
 too ; but we were both more frighted when we heard 
 one of these mighty creatures come swimming towards 
 our boat ; we could not see him, but we might hear 
 him by his blowing to be a monstrous huge and furi- 
 ous beast. Xury said it was a lion, and it might be 
 so for aught I know ; but poor Xury cried to me to 
 weigh the anchor and row away. “No,” says I, 
 “ Xury ; we can slip our cable with the buoy to it, 
 and go off to sea ; they cannot follow us far.” I had 
 no sooner said so, but I perceived the creature (what- 
 ever it was) within two oars’ length, which something 
 surprised me ; however, I immediately stepped to the 
 cabin door, and taking up my gun, fired at him, upon 
 which he immediately turned about and swam towards 
 the shore again. 
 
 But it is impossible to describe the horrible noises, 
 and hideous cries and howlings, that were raised, as 
 well upon the edge of the shore as higher within the 
 country, upon the noise or report of the gun, a thing I 
 have some reason to believe those creatures had never 
 
30 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE, 
 
 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 affection that made 
 me love him ever after. Says he, “ If wild mans 
 come, th ey eat me. von go way." “'Well. Xnrv?.’* 
 said I. “ wifi fint.fi on ; and if the wild mans com e, 
 wp will k ill them ; they n h nl l- ent neither of n n ” So I 
 gave Xury a piece of rusk bread to eat, and a dram 
 out of our patron’s case of bottles which I mentioned 
 before ; and we hauled in the boat 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 
 ran 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. 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 31 
 
 like a hare, but different in color, 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 
 prepared to go on our way, having seen no footsteps 
 of any human creature in that part of the country. 
 
 As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I 
 knew very well that the islands of the Canaries, and 
 the Cape de Verde 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 exactly know, or at least remember, what lati- 
 tude they were in, I kuew not where to look for them, 
 or when to stand off to sea towards them ; otherwise I 
 might now easily have found some of these islands. 
 But my hope was, that if I stood along this coast till 
 I came to that part where the English traded, I should 
 find some of their vessels upon their usual design of 
 trade, that would relieve and take us in. 
 
 By the best of my calculation, that place where I 
 now was must be that country which, lying between 
 the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions and the negroes, 
 lies waste and uninhabited, except by wild beasts ; the 
 negroes having abandoned it and gone farther south 
 for fear of the Moors, and the Moors not thinking it 
 worth inhabiting, by reason of its barrenness ; and in- 
 deed both forsaking it because of the prodigious num- 
 bers of tigers, lions, leopards, and other furious crea- 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 90 
 Ou 
 
 tures which harbor there ; so that the Moors use it 
 for their hunting only, where they go like an army, 
 two or three thousand men at a time ; and indeed for 
 near an hundred miles together upon this coast we saw 
 nothing but a waste uninhabited country by day, and 
 heard nothing but bowlings and roarings of wild beasts 
 by night. 
 
 Once or twice in the daytime I thought I saw the 
 Pico of Teneriffe, being the high top of the Mountain 
 Teneriffe in the Canaries, and had a great mind to 
 venture out, in hopes of reaching thither ; but having 
 tried twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds, 
 the sea also going too high for my little vessel ; so I 
 resolved to pursue my first design, and keep along the 
 shore. 
 
 Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water 
 after we had left this place ; and once in particular, 
 being early in the morning, we came to an anchor un- 
 der a little point of land which was pretty high ; and 
 the tide beginning to flow, we lay still to go farther in* 
 Xury, whose eyes were more about him than it seems 
 mine were, calls softly to me, and tells me that we 
 had best go farther off the shore. “ For,” says he, 
 “ look ; yonder lies a dreadful monster on the side of 
 that hillock fast asleep.” I looked where he pointed, 
 and saw a dreadful monster indeed, for it was a terri- 
 ble great lion that lay on the side of the shore, under 
 the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as it were a 
 little over him. “ Xury,” says I, “ you shall go on 
 shore and kill him.” Xury looked frighted, and said, 
 “ Me kill ! He eat me at one mouth,” — one mouthful he 
 meant. However, I said no more to the boy, but 
 bade him lie still, and I took our biggest gun, which 
 was almost musket-bore, and loaded it with a good 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 33 
 
 charge of powder, and with two slugs, and laid it down ; 
 then I loaded another gun with two bullets ; and the 
 third (for we had three pieces) I loaded with five 
 smaller bullets. I took the best aim I could with the 
 first piece to have shot him into the head, but he lay 
 so, with his leg raised a little above his nose, that the 
 slugs hit his leg about the knee, and broke the bone. 
 He started up growling at first, but finding his leg 
 broke, fell down again, and then got up upon three 
 legs and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard. 
 I was a little surprised that I had not hit him on the 
 head. However, I took up the second piece immedi- 
 ately, 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 strug- 
 gling 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 foodj^ 
 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 liinTp 
 so he comes on board, and asked me to give him the 
 hatchet. “ For what, Xury?” said I. “Me eqt off 
 his head,” said he. However, Xury could not cut off 
 his head, but he cut off a foot, and brought it with 
 him, and it was a monstrous great one. 
 
 I bethought myself, however, that perhaps the skin 
 of him might one way or other be of some value to 
 us ; and I resolved to take off his skin if I could. So 
 
34 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 Xury and I went to ‘work with him; hut Xury was 
 much the better workman at it, for I knew very ill 
 how to do it. Indeed, it took us up both the whole 
 day, but at last we got off the hide of him, and 
 spreading it on the top of our cabin, the sun effect- 
 ually dried it in two days’ time, and it afterward 
 served me to lie upon. 
 
 After this stop we made on to the southward con 
 tinually for ten or twelve days, living very sparing on 
 our provisions, which began to abate very much, and 
 going no oftener into the shore than we were obliged 
 to for fresh water. My design in this was to make 
 the river Gambia or Senegal, — that is to say, any- 
 where about the Cape de Verde, — where I was in 
 hopes to meet with some European ship ; and if I did 
 not, I knew not what course I had to take, but to 
 seek out for the islands, or perish there among the 
 negroes. I knew that all the ships from Europe, 
 which sailed either to the coast of Guinea or to 
 Brazil, or to the East Indies, made this cape, or those 
 islands ; and in a word, I put the whole of my fortune 
 upon this single point, either that I must meet with 
 some' ship, or must perish. 
 
 When I had pursued this resolution about ten days 
 longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land 
 was inhabited ; and in two or three places, as we 
 sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look 
 at us ; we could also perceive they were quite black, 
 and 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 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 35 
 
 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 par- 
 ticularly made signs for something to eat ; they beck- 
 oned to me to stop my boat, and that they would 
 fetch me some meat. Upon this I lowered the top of 
 my sail, and lay by, and two of them ran up into the 
 country, and in less than half an hour came back, and 
 brought with them two pieces of dried flesh and some 
 corn, such as is the produce of their country ; but we 
 neither knew what the one or the other was. 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 till we fetched it on board, 
 and then came close to us again. 
 
 We made signs of thanks to them, for we had no- 
 thing to make them amends. But an opportunity 
 offered that very instant to oblige them wonderfully ; 
 for while we were lying by the shore came two mighty 
 creatures, one pursuing the other (as we took it) with 
 great fury from the mountains towards the sea ; 
 whether it was the male pursuing the female, or 
 whether they were in sport or in rage, we could not 
 tell, any more than we could tell whether it was usual 
 or strange, but I believe it was the latter ; because, in 
 the first place, those ravenous creatures seldom appear 
 but in the night ; and in the second place, we found 
 the people terribly frighted, especially the women. 
 The man that had the lance or dart did not fly from 
 them, but the rest did ; however, as tlm two creatures 
 
36 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 ran directly into the water, they did not seem to offer 
 to fall upon any of the negroes, hut plunged them- 
 selves into the sea, and swam about, as if they had 
 come for their diversion. At last, one of them began 
 to come nearer our boat than at first I expected ; but 
 I lay ready for him, for I had loaded my gun with all 
 possible expedition, and bade Xury load both the 
 others. As soon as he came fairly within my reach, 
 I fired, and shot him directly into the head ; immedi- 
 ately he sunk down into the water, but rose instantly, 
 and plunged up and down, as if he was struggling for 
 life, and so indeed he was. He immediately made to 
 the shore ; but between the wound, which was his 
 mortal hurt, and the strangling of the water, he died 
 just before he reached the shore. 
 
 It is impossible to expi’ess the astonishment of 
 these poor creatures at the noise and the fire of my 
 gun ; some of them were even ready to die for fear, 
 and fell down as dead with the very terror. But 
 when they saw the creature dead, and sunk in the 
 water, and that I made signs to them to come to the 
 shore, they took heart and came to the shore, and be- 
 gan 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 the shore, and found that 
 it was a most curious leopard, spotted, and fine to an 
 admirable degree ; and the negroes held up their 
 hands with admiration, to think what it was I had 
 killed him with. 
 
 The other creature, frighted with the flash of fire 
 and the noise of the gun, swam on shore, and ran up 
 directly to the mountains from whence they came ; 
 nor could I, at that distance, know what it was. I 
 
 i 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 
 
 37 
 
 found quickly the negroes were for eating the flesh of 
 this creature, so I was willing to have them take it as 
 a favor from me ; which, when I made signs to them 
 that they might take him, they were very thankful 
 for. Immediately they fell to work with him ; and 
 though they had no knife, yet, with a sharpened piece 
 of wood, they took off his skin as readily, and much 
 more readily, than we could have done with a knife„ 
 They offered me some of the flesh, which I declined, 
 making as if I would give it them, but made signs for 
 the skin, which they gave me very freely, and brought 
 me a great deal more of their provision, which, though 
 I did not understand, yet I accepted. Then I made 
 signs to them for some water, and held out one of my 
 jars to them, turning it bottom upward, to 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. The 
 women were as stark naked as the men. ; ,vO 
 
 I was now furnished with roots and cow, such as it 
 was, and water ; and leaving my friendly negroes, I 
 made forward for about eleven days more, without 
 offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run 
 out a great length into the sea, at about the distance 
 of four or five leagues before me ; and the sea being 
 very calm, I kept a large offing, to make this point. 
 At length, doubling the point, at about two leagues 
 from the land, I saw plainly land on the other side, 
 to seaward ; then I concluded, as it was most certain 
 indeed, that this was the Cape de Verde, and those 
 the islands, called from thence Cape de Verde Islands. 
 
38 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 wind, I might neither reach one 
 nor other. 
 
 In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped 
 into the cabin, and sat me down, Xury having the 
 helm ; when, on a sudden, the boy cried out, “ Master, 
 master, a ship with a sail ! ” and the foolish boy was 
 frighted out of his wits, thinking it must needs be 
 some of his master’s ships sent to pursue us, when I 
 knew we were gotten far enough out of their reach. 
 I jumped out of the cabin, and immediately saw, not 
 only the ship, but what she was, viz., that it was a 
 Portuguese ship, and, as I thought, was bound to the 
 coast of Guinea, for negroes. But when I observed 
 the course she steered, I was soon convinced they were 
 bound some other way, and did not design to come 
 any nearer to the shore ; upon which I stretched out 
 to sea as much as I could, resolving to speak with 
 them, if possible. 
 
 With all the sail I could make, I found I should 
 not be able to come in their way, but that they would 
 be gone by before I could make any signal to them ; 
 but after I had crowded to the utmost, and began to 
 despair, they, it seems, saw me by the help of their 
 perspective glasses, and that it was some European 
 boat, which, as they supposed, must belong to some 
 ship that was lost, so they shortened sail to let me 
 come up. I was encouraged with this ; and as I had 
 my patron’s ancient on board, I made a waft of it. to 
 them for a signal of distress, and fired a gun, both 
 which they saw ; for they told me they saw the smoke, 
 though they did not hear the gun. Upon these sig- 
 nals they very kindly brought to, and lay by foi 
 
ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY. 39 
 
 me ; ancl in about three hours’ time I came up with 
 them. 
 
 They asked me what I was, in Portuguese, and in 
 Spanish, and in French, but I understood none of 
 them ; but at last a Scots sailor, who was on board, 
 called to me, and I answered him, and told him I was 
 an Englishman, that I had made my escape out of 
 slavery from the Moors, at Sallee. Then they bade 
 me come on board, and very kindly took me in, and 
 all my goods. 
 
 It was an inexpressible joy to me, that any one will 
 believe, that I was thus delivered, as I esteemed it, 
 from such a miserable, and almost hopeless, condition 
 as I was in ; and I immediately offered all I had to 
 the captain of the ship, as a return for my deliver 
 ance. But he generously told me he would take 110= 
 thing 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,” says he, “when I carry you to 
 the Brazils, so great a way from your own country, if 
 I should take from you what you have, you will be 
 starved there, and then I only take away that life I 
 have given. No, no, Seignior Inglese,” says he, “ Mr. 
 Englishman, I will carry you thither in charity, and 
 those things will help you to buy your subsistence 
 there, and your passage home again.” 
 
 As he was charitable in his proposal, so he was just 
 in the performance to a tittle ; for he ordered the sea- 
 men that none should offer to touch anything I had ; 
 then he took everything into his own possession, and 
 gave me back an exact inventory of them, that I 
 
40 
 
 \ 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 might have them, even so much as my three earthen 
 jars. 
 
 As to my boat, it was a very good one, and that he 
 saw, and told me he would buy it of me for the ship’s 
 use, and asked me what I would have for it. I told 
 him he had been so generous to me in everything that 
 I could not offer to make any price of the boat, but 
 left it entirely to him ; upon which he told me he 
 would give me a note of his hand to pay me eighty 
 pieces of eight for it at Brazil, and when it came 
 there, if any one offered to give more, he would make 
 jt up. He offered me also sixty pieces of eight more 
 Tor my boy Xury, which I was loath to take ; not that 
 I was not willing to let the captain have him, but I 
 was very loath to sell the poor boy’s liberty, who had 
 assisted me so faithfully in procuring my own. How- 
 ever, 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 
 
 /"W e 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 1 
 was once more delivered from the most miserable of 
 all conditions of life ; and what to do next with my* 
 self, I was now to consider. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE VOYAGE TO GUINEA. 
 
 / 
 
 The generous treatment the captain gave me, I can 
 never enough remember. He would take nothing of 
 me for my passage, gave me twenty ducats for the 
 leopard’s skin and forty for the lion’s skin, which I 
 had in my boat, and caused everything I had in the 
 ship to be punctually delivered 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, an^J| 
 with this stock I went on shore in the Brazils. 
 
 I had not been long here, but bein g vpiwnmend 1 ^ 
 to the ho use of a good honest man like himself, who 
 had an innenio 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 
 
 t heir planting- and making of sugar : and seeing how 
 well th e pl , -.infprc 1 i j 111.1 Uf.' l V they g-PPW snrl- 
 
 denly, I resolved, if I could get license to settle there, I 
 
 would turn planter among them, resolving in the mean 
 
 time to find out some way to get my money which I 
 
 had left in London re mitted to me. To this purpose, 
 getting a kind of a letter of naturalization, I pur- **" 
 chased as much land that was uncured as my money 
 
 would reach, and formed a phur~fryr~~niy plantation 
 and settlement, and such a one as might be suitable 
 
42 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 to the stock which I proposed to myself to receive 
 from England^ 
 
 I had a neighbor, a Portuguese of Lisbon, but born 
 of English parents, whose name was Wells, and in 
 much such circumstances as I was. I call him my 
 neighbor, because his plantation lay next to mine, and 
 we went on very sociably together. My stock was but 
 low, as well as his ; and we rather planted for food 
 than anything else, for about two years. However, 
 we began to increase, and our land began to come 
 into order ; so that the third year we planted some 
 tobacco, and made each of us a large piece of ground 
 ready for planting canes in the year to come. But we 
 both wanted help ; and now I found, more than be- 
 ir-for e, I had done wrong in parting with h n 7 ^ n1 T 
 But alas ! for me to do wrong that never did right 
 4 was no great wonder. I had no remedy but to go on. 
 I was gotten into an employment quite remote to my 
 genius, and directly contrary to the life I delighted in, 
 and for which I forsook my father’s house, and broke 
 through all his good advice ; nav. I was coming i nto^ 
 the very middle stflBnn , or uppe r degree of J. ow . l iie. 
 which mv father advised m e t° before ; and which, if 
 I resolved to go on with, I might as well have stayed 
 it home, and never have fatigued myself in the world 
 asl bad done. And I used often to say to myself, 
 I could have done this as well in England among my 
 friends, as have gone five thousand miles off to do it 
 among strangers and savages, in a wilderness, and at 
 such a distance as never to hear from any part of the 
 torld that had the least knowledge of me. 
 j In this manner I used to look upon my condition 
 pith the utmost regret. I had nobody to converse 
 with, but now and then this neighbor ; no work to be 
 
THE VOYAGE TO GUINEA. 
 
 43 
 
 done, but by the labor of my hands ; and I used to 
 say, I lived just like a man cast away upon some deso- 
 late island, that had nobody there but himself. But 
 how just has it been ! and how should all men reflect, 
 that when they compare their present conditions with 
 
 others that, am .ranrsp, Heaven may oblige them to 
 make th e exchange, and be convinced of their former 
 f elicity Ibytheir experience . — I say, how just has it 
 been, that the truly solitary life I reflected on in an 
 island of mere desolation should be my lot, who had 
 so often unjustly compared it with the life which I 
 then led, in which, had I continued, I had in all proba- 
 bility 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 ; 
 *vhen, telling him what little stock I had left behind 
 me in London, he gave me this friendly and sincere 
 advice : “ Seignior Inglese,” says he, for so he always 
 called me, “ if you will give me letters, and a procura- 
 tion here in form to me, with orders to the person who 
 has your money in London to send your effects to 
 Lisbon, to such persons as I shall direct, and in such 
 goods as are proper for this country,. I will bring you 
 the produce of them, God willing, at my return. But 
 since human affairs are all subject to changes and dis- 
 asters, I would have you give orders but for one hun- 
 dred 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.” 
 
44 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 This was so wholesome advice, and looked so 
 friendly, that I conld not but be convinced it was the 
 best course I could take ; so I accordingly prepared 
 letters to. the gentlewoman with whom I had left my 
 money, and a procuration to the Portuguese captain, 
 as he desired. 
 
 I wrote the English captain’s widow a full account 
 of all my adventures ; my slavery, escape, and how I 
 had met with the Portugal captain at sea, the human- 
 ity of his behavior, and in what condition I was now 
 in, with all other necessary directions for my supply. 
 And when this honest captain came to Lisbon, he 
 found means, by some of the English merchants there, 
 to send over not the order only, but a full account of 
 my story to a merchant at London, who represented 
 I ’ it effectually to her ; whereupon she not only delivered 
 1 the money, but out of her own pocket sent the Portu- 
 I gal captain a very handsome present for his humanity 
 ' and charity to me. 
 
 The merchant in London vesting this hundred 
 pounds in English goods, such as the captain had ^ 
 writ for, sent them directly to him at Lisbon, and he 
 brought them all safe to me to the Brazils ; among 
 which, without my direction (for I was too young in 
 my business to think of them), he had taken care to 
 have all sorts of tools, iron-work, and utensils neces- 
 sary for my plantation, and which were of great use 
 to me. 
 
 When this cargo arrived, I thought my fortune 
 made, for I was surprised with joy of it ; and my good 
 steward, the captain, had laid out the five pounds, 
 which my friend had sent him for a present for him- 
 self, to purchase and bring me over a servant under 
 bond for six years’ service, and would not accept of 
 
THE VOYAGE TO GUINEA. 45 
 
 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 Eng- 
 lish manufactures, such as cloth, stuffs, baize, ana 
 things particularly valuable and desirable in the coun- 
 try, I found means to sell them to a very great advan- 
 tage ; so that I may say I had more than four times 
 the value of my first cargo, and was now infinitely be- 
 yond my poor neighbor, 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 
 veiy means of our greatest adversity, so was it with 
 me. I went on the next year with great success in 
 my plantation. I raised fifty great rolls of tobacco 
 on my own ground, more than I had disposed of for 
 necessaries among my neighbors ; and these fifty rolls 
 being each of above a hundred-weight, were well cured 
 and laid by against the return of the fleet from Lisbon. 
 And now, increasing in business and in wealth, my 
 head began to be full of projects and undertakings 
 beyond my reach, such as are, indeed, often the ruin 
 of the best heads in business. 
 
 Had I continued in the station I was now in, I had 
 room for all the happy things to have yet befallen me 
 for which my father so earnestly recommended a quiet, 
 retired life, and of which he had so sensibly described 
 the middle station of life to be full of. But other 
 things attended me, and I was still to be the wilful 
 agent of all my own miseries ; and particularly, to 
 increase my fault and double the reflections upon 1113^- 
 self, which in my future sorrows I should have leisure 
 
46 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 ‘'-to make. All these miscarriages were procured by 
 my apparent obstinate adhering to my foolish inclina- 
 tion of wandering abroad, and pursuing-that inclination 
 in con trad iotion_to. the clearest views of doing myse lf 
 good ill a fair and plai n pursuit of those prospegia, 
 and those measures of life, which Nature and Provi- 
 
 d on c.p. conp.iiTVP.tl to present. mo witk, nml to make my 
 
 duty. 
 
 As I had once done thus in my breaking away from 
 my parents, so I could not be content now, but I must 
 go and leave the happy view I had of being a rich and 
 thriving man in my new plantation, only to pursue a 
 rash and immoderate desire of rising faster than the 
 nature of the thing admitted ; and thus I cast myself 
 down again into the deepest gulf of human misery .that 
 ever man fell into, or perhaps could be consistent with 
 life and a state of health in the world. 
 
 To come, then, by the just degrees to the particulars 
 of this part of my story. You may suppose that hav- 
 ing now lived almost four years in the Brazils, and 
 beginning to thrive and prosper very well upon my 
 plantation, I had not only learned the language, but 
 had contracted acquaintance and friendship among my 
 fellow-planters, as well as among the merchants at St. 
 Salvador, which was our port, and that in my dis- 
 courses 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 dis 
 
THE VOYAGE TO GUINEA. 
 
 47 
 
 courses on these heads, but especially to that part 
 which related to the buying negroes ; which was a 
 trade, at that time, not only not far entered into, but, 
 as far as it was, had been carried on by the assiento, 
 or permission, of the kings of Spain and Portugal, 
 and engrossed in the public, so that few negroes 
 were brought, and those excessive dear. 
 
 It happened, being in company with some merchants 
 and planters of my acquaintance, and talking of those 
 things very earnestly, three of them came to me the 
 next morning, and told me they had been musing very 
 much upon what I had discoursed with them of, the 
 last night, and they came to make a secret proposal to 
 me. And after enjoining me secrecy, they told me 
 that they had a mind to fit out a ship to go to Guinea ; 
 that they had all plantations as well as I, and were 
 straitened for nothing so much as servants ; that as it 
 was a trade that could not be carried on because they 
 could not publicly sell the negroes when they came 
 home, so they desired to make but one voyage, to 
 bring the negroes on shore privately, and divide them 
 among their own plantations ; and, in a word, the 
 question was, whether I would go their supercargo in 
 the ship, to manage the trading part upon the coast of 
 Guinea ; and they offered me that I should have my 
 equal share of the negroes without providing any part 
 of the stock. 
 
 This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, had 
 it been made to any one that had not had a settlement 
 and plantation of his own to look after, which was in 
 a fair way of coming to be very considerable, and 
 with a good stock upon it. But for me, that was thus 
 Entered and established, and had nothing to do but go 
 on as I had begun, for three or four years mere, and 
 
48 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 to have sent for the other hundred pounds from 
 England ; and who, in that time, and with that little 
 addition, could scarce have failed of being worth three 
 or four thousand pounds sterling and that increasing 
 ) too — for me to think of such a voyage was the most 
 I preposterous thing that ever man, in such circum- 
 /stances, could be guilty of. 
 
 But I, that was born to be my own destroyer, could 
 no more resist the offer than 1 could restrain my first 
 
 ramblin.”' designs, when my father’s good 
 
 l ost upon me. In a word, I told them I would go 
 ‘-"'with all my heart, if they would undertake to look 
 after my plantation in my absence, and would dispose 
 of it to such as I should direct if I miscarried. This 
 they all engaged to do, and entered into writings or 
 covenants to do so; and I made a formal will, dis- 
 posing of my plantation and effects, in case of my 
 death ; making the captain of the ship that had saved 
 my life, as before, my universal heir, but obliging him 
 to dispose of my effects as I had directed in my will ; 
 one half of the produce being to himself, and the other 
 to be shipped to England. 
 
 In short, I took all possible caution to preserve my 
 effects, and keep up my plantation. Had I used half 
 as much prudence to have looked into my own interest, 
 and have made a judgment of what I ought to have 
 done and not to have done, I had certainly never gone 
 away fi-om so prosperous an undertaking, leaving all 
 the probable views of a thriving circumstance, and 
 gone upon a voyage to sea, attended with all its com- 
 mon hazards, to say nothing of the reasons I had to 
 expect particular misfortunes to myself. 
 
 But I was hurried on, and obey ed blindly tEa-4W 
 tates of my fancy rather than my reason. And accord* 
 
THE VOYAGE TO GUINEA. 49 
 
 ingly, the ship being fitted out, and the cargo fur-\ 
 nished, 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 year that I went from my father and mother 
 at Hull, in order to act the rebel to their authority, and 
 the fool to my own interest. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SHIPWRECK. 
 
 Our ship was about a hundred and twenty tons’ 
 burthen, carried six guns and fourteen men, besides 
 the master, his boy, and myself. We had on board 
 no large cargo of goods, except of such toys as were 
 fit for our trade with the negroes, — such as beads, bits 
 of glass, shells, and 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 ten or twelve 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 the 
 height of Cape St. Augustino, from whence, keeping 
 farther off at sea, we lost sight of land, and steered as 
 if we was bound for the Isle Fernando de Noronha, 
 holding our course N. E. by N., and leaving those isles 
 on the east. In this course we passed the line in about 
 twelve days’ time, and were, by our last observation, 
 in 7° 22' northern latitude, when a violent tornado, 
 or hurricane, took us quite out of our knowledge. It 
 began from the southeast, came about to the north- 
 west, and then settled into the northeast, from whence 
 it blew in such a terrible manner that for twelve days 
 together we could do nothing but drive, and, scudding 
 
THE SHIPWRECK. 
 
 51 
 
 away before it, let it carry us wherever fate and the 
 fury of the winds directed ; and during these twelve 
 days, I need not say that I expected every day to be 
 swallowed up, nor, indeed, did any in the ship expect 
 to save their lives. 
 
 In this distress we had, besides the terror of the 
 storm, one of our men die of the galentuyg^ and one 
 man and the boy washed overboard. About the 
 twelfth day, the weather abating a little, the master 
 made an observation as well as he could, and found 
 that he was in about eleven degrees north latitude, but 
 that he was twenty-two degrees of longitude difference 
 west from Cape St. Augustino ; so that he found he wa s 
 gotten upon the coast of Guiana, or the north part 
 ot Brazil, beyond the river Amazon, toward that of 
 
 the river Or inoco, commonly called the Great River, 
 and began to consult with me what course he should 
 take, for the ship was leaky and very much disabled, 
 and he was going directly back to the coast of Brazil. 
 
 I was positively against that ; and looking over the 
 charts of the sea-coast of America with him, we con- 
 cluded there was no inhabited country for us to have 
 recourse to till we came within the circle of the Car- 
 ibbee Islands, and therefore resolved to stand away 
 for Barbadoes, which by keeping off at sea, to avoid 
 the indraft of the Bay or Gulf of Mexico, we might 
 easily perform, as we hoped, in about fifteen days’ sail ; 
 whereas we could not possibly make our voyage to 
 the coast of Africa without some assistance, both to 
 our ship and to ourselves. 
 
 With this design we changed our course, and 
 steered away N. W. by W. in order to reach some of 
 our English islands, where I hoped for relief ; but our 
 voyage was otherwise determined ; for being in the 
 
52 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 latitude of 12° 18', a second storm came upon us, 
 which carried us away with the same impetuosity 
 westward, and drove us so out of the very way of all 
 human commerce that had all our lives been saved as 
 to the sea, we were rather in danger of being devoured 
 by savages than ever returning to our own country. 
 
 In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, 
 one of our men early in the morning cried out, 
 “ Land ! ” and we had no sooner ran out of the cabin 
 to look out, in hopes of seeing whereabouts in the 
 world we were, but the ship struck upon a sand, and 
 in a moment, her motion being so stopped, the sea 
 ■broke over her in such a manner that we expected we 
 should all have perished immediately; and we were 
 immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter 
 us from the very foam and spray of the sea. 
 
 It is not easy for any one, who has not been in the 
 like condition, to describe or conceive the consternation 
 of men in such circumstances. We knew nothing 
 where we were, or upon what land it was we were 
 driven, whether an island or the main, whether inhab- 
 ited or not inhabited ; and as the rage of the wind 
 was still great, though rather less than at first, we 
 could not so much as hope to have the ship hold many 
 minutes without breaking in pieces, unless the winds, 
 by a kind of miracle, should turn immediately about. 
 In a word, we sat looking one upon another, and ex- 
 pecting death every moment, and every man acting 
 accordingly, as preparing for another world ; for 
 there was little or nothing more for us to do in this. 
 That which was our present comfort, and all the com- 
 fort we had, was that, contrary to our expectation, 
 the ship did not break yet, and that the master said 
 the wind began to abate. 
 
THE SHIPWRECK. 
 
 53 
 
 Now, though we thought that the wind did a little 
 abate, yet the ship having thus struck upon the sand, 
 and sticking too fast for us to expect her getting off, 
 we were in a dreadful condition indeed, and had no- 
 thing to do but to think of saving our lives as well as 
 we could. We had a boat at our stei'n 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 doubt- 
 ful thing. However, there was no room to debate, 
 for we fancied the ship would break in pieces every 
 minute, and some told us she was actually broken 
 already. 
 
 In this distress, the mate of our vessel lays hold of 
 the boat, and with the help of the rest of the men they 
 got her slung over the ship’s side ; and getting all into 
 her, let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven. in 
 number, to God’s mercy and the wild sea ; for though 
 the storm was abated considerably, yet the sea went 
 dreadful high upon the shore, and might well be 
 called den wild zee , as the Dutch call the sea in a 
 storm. 
 
 And now our case was very dismal indeed, for we 
 all saw plainly that the sea went so high that the 
 boat could not live, and that we should be inevitably 
 drowned. As to making sail, we had none ; nor if 
 we had, could we have done 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 
 6ea. However, we committed our souls to God in the 
 
54 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 most earnest manner ; and the wind driving us towards 
 the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own 
 hands, pulling as well as we could towards land. 
 
 What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether 
 steep or shoal, we knew not ; the only hope that could 
 rationally give us the least shadow of expectation was, 
 if we might happen into some bay or gulf, or the mouth 
 of some river, where by great chance we might have 
 run our boat in, or got under the lee of the land, and 
 perhaps made smooth water. But there was nothing 
 of this appeared ; but as we made nearer and nearer 
 the shore, the land looked more frightful than the sea. 
 
 After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a league 
 and a half, as we reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain- 
 like, came rolling astern of us, and plainly bade us 
 expect 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 well from the boat as from one another, 
 gave us not time hardly to say, “ O God ! ” for we 
 were all swallowed up in a moment. 
 
 Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which 
 I felt when I sunk into the water ; for though I swam 
 very well, yet I could not deliver myself from the 
 waves so as to draw breath, till that wave having 
 
 ( driven me, or rather carried me, a vast way on towards 
 the shore, and having spent itself, went back, and left 
 me upon the land almost dry, but half dead with the 
 water I took in. I had so much presence of mind, as 
 well as breath left, that seeing myself nearer the main- 
 land than I expected, I got upon my feet, and en- 
 deavored to make on towards the land as fast as I 
 could, before another wave should return and take me 
 up again. But I soon found it was impossible to 
 avoid it ; for I saw the sea come after me as high as a 
 
THE SHIP WRECK. 
 
 55 
 
 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 breath- 
 ing, and pilot myself towards the shore, if possible ; 
 my greatest concern now being that the sea, as it 
 woukl carry me a great way towards the shore when 
 it came on, might not carry me back again with it 
 when it gave back towards the sea. 
 
 The wave that came upon me again buried me at 
 once twenty or thirty feet deep in its own body, and I 
 could feel myself carried with a mighty force and swift- 
 ness towards the shore a very great way ; but I held 
 my breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward 
 with all my might. I was ready to burst with holding 
 my breath when, as I felt myself rising up, so, to my 
 immediate relief, I found my head and hands shoot 
 out above the surface of the water ; and though it was 
 not two seconds of time that I could keep myself so, 
 yet it relieved me greatly, gave me breath and new 
 courage. I was covered again with water a good 
 while, but not so long but I held it out ; and finding 
 the water had spent itself, and began to return, I 
 struck forward against the return of the waves, and 
 felt ground again with my feet. I stood still a few 
 moments to recover breath, and till the water went 
 from me, and then took to my heels and ran with 
 what strength I had farther towards the shore. But 
 neither would this deliver lire from the fury of the sea, 
 which came pouring in after me again, and twice more 
 I was lifted up by the waves and carried forwards as 
 before, the shore being very flat. 
 
 The last time of these two had well near been fatal 
 to me ; for the sea, having hurried me along as before, 
 
56 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 landed me, or ratlier daslied me, against a piece of a 
 . rock, and that with such force as it left me senseless, 
 and indeed helpless, as to my own deliverance ; for the 
 blow taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it 
 were quite out of my body ; and had it returned again 
 immediately, I must have been strangled in the water. 
 But I recovered a little before the return of the waves, 
 and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I 
 resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to 
 hold my breath, if possible, till the wave went back. 
 Now as the waves were not so high as at first, being 
 near land, I held ’my hold till the wave abated, and 
 then fetched another run, which brought me so near 
 the shore that the next wave, though it went over me, 
 yet did not so swallow me up as to carry me away, 
 and the next run I took I got to the mainland, where, 
 to my great comfort, I clambered up the cliffs of 
 the shore, and sat me down upon the grass, free from 
 danger, and quite out of the reach of the water. 
 
 I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to 
 look up and thank God that my life was saved in a case 
 wherein there was some minutes before scarce any 
 , room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express to 
 ! the life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul 
 are when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the very 
 grave ; and I do not wonder now at that custom, viz., 
 V f that when a malefactor, who has the halter about his 
 neck, is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and 
 has a reprieve brought to him — I say, I do not won- 
 der 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 
 •y overwhelm him : 
 
 “ For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.” 
 
THE SHIPWRECK. 
 
 57 
 
 I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands, 
 and my whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in the 
 contemplation of my deliverance, making a thousand 
 gestures and motions which I cannot describe, reflect- 
 ing 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 
 4 / 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 condition, I began to look round me to see 
 what kind of place I was in, and what was next to be 
 done, and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, 
 in a word, I had a dreadful deliverance ; for I was 
 wet, had no clothes to shift me, nor anything either to 
 eat or drink to comfort me, neither did I see any pros- 
 pect before me but that of perishing with hunger, or 
 being devoured by wild beasts ; and that which 
 was particularly afflicting to me was, that I had no 
 weapon either to hunt and kill any creature for my 
 sustenance, or to defend myself against any other 
 creature that might desire to kill me for theirs. In a 
 word, I had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco- 
 4 ) ipe, and a little tobacco in a box. This was all my 
 provision ; and this threw me into terrible agonies of 
 mind, that for a while I ran about like a madman. 
 Night coming upon me, I began, with a heavy heart, 
 to consider what would be my lot if there were any 
 ravenous beasts in that country, seeing at night they 
 always come abroad for their prey. 
 
58 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that 
 time was, to get up into a thick bushy tree like a fir, 
 but thorny, which grew near me, and where I re- 
 solved to sit all night, and consider the next day 
 what death I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect 
 of life. I walked about a furlong from the shore, to 
 see if I could find any fresh water to drink, which I 
 did, to my great joy; and having drank, and put a 
 little tobacco in my mouth to prevent hunger, I went 
 to the tree, and getting up into it, endeavored to 
 place myself so, as that if I should sleep I might not 
 fall; and having cut me a short stick, like a trun- 
 cheon, for my defence, I took up my lodging, and hav- 
 ing been excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and 
 slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have 
 done in my condition, and found myself the most 
 refreshed with it that I think I ever was on such an 
 nuecasion. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE RAFT. 
 
 When I wakecl it was broad day, the weather 
 clear, and the storm abated, so that the sea did not 
 rage and swell as before. Bat that which surprised 
 me most was, that the ship was lifted off in the night 
 from the sand where she lay, by the swelling of the 
 tide, and was driven up almost as far as the rock 
 which I first mentioned, where I had been so bruised 
 by the dashing me against it. This being within 
 about a mile from the shore where I was, and the 
 ship seeming to stand upright still, I wished myself 
 on board, that, at least, I might have some necessary 
 things for my use. 
 
 When I came down from my apartment in the tree 
 I looked about me again, and the first thing T found 
 was the boat, which lay as the wind and the sea had 
 tossed her up upon the land, about two miles on my 
 right hand. I walked as far as I could upon the 
 shore to have got to her, but found a neck or inlet of 
 water between me and the boat, which was about half 
 a mile broad ; so I came back for the present, being 
 more intent upon getting at the ship, where I hoped 
 to find something for my present subsistence. 
 
 A little after noon I found the sea very calm, and 
 the tide ebbed so far out that I could come within a 
 quarter of a mile of the ship; and here I found a 
 fresh renewing of my grief, for I saw, evidently, that 
 
60 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 if we had kept on board we had been all safe, that is 
 to say, we had all got safe on shore, and I had not 
 been so miserable as to be left entirely destitute ol 
 all comfort and company, as I now was. Tin's 
 tears from my e ves aga in ; was little rr. 
 
 lie£4e^fehfttyTTesolved, if possible, to get to the ship; 
 
 "so 1 pulled off my clothes, for the weather was hot to 
 
 extremity, and took the water. But when I came to 
 the ship, my difficulty was still greater to know how 
 to get on board; for as she lay aground, and high 
 out of the water, there was nothing within my reach 
 to lay hold of. . 1 swam round he r twice, and the 
 seconcLtime I spied a small piece of a rope, which ,1 
 wondered T did not see a t first, hang down by the 
 for e-chains so low a,s th a t w i th-- great - difficul t v I got 
 ho ld of it. and by the help of that rope got up into 
 t he forecastle of t he ship. Here I found~EhaT~ 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, 1 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 what was 
 before me. Now I wanted nothing but a boat, to 
 furnish myself with many things which I foresaw 
 would be very necessary to me. 
 
THE RAFT. 
 
 61 
 
 It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was 
 not to be had, and this extrem ity roused my applica- 
 tion. We had several spare yards, and two or three 
 large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in 
 the ship. I resolved to fall to work with these, and 
 flung as many of them overboard as I could manage 
 for their weight, tying every one with a rojie, that 
 they might not drive away. When this was done I 
 went down the ship’s side, and, pulling them to me, 
 
 I tied four of them fast together at both ends as well 
 as I could, in the form of a raft; and laying two or 
 three short pieces of plank upon them crossways, I 
 found I 6ould 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 carpen- 
 ter’s saw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, 
 and added them to my raft, with a great deal of labor 
 and pains; but hope of furnishing myself with neces- 
 saries encouraged me to go beyond what I should 
 have been able to have done upon another occasion. 
 
 V My raft was now strong enough to bear any reason- 
 able weight. My next care was what to load it with, 
 and how to preserve what I laid upon it from the 
 surf of the sea ; but I was not long considering this. 
 
 I first laid all the planks or boards upon it that I 
 could get, and having considered well what I most 
 wanted, I first got three of the seamen’s chests, which 
 I had broken open and emptied, and lowered them 
 down upon my raft. The first of these T filled with 
 provisions, viz., bread, rice, three Dutch cheeses, 
 
 five pieces of dried goat’s flesh, wf” 1,1, Hvq/I 
 
 upon, and a little remainder of European com, which 
 had been laid by for some fowls whi ch we bronobt J xl_ 
 seaT'wTflf us; b ut the fo wls were killed. ^ There had 
 
62 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 been some barley and wheat together, but, to my 
 great disappointment, I found afterwards that the 
 rats had eaten or spoiled it all. As for liquors, I 
 found several cases of bottles belonging to our skip- 
 per, 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 mortification to see my coat, 
 shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on shore upon 
 the sand, swim away; as for my breeches, which were 
 only linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in 
 them, and my stockings. However, this put me upon 
 rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough, but 
 took no more than I wanted for present use; for I 
 had other things which my eye was more upon, as, 
 first, tools to work with on shore; and it was after 
 long searching that I found out the carpenter’s chest, 
 which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and much 
 more valuable than a ship-loading of gold would have 
 been at that time. I got it down to my raft, even 
 whole as it was, without losing time to look into it, 
 for I knew in general what it contained. 
 
 My next care was for some ammunition and arms; 
 there were two very good fowling-pieces in the great 
 cabin, and two' pistols ; these I secured first, with 
 some powder-horns, and a small bag of shot, and two 
 old rusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of 
 powder in the ship, but knew not where our gunner 
 had stowed them; but with much search I found 
 them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken 
 water; those two I got to my raft with the arms. 
 And now I thought myself pretty well freighted, and 
 
THE RAFT. 
 
 63 
 
 began to think how I should get to shore with them, 
 having neither sail, oar, nor rudder; and the least 
 capful of wind would have overset all my navigation. 
 
 I had three encouragements. 1. A smooth, calm 
 sea. 2. The tide rising and setting in to the shore. 
 3. What little wind there was blew me towards the 
 land. And thus, having found two or three broken 
 oars belonging to the boat, and besides the tools 
 which were in the chest, I found two saws, an axe, 
 and a hammer, and with this cargo I put to sea. 
 For a mile or thereabouts my raft went very well, 
 only that I found it drive a little distant from the 
 place where I had landed before, by which I per- 
 ceived that there was some indraft of the water, and 
 consequently I hoped to find some creek or river 
 there, which I might make use of as a port to get to 
 land with my cargo. 
 
 As I imagined, so it was : there appeared before 
 me a little opening of the land, and I found a strong 
 current of the tide set into it, so I guided my raft as 
 well as I could to keep in the middle of the stream. 
 But here I had like to have suffered a second ship- 
 wreck, which, if I had, I think verily woidd have 
 broke my heart; for knowing nothing of the coast, 
 my raft ran aground at one end of it upofi a shoal, 
 and not being aground at the other end, it wanted 
 but a little that all my cargo had slipped off towards 
 that end that was afloat, and so fallen into the water. 
 I did my utmost by setting my back against the 
 chests to keep them in their places, but could not 
 thrust off the raft with all my strength, neither durst 
 I stir from the posture I was in, but holding up the 
 chests with all my might, stood in that manner near 
 half an hour, in which time the rising of the water 
 
64 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 chan- 
 nel, 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 
 f.he river, hoping in time to see some ship at sea, and 
 therefore resolved to place myself as near the coast 
 as I could. 
 
 At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of 
 the creek, to which, with great pain and difficulty, I 
 guided my raft, and at last got so near as that, 
 reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her 
 directly in; but here I had like to have dipped all 
 my cargo in the sea again ; for that shore lying pretty 
 steep, that is to say, sloping, there was no place to 
 land but where one end of 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 the 
 highest, keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor 
 to hold the side of it fast to the shore, near a flat 
 piece of ground, which I expected the water would 
 flow over; and so it did. As soon as I fpund 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. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 UNLOADING THE SHIP. 
 
 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 hap- 
 pen. Where I was, I yet knew not; whether on the 
 continent, or on an island ; whether inhabited, or not 
 inhabited; whether in danger of wild beasts, or not. 
 There was a hill, not above a mile from me, which 
 rose up very steep and high, and which seemed to 
 overtop some other hills, which lay as in a ridge from 
 it, northward. I took out one of the fowling-pieces 
 and one of the pistols, and a horn of powder; and 
 thus armed, I travelled for discovery up to the top of 
 that hill, where, after I had with great labor and 
 difficulty got to the top, I saw my fate to my great 
 affliction, viz., that I was in an island environed every 
 way with the sea, no land to be seen, except some 
 rocks which lay a great way off, and two small islands 
 less than this, which lay about three leagues to the 
 west. 
 
 I found, also, that the island I was in was barren, 
 and, as I saw good reason to believe, uninhabited, 
 except by wild beasts, of whom, however, I saw none ; 
 yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not their 
 kinds; neither, when I killed them, could I tell what 
 was fit for food, and what not. At my coming back, 
 I shot at a great bird which I saw sitting upon a tree 
 
66 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 every one according to his usual note ; but 
 not one of them of any kind that I knew. As for 
 the creature I killed, I took it to he a kind of a hawk, 
 its color and beak resembling it, but had no talons 
 or claws more than common; its flesh was carrion, 
 and fit for nothing. 
 
 Contented with this discovery, I came back to my 
 raft, and fell to work to bring my cargo on shore, 
 which took me up the rest of that day ; and what to 
 do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed 
 where to rest; for I was afraid to lie down on the 
 ground, not knowing but some wild beast might 
 devour me, though, as I afterwards found, there was 
 really no need for those fears. However, as well as 
 I could, I barricaded myself round with the chests 
 and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a 
 kind of a hut for that night’s lodging; as for food, I 
 yet saw not which way to supply myself, except that 
 I had seen two or three creatures like hares run out 
 of the wood where I shot the fowl. 
 
 I now began to consider, that I might yet get a 
 great many things out of the ship which would be 
 useful to me, and particularly some of the rigging 
 and sails, and such other things as might come to 
 land; and I resolved to make another voyage on 
 board the vessel, if possible. And as I knew that 
 the first storm that blew must necessarily break her 
 all in pieces, I resolved to set all other things apart 
 till I got everything out of the ship that I pould get. 
 
UNLOADING THE SHIP. 
 
 61 
 
 Then I called a council, that is to say, in my thoughts, '■< 
 whether I should take back the raft, but this appeared 
 impracticable; so I resolved to go as before, when 
 the tide was down; and I did so, only that I stripped 
 before I went from my hut, having nothing on but 
 a 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 of hatchets, and, above all, that 
 most useful thing called a grindstone. All these I 
 secured, together with several things belonging to the 
 gunner, particularly two or three iron crows, and two 
 barrels of musket bullets, seven muskets, and another 
 fowling-piece, with some small quantity of powder 
 more ; a large bag full of small-shot, and a great roll 
 of sheet lead ; but this last was so heavy I could not 
 hoist it up to get it over the ship’s side. Besides 
 these things, I took all the men’s clothes that I could 
 find, and a spare foretop sail, a hammock, and some 
 bedding; and with this I loaded my second raft, and 
 brought them all safe on shore, to my very great com- 
 fort. 
 
 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 towai’ds it, ran away a little distance, and then 
 stood still. She sat very composed and unconcerned. 
 
G8 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 and looked full in my face, as if she had a mind to 
 be acquainted with me. I presented my gun at her ; 
 but as she did not understand it, she was perfectly 
 unconcerned at it, nor did she offer to stir away; 
 upon which I tossed her a bit of biscuit, though, by 
 the way, I was not very free of it, for my store was 
 not great. However, I spared her a bit, I say, and 
 she went to it, smelled of it, and ate it, and looked 
 (as pleased) for more ; but I thanked her, and could 
 spare no more, so she marched off. 
 
 Having got my second cargo on shore, though I 
 was fain to open the barrels of powder and bring 
 them by parcels, for they were too heavy, being large 
 casks, I went to work to make me a little tent with 
 the sail and some poles which I cut for that purpose; 
 and into this tent I brought everything that I knew 
 would spoil either with rain or sun ; and I piled all 
 the empty chests and casks up in a circle round the 
 tent, to fortify it from any sudden attempt, either 
 from man or beast. 
 
 When I had done this I blocked up the door of the 
 tent with some boards within, and an empty chest set 
 up on end without; and spreading one of the beds 
 upon the ground, laying my two pistols just at my 
 head, and my gun at length by me, I went to bed' for 
 the first time, and slept very quietly all night, for I 
 was very weary and heavy ; for the night before I had 
 slept little, and had labored very hard all day, as 
 well to fetch all those things from, the ship, as to get 
 them on shore. 
 
 I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that 
 ever was* laid up, I believe, for one man ; but I was 
 not satisfied still, for while the ship sat upright in 
 that posture, I thought I ought to get everything out 
 
THE FIRST RAFT 
 

 
 
 
 
 
UNLOADING THE SHIP. 
 
 69 
 
 of her that I could. So every day at low water I 
 went on board, and brought away something or other ; 
 but, particularly, the third time I went I brought 
 away as much of the rigging as I could, as also all 
 the small ropes and rope-twine I could get, with a 
 piece of spare canvas, which was to mend the sails 
 upon occasion, and the barrel of wet gunpowder; in a 
 word, I brought away all the sails first and last, only 
 that I was fain to cut them in pieces, and bring as 
 much at a time as I could; for they were no more 
 useful to be sails, but as mere canvas only. 
 
 But that which comforted me more still was that, 
 at last of all, after I had made five or six such voy- 
 ages as these, and thought I had nothing more to ex- 
 pect from the ship that was worth my meddling with, 
 — I say, after all this, I found a great hogshead of 
 bread, and three large runlets of rum or spirits, and 
 a box of sugar, and a barrel of fine flour; this was 
 surprising to me, because I had given over expecting 
 any more provisions, except what was spoilt by the 
 water. I soon emptied the hogshead of that bread, 
 and wrapped it up parcel by parcel in pieces of the 
 sails, which I cut out ; and, in a word, I got all this 
 safe on shore also. 
 
 The next day I made another voyage. And now, 
 having plundered the ship of what was portable and 
 fit to hand out, I began with the cables ; and cutting 
 the great cable into pieces, such as I could move, I 
 got two cables and a hawser on shore, with all the 
 iron-work I could get ; and having hut down the sprit-, 
 sail 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 un- 
 
70 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 wieldy, and so overladen, tliat after I was entered 
 the little cove where I had landed the rest of rny 
 goods, not being able to guide it so handily as I did 
 the other, it overset, and threw me and ajf 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 ex- 
 pected would have been of great use to me. How- 
 ever, when the tide was out I got most of the pieces 
 of cable ashore, and some of the iron, though with 
 infinite labor; for I was fain to dip for it into the 
 water, a work which fatigued me very much. After 
 this I went every day on board, and brought away 
 what I could get. 
 
 I had been now thirteen days on shore, and had 
 
 been eleven times on board the ship; in which time 
 
 I had brought away all that one pair of hands could 
 well be supposed capable to bring, though I believe 
 verily, had the calm weather held, I should have 
 brought away the whole ship piece by piece. But 
 preparing the twelfth time to go on board, I found 
 the wind begin to rise. However, at low water I 
 went on board, and though I thought I had rummaged 
 the cabin so effectually as that nothing more could be 
 found, yet I discovered a locker with drawers in it, 
 in one of which I found two or three razors, and one 
 pair of large scissors, with some ten or a dozen of 
 \ good knives and forks; in another, I found about 
 thirty-six pounds value in money, some European 
 coin, some Brazil* some pieces of eight, some gold, 
 some silver. 
 
 t l smiled to myself at the sight of this money. “O 
 rug! ” said I aloud, “what art thou good for? Thou 
 rt not worth to me, no, not the taking off of the 
 
UNLOADING THE SHIP. 
 
 71 
 
 ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap. 
 I have no manner of use for thee; even remain where 
 thou art, and go to the bottom as a creature whose 
 life is not worth saving.” However, upon second 
 thoughts, I took it away; and wrapping all this in a 
 piece of canvas, I began to think of making another 
 raft ; but while I was preparing this, I found the sky 
 overcast, and the wind began to rise, and in a quarter 
 of an hour it blew a fresh gale from the shore. It 
 presently occurred to me that it was in vain to pre- 
 tend to make a raft with the wind off shore, and that 
 it was my business to be gone before the tide of flood 
 began, otherwise I might not be able to reach the 
 shore at all. Accordingly I let myself down into the 
 water, and swam across the channel, which lay be- 
 tween 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 that night, and in the morning 
 when I looked out, behold, no more ship was to be 
 seen. I was a little surprised, but recovered myself 
 with this satisfactory reflection, viz., that I had lost 
 no time, nor abated no diligence, to get 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. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FIRST HABITATION. 
 
 I NOW gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or 
 of anything out of her, except what might drive on 
 shore from her wreck, as indeed divers pieces of her 
 afterwards did; but those things were of small use 
 to me. 
 
 My thoughts were now wholly employed about 
 securing myself against either savages, if any should 
 appear, or wild beasts, if any were in the island; and 
 I had many thoughts of the method how to do this, 
 and what kind of dwelling to make, whether I should 
 make me a cave in the earth, or a tent upon the 
 earth; and, in short, I resolved upon both, the man- 
 ner and description of which it may not be improper 
 to give an account of. 
 
 I soon found the place I was in was not for my 
 settlement, particularly because it was upon a low 
 moorish ground near the sea, and I believed would 
 not he wholesome; and more particularly because 
 there was no fresh water near it. So I resolved to 
 find a more healthy and more convenient spot of 
 ground. 
 
 I consulted several things in my situation, which I 
 found would be proper for me. First, health and 
 fresh water, I just now mentioned. Secondly, shelter 
 from the heat of the sun. Thirdly, security from 
 ravenous creatures, whether men or beasts. Fourthly, 
 
THE FIRST HABITATION. 
 
 73 
 
 a view to the sea, that if God sent any ship in sight 
 I might not lose any advantage for my deliverance, 
 of which I was not willing to banish all my expecta- 
 tion yet. 
 
 In search of a place proper for this, I found a lit- 
 tle plain on the side of a rising hill, whose front 
 towards this little plain was steep as a house-side, so 
 that nothing could come down upon me from the top. 
 On the side of this rock there was a hollow place, 
 worn a little way in, like the entrance or door of a 
 cave; but there was not really any cave, or way into 
 the rock at all. 
 
 On the flat of the green, just before this hollpw \ 
 place, I resolved to pitch my tent. This plain was 
 not above an hundred yards broad, and about twice 
 as long, and lay like a green before my door, and at 
 the end of it descended irregularly every way down/ 
 into the low grounds by the seaside. 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 Ivy 
 S. sun, or thereabouts, which in those countries 
 near the setting. 
 
 Before I set up my tent, I drew a half -circle before 
 the hollow place, which took in about ten yards in its 
 semi-diameter from the rock, and twenty yards in its 
 
 diameter from its 
 
 beginning 
 
 and ending. In this 
 
 half -circle I pitched two rows of strong stakes, driv- 
 ing them into the ground till they stood very firm 
 like piles, the biggest end being out of the ground 
 about five feet and a half, and sharpened on the top. 
 The two rows did not stand above six inches from 
 one another. 
 
 Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in 
 the ship, and laid them in rows one upon another, 
 
74 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 within the circle, between these two rows of stakes, 
 up to the top, placing other stakes in the inside lean- 
 ing- against them, about two feet and a half high, like 
 a spur to a post ; and this fence was so strong that 
 neither man nor beast could get into it, or over it. 
 This cost me a great deal of time and labor, espe- 
 cially to cut the piles in the woods, bring them to the 
 place, and drive them into the earth. 
 
 The entrance into this place I made to be not by a 
 door, but by a short ladder to go over the top ; which 
 ladder, when I was in, I lifted over after me, and so 
 I was completely fenced in, and fortified, as I thought, 
 from all the world, and consequently slept secure in 
 the night, which otherwise I could not have done; 
 though, as it appeared afterward, there was no need 
 of all this caution from the enemies that I appre- 
 hended danger from. 
 
 Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labor, I 
 carried all my riches, all my provisions, ammunition, 
 and stores, of which you have the account above ; and 
 I made me a large tent, which, to preserve me from 
 the rains that in one part of the year are very violent 
 there, I made double, viz., one smaller tent within, 
 and one larger tent above it, and covered the upper- 
 most with a large tarpaulin, which I had saved among 
 the sails. And now I lay no more for a while in the 
 bed which I had brought on shore, but in a hammock, 
 which was indeed a very good one, and belonged to 
 the mate of the ship. 
 
 Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and 
 everything that would spoil by the wet; and having 
 thus enclosed all my goods, I made up the entrance, 
 which, till now, I had left open, and so passed and 
 repassed, as I said, by a short ladder. 
 
THE FIRST HABITATION. 
 
 7b 
 
 When I had done this, I began to work my way 
 into the rock ; and bringing- all the earth and stones 
 that I dug down out through my tent, I laid them up 
 within my fence in the nature of a terrace, so that it 
 raised the ground within about a foot and a half; and 
 thus I made me a cave just behind my tent which 
 served me like a cellar to my house. 
 
 It cost me much labor and many days before all 
 these things were brought to perfection, and therefore 
 I must go back to some other things which took up 
 some of my thoughts. At the same time it happened, 
 after I had laid my scheme for the setting up my 
 tent and making the cave, that a storm of rain fall- 
 ing from a thick dark cloud, a sudden flash of light- 
 ning happened, and after that a great clap of thunder, 
 as is naturally the effect of it. I was not so much 
 surprised with the lightning as I was with a thought 
 which darted into my mind as swift as the lightning 
 itself. Oh, my powder! My very heart sunk within 
 me when I thought, that at one blast all my powder 
 might be destroyed, on which, not my defence only, 
 but the providing me food, as I thought, entirely 
 depended. I was nothing near so anxious about my 
 own danger; -though had the powder took fire, I had 
 never known who had hur t me. 
 
 Such impression did this make upon me that after 
 the storm was over I laid aside all my works, my 
 building, and fortifying, and applied myself to make 
 bags and boxes to separate the powder, and 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 
 
76 
 
 R ODINS ON CR US OE. 
 
 all was about 240 pounds’ weight, was divided in not 
 less than a hundred parcels. As to the barrel that 
 had been wet, I did not apprehend any danger from 
 that, so I placed it in my new cave, which in my 
 fancy I called my kitchen, and the rest I hid up and 
 down in holes among the rocks, so that no wet might 
 come to it, marking very carefully where I laid it. 
 
 In the interval of time while this was doing, I 
 went out once, at least, every day with my gun, as 
 well to divert myself as to see if I could kill any- 
 thing fit for food, and as near as I could to acquaint 
 myself with what the island produced. The first 
 iime I went out, I presently discovered that there 
 were goats in the island, which was a great satisfac- 
 tion to me ; but then it was attended with this mis- 
 fortune to me, viz., that they were so shy, so subtle, 
 and so swift of foot that it was the difficultest thing 
 in the world to come at them. But I was not dis- 
 couraged at this, not doubting but I might now and 
 7 then shoot one, as it soon happened; for after I had 
 found their haunts a little, I laid wait in this manner 
 for them. I observed if they saw me in the valleys, 
 though they were upon the rocks, they would run 
 away as in a terrible fright; but if they were feeding 
 in the valleys, and I was upon the rocks, they took 
 no notice of me, from whence I concluded that, by 
 the position of their optics, their sight was so directed 
 downward that they did not readily see objects that 
 were above them. So afterward I took this method: 
 I always climbed the rocks first to get above them, 
 and then had frequently a fair mark. The first shot 
 I made among these creatures 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 
 
THE FIRST HABITATION. 77 
 
 f 
 
 fell, the kid stood stock still by her till I came and 
 took her up; and not oidy so, but when I carried tho 
 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 especially, as much as possibly 1 could. 
 
 Having now fixed my habitation, I found it abso- 
 lutely necessary to provide a place to make a fire in, 
 and fuel to burn; and what I did for that, as also 
 how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I 
 made, I shall give a full account of in its place. 
 But I must first give some little account of myself, 
 and of my thoughts about living, which it may well 
 be supposed were not a few. 
 
 I had a dismal prospect of my condition ; for as I 
 was not cast away upon that island without being 
 driven, as is said, by a violent stonn, quite out of 
 the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, 
 viz., some hundreds of leagues, out of the ordinary 
 course of the trade of mankind, I had great reason to 
 consider it as a determination of Ileaven that in this 
 desolate place, and in this desolate manner, I should 
 end my life. The tears would run plentifully down 
 my face when I made these reflections, and sometime? 
 I would expostulate with myself, why Providence 
 should thus completely ruin its creatures, and rende T 
 them so absolutely miserable, so without help aban- 
 doned, so entirely depressed, that it could hardly be 
 rational to be thankful for such a life. ,«= 
 
 But something always returned swift upon me to 
 
78 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 check these thoughts, and to reprove me; and par- 
 ticularly one day, walking with my gun in my hand 
 by the seaside, I was very pensive upon the subject 
 of my present condition, when Reason, as it were, 
 expostulated with me t’ other way, thus : “ TV ell, you 
 are in a desolate condition, it is true, but pray re- 
 member, 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 fur- 
 nished for my subsistence, and what would have been 
 my case if it had not happened, which was an hun- 
 dred thousand to one, that the ship floated from the 
 place where she first struck and: was driven so near to 
 the shore that I had time to get all these things put 
 of her : what would have been my case, if I had been 
 to have lived in the condition in which I at first came 
 on shore, without necessaries of life, or necessaries 
 to supply and procure them? “Particularly,” said I 
 aloud (though to myself), “ what should I have done 
 without a gun, without ammunition, without any 
 tools to make anything or to work with, without 
 clothes, bedding, a tent, or any manner of cover- 
 ing?” and that now I had all these to a sufficient 
 quantity, and was in a fair way to provide myself in 
 such a manner, as to live without my gun when my 
 ammunition was spent; so that I had a tolerable view 
 of subsisting without any want as long as I lived. 
 For I considered from the beginning how I would 
 provide for the accidents that might happen, and for 
 
THE FIRST HABITATION. 
 
 79 
 
 the time that was to come, even not only after my 
 ammunition should be spent, but even after my health / 
 or strength should decay. 
 
 I confess I had not entertained any notion of my 
 ammunition being destroyed at one blast — I mean, 
 my powder being blown up by lightning; and this 
 made the thoughts of it so surprising to me when it 
 lightened and thundered, as I observed just now, 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BALANCING ACCOUNTS. 
 
 And now being to enter into a melancholy relation 
 of a scene of silent life such, perhaps, as was never 
 heard of in the world before, I shall take it from its 
 beginning, and continue it in its order. It was, by 
 my account, the 30th of September when, in the 
 manner as above said, I first set foot upon this horrid 
 island, when the sun, being to us in its autumnal 
 equinox, was almost just over my head, for I reck- 
 oned myself, by observation, to be in the latitude of 
 9° 22' north of the line. 
 
 After I had been there about ten or twelve days, 
 it came into my thoughts that I should lose my reck- 
 oning of time for want of books and pen and ink, and 
 should even forget the Sabbath days from the work- 
 ing 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 upon the shore where I first 
 landed, viz., “I pame on shore here on the 30tli of 
 September, 1659.” Upon the sides of this square 
 post I cut every day a notch with my knife, and every 
 seventh notch was as long again as the rest, and 
 every first day of the month as long again as that 
 long one; and thus. I kept my calendar, or weekly, 
 monthly, and yearly reckoning of time. 
 
 |n the next place we are to observe, that among 
 
BALANCING ACCOUNTS. 
 
 81 
 
 the many things which I brought out of the ship in 
 the several voyages which, as above mentioned, I 
 made to it, I got several things of less value, but not 
 all less useful to me, which I omitted setting down 
 before ; as in particular, pens, ink, and paper, several 
 parcels in the captain’s, mate’s, gunner’s, and car- 
 penter’s keeping, three or four compasses, some 
 mathematical instruments, dials, perspectives, charts, 
 and books of navigation, 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 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, lie jumped 
 out of the ship of himself, and swam on shore to me 
 the day after I went on shore with my first cargo, 
 and was a trusty servant to me many years. I 
 wanted nothing that he could fetch me, nor any 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 exact; but 
 after that was gone, I could not, for I could not make 
 any ink by any means that I could devise. 
 
 And this put me in mind that I wanted many 
 things, notwithstanding all that I had amassed to- 
 gether; and of these, this of ink was one, as also 
 spade, pick-axe, and shovel (to dig or remove the 
 
82 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 earth), needles, pins, and thread ; as for linen, I soon 
 learned to want that without much difficulty. 
 
 This want of tools made every work I did go on 
 heavily ; and it was near a whole year before I had 
 entirely finished my little pale or surrounded habita- 
 tion. The piles or stakes, which were as heavy as I 
 could well lift, were a long time in cutting and pre- 
 paring in the woods, and more by far in bringing 
 home ; so that I spent sometimes two days in cutting 
 and bringing home one of those posts, and a third 
 day in driving it into the ground ; for which purpose 
 I got a heavy piece of wood at first, but at last be- 
 thought myself of one of the iron crows, which, how- 
 ever, 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 te- 
 diousness of anything I had to do, seeing I had time 
 enough to do it in? nor had I any other employment, 
 if that had been over, — at least, that I could foresee, 
 — except the ranging the island to seek for food, 
 which I did more or less every day. 
 
 I now began to consider seriously my condition, 
 and the circumstance I was reduced to ; and I drew 
 up the state of my affairs in writing ; not so much to 
 leave them to any that were to come after me, for I 
 . was like to have but few heirs, as to deliver my 
 A, thoughts from daily poring upon them, and afflicting 
 IJlj my mind. And as my reason began now to master 
 H 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 mis- 
 eries I suffered, thus : 
 
BALANCING ACCOUNTS. 
 
 83 
 
 Evil. 
 
 I am cast upon a hor- 
 rible desolate island, void 
 of all hope of recovery. 
 
 I am singled out and 
 separated, as it were, from 
 all the world to be miser- 
 able. 
 
 I am divided from man- 
 kind, a solitaire, one ban- 
 ished from human society. 
 
 I have not clothes to 
 cover me. 
 
 I am without any de- 
 fence or means to resist 
 any violence of man or 
 beast. 
 
 I have no soul to speak 
 to, or relieve me. 
 
 Good. 
 
 But I am alive, and 
 not drowned, as all my 
 ship’s company was. 
 
 But I am singled out, 
 too, from all the ship’s 
 crew to be spared from 
 death ; and He that mi- 
 raculously saved me from 
 death, can deliver me from 
 this condition. 
 
 But I am not starved 
 and perishing on a barren 
 place, affording no suste- 
 nance. 
 
 But I am in a hot cli- 
 mate, where if I had 
 clothes I could hardly 
 wear them. 
 
 But I am cast on an 
 island, where I see no 
 wild beasts to hurt me, 
 as I saw on the coast of 
 Africa ; and what if I had 
 been shipwrecked there? 
 
 But God wonderfully 
 sent the ship in near 
 enough to the shore, that 
 I have gotten out so 
 many necessary things as 
 ■will either supply my 
 wants, or enable me to 
 supply myself even as 
 long as I live. 
 
& 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 Upon the whole, here was an undoubted testimony, 
 tfiat there was scarce any condition in the world so 
 miserable but there was something negative or some- 
 thing positive to he thankful for in it ; and let this 
 stand as a direction from the experience of the most 
 miserable of all conditions in this world, that we may 
 always find in it something to comfort ourselves from, 
 and to set in the description of good and evil on the 
 credit side of the account. 
 
 Having now brought my mind a little to relish my 
 condition, and given over looking out to sea, to see if 
 I could spy a ship, — I say, giving over these things, 
 I began to apply myself to accommodate my way of 
 living, and to make things as easy to me as I could. 
 
 I have already described my habitation, which was 
 a tent under the side of a rock, surrounded with a 
 strong pale of posts and cables; but I might now 
 rather call it a wall, for I raised a kind of wall up 
 against it of turfs, about two feet thick on the out- 
 side, and after some time — I think it was a year and 
 a half — I raised rafters from it leaning to the rock, 
 and thatched or covered it with boughs of trees and 
 such things as I could get to keep out the rain, which 
 I found at some times of the year very violent. 
 
 I have already observed how I brought all my 
 goods into this pale, and into the cave which I had 
 made behind me. But I must observe, too, that at 
 first this was a confused heap of goods, which as they 
 lay in no order, so they took up all my place ; I had 
 no room to turn myself. So I set myself to enlarge 
 my cave and works farther into the earth ; for it was 
 a loose sandy rock, which yielded easily to the labor 
 I bestowed on it. And so, when I found I was pretty 
 safe as to beasts of prey, I worked sideways to the 
 
BALANCING ACCOUNTS. 
 
 85 
 
 right hand into the rock; and then, turning to the 
 right again, worked quite out, and made me a door 
 to come out on the outside of my pale or fortification. 
 This gave me not only egress and regress, as it were 
 a hack 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 par- 
 ticularly 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 th > 
 mathematics, so by stating and squaring everything 
 by reason, and by making the most rational judgmen ; 
 of tilings, every man may be in time master of ever] ' 
 mechanic art. I had never handled a tool in m; 
 life; and yet in time, by labor, application, and con| 
 trivance, I found at last that I wanted nothing but 
 I could have made it, especially if I had had tools! 
 However, I made abundance of things even without 
 tools, and some with no more tools than an adze and 
 a hatchet, which, perhaps, were never made that way 
 before, and that with infinite labor. 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 labor which it took me 
 up to make a plank or board. But my time or labor 
 
86 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 ob- 
 served above, in the first place, and this I did out of 
 the short pieces of boards that I brought on my raft 
 from the ship. But when I had wrought out some 
 boards, as above, I made large shelves of the breadth 
 of a foot and a half one over another, all along one 
 side of my cave, to lay all my tools, nails, and iron- 
 work ; and, in a word, to separate everything at lai’ge 
 in their places, that I might come easily at them. 
 I knocked pieces into the wall of the rock to hang my 
 guns and all things that would hang up; so that had 
 my cave been to be seen, it looked like a general 
 magazine of all necessary things; and I had every- 
 thing so ready at my hand that it was a great plea- 
 sure 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 employment; for, indeed, at first, I was 
 in too much hurry, and not only hurry as to labor, 
 but in too much discomposure of mind; and my jour- 
 nal would have been full of many dull things. For 
 example, I must have said thus : 
 
 “ September 30. — After I got to shore, and had 
 escaped drowning, instead of being thankful to God 
 for my deliverance, having first vomited with the 
 great quantity of salt water which was gotten into my 
 stomach, and recovering myself a little, I ran about 
 the shore, wringing my hands, and beating my head 
 and face, exclaiming at my misery, and crying out, I 
 was undone,' undone till, tired and faint, I was forced 
 to lie down on the ground to repose; but durst not 
 sleep, for fear of being devoured. 
 
BALANCING ACCOUNTS. 
 
 87 
 
 “Some days after this, and after I had been on 
 board the ship, and got all that I could out of her, yet 
 I could not forbear getting up to the top of a little 
 mountain, and looking out to sea, in hopes of seeing 
 a ship ; then fancy at a vast distance I spied a sail. 
 please myself with the hopes of it, and then, after 
 looking steadily till I was ahnost blind, lose it quite, 
 and sit down and weep like a child, and thus increase 
 my misery by my folly.” 
 
 But having gotten over these things in some 
 measure, and having settled my household stuff and 
 habitation, made me a table and a chair, and all as 
 handsome about me as I could, I began to keep my 
 journal, of which I shall here give you the copy 
 (though in it will be told all these particulars over 
 again) as long as it lasted ; for, having no more ink, 
 I was forced to leave it off. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE JOURNAL. 
 
 September 30, 1659?- — I, poor miserable Robinson 
 Crusoe, being shipwrecked, during a dreadful storm, 
 in the offing, came on shore on this dismal unfortu- 
 nate island, which I called the Island of Despair , all 
 the rest of the ship’s company being drowned, and 
 myself almost dead. 
 
 All the rest of that day I spent in afflicting myself 
 at the dismal circumstances I was brought to, viz., I 
 had neither food, house, clothes, weapon, or place to 
 fly to; and in despair of any relief, saw nothing but 
 death before me ; either that I should be devoured by 
 wild beasts, murdered by savages, or starved to death 
 for want of food. At the approach of night, I slept 
 in a tree for fear of wild creatures, but slept soundly, 
 though it rained all night. 
 
 October 1. — In the morning I saw, to my great 
 surprise, the ship had floated with the high tide, and 
 was driven on shore again much nearer the island; 
 which, as it was some comfort on one hand, for see- 
 ng her sit upright, and not broken to pieces, I hoped, 
 t f the wind abated, I might get on board, and get 
 some food and necessaries out of her for my relief; 
 so, on the other hand, it renewed my grief at the loss 
 of my comrades, who, I imagined, if we had all 
 stayed on board, might have saved the ship, or at 
 least that they would not have been all drowned as 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 89 
 
 they were; and that had the men been saved, we 
 might perhaps have built us a boat out of the ruins 
 of the ship, to have carried 11 s to some other part of 
 the world. I spent great part of this day in perplex- 
 ing 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 con- 
 tinued raining, thovgh with no wind at all. 
 
 From the 1 st of October to the i l\.tli. — 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 wea- 
 ther; but, it seems, this was the rainy season. 
 
 Oct. 20. — I 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. 
 
 Oct. 25. — ■ It rained all night and all day, with 
 some gusts of wind, during which time the ship bi’oke 
 in pieces, the wind blowing a little harder than be- 
 fore, 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. 
 
 Oct. 26. — I walked about the shore almost all 
 day to find out a place to fix my habitation, greatly 
 concerned to secure myself from 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 semicircle for my encampment, which 
 I resolved to strengthen with a work, wall, or fortifi- 
 cation made of double piles, lined within with cables, 
 and without with turf. 
 
90 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 From the 20th to the 30th I worked very hard in 
 carrying all my goods to my new habitation, though 
 some part of the time it rained exceeding hard. 
 
 The 31st, in the morning, I went out into the island 
 with my gun to see for some food, and discover the 
 country ; when I killed a she goat, and her kid fol- 
 lowed me home, which I afterwards killed also, be- 
 cause it would not feed. 
 
 Nov. 1. — I set up my tent under a rock, and lay 
 there for the first night, making it as large as I could, 
 with stakes driven in to swing my hammock upon. 
 
 Nov. 2. — I set up all my chests and boards, and 
 the pieces of timber which made my rafts, and with 
 them formed a fence round me, a little within the 
 place I had marked out for my fortification. 
 
 Nov. 3. — I went out with my gun, and killed two 
 fowls like ducks, which were very good food. In the 
 afternoon went to work to make me a table. 
 
 Nov. 4. — This morning I began to order my times 
 of work, of going out with my gun, time of sleep, 
 and time of diversion, viz., every morning I walked] 
 out with my gun for two or three hours, if it did not 
 rain ; then employed myself to work till about eleven 
 o’clock; then 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 complete natural mechanic soon after, as 
 I believe it would do any one else. 
 
 Nov. 5. — This day went abroad with my gun and 
 my dog, and killed a wild-cat ; her skin pretty soft, 
 but her flesh good for nothing. Every creature I 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 91 
 
 killed, I took off the skins and preserved them. 
 Coming back by the seashore, I saw many sorts of 
 sea-fowls, which I did not understand; but was sur- 
 prised, and almost frighted, with two or three seals, 
 which, while I was gazing at, not well knowing what 
 they were, got into the sea, and escaped me for that 
 time. 
 
 Nov. 6. — After my morning walk I went to work 
 with my table again, and finished it, though not to 
 my liking; nor was it long before I learned to mend 
 it. 
 
 Nov. 7. — Now it began to be settled fair weather. 
 The 7th, 8th, 9tli, 10th, and part of the 12th (for the 
 11th was Sunday) I took wholly up to make me a 
 chair, and with much ado, brought it to a tolerable 
 shape, but never to please me; and even in the mak- 
 ing, I pulled it in pieces several times. Note : I soon 
 neglected my keeping Sundays; for, omitting my 
 mark for them on my post, I forgot which was which. 
 
 Nov. !R. — This day it rained, which refreshed 
 me exceedingly, and cooled the earth; but it was 
 accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning, 
 which frighted me dreadfully, for fear of my powder. 
 As soon as it was over, 1 resolved to separate my 
 stock of powder into as many little parcels as possi- 
 ble, 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. 
 
 Nov. 17. — This day I began to dig behind my 
 
32 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 tent into the rock, to make room for my farther con* 
 veniency. Note: three things I wanted exceedingly 
 for this work, viz., a piclt-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 absolutely necessary that indeed I could do no- 
 thing effectually without it; but what kind of one to 
 make I knew not. 
 
 Nov. 18. — The next day, in searching the woods, 
 I found a tree of that wood, or like" it, which in the 
 Brazils they call the I ron-tre e, for its exceeding hard- 
 ness; of this, with great labor, and almost spoiling 
 my axe, I cut a piece, and brought it home, too, with 
 difficulty enough, for it was exceeding heavy. 
 
 The excessive hardness of the wood, and having no 
 other way, made me a long while upon this machine, 
 for I worked it effectually, by little and little, into 
 the form of a shovel or spade, the handle exactly 
 shaped like ours in England, only that the broad 
 part having no iron shod upon it at bottom, it would 
 not last me so long. However, it served well enough 
 for the uses which I had occasion to put it to; but 
 never was a shovel, I believe, made after that fash- 
 ion, or so long a-making. 
 
 I was still deficient, for I wanted a basket or a 
 wheelbarrow. 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 wheelbarrow, 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 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 93 
 
 possible way to make the iron gudgeons for the spin- 
 dle 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 
 laborers carry mortar in, when they serve the brick- 
 layers. 
 
 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 wheelbarrow, took 
 me up no less than four days ; I mean always, except- 
 ing 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 working every day, as my 
 strength and time allowed, I spent eighteen days 
 entirely in widening and deepening my cave, that it 
 might hold my goods commodiously. 
 
 Note: During all this time I worked to make this 
 room or cave spacious enough to accommodate me as 
 a warehouse or magazine, a kitchen, a dining-room, 
 and a cellar ; as for my lodging, I kept to the tent, 
 except that sometimes in the wet season of the year 
 it rained so hard that I could not keep myself dry, 
 which caused me afterwards to cover all my place 
 within my pale with long poles, in the form of raft- 
 ers, leaning against the rock, and load them with 
 flags and large leaves of trees, like a thatch. 
 
 December 10. — I began now to thick 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 
 
94 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 been under it, I had never wanted a grave-digger. 
 Upon this disaster I'll ad 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 ceil- 
 ing to prop up, so that I might be sure no more 
 would come down. 
 
 Dec. 11. — This day I went to work with it accord- 
 ingly, 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 of my house. 
 
 Dec. 17. — From this day to the 20th 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 furnish my house, and set up some 
 pieces of boards, like a dresser, to order my victuals 
 upon ; but boards began to be very scarce with me ; j 
 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 an- 
 other, so that I catched it, and led it home in a 
 string. When I had it home, I bound and splintered 
 up its leg, which was broke. JV. B. — I took such 
 care of it that it lived ; and the leg grew well and as 
 strong as ever; but by my nursing it so long it grew 
 tame, and fed upon the little green at my door, and 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 95 
 
 would not go away. This was the first time that 1 
 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 even- 
 ing, for food. This time I spent in putting all my 
 things in order within doors. 
 
 January 1. — Very hot still, but I went abroad 
 early and late with my gun, and lay still in the mid- 
 dle 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 t c 
 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. 
 
 JV. B. — This wall being described before, I pur- 
 posely omit what was said in the journal. It is suffi- 
 cient to observe that I was no less time than from 
 the 3d of January to the 14th of April working, 
 finishing, and perfecting this wall, though it was no 
 more than about twenty-four yards in length, being 
 a half-circle from one place in the rock to another 
 place about eight yards from it, the door of the cave 
 being in the centre behind it. 
 
 All this time I worked very hard, the rains hinder- 
 ing me many days, nay, sometimes weeks together; 
 
96 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 but I thought I should never he perfectly secure till 
 this wall was finished. And it is scarce credible 
 what inexpressible labor everything was done with, 
 especially the bringing piles out of the woods, and 
 driving them into the ground; for I made them much 
 bigger than I need to have done. 
 
 When this wall was finished, and the outside double- 
 fenced with a turf-wall raised up close to it, I per- 
 suaded 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 
 q observed hereafter upon a very remarkable occasion. 
 
 During this time, I made my rounds in the woods 
 for game every day, when the rain admitted me, and 
 made frequent discoveries in these walks of something 
 or other to my advantage ; particularly I found a kind 
 of wild pigeons, who built, not as wood pigeons in a 
 tree, but rather as house pigeons, in the holes of the 
 rocks. And taking some young ones, I endeavored 
 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 making one by them, though 
 I spent many weeks about it. I could neither put in 
 the heads, or joint the staves so true to one another 
 
THE JOURNAL. 97 
 
 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 gener- 
 ally 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 
 light like a candle. 
 
 In the middle of all my labors it happened that, 
 rummaging my things, I found a little bag, which, 
 as I hinted before, had been filled with corn for the 
 feeding of poidtry, 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 light- 
 ning, 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 men- 
 tioned, that I threw this stuff away, taking no notice 
 of anything, and not so much as remembering that I 
 had thrown anything there ; when, about a month 
 after, or thereabout, I saw some few stalks of some- 
 thing green shooting out of the ground, which I fan- 
 cied might be some plant I had not seen ; but I was 
 surprised, and perfectly astonished, when, after a 
 little longer time, I saw about ten or twelve ears 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 come out, wliicli were perfect green barley of the 
 same kind as our European, nay, as our English bar- 
 ley. 
 
 / — it is impossible to express the astonishment and 
 confusion of my thoughts on this occasion. I had 
 hitherto acted upon no religious foundation at all; 
 indeed, I had very few notions of religion in my 
 head, or had entertained any sense of 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 directed purely for my sus- 
 tenance 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; aud this was the more strange to me, be- 
 cause I saw near it still, all along by the side of the 
 rock, some other straggling stalks, which proved to 
 be stalks of rice, and which I knew, because I had 
 seen it grow in Africa, when I was ashore there. 
 
 I not only thought these the pure productions of 
 Providence for my support, but, not doubting but 
 that there was more in the place, I went all over that 
 part of the island where I had been before, peering 
 in every corner, and under every rock, to see for more 
 of it ; but I could not find any. At last it occurred 
 to my thoughts that I had shook a bag of chicken’s 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 99 
 
 meat out in that place, and then the wonder began to 
 cease; and I must confess, my religious thankfulness 
 to God’s providence began to abate too, upon the dis- 
 covering that all this was nothing but what was com- 
 mon ; though I ought to have been as thankful for so 
 strange and unforeseen providence as if it had been 
 miraculous ; for ft was really the work Pi-nviflpn^p 
 as to me, that should order or appoint that ten or 
 twelve 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 sprang up immediately ; 
 whereas, if I had thrown it anywhere 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 season, which was about the end of 
 June; and laying up every corn, I resolved to sow 
 them all again, hoping in time to have some quantity 
 sufficient to supply me with bread. But it was not 
 till the fourth year that I could allow myself the least 
 grain of this corn to eat, and even then but sparingly, 
 as I shall say afterwards in its order ; for I lost all 
 that I sowe d the first season b y not obs er ving th e 
 proper time; for I sowed it just before the drv sea - 
 son, 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, twenty or 
 thirty stalks of rice, which I preserved with the same 
 care, arid 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. 
 
100 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 he no sign in 
 the outside of my habitation. 
 
 April 1G. — I finished the ladder, so I went up 
 with the ladder to the top, and then pulled it up after 
 me, and let it down on the inside. This was a com- 
 plete 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 labor overthrown at once, and 
 myself killed. The case was thus : As I was busy in 
 the inside of it, behind my tent, just in the entrance 
 into my cave, I was terribly frighted with a most 
 dreadful surprising thing indeed ; for 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 fall- 
 ing in, as some of it had done before ; and for fear I 
 should be buried in it, I ran forward to my ladder; 
 and not thinking myself safe there neither, I got over 
 my wall for fear of the pieces of the hill which I ex- 
 pected 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 over- 
 turned the strongest building that could be supposed 
 to have stood on the earth ; and a great piece of the 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 101 
 
 top of a rock, which stood about half a mile from me 
 next the sea, fell down with such a terrible noise as 
 I never heard in all my life. I perceived also the 
 very sea was put into violent motion by it; and I 
 believe the shocks were stronger under the water than 
 on the island. 
 
 I was so amazed with the thing itself, having never 
 felt the like, or discoursed with any one that had, 
 that I was like one dead or stupefied ; and the motion 
 of the earth made my stomach sick, like one that was 
 tossed at sea. But the noise of the falling of the 
 rock awaked me, as it were, and rousing me from the 
 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 bury- 
 ing 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 know- 
 ing 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 wad 
 pver, that went away too. 
 
 While I sat thus, I found the air overcast, and 
 grow cloudy, as if it would rain. Soon after that the 
 wind rose by little and little, so that in less than half 
 an hour it blew a most dreadful hurricane. The sea 
 was all on a sudden covered over- with foam and 
 froth ; the shore was covered with the breach of the 
 water; the trees were torn up by the roots; and a 
 terrible storm it was : and this held about three 
 
102 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 hours, and then began to abate; and in two hours 
 more it was stark calm, and began to rain very hard. 
 
 All this while I sat upon the ground, very much 
 terrified and dejected; when on a sudden it came into 
 my thoughts that, these winds and rain being the 
 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 helping to persuade me, I 
 went in and sat down in my tent. But the rain was 
 so violent that my tent was ready to be beaten down 
 with it, and I was forced to go into my cave, though 
 very much afraid and uneasy, for fear it should fall 
 on my head. 
 
 This violent rain forced me to a new work, viz., to 
 cut a hole through my new fortification, like a sink, 
 to let the water go out, which would else have 
 drowned my cave. After I had been in my cave 
 some time, and found still no more shocks of the 
 earthquake follow, I began to be more composed. 
 And now to support my spirits, which indeed wanted 
 it very much, I went to my little store, and took a 
 small sup of rum, which, however, I did then, and 
 always, very sparingly, knowing I could have no more 
 when that was gone. 
 
 It continued raining all that night and great part 
 of the next day, so that I could not stir abroad; but 
 my mind being more composed, I began to think of 
 what I had best do, concluding that if the island was 
 subject to these earthquakes, there would be no living 
 for me in a cave, but I must consider of building me 
 some little hut in an open place, which I might sur- 
 round with a wall, as I had done here, and so make 
 myself secure from wild beasts or men; but con- 
 
THE JOURNAL. 103 
 
 eluded, 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 daysj being the 
 19th and 20th of April, in contriving where and how 
 to remove my habitation. 
 
 The fear of being swallowed up alive made me that 
 I never slept in quiet;- and yet the apprehension of 
 lying abroad without any fence was almost equal to 
 it. But still, when I looked about and saw how 
 everything was put in order, how pleasantly con- 
 cealed I was, and how safe from danger, it made me 
 very loath 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 
 witli 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. 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 
 
f04 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 grindstone, I could not turn it and grind my tools 
 too. This cost me as much thought as a statesman 
 would have bestowed upon a grand point of politics, 
 or a judge upon the life and death of a man. At 
 length I contrived a wheel with a string, to turn it 
 with my foot, that I might have both my hands at 
 liberty. Note: I had never seen any such thing in 
 England, or at least not to take notice how it was 
 done, though since I have observed it is very conn 
 mon there; besides that, my grindstone was very 
 large and heavy. This machine cost me a full week’s 
 work to bring it to perfection. 
 
 April 28, 29. — These two whole days I took up 
 in grinding my tools, my machine for turning my 
 grindstone performing very well. 
 
 April 30. — Having perceived my bread had been 
 low a great while, now I took a survey of it, and re- 
 duced myself to one biscuit-cake a day, which made 
 my heart very heavy. 
 
 May 1. — 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. 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 10E> 
 
 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 feet; and the stern, 
 which was broken to pieces, and parted from the rest 
 by the force of the sea soon after I had left rum- 
 maging her, was tossed, as it were, up, and cast on 
 one side, and the sand was thrown so high on that 
 side next her stern that whereas there was a great 
 place of water before, so that I could not come within 
 a quarter of a mile of the wreck without swimming, I 
 could now walk quite up to her when the tide was out. 
 I was surprised with this at first, but soon concluded 
 it must be done by the earthquake. And as by this 
 violence the ship was more broken open than for- 
 merly, 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 could get from 
 her would be of some use or other to me. 
 
 May 3. — I began with my saw, and cut a piece of 
 a beam through, which I thought held some of the 
 upper part or quarter-deck together; and when I had 
 cut it through, I cleared away the sand as well as I 
 could from the side which lay highest; but the tide 
 coming in, I was obliged to give over for that time. 
 
 May 4. — I went a-fishing, but caught not one fish 
 
106 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 that I durst eat of, till I was weary of my sport; 
 when, just going to leave off, I caught a young dol- 
 phin. 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 together, and made swim on 
 shore, when the tide of flood came on. 
 
 May 6. — Worked on the wreck, got several iron 
 bolts out of her, and other pieces of 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 
 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 j 
 lead, and could stir it, but it was too heavy to re- 
 move. 
 
 May 10, 11, 12, 18, 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. 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 107 
 
 May 15. — I carried two hatchets to try if I could 
 not cut a piece off of 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 labor 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 Brazil pork in it, but the salt water 
 and the sand had spoiled it. 
 
 I continued this work every day to the 15th of 
 June, except the time necessary to get food, which I 
 always appointed, during this part of my employ- 
 ment, to be when the tide was up, that I might be 
 ready when it was ebbed out. And by this time I 
 had gotten timber, and plank, and ironwork enough 
 to have budded a good boat, if I had known how; 
 and, also, I got at several times, and in several pieces, 
 near one hundred-weight of the sheet lead. 
 
 June 16. — Going down to the seaside, I found a 
 large tortoise or turtle. This was the first I had 
 
108 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 seen, which it seems was only my misfortune, not any 
 defect of the place, or scarcity ; for had I happened 
 to be on the other side of the island, I might have 
 
 ( had hundreds of them every day, as I found after- 
 wards; but, perhaps, had paid dear enough for them. 
 
 Jane 17 I spent in cooking the turtle. I found in 
 her threescore eggs; and her flesh was to me, at that 
 time, the most savory and pleasant that ever I tasted 
 in my life, having had no flesh, but of goats and 
 fowls, since I landed in this horrid place. 
 
 June 18. — Rained all day, and I stayed within. 
 I thought at this time the rain felt cold, and I was 
 something chilly, which I knew was not usual in that 
 latitude. 
 
 June 19. — Very ill and shivering, as if the wea- 
 ther had been cold. 
 
 June 20. — No rest all night; violent pains in my 
 head, and feverish. 
 
 June 21. — Very ill, frighted almost to death with 
 the apprehensions of my sad condition, to be sick, 
 
 I and no help. Prayed to God for the first time since 
 the storm off of Hull, but scarce knew what I said 
 or why, my thoughts being all confused. 
 
 June 22. — A little better, but under dreadful 
 apprehensions of sickness. 
 
 June 23. — Very bad again; cold and shivering, 
 and then a violent 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 victuals to eat, 
 took my gun, but found myself very weak. How- 
 ever, I killed a she goat, and with much difficulty got 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 109 
 
 it home, and broiled some of it, and eat. I would 
 fain have stewed it, and made some broth, but had 
 no pot. 
 
 June 27. — The ague again so violent that I lay 
 abed all day, and neither eat nor 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 G od again, but was light-headed; and 
 when I was not, I was so ignorant that I knew not 
 what to say; only I lay and cried, “Lord, look upon 
 me! Lord, pity me! Lord, have mercy upon me!” 
 I suppose I did nothing else for two or three hours, 
 till the fit wearing off, I fell asleep, and did not wake 
 till far in the night. When I waked, I found myself 
 much refreshed, but weak and exceeding thirsty. 
 However, as I had no water in my whole habitation, 
 I was forced to lie till morning, and went to sleep 
 again. In this second sleep I had this terrible 
 dream. 
 
 I thought that I was sitting on the ground, on the 
 outside of my wall, where I sat when the storm blew 
 after the earthquake, and that I saw a man descend 
 from a great black cloud, in a bright flame of fire, 
 and light upon the ground. He was all over as 
 bright as a flame, so that I could but just bear to 
 look towards him. llis countenance was most inex- 
 pressibly dreadful, impossible for words to describe. 
 When he stepped upon the ground with his feet, 1 
 thought the earth trembled, just as it had done be- 
 fore in the earthquake, and all the air looked, to my 
 apprehension, as if it had been filled with flashes of 
 fire. 
 
 He was no sooner landed upon the earth but he 
 moved forward towards me, with a long spear or 
 
no 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 weapon in liis hand, to kill me; and when he came to 
 a rising ground, at some distance, he spoke to me, or 
 1 heard a voice so terrible that it is impossible to 
 express the terror of it. All that I can say I under- 
 stood was this: “Seeing all these things have not 
 brought thee to repefftance, 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 ex- 
 pect 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 im- 
 pression that remained upon my mind when I awaked, 
 and found it was but a dream. 
 
 j I had, alas! no di vine knowledge ; what I had 
 received" TjyThS^gootT instruction of my father was 
 then worn out, by an uninterrupted series, for eight 
 years, of ^seafarin g wickedness, and a constant con- 
 versation with nothing but such as were, like myself, 
 wicked and profane to the last degree. I do not 
 remember that I had, in all that time, one thought 
 that so much as tended either to looking upwards 
 towards God, or inwards towards a reflection upon 
 my 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 hard- 
 ened, unthinking, wicked creature among our com- 
 mon 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 deliverance. 
 
 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 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 Ill 
 
 to this day befallen me, I never bad so much as one 
 thought of it being the hand of God, or that it was 
 a just punishment for my sin, my rebellious behavior 
 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 des- 
 perate expedition on the desert shores of Africa, I 
 never had so much as one thought of what would 
 become of me; or one wish to God to direct me 
 whither I should go, or to keep me from the danger 
 which apparently surrounded me, as well from vora- 
 cious creatures as cruel savages. But I was merely 
 thoughtless of a God or a Providence; acted like a 
 mere brute from the principles of Nature, and by the 
 dictates of common sense only, and indeed hardly 
 that. 
 
 When I was delivered and taken up at sea by the 
 Portugal captain, well used, and dealt justly and 
 honorably with, as well as charitably, I had not the 
 least thankfulness in my thoughts. When again I 
 was shipwrecked, ruined, and in danger of drowning 
 on this island, I was as far from remorse, or looking 
 on it as a judgment; I only said to myself often that 
 I was an unfortunate dog, and born to be always 
 miserable. 
 
 It is true, when I got on shore first here, and 
 found all my ship’s crew drowned, and myself spared, 
 I was surprised with a kind of ecstasy, and some 
 transports of soul, which, had the grace of God 
 assisted, might have come up to true thankfulness; 
 but it ended where it begun, in a mere common flight 
 of joy, or, as I may say, being glad I was alive, with- 
 out the least reflection upon the distinguishing good- 
 ness of the hand which had preserved me, and had 
 
112 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 singled me out to be preserved, when all the rest 
 were destroyed; or an inquiry why Providence had 
 been thus merciful to me; even just the same com- 
 mon sort of 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, how I was cast on this 
 dreadful place, out of the reach of humankind, out 
 t of all hope of relief, or prospect of redemption, _ as 
 soon as I saw but a prospect of living, and that I 
 
 1 should not starve and perish for hunger, , all the sense 
 
 \of my affliction wore off, and I began to be very easy, 
 
 applied myself to the works proper for my preserva- 
 tion and supply, and was far enough from being 
 afflicted at my condition, as a judgment from Heaven, 
 or as the hand of God against me; these were 
 thoughts which very seldom entered into my head, 
 j The growing up of the corn, as is hinted in my 
 journal, had at lirst some j little influence upon me, 
 j and began to affect me with seriousness as long as I 
 1 thought it had something miraculous in it; but as 
 \ soon as ever that part of the thought was removed, 
 lall the impression which was raised from it wore off 
 also, as I have noted already. 
 
 E yen _the earthquake, though nothing cmikb-be 
 more te rrible in its nature, or more immediately- 
 directing to,the invisible Power, which alone dir ects 
 such things, yet no sooner was the first fright over— 
 y bu t the i mpression it had made went off also. I had 
 no more sense of God or His judgments, much less 
 of the present affliction of my circumstances being 
 
THE JOURNAL. 113 
 
 from His hand, than if I had been in the most pros- 
 perous condition of life. 
 
 But now, when I began to be sick, and a leisurely 
 view of the miseries of death came to place itself 
 before me ; when my spirits began to sink under the 
 burthen 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, provoked 
 the justice of God to lay me under uncommon strokes,, 
 and to deal with me in so vindictive a manner. 
 
 These reflections oppressed me for the second or 
 third day of my distemper; and in the violence, as 
 well of the fever as of the dreadful reproaches of my 
 conscience, extorted some words from me, like pray- 
 ing to God, though I cannot say they were either a 
 prayer attended with desires or with hopes ; . it was 
 rather the voice of mere fright and distress . My 
 thoughts were confused, the convictions great upon 
 my mind, and the horror of dying in such a miserable 
 condition raised vapors into my head with the mere 
 apprehensions; and in these hurries of my soul, I 
 know not what my tongue might express ; but it was 
 rather exclamation, such as, “Lord! what a miser- 
 able 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 fobljsh step, God would not bless 
 me, and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon 
 
114 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 having neglected his counsel, when there might he 
 none to assist in my recovery. “Now,” said I aloud, 
 “my dear father’s words are come to pass; God’s 
 justice has overtaken me, and I have none to help or 
 hear me. I rejected the voice of Providence, which 
 had mercifully put me in a posture or station of life 
 wherein I might have been happy and easy; but I 
 wOuld neither see it myself, nor learn to know the 
 blessing of it from my parents. I left them to mourn 
 over my folly, and now I am left to mourn under the 
 consequences of it. I refused their help and assist- 
 ance who would have lifted me into the world, anti 
 would have made everything easy to me ; and now I 
 have difficulties to struggle with too great for even 
 Nature itself to support, and no assistance, no help, 
 no comfort, no advice.” Then I cried out, “Lord, 
 
 > be my help, for I am in great distress.” 
 
 ( This was the first prayer, if I may call it so, that 
 I had made for many years. But I return to my 
 1 journal . 
 
 June 28. — Having been somewhat refreshed with 
 the sleep I had had, and the fit being entirely off, I 
 got up ; and though the fright and terror of my dream 
 was very great, yet I considered that the fit of the 
 ague would return again the next day, and now was 
 my time to get something to refresh and support 
 myself when I should be ill. And the first thing I 
 did I filled a large square case-bottle with water, and 
 set it upon my table, in reach of my bed; and to 
 take off the chill or aguish disposition of the water, 
 I put about a quarter of a pint of rum into it, and 
 mixed them together. Then I got me a piece of the 
 goat’s flesh, and broiled it on the coals, but could eat 
 very little. I walked about, but was very weak, and 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 115 
 
 withal very sad and heavy-hearted in the sense of my 
 miserable condition, dreading the return of my dis- 
 temper 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 thid 
 was the- first bit of meat I had ever asked God’s bless! 
 ing to, even as I could remember, in my whole life. I' 
 
 After I had eaten, 1 tried to walk, but found my- 
 self 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, but then it came on strangely, 
 if God has made all these things He guides and gov- 
 erns them all, and all things that concern them ; for 
 the Power that could make all things, must certainly 
 have power to guide and direct them. 
 
 If so, nothing can happen in the great circuit of Ilis 
 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 appoint- 
 ment, He has appointed all this to befall me. 
 
 Nothing occurred to my thoughts to contradict any 
 of these conclusions; and therefore it rested upon me 
 
116 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 4 
 
 
 with the greater force that it must needs be that God 
 had appointed all this to befall me ; that I was brought 
 to this miserable circumstance by His direction, He 
 having the sole power, not of me only, but of every- 
 thing that happened in the world. Immediately it 
 followed, Why has God done this to me ? What 
 have I done to be thus used? 
 
 I < 
 
 My conscience presently checked me in that in- 
 quiry, as if I had blasphemed, and methouglit it 
 
 1 spoke to me like a voice: “Wretch! dost thou ask 
 what thou hast done? Look back upon a dreadful 
 misspent life, and ask thyself what thou hast not 
 ^lone. Ask why is it that thou wert not long ago 
 
 destroyed? Why wert thou not drowned in Yar- 
 mouth Roads ; killed in the fight when the ship was 
 taken by the Sallee man-of-war; devoured by the 
 wild beasts on the coast of Africa ; or drowned here, 
 when all the crew perished but thyself? Dost thou 
 ask, What have I done?” 
 
 I - was struck dumb with these reflections, as one 
 astonished, and had not a word to say, no, not to 
 answer to myself, but rose up pensive and sad, walked 
 back to my retreat, and went up over my wall, as if 
 I had been going to bed. But my thoughts were 
 sadly disturbed, and I had no inclination to sleep; 
 so I sat down in my chair, and lighted my lamp, for 
 it began to be dark. Now, as the 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, directed by Heaven, no doubt; for in this 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 117 
 
 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 men- 
 tioned before, and which to this time I had not found 
 leisure, or so much as inclination, to look into. I 
 say, I took it out, and brought both that and the 
 tobacco with me to the table. 
 
 What use to make of the tobacco I knew not, as to 
 my distemper, or whether it was good for it or no ; 
 but I tried several experiments with it, as if I was 
 resolved it should hit one way or other. I first took 
 a piece of a leaf, and chewed it in my mouth, which 
 indeed at first almost stupefied my brain, the tobacco 
 being green and strong, and that I had not been 
 much used to it. Then I took some and steeped it 
 an hour or two in some rum, and resolved to take a 
 dose of it when I lay down. And lastly, I burnt some 
 upon n pan pf held my nose close over the 
 
 smoke of it as long as I could bear it, as well for the 
 heat, as almost for 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 casually, the 
 first words that occurred to me were these: ‘Wall on 
 Me 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 after- 
 wards; for as for being delivered, the word had no 
 sound, as I may say, to me, the thing was so remote, 
 eo impossible in my apprehension of things, that I 
 
118 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 began to say, as the children of Israel did when they 
 were promised flesh to eat, “ Can God spread a table 
 in the wilderness?” so I began to say, Can God 
 Himself deliver me from this place? And as it was 
 not for many years that any hope appeared, this pre- 
 vailed 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, 
 dozed 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 d id wh at I never had done in 
 all my life; I kneeled down, and prayed to God to 
 fulfil the promise to me, that if I called upon Him in 
 the day of trouble, He would deliver me. After my 
 broken and imperfect prayer was over, I drank the 
 rum in which I had steeped the tobacco ; which was 
 so strong and rank of the tobacco that indeed I could 
 scarce get it down. Immediately upon this I went 
 to bed. 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 afternoon the next day. Nay, 
 to this hour I am partly of the opinion that I slept 
 all the next day and night, and till almost three that 
 day after; for otherwise I knew not how I should 
 lose a day out of my reckoning in the days of the 
 week, as it appeared some years after I had done. 
 For if I had lost it by crossing and recrossing the 
 line, I should have lost more than one day. But 
 certainly I lost a day in my account, and never knew 
 which way. 
 
 Be that, however, one way or the other, when I 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 119 
 
 awaked I found myself exceedingly refreshed, and 
 my spirits lively and cheerful. When I got up, I 
 was stronger than I was the day before, and my 
 stomach better, for I was hungry; and, in short, I 
 had no fit the next day, but continued much altered 
 for the better. This was the 29th. 
 
 The 30th was my well day, of course, and I went 
 abroad with my gun, but did not care to travel too 
 far. I killed a sea-fowl or two, something like a 
 brand-goose, and brought them home, but was not 
 very forward to eat them ; so I eat some more of the 
 turtle’s eggs, which were very good. This evening I 
 renewed the medicine, which I had supposed did me 
 good the day before, viz., the tobacco steeped in rum; 
 only I did not take so much as before, nor did I chew 
 any of the leaf, or hold my head over the smoke. 
 However, I was not so well the next day, which was 
 the 1st of July, as I hoped I should have been; for 
 I had a little spice of the cold fit, but it was not 
 much. 
 
 July 2. — I renewed the medicine all the three 
 ways ; and dosed myself with it as at first, and dou- 
 bled 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 deliver- 
 ance lay much upon my mind, in bar of my ever ex- 
 pecting it. But as I was discouraging myself with 
 such thoughts, it occurred to my mind that I pored 
 so much upon my deliverance from the main afflic- 
 tion, that I disregarded the deliverance I had re- 
 ceived; and I vvas, as it were, made to ask myself 
 
120 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 sucli questions as these, viz., Ha,ve I not been deliv- 
 ered, and wonderfully too, from sickness? from the 
 most distressed condition that could be, and that was 
 so frightful to me ? and what notice I had taken of 
 it? Had I done my part? God had delivered me, 
 but I had not glorified Him ; that is to say, I had not 
 owned and been thankful for that as a deliverance 5 
 and how could I expect greater deliverance? 
 
 This touched my heart very much; and immedi- 
 ately 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 
 the number of chapters, but as long as my thoughts 
 should engage me. It was not long after I set seri- 
 ously to this work but I found my heart more deeply 
 and sincerely affected with the wickedness of my past 
 life. The impression of my dream revived, and the 
 words, “ All these things have not brought thee to 
 repentance,” ran seriously in my thought. I was 
 earnestly begging of God to give me repentance, 
 when it happened providentially, the very day, that, 
 reading the Scripture, I came to these words, “He is 
 exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance, 
 and to give remission.” I threw down the book; and 
 with my heart as well as my hands lifted up to heaven, 
 in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud, “Jesus, 
 Thou son of David! Jesus, Thou exalted Prince and 
 Saviour, give me repentance ! ” 
 
 This was the first time that I could say, in the true 
 sense of the words, that I prayed in all my life ; for 
 now I prayed with a sense of my condition, and with 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 121 
 
 a true Scripture view of hope founded on the encour- 
 agement 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 you,” in a 
 different sense from what I had ever done before ; 
 for then I had no notion of anything being called 
 deliverance but my being delivered from the captivity 
 I was in ; for though I was indeed at large in the 
 place, yet the island was certainly a prison to me, 
 and that in the worst sense in the world. But now 
 I 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 no- 
 thing of God but deliverance from the load of guilt 
 that bore down all my comfort. As for my solitary 
 life, it was nothing; I did not so much as pray to be 
 delivered from it, or think of it ; it was all of no con- 
 sideration, 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 much greater blessing than \ 
 deliverance from affliction. 
 
 Bi yt leav ing this part, I rc tu riLloany-pmmal . 
 
 My condition began now to be, though not less mis- 
 erable as to my way of living, yet much easier to my 
 mind; and my thoughts being directed, by a constant 
 reading the Scripture and praying to God, to things 
 of a higher nature, I had a great deal of comfort 
 within, which till now I knew nothing of. Also, as 
 my health and strength returned, I bestirred myself 
 to furnish myself with everything that I wanted, and 
 make my way of living as regular as I could. 
 
122 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 From the 4th of July to the 14tli, I was chiefly 
 employed in walking about with my gun in my hand, 
 a little and a little at a time, as a man that was gath- 
 ering up his strength after a fit of sickness ; for it is 
 hardly to be imagined how low I was, and to what 
 weakness I was reduced. The application which I 
 made use of was perfectly new, and perhaps what had 
 never cured an ague before ; neither can I recommend 
 it to any one to practise, by this experiment; and 
 though it did carry off the fit, yet it rather contributed 
 to 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 hurri- 
 canes of wind ; for as the rain which came in the 
 dry season was always most accompanied with such 
 storms, so I found that rain was much more danger- 
 ous than the rain which fell in September and Octo- 
 ber. 
 
 I had been now in this unhappy island above ten 
 months ; all possibility of deliverance from this con- 
 dition seemed t^ be entirely taken from me; and I 
 firmly believed chat no human shape had ever set 
 foot upon that place. Having now secured my habi- 
 tation, as I thought, fully to my mind, I had a great 
 desire to make a more perfect discovery of the island, 
 and to see what other productions I might find, 
 which I yet knew nothing of. 
 
 It was the 15th of J uly that I began to take a more 
 particular survey of the island itself. I went up the 
 creek first, where, as I hinted, I brought my rafts on 
 shore. I found, after I came about two miles up, 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 12 % 
 
 that the tide did not flow any higher, and that it was 
 no more than a little brook of running water, and 
 very fresh and good ; but this being the dry season, 
 there was hardly any water in some parts of it, at 
 least, not enough to run in any stream, so as it could 
 be perceived. 
 
 On the bank of this brook I found many pleas- 
 ant savannas or meadows, plain, smooth, and covered 
 with grass; and on the rising parts of them, next to 
 the higher grounds, where the water, as 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. - 1 saw large plants of aloes, but did not 
 then understand them. I saw several sugar-canes, 
 but wild, and, for want of cultivation, imperfect. I 
 contented myself with these discoveries for this time, 
 and came back, musing with myself what course I 
 might take to know the virtue and goodness of any 
 of the fruits or plants which I should discover; but 
 could bring it to no conclusion ; for, in short, I had 
 made so little observation while I was in the 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 16th, 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 savan- 
 nas began to cease, and the country became more 
 
124 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 woody than before. In this part I found different 
 fruits, and particularly I found melons upon the 
 ground in great abundance, and grapes upon the 
 trees. The vines had spread indeed over the trees, 
 and the clusters of grapes were just now in their 
 prime, very ripe and rich. This was a surprising 
 discovery, and I was exceeding glad of them ; but I 
 was warned by my experience to eat sparingly of 
 them, remembering that when I was ashore in Bar- 
 bary the eating of grapes killed several of our Eng- 
 lishmen, who were slaves there, by throwing them 
 into fluxes and fevers. But I found an excellent use 
 for these grapes ; and that was, to cure or dry them 
 in the sun, and keep them as dried grapes or raisins 
 are kept, which I thought would be, as indeed they 
 were, as wholesome as agreeable to eat, when no 
 grapes might be to be had. 
 
 w I spent all that evening there, and went not back 
 to my habitation; which, by the way, was the first 
 night, as I might say, I had lain from home. In the 
 night, I took my first contrivance, and got up into a 
 tree, where I slept well ; and the next morning pro- 
 ceeded upon my discovery, travelling near four miles, 
 as I might judge by the length of the valley, keeping 
 still due north, with a ridge of hills on the south and 
 north side of me. 
 
 At the end of this march I came to an opening, 
 where the country seemed to descend to the west; 
 and a little spring of fresh water, which issued out of 
 the side of the hill by me, ran the other way, that is, 
 due east; and the country appeared so fresh, so 
 green, so flourishing, everything being in a constant 
 verdure or flourish of spring, that it looked like a 
 planted garden. 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 125 
 
 I descended a little on the side of that delicious 
 vale, surveying it with a secret kind of pleasure, 
 though mixed with my other afflicting thoughts, to 
 think that this was all my own; that I was king and y / 
 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 gathered were not 
 only pleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I 
 mixed their juice afterwards with water, which made 
 it very wholesome, and very cool and refreshing. 
 
 I found now I had business enough to gather and 
 carry home ; and 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 this, I gathered a great heap of grapes 
 in one place, and a lesser heap in another place, and 
 a great parcel of limes and lemons in another place; 
 and, taking a few of each with me, I travelled home- 
 ward; 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 jour- 
 ney, 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 19th, I went back, having 
 made me two small bags to bring home my harvest, 0 
 
126 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 but I was surprised, wlien, 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 abun« / 
 dance 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 that there was no laying them 
 up on heaps, and no carrying them away in a sack, 
 but that one way they would be destroyed, and the 
 other way they would be crushed with their own 
 weight, I took another course ; for I gathered a large 
 quantity of the grapes, and hung them up upon the 
 out-branclies 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 contem- 
 plated with great pleasure 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 pos- 
 sible, in that pleasant, fruitful part of the island. 
 
 This thought ran long in my head, and I was ex- 
 ceeding 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 
 seaside, where it was at least possible that something 
 might happen to my advantage, and, by the same ill v 
 fate that brought me hither, might bring some other 
 unhappy wretches to the same place ; and though it 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 127 
 
 was scarce probable that any such thing should ever 
 happen, yet to enclose myself among the hills and 
 woods in the centre of the island was to anticipate 
 my bondage, and to render such an affair not only 
 improbable, but impossible; and that therefore I 
 ought not by any means to remove. 
 
 However, I was so enamoured 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 remove, yet I 
 built me a little kind of a bower, and surrounded it 
 at a distance with a strong fence, being a double 
 hedge as high as I could reach, well staked, and filled 
 between with brushwood. And here I lay very secure, 
 sometimes two or three nights together, always going 
 over it with a ladder, as before; so that I fancied 
 now I had my country house and my sea-coast house ; 
 and this work took me up to the beginning of August. 
 
 I had but newly finished my fence, and began to 
 enjoy my labor, but the rains came on, and made mo 
 stick close to my first habitation ; for though I had 
 made me a tent like the other, with a piece of a sail, 
 and spread it very well, yet I had not the shelter of 
 a hill to keep me from storms, nor a cave behind me 
 to retreat into when the rains were extraordinary. 
 
 About the beginning of August, as I said, I had 
 finished my bower, and began to enjoy myself. The 
 3d of August, I found the grapes I had hung up 
 were perfectly dried, apd 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. 
 
128 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 No sooner had I taken them all down, and carried 
 most of them home to my cave, hut it began to rain ; 
 and from hence, which was the 14th of August, it 
 rained, more or less, every day till the middle of 
 October, and sometimes so violently that I could not 
 stir out of my cave for several days. 
 
 In this season, I was much surprised with the in- 
 crease 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 tale 
 or tidings of her till, to my astonishment, she came 
 home about the end of August with three kittens. 
 This was the more strange to me, because, though I 
 had killed a wild-cat, as I called it, with my gun, 
 yet I thought it was a quite different kind from our 
 European cats; yet the young cats were the same 
 kind of house-breed like the old one; and both my 
 cats being females, I thought it very strange. But 
 from these three cats I afterwards came to be so pes- 
 tered with cats that I was forced to kill them like 
 vermin, or wild beasts, and to drive them from my 
 house as much as possible. 
 
 From the 14th of August to the 26th, incessant 
 rain, so that I could not stir, and was now very care- 
 ful not to be much wet. In this confinement, I be- 
 gan to be straitened for food; but venturing out 
 twice, I one day killed a goat, and the last day, 
 which was the 26th, found a very large tortoise, 
 which was a treat to me, and my food was regulated 
 thus: I eat a bunch of raisins for my breakfast ; a 
 piece of the goat’s flesh, or of the turtle, for my din- 
 ner, 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. 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 129 
 
 During this confinement in my cover by the rain, 
 I worked daily two or three hours at enlarging my 
 cave, and by degrees worked it on towards one side, 
 till I came to the outside of the hill, and made a 
 door, or way out, which came beyond my fence or 
 wall; and so I came in and out this way. But I was 
 not perfectly easy at lying so open; for as I had 
 managed myself before, I was in a perfect enclosure ; 
 whereas now, I thought I lay exposed, and 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 
 being a goat. 
 
 Sept. 30. — I was now come to the unhappy anni- 
 versary of my landing. I cast up the notches on my 
 post, and found 1 had been on shore three hundred 
 and sixty-five days. I kept this day as a solemn 
 fast, setting it apart to religious exercise, prostrating 
 myself on the ground with the most serious humilia- 
 tion, confessing my sins to God, acknowledging II is 
 righteous judgments upon me, and praying to Him 
 to have mercy on me through Jesus Christ; and hav- 
 ing not tasted the least refreshment for twelve hours, 
 even till the going down of the sun, I then eat a bis- 
 cuit-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, 
 1 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 
 X divided it into weeks, and set apart every seventh 
 
130 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 remarkable events of my 
 life, without continuing a daily memorandum of other 
 things. 
 
 The rainy season and the dry season began now to 
 appear regular to me, and I learned to divide them 
 so as to provide for them accordingly; but I bought 
 all my experience before I had it, and this I am 
 going to relate was one of the most discouraging 
 experiments that I made at all. I have mentioned 
 that I had saved the few ears of barley and rice, 
 which I had so surprisingly found spring up, as 1 
 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. 
 
 It was a great comfort to me afterwards that I did 
 so, for not one grain of that I 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. 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 131 
 
 Finding my first seed did not grow, which I easily 
 imagined was by the drought, I sought for a moister 
 piece of ground to make another trial in, and I dug up 
 a piece of ground near my new bower, and sowed the 
 rest of my seed in February, a little before the vernal 
 equinox. And this having the rainy months of March 
 and April to water it, sprung up very pleasantly, and 
 yielded a very good crop ; but having part of the seed 
 left only, and not daring to sow all that I had, 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 busi- 
 ness, and knew exactly when the proper season was 
 to sow, and that I might expect two seed-times and 
 two harvests every year. 
 
 While this corn was growing, I made a little dis- 
 covery 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 out of some trees that 
 grew thereabouts were all shot out, and grown with 
 long branches, as much as a willow-tree usually shoots 
 the first year after lopping its head. I could not 
 tell what tree to call it that these stakes were cut 
 from. I was surprised, and yet vei’y well pleased to 
 see the young trees grow, and I pruned them, and 
 led them up to grow as much alike as I could. And 
 it is scarce credible how beautiful a figure they grew 
 into in three years; so that though the hedge made 
 a circle of about twenty-five yards in diameter, yet 
 
182 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the trees, for such I might now call them, soon cov< 
 ered it, and it was a complete shade, sufficient to 
 lodge under all the dry season. 
 
 This made me resolve to cut some more stakes, and 
 make me a hedge like this, in a semicircle round my 
 wall (I mean that of my first dwelling), which I did ; 
 and placing the trees or stakes in a double row, at 
 — qbout eight yards’ distance from my first fence, they 
 grew presently, and were at first a fine cover to my 
 habitation, and afterward served for a defence also, 
 as I shall observe in its order. 
 
 — I found now that the seasons of the year might 
 generally be divided, not into summer and winter, as 
 in Europe, but into the rainy seasons and the dry 
 seasons; which were generally thus: 
 
 > 
 
 Dry, the sun being then to the 
 north of the line. 
 
 Half lubiuaiy, h Rainy, the sun being then on or 
 
 tt , a)Cl> | near the equinox. 
 
 Half April, 1 1 
 
 Half April, 
 
 May , 
 
 June , 
 
 July , 
 
 Half August , 
 
 Half August , ) Rainy, the sun being then come 
 
 September, > baek . 
 
 Half October, / 
 
 Half October, ) 
 
 November, ^ Dry, the sun being then to the 
 December, f south of the line. 
 
 January, 
 
 Half Feh ' uary , 
 
 The rainy season sonfetimes held longer or shorter, 
 as the winds happened to blow, but this was the gem 
 
THE JOURNAL. 
 
 13a 
 
 eral observation I made. After I bad found by ex- 
 perience 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 way to furnish myself 
 with but by hard labor and constant application; 
 particularly, I tried many ways to make myself a 
 gasket ; 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 be- 
 ing, 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 
 house, as I called it; and cutting some of the smaller 
 twigs, I found them to my purpose as much as I 
 could desire; whereupon I came the next time pre- 
 pared with a hatchet to cut down a quantity, which 
 I soon found, for there was great plenty of them. 
 These I set up to dry within my circle or hedge, and 
 when they were fit for use, I carried them to my 
 
134 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 cave; and here during the next season I employed 
 myself in making, as well as I could, a great many 
 baskets, both to carry earth, or to carry or lay up any- 
 thing as 1 had occasion. And though I did not finish 
 them very handsomely, yet I made them sufficiently 
 serviceable for my purpose. And thus, afterwards, 
 I took care never to be without them; and as my 
 wicker ware decayed, I made more ; especially I made 
 strong deep baskets to place my corn in, instead of 
 sacks, when I should come to have any quantity of it. 
 
 Having mastered this difficulty, and employed a 
 world of time about it, I bestirred myself to see, if 
 possible, how to supply two wants. I had no ^vessels 
 to hold anything that was liquid, except two runlets, 
 which were almost full of rum, and some glass bot- 
 tles, some of the common size, and others which were 
 case-bottles square, for the holding 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 it, 
 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 to 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 sum- 
 mer or dry season, when another business took me up 
 more time than it could be imagined I could spare 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 EXPLORATION OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 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 seashore 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 bunch of raisins in my pouch for my 
 store, I began my journey. When I had passed the 
 vale where my bower stood, as above, I came within 
 view of the sea to the west ; and it being a very clear 
 day, I fairly descried land, whether an island or a 
 continent I could not tell; but it lay very high, ex- 
 tending from the west to the W. S. W. at a very 
 great distance ; by my guess, it could not be less than 
 fifteen or twenty leagues off. 
 
 I could not tell what part of the world this might 
 be, otherwise than that I know it must be part of 
 America, and, as I concluded, by all my observa- 
 tions, must be near the Spanish dominions, and per- 
 haps 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 disposi- 
 tions of Providence, which I began now to own and 
 to believe ordered everything for the best. I say, I 
 
136 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 quieted my mind with this, and left afflicting myself 
 with fruitless wishes of being- there. 
 
 Besides, after some pause upon this affair, I con- 
 sidered that if this land was the Spanish coast, I 
 should certainly, one time or other, see some vessel 
 pass or repass one way or other; hut 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 1 
 now was, much pleasanter than mine, the open or 
 savanna fields sweet, adorned with flowers and grass, 
 and full of very fine woods. 
 
 I saw abundance of parrots, and fain I would have 
 caught one, if possible, to have kept it to be tame, 
 and taught it to speak to me. I did, after some 
 painstaking, catch a young parrot, for I knocked it 
 down with a stick, and having recovered it, I brought 
 it home ; but it was some years before I could make 
 him speak. However, at last I taught him to call 
 me by my name very familiarly. But the accident 
 that followed, though it be a trifle, will be very di- 
 verting in its place. 
 
 I was exceedingly diverted with this journey. I 
 found in the low grounds hares, as I thought them to 
 be, and foxes ; but they differed greatly from all the 
 other kinds I had met with, nor could I satisfy myself 
 to eat them, though I killed several. But I had no 
 need to be venturous, for I had no want of food, and 
 of that which was very good too; especially these 
 three sorts, viz., goats, pigeons, and turtle or tortoise; 
 
EXPLORATION OF TIIE ISLAND. 
 
 137 
 
 which, added to my grapes, Leadenhall Market could 
 not have furnished a table better than I, in proportion 
 to the company. And though my case was deplorable 
 enough, yet I had great cause for thankfulness, 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 discoveries I could 
 make, that I came weary enough to the place where 
 I resolved to sit down for all night; and then I either 
 reposed myself in a tree, or surrounded myself with 
 a row of stakes, set upright in the ground, either 
 from one tree to another, or so as no wild creature 
 could come at me without waking me. 
 
 As soon as I came to the seashore, I was surprised 
 to see that I had taken up my lot on the worst side of 
 the island, for here indeed the shore was covered with 
 innumerable turtles; whereas, on the other side, I 
 had found but three in a year and a half. Here was 
 also an infinite number of fowls of many kinds, some 
 which I had seen, and some which I had not seen of 
 before, and many of them very good meat, but such 
 as I knew not the names of, except those called pen- 
 guins. 
 
 I could have shot as many as I pleased, but was 
 very sparing of my powder and shot, and therefore 
 had more mind to kill a she goat, if I could, which I 
 could better feed on ; and though there were many 
 goats here, mox*e than on 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. 
 
 J confess this side of the country was much pleas- 
 
138 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 anter than miifc ; but yet I had not the least inclina- 
 tion to remove, for as I was fixed in my habitation, 
 it became natural to me, and I seemed all the while 
 I was here to be as it were upon a journey, and from 
 home. However, I travelled along the shore of the 
 sea towards the east, I suppose about twelve miles, 
 and then setting up a great pole upon the shore for a 
 mark, I concluded I would go home again; and that 
 the next journey I took should be on the other side 
 of the island, east from my dwelling, and so round 
 till I came to my post again ; of which in its place. 
 
 I took another way to come back than that I went, 
 thinking I could easily keep all the island so much in 
 my view that I could not miss finding my first dwell- 
 ing by viewing the country. But I found myself 
 mistaken ; for being come about two or three miles, I 
 found myself descended into a very large valley, but 
 so surrounded with hills, and those hills covered with 
 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 v 
 
 It liappened _ to my farther misfortune that the 
 weat her proved hazy for three or" four d ays 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 tilings 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 
 
EXPLORATION OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 139 
 
 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 made of some rope-yarn, which I 
 always carried about me, I led him along, though 
 with some difficulty, till I came to my bower, and 
 there I enclosed him and left him, for I was very 
 imp atient to be at home, from whence I had been 
 absent above a month. 
 
 T cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me 
 to come into my old hutch, and lie down in my ham- 
 mock bed. T-hia^ little, wandering journey, without 
 settled place nf ahodp J bad b fi en so unpleasant to me 
 that lmy-owm-howse,- as I called it to myself, was a 
 perfect settle ment to m e compared to that; and it 
 rendered everything about me so comfortable that I 
 resolved I would never go a great way from it again s 
 while it should be my lot to stay on the islando 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 I REPOSED myself here a week, to rest and regale 
 myself after my long journey ; during which most of 
 the time was taken up in the weighty affair of mak- 
 ing a cage for my Poll, who began now to be a mere 
 domestic, and to be mighty well acquainted with me. 
 Then I began to think of the poor kid which I had 
 penned in within my little circle, and resolved to go 
 and fetch it home, or give it some food. Accordingly 
 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 be- 
 came from that time one of my domestics also, and 
 would never leave me afterwards. 
 
 The rainy season of the autumnal equinox was now 
 
 ( come, and I kept the 30th of September in the same 
 ^solemn manner as before, being the anniversary of 
 my landing on the island, having now been there two 
 years, and no more prospect of being delivered than 
 the first day I came there. I spent the whole day in 
 humble and thankful acknowledgments of the many 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 141 
 
 wonderful mercies which my solitary condition was 
 attended with, and without which it might have been 
 infinitely more miserable. I gave humble and hearty 
 thanks that God had been pleased to discover to me 
 even th at it was p ossible I might be more happy i n 
 th is solitary condition, than I should have bee n in a 
 liberty of societ y, and in all the pleasures of the 
 world; that tie could fully make up to me the defi- 
 ciencies of my solitary state, and the want of human 
 society, by His presence, and the communications of 
 His grace to my soul, supporting, comforting, and 
 encouraging me to depend upon His providence here, 
 and hope for His eternal presence hereafter. 
 
 It was now that I began sensibly to feel how much 
 more happy this life I now led was, with all its mis- 
 erable circumstances, than the wicked, cursed, abomi- 
 nable life I led all the past part of my days. And 
 now I cha nged bo th my sorrows and my joys; my 
 very desires altered, my affections changed their 
 gusts, and my delights were perfectly new from what 
 they were at my first coming, or indeed for the two 
 years past. 
 
 "Before, as I walked about, either on my hunting, 
 or for viewing the country, the anguish of my soul at 
 my condition would break out upon me on a sudden, 
 and my very heart would die within me, to think of 
 the woods, the mountains, the deserts I was in, and 
 how I was a prisoner, locked up with the eternal bars 
 and bolts of the ocean, in an uninhabited wilderness, 
 without redemption. In the midst of the greatest 
 composures of my mind, this would break out upon 
 me like a storm, and make 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 
 
142 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 down and sigh, and look upon the ground for an hour 
 or two together; and this was still worse to me, for if 
 I could burst out into tears, or vent myself by words, 
 it would go off, and the grief, having exhausted itself, 
 would abate. 
 
 But now I began to exercise myself with new 
 thoughts. I daily read the W ord of God, and applied 
 all the comforts of it to my present state. One 
 morning, being very sad, I opened the Bible upon 
 these words, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
 thee.” Immediately it occurred that these words 
 were to me? why else should they be directed in 
 such a manner, just at the moment when I was 
 mourning over my condition, as one forsaken of God 
 and man? “Well then,” said I, “if God does not 
 forsake me, of what ill consequence can it be, or 
 what matters it, though the world should all forsake 
 me, seeing on the other hand if I had all the world, 
 and should lose the favor and blessing of God, there 
 would be no comparison in the loss? ” 
 
 From this moment I began to conclude in my mind 
 that it was possible for me to be more happy in this 
 forsaken solitary condition, than it was probable I 
 should 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 con- 
 dition which, however thou mayest endeavor to be 
 contented with, thou wouldest rather pray heartily to 
 be delivered from?” So I stopped there; but though 
 I could not say I thanked God for being there, yet I 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 143 
 
 sincerely gave thanks to God for opening my eyes, hy 
 whatever afflicting providences, to see the former con- 
 dition of my life, and to mourn for my wickedness, 
 and repent. I never opened the Bible, nor shut it, 
 but my very soul within me blessed God for direct- 
 ing 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 
 ^hird year; and though I have not given the reader 
 the trouble of so p articular accouii tZo TTiiy" wor'kii^ iln^- 
 year as the first, yet in general it may be observed 
 that 1 was very seldo m idle, but having - regularly 
 divi ded my t ime, accor d ing to the several dally em - 
 ployments that were before me, such as, first, my 
 
 d uty t o God, and the reading the Scriptures, which 
 I constantly set apart some time for, thrice every 
 day; secondly, the going abroad with my gun for 
 food, which generally took me up three hours in 
 every morning, when it did not rain ; thirdly, the 
 
 ( ordering, curing, preserving, and cooking what I had 
 killed or catched for my supply; these took up great 
 part of the day ; also, it is to be considered that the 
 middle of the day, when the sun was in the zenith, 
 the violence of the heat was too great to stir out ; so 
 that about four hours in the evening was all the time 
 I could be supposed to work in, with this exception, 
 that sometimes I changed my hours of hunting and 
 working, and went to work in the morning, and 
 abroad with my gun in the afternoon. 
 
 To this short time allowed for labor, I desire may 
 be added the exceeding laboriousness of my work; 
 the many hours which, for want of tools, want of 
 help, and want of skill, everything I did took up out 
 
144 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 
 V>f 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 inex- 
 pressible hacking and hewing, 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 downward, cut the other side, till I 
 brought the plank to be about three inches thick, and 
 smooth on both sides. Any one may judge the labor 
 of my hands in such a piece of work; but labor and 
 patience carried me through that, and many other 
 things. I only observe this in particular, to show 
 the reason why so much of my time went away with 
 so little work, viz., that what might be a little to be 
 done with help and tools was a vast labor, and re- 
 quired a prodigious time, to do alone and by hand. 
 But notwithstanding this, with patience and labo r, 
 I went through many things, and, indeed, every- 
 thing that my circumstances made necessary to me 
 to do, as will appear by what follows. 
 
 I was now, in the months of November and Decem- 
 ber, expecting my crop of barley and rice. The 
 ground I had manured or dug up for them was not 
 great; for as I observed, my seed of each was not 
 above the quantity of half a peck ; for I had lost one 
 whole crop by sowing in the dry season. But now 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 145 
 
 my crop promised very well, when on a sudden I 
 found I was in danger of losing it all again by ene- 
 mies of several sorts, which it was scarce possible to 
 keep from it; as, first, 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 enclo- 
 sure 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 began to ripen apace. 
 
 But as the beasts ruined me before while piy 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, watching till I. should be 
 gone. I immediately let fly among them, for I always 
 had my gun with me. I had no sooner shot, but 
 there 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 
 resolved not to lose my corn, if possible, though I 
 
146 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 should watch it night and day. In the first place, 1 
 went among it to see what damage was already done, 
 and found they had spoiled a good deal of it; but 
 that as it was yet too green for them, the loss was 
 not so great but 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 dropped down, one by one, 
 into the corn again. I was so provoked that I could 
 not have patience to stay till more came on, know- 
 ing 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 we serve notorious 
 thieves in England, viz., hanged them in chains, for 
 a terror to others. It is impossible to imagine almost 
 that this should have such an effect as it had, for the 
 fowls would not only not come at the corn, but, in 
 short, they forsook all that part of the island, and I 
 could never see a bird near the place as long as my 
 scarecrows hung there. 
 
 This I was very glad of, you may be sure; and 
 about the latter end of December, which was our 
 second harvest of the year, I reaped my 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 broadswords, or cutlasses, 
 which I saved among the arms out of the ship. How- 
 ever, as my first crop was but small, I had no great 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 147 
 
 difficulty to cut it down; in short, I reaped it my 
 way, for I cut nothing off but the ears, and carried 
 it away in a great basket which I had made, and so 
 rubbed it out with my hands; and at the end of all 
 my harvesting, I found that out of my half peck of 
 seed I had near two bushels -of rice, and above two 
 bushels and a half of barley, that is to say, by my 
 guess, for I had no measure at that time. 
 
 However, this was a great encouragement to me, 
 and I foresaw that, in time, it would please God to 
 supply me with bread. And yet here I was perplexed 
 again, for I neither knew how to grind or make meal 
 of my corn, nor indeed how to clean it and part it; 
 nor, if made into meal, how to make bread of it, and 
 if how to make it, yet I knew not how to bake it. 
 These things being added to my desire of having a 
 good quantity for store, and to secure a constant sup- 
 ply, I resolved not to taste any of this crop, but to 
 preserve it all for seed against the next season, and, 
 in the meantime, to employ all my study and hours of 
 working to accomplish this great work of providing 
 myself with corn and bread. 
 
 It might be truly said that now I worked for my 
 bread. ’T is a little wonderful, and what I believe 
 few people have thought much upon, viz., the strange 
 multitude of little things necessary in the providing, 
 producing, curing, dressing, making, and finishing 
 this one article of bread. 
 
 J wna vpflnn.pd to a mere state of nature, 
 
 found this to my daily discouragement, and was made 
 more and more sensible of it every hour, even after. 
 I had got the first handful of seed-corn, which, as I 
 have said, came up unexpectedly, and indeed to a 
 surprise. 
 
148 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 First, I had no plough to turn up the earth, no 
 spade or shovel to dig it. Well, this I conquered by 
 making a wooden spade, as I observed before, but 
 this did my work in but a wooden manner; and 
 though it cost me a great many days to make it, yet, 
 for want of iron, it not only wore out the sooner, but 
 made my work the harder, and made it be performed 
 much worse. 
 
 However, this I bore with, and was content to 
 work it out with patience, and bear with the badness 
 of the performance. When the corn was sowed, I 
 had no harrow, but was forced to go over it myself, 
 and drag a great heavy bough of a tree over it, to 
 scratch 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 inestimable comfort and 
 advantage to me too. All this, as I said, made 
 everything laborious 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 
 resolved to use none of the corn for bread till I had 
 a greater quantity by me, I had the next six months 
 to apply myself wholly, by labor and invention, to 
 furnish myself with utensils proper for the perform- 
 ing all the operations necessary for the making the 
 corn, when I had it, fit for my use. 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 149 
 
 But first I was to prepare more land, for I had now 
 seed enough to sow above an acre of ground. Before 
 I did this, I had a week’s work at least to make me 
 a spade, which, when it was done, was but a sorry- 
 one indeed, and very heavy, and required double 
 labor 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, 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 grow ; so 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 1 
 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 follows, viz., I 
 had long studied, by some means or other, to make 
 myself some earthen vessels, which indeed I wanted 
 sorely, but knew not where to come at them. How- 
 
 1 The use of the word “ learn ” in the active sense of “ teach ” 
 was still observed in Defoe’s time. It may be found earlier 
 in the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer. But usage now 
 nn’kes the phrase above inelegant English. 
 
 K 
 
150 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 ever, considering the heat of the climate, I did not 
 doubt but if I could find out any such clay, I might 
 botch up some such pot as might, being dried in the 
 sun, be hard enough and strong enough to bear hand- 
 ling, and to hold anything that was dry, and re- 
 quired 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 1 
 could, and fit only to stand like jars, to hold what 
 should, be put into them. 
 
 It would make the reader pity me, or rather laugh 
 at me, to tell how many awkward ways I took to raise 
 this paste; what odd, misshapen, ugly things I 
 made; how many of them fell in, and how many fell 
 out, the clay not being stiff enough to bear its own 
 weight; how many cracked by the over-violent heat 
 of the sun, being set out too hastily; and how many 
 fell in pieces with only removing, as well before as 
 after they were dried; and, in a word, how, after 
 having labored 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’ labor. 
 
 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 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 151 
 
 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 plied the fire with fresh fuel round 
 the outside, and upon the top, till I saw the pots in 
 the inside red-hot quite through, and observed that 
 they did not crack at all. When I saw them clear 
 red, I let them stand in that heat about five or six 
 hours, till I found one of them, though it did not 
 crack, did melt or run, for the sand which was mixed 
 with the clay melted by the violence of the heat, and 
 would have run into glass, if I had gone on; so I 
 slacked my fire gradually till the pots began to abate 
 of the red color; and watching them all night, that 
 I might not let the fire abate too fast, in the morning 
 l had three very good, I will not say handsome, pip- 
 kins, and two other earthen pots, as hard burnt as 
 
152 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 could be desired, and one of them perfectly glazed 
 with the running of the sand. 
 
 After this experiment I need not say that I wanted 
 no sort of earthenware for my use ; "but I must needs 
 say, as to the shapes of them, they were very indiffer- 
 ent, as any one may suppose, when I had no way of 
 making them but as the children make dirt pies, or 
 as a woman would make pies that never learned to 
 raise paste. 
 
 No joy at a thing of so mean a nature was ever 
 equal to mine when I found I had made an earthen 
 pot that would bear the fire ; and I had hardly pa- 
 tience to stay till they were cold, before I set one 
 upon the fire again, with some water in it, to boil me 
 some meat, which 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 requi- 
 site 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 perfection of art 
 with one pair of hands. To supply this want I was 
 at a great loss ; for, of all trades in the world, I was 
 as perfectly unqualified for a stone-cutter as for any 
 whatever; neither had I any tools to go about it 
 with. I spent many a day to find out a great stone 
 big enough to cut hollow, and make fit for a mortar, 
 and could find none at all, except what was in the 
 solid rock, and which I had no way to dig or cut out ; 
 nor indeed were the rocks in the island of hardness 
 sufficient, but were all of a sandy, crumbling stone, 
 which neither would bear the weight 'of a heavy\ 
 pestle or would break the corn without filling it with 
 Band, So, after a great deal of time lost in searching 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 153 
 
 for a stone, I gave it over, and resolved to look out 
 for a great block of hard wood, which I found indeed 
 much easier ; and getting one as big as I had strength 
 to stir, I rounded it, and formed it in the outside 
 with my axe and hatchet, and then, with the help of 
 fire, and infinite labor, 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 pro- 
 posed 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 goats’ 
 hair, but neither knew I how to weave it or spin it; 
 and had I known how, here was no tools to work it 
 with. All the remedy that I found for this was, that 
 at last I did remember I had, among the seamen’s 
 clothes which were saved out of the ship, some neck- 
 cloths 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 consid- 
 ered, and how I should make bread when I came to 
 have corn; for, first, I had no yeast. As ,to that 
 
154 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 feet diameter, and not above 
 nine inches deep ; these I burned 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 mak- 
 ing and burning also; but I should not call them 
 square. 
 
 When the firewood was burned pretty much into 
 embers, or live coals, I drew them forward upon this 
 hearth, so as to cover it all over, and there I let them 
 lie till the hearth was very hot; then sweeping away 
 all the embers, I set down my loaf, or loaves, and, 
 whelming 1 down the earthen pot upon them, drew the 
 embers all round the outside of the pot, to keep in 
 and add to the heat. And thus, as well as in the 
 best oven in the world, I baked my barley loaves, 
 and became, in little time, a mere 2 pastry-cook 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 into them, supposing I had, 
 except the flesh either of fowls or goats. 
 
 It need not be wondered at if all these things took 
 me up most part of the third year of my abode here;, 
 for it is to be observed, that in the intervals of these 
 things I had my new harvest and husbandry to man- 
 
 1 A curious use of the word signifying apparently that the 
 pot was put upside down over the loaves. 
 
 2 Defoe apparently recurs to an obsolete use of this word, as 
 if he said playfully “ a famous pastry-cook.” 
 
REGULAR LIFE. 
 
 155 
 
 age ; for I reaped my corn in its season, and carried 
 it liome 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 was muclr 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. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BUILDING A BOAT. 
 
 All tlie while these things were doing, you may 
 be sure my thoughts run many times upon the pros- 
 pect 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 main- 
 land, and in an inhabited country I might find some 
 way or other to convey myself farther, and perhaps 
 at last find some means of escape. 
 
 But all this while I made no allowance for the 
 dangers of such a condition, and how I might fall 
 into the hands of savages, and perhaps such as I 
 might have reason to think far worse than the lions 
 and tigers of Africa; that if I once came into their 
 power, I should run a hazard more than a thousand 
 to one of being killed, and perhaps of being eaten ; 
 for I had heard that the people of the Caribbean coasts 
 were cannibals, or man-eaters, and I knew by the lati- 
 tude that I could not be far off from that shore. 
 That suppose they were not cannibals, yet that they 
 might kill me, as many Europeans who had fallen 
 into their hands had been served, even when they had 
 been ten or twenty together, much more I, that was 
 but one, and could make little or no defence; all 
 these things, I say, which I ought to have considered 
 well of, and did cast up in my thoughts afterwards, 
 yet took up none of my apprehensions at first, but 
 
BUILDING A BOAT. 157 
 
 my head can mightily upon the thought of getting 
 over to the shore. 
 
 Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long-boat 
 with the shoulder -of-mutton sail, with which I sailed 
 above a thousand miles on the coast of Africa; but 
 this was in vain. Then I thought I would go and 
 look at our ship’s boat, which, as I have said, was 
 blown up upon the shore a great way, in the storm, 
 when we were first cast away. She lay almost where 
 she did at first, but not quite; and was turned, by 
 the force of the waves and the winds, almost bottom 
 upward, against a high ridge of beachy rough sand, 
 but no water about her, as before. 
 
 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 weeks about 
 iti 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 for* 
 
158 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 ward towards the water; so I was forced to give it 
 over. And yet, though I gave over the hopes of the 
 boat, my desire to venture over for the main in- 
 creased, rather ■ than decreased, 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 'periacjiLa, 
 such as the natives of those climates make, even with- 
 out 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 In- 
 dians 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 the consequences of want 
 of tools could be to them. For what was it to me, 
 that when I had chosen a vast tree in the woods, I 
 might with much trouble cut it down, if, after I 
 might be able with my tools to hew and dub the out- 
 side into the proper shape of a boat, and burn or cut 
 out the inside to make it hollow, so to make a boat 
 of it; if, after all this, I must leave it just there 
 where I found it, and was not able to launch it into 
 the water? 
 
 One would have thought I could not have had the 
 least reflection upon my mind of my circumstance 
 while I was making this boat, but I should have 
 immediately thought how I should get it into the sea ; 
 but my thoughts were so intent upon my voyage over 
 the sea in it that I never once considered how I 
 should get it off of the land ; and it was really, in its 
 
BUILDING A BOAT. 
 
 159 
 
 own nature, more easy for me to guide it over forty- 
 five miles of sea than about forty-five fathoms of 
 land, where it lay, to set it afloat in the water. 
 
 I went to work upon this boat the most like a fool 
 that ever man did who had any of his senses awake. 
 I pleased myself with the design, without determining 
 whether I was ever able to undertake it. Not but 
 that the difficulty of launching my boat came often 
 into my head; but I put a stop to my own inquiries 
 into it, by this foolish answer which I gave myself, 
 “Let ’s first make it; I ’ll warrant I ’ll find some way 
 or other to get it along when ’t 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 Solo- 
 mon ever had such a one for the building of the 
 Temple at Jerusalem. It was five feet ten inches 
 diameter at the lower part next the stump, and four 
 feet eleven inches diameter at the end of twenty-two 
 feet, after which it lessened for a while, and then 
 parted into branches. It was not without infinite 
 labor 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 off, which I hacked and 
 hewed through with axe and hatchet, and inexpressi- 
 ble labor. After this, it cost me a month to shape 
 it and dub it to a proportion, and to something like 
 the bottom of a boat, that it might swim upright as 
 it ought to do. It cost me near three months more 
 to clear the inside, and work it so as to make an exact 
 boat of it. This I did, indeeel, without fire, by mere 
 mallet and chisel, and by the dint of hard labor, till 
 I had brought it to be a very handsome periagua , and 
 
160 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 big enough to have carried six and twenty men, and 
 consequently big enough to have carried me and all 
 my cargo. 
 
 When I had gone through this work, I was ex- 
 tremely delighted with it. The boat was really much 
 bigger than I ever saw a canoe or periagua that was 
 made of one tree, in my life. Many a weary stroke 
 it had cost, you may be sure; 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 labor 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 discour- 
 agement, I resolved to dig into the sui'face of the 
 earth, and so make a declivity. This I began, and 
 it cost me a prodigious deal of pains ; but who grudges 
 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 re- 
 solved 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 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 
 
BUILDING A BOAT. 
 
 161 
 
 it must have been at least twenty feet deep; so at 
 length, though with great reluctancy, I gave this 
 attempt over also. 
 
 This grieved me heartily; and now I saw, though 
 too late, the folly of beginning a work before we 
 count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our 
 own strength to go through with it. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED. 
 
 In the middle of this work I finished 
 year in this place, and kept my anniversa 
 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 knowledge from what 
 I had before. I entertained different notions of 
 things. I looked now upon the world as a thing 
 remote, which I had nothing to do with, no expecta- 
 tion from, and, indeed, no desires about. In a word, 
 I had nothing indeed to do \\4th 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 Abraham to Dives, “Between me and thee is 
 a great gulf fixed.” 
 
 In the first place, I was removed from all the 
 wickedness of the world here. I had neithexJkn lust 
 of the flesh, the lu st of the eye, or the pri de__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 
 
MONARCH OF ALL IJE SURVEYED. ( 1G3 
 
 for it; so I let as little grow as I thought enough for 
 my occasion. I had tortoise or turtles enough, hut 
 now and then one was as much as I could put to any 
 use. I had timber enough to have built a fleet of 
 ships. I had grapes enough to have made wine, or 
 to have cured into raisins, to have loaded that fleet 
 when they had been built. 
 
 But all I could make use of was all that was valu- 
 able. I had enough to eat and to supply my wants, 
 and what was all the rest to me ? If I killed more 
 flesh than I could eat, the dog must eat it, or the 
 vermin. If I sowed more corn than I could eat, it 
 must be spoiled. The trees that I cut down were 
 lying to rot on the ground; I could make no more 
 use of them than for fuel, and that I had no occasion 
 for but to dress my food. 
 
 In a word, the nature and experience of things 
 dictated to me, upon just reflection, that all the gooi 
 things of this world are no farther good to us tliai 
 they are for our use ; and that whatever we may heaj 
 up indeed to give others, we enjoy just as much as 
 we can use, and no more. The most covetous grip • 
 ing miser in the world would have been cured of tin s 
 vice of covetousness, if he had been in my case ; fo • 
 I possessed infinitely more than I knew what to do 
 with. I had no room for desire, except it was of 
 things which I had not, and they were but trifles, 
 though indeed of great use to me. I had, as I hinted 
 before, a parcel of money, as well gold as silver, 
 about thirty-six pounds sterling. Alas! there the 
 nasty, sorry, useless stuff lay; I had no manner of 
 business for it; and I often thought with myself 
 that I would have given a handful of it for a gross 
 of tobacco-pipes, or for a hand-mill to grind my 
 
164 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 coni ; nay, I would liave given it all for six penny- 
 worth of turnip and carrot seed out of England, or 
 for a handful of peas and beans, and a bottle of ink. 
 As it was, I had not the least advantage by it, or 
 benefit from it; but there it lay in a drawer, and 
 grew mouldy with the damp of the cave in the wet 
 season ; and if I had had the drawer full of diamonds, 
 it had been the same case, and they had been of nc> 
 manner of value to me because of no use. 
 
 I had now brought my state of life to be much 
 easier in itself than it was at first, and much easier 
 to my mind, as well as to my body. I frequently sat . 
 down to my meat with thankfulness, and admired the 
 hand of God’s providence, which had thus spread my 
 I table in the wilderness. I learned to look more upon 
 the bright side of my condition, and less upon the 
 | dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed, rather 
 than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes 
 such secret comforts that I cannot express them ; and 
 which I take notice of here, to put those discontented 
 people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably 
 what God has given them, because they see and covet 
 something that He has not given them. All our dis- 
 contents about what we want appeared to me to spring 
 from the want of thankfulness for what we have. 
 
 ' — Another reflection was of great use to me, and 
 doubtless would be so to any one that should fall into 
 such distress as mine was ; and this was, to compare 
 my present condition with, what I at first expected it 
 should be; .nay, with what it would certainly have 
 been, if the good providence of God had not wonder- 
 fully 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 
 
MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED. 165 
 
 ami 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 myself, in the most lively colors, how 
 T must have acted if I had got nothing out of the 
 ship. How I could not have so much as got any 
 food, except fish and turtles; and that as it was long 
 before I found any of them, I must have perished 
 first; that I should have lived, if I had not perished, 
 like a mere savage; that if I had killed a goat or a 
 fowl, by any contrivance, I had no way to flay or 
 open them, or part the flesh from the skin and the 
 bowels, or to cut it up; but must gnaw it with my 
 teeth, and pull it with my claws, like a beast. 
 
 These reflections made me very sensible of the good- 
 ness of Providence to me, and very thankful for my 
 present condition, with all its hardships and misfor- 
 tunes ; and this part also I cannot but recommend to 
 the reflection of those who are apt, in their misery, to 
 say, Is any affliction like mine? Let them consider 
 how much worse the cases of some people are, and their 
 case might have been, if Providence had thought fit. 
 
 I had another reflection which assisted me also to 
 comfort my mind with hopes; and this was, compar- 
 ing myL_piesent condition with what I had deserved, 
 and b,ad therefore reason to expect from the hand of 
 Providence. I had lived a dreadful life, perfectly / ■ 
 destitute of the .knowledge and fear of God. I had 
 been well instructed by father and mother; neither 
 had they been wanting to me in their early endeavors 
 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 
 
1G6 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 into the seafaring life, which, of all the lives, is the 
 most destitute of the fear of God, though His terrors 
 are always before them, — I say, falling early into the 
 seafaring life, and into seafaring company, all that 
 little sense of religion which I had entertained was 
 laughed out of me by my messmates ; by 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 anything 
 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 
 master of the ship ; my being planted so well in the 
 Brazils; my receiving the cargo from England, and 
 the like, I never had once the words, “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 reflections upon my mind for many 
 months, as I have already observed, on the account 
 of my wicked and hardened life past; and when I 
 looked about me, and considered what particular 
 providences had attended me since my coming into 
 this place, and how God had dealt bountifully with 
 me, had not only punished me less than my iniquity 
 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 reflections, I worked my mind up, not 
 
MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED. 167 
 
 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 punishment of my sins ; that I enjoyed 
 so many mercies, which I had no reason to have ex- 
 pected in that place; that I ought never more to 
 repine at my condition, hut to rejoice, and to give 
 daily thanks for that daily bread, which nothing bi# 
 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 al 
 long series of miracles; and that I could hardly have\ 
 named a place in the unhabitable part of the world 
 where I could have been cast more to my advantage; 
 a place where, as I had no society, which was my 
 affliction on one hand, so I found no ravenous beasts, 
 no furious wolves or tigers, to threaten my life; no 
 venomous creatures or poisonous, which I might 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 for some time, 
 all but a very little, which I eked out with water, a 
 little and a little, till it was so pale it scarce left any 
 appearance of black upon the paper. As long as it 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 168 
 
 lasted, I made use of it to minute down the day.*: of 
 the month on which any remarkable thing happened to 
 me. And, first, by casting up times past, I remem- 
 ber that there was a strange concuri'ence of days in 
 the various providences which befell me, and which, 
 if I had been superstitiously inclined to observe days 
 as fatal or fortunate, I might have had reason to have 
 looked upon with a great deal of curiosity. 
 
 First, I had observed that the same day that 1 
 broke away from my father and my friends, and run 
 away to Hull, in order to go to sea, the same day 
 afterwards I was taken by the Sallee man-of-war, and 
 made a slave. 
 
 The same day of the year that I escaped out of the 
 wreck of that ship in Yarmouth Roads, that same 
 day -year afterwards I made my escape 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 twenty-six years after, when I was 
 cast on shore in this island; so that my wicked life 
 and my solitary life began both on a day. 
 
 The next thing to my ink’s being wasted was that 
 of my bread; I mean the biscuit, which I brought 
 out of the ship. This I had husbanded to the last 
 degree, allowing myself but one cake of bread a day 
 for above a year ; and yet I was quite without bread 1 
 for near a year before I got any corn of my own ; and 
 great reason I had to be thankful that I had any at 
 all, the getting it being, as has been already observed, 
 next to miraculous. 
 
 My clothes began to decay, too, mightily. As to 
 linen, I had none a good while, except some chequered 
 shirts which I found in the chests of the other seamen, 
 
MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED. 169 
 
 and which I carefully preserved, because many times 
 I could bear no other clothes on but a shirt ; and it 
 was a very great help to me that I had, among all the 
 men’s clothes of the ship, almost three dozen of. 
 shirts. There were also several thick watch-coats o£\ 
 the seamen’s which were left indeed, but they were/ 
 too hot to wear; and though it is tme that the 
 weather was so violent hot that there was no need oi 
 clothes, -yet I could not go quite naked, no, though [ 
 had been inclined to it, which I was not, nor could 
 abide the thoughts of it, though I was all alone. 
 
 The reason why I could not go quite naked was, l 
 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 a hat. The heat of 
 the sun beating with such violence, as it does in that 
 place, would give me the headache presently, by 
 darting so directly on my head, without a cap or hat 
 on, so that I could not bear it; whereas, if I put on 
 my hat, it would presently go away. 
 
 Upon those views, I began to consider about put- 
 ting the few rags I had, which I called clothes, into 
 some order. I had worn out all the waistcoats I had, 
 and my business was now to try if I could not make 
 jackets out of the great watch-coats which I had by 
 me, and with such other materials as I had ; so I set 
 to work a-tailoring, or rather, indeed, a-botching, foi 
 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 
 
170 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 or drawers, I made but a very sorry shift indeed till 
 afterward. 
 
 I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all the 
 creatures that I killed, I mean four-footed ones, and 
 I had hung them up stretched out with sticks in the 
 sun, by which means some of them were so dry and 
 hard that they were fit for little, but others it seems 
 were very useful. The first thing I made of these 
 was a great cap for my head, with the hair on the 
 outside, to shoot off the rain; and this I performed 
 so well, that after this I made me a suit of clothes 
 wholly of these skins, that is to say, a waistcoat, and 
 breeches open at 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 
 *vere 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 outermost, I was kept very dry. 
 
 After this I spent a great deal of time and pains to 
 make me an umbrella. I was indeed in great want 
 of one, and had a great mind to make one. I had 
 seen them made in the 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 
 ;o be much abroad, it was a most useful thing to me, 
 as well for the rains as the heats. I took a world of 
 pains at it, and was a great while before I could make 
 anything likely to hold ; nay, after I thought I had 
 hit the way, I spoiled two or three before I made one 
 to my mind; but at last I made one that answered 
 indifferently well. The main difficulty I found was 
 
MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED. 171 
 
 to make it to let down. I could make it to spread; 
 but if it did not let down too, and draw in, it was 
 not portable for me any way but just over my head, 
 which would not do. However, at last, as I said, I 
 made one to answer, 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 effectually, that I 
 could walk out in the hottest of the weather with 
 greater advantage than I could before in the coolest; 
 and when I had no need of it, could close it, and 
 carry it under my arm. 
 
CHAPTER XV, 
 
 A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being 
 entirely composed by resigning to the will of God, 
 and throwing myself wholly upon the disposal of His 
 providence. This made my life better than sociable ; 
 for when I began to regret the want of conversation, 
 I would ask myself whether thus conversing mutually 
 with my own thoughts and, as I hope I may say, with 
 even God Himself, by ejaculations, was not better 
 than the utmost enjoyment of human society in the 
 
 world? — 
 
 I cannot say that after this, for p've yearsj any 
 extraordinary thing happened to me pBufT 1 lived on 
 in the same course, in the same posture and place, 
 just as before. The chief things I was employed in, 
 besides my yearly labor 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 labor, and my daily labor of going out with 
 my gun, I had one labor, to make me a canoe, which 
 at last I finished; so that by digging a canal to it of 
 six feet wide, and four feet deep, I brought it into 
 the creek, almost half a mile. As for the first, 
 which was so vastly big, as I made it without consid- 
 ering beforehand, as I ought to do, how I should be 
 able to launch it; so, never being able to bring it to 
 
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 173 
 
 the water, or bring the water to it, I was obliged to 
 let it lie where it was, as a memorandum to teach me 
 to be wiser next time. Indeed, the next time, though 
 I could not get a tree proper for it, and in a place 
 where I could not get the water to it at any less 
 distance than, as I have said, near half a mile, yet 
 as I saw it was practicable at last, I never gave it 
 over; and though I was near two years about it, yet 
 I never grudged my labor, in hopes of having a boat 
 to go off to sea at last. 
 
 However, though my little periagua was finished, 
 yet the size of it was not at all answerable to the 
 design which I had in view when I made the first; 3 
 mean, of venturing over to the terra firma, where it 
 was above forty miles broad. Accordingly, the small- 
 ness of my boat assisted to put an end to that design, 
 and now I thought no more of it. But as I had a 
 boat, my next design was to make a tour round the 
 island; for as I had been on the other side in one 
 place, crossing, as I have already described it, over 
 the land, so the discoveries I made in that little jour- 
 ney made me very eager to see other parts of the 
 coast; and now I had a boat, 1 thought of nothing 
 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 the boat 
 I found she would sail very well. Then I made little 
 lockers, or boxes, at either end of my boat, to put 
 provisions, necessaries, and ammunition, etc., into, 
 to be kept dry, either from rain or the spray of the 
 
174 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 sea ; and a little long hollow place I cut in the inside, 
 of the boat, where I could lay my gun, making a flap 
 to hang down over it to keep it dry. 
 
 I fixed my umbrella also in a step at the stern, like 
 a mast, to stand over my head, and keep the heat of 
 the sun off of me, like an awning; and thus I every 
 now and then took a little voyage upon the sea, but 
 never went far out, nor far from the little creek. 
 But at last, being eager to view the circumference of 
 my little kingdom, I resolved upon my tour; and 
 accordingly I victualled my ship for the voyage, put- 
 ting 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 eat a great deal of, a little bot- 
 tle of rum, half a goat, and powder and shot for kill- 
 ing more, and two large watch-coats, of those which, 
 as I mentioned before, I had saved out of the seamen’s 
 chests; these I took, one to lie upon, and the other 
 to cover me in the night. 
 
 It was the 6th of November, in the sixth year of 
 my reign, or my captivity, which you please, that I 
 set out on this voyage, and I found it much longer', 
 than I expected; for though the island itself was not 
 very large, yet when I came to the east side of it I 
 found a great ledge of rocks lie out above two leagues 
 into the sea, some above water, some under it, and 
 beyond that a shoal of sand, lying dry half a league 
 more ; so that I was obliged to go a great way out to 
 sea to double the point. 
 
 When first I discovered them, I was going to give 
 over my enterprise, and come back again, not know- 
 ing how far it might oblige me to go out to sea, and, 
 above all, doubting how I should get back again, so 
 l came to an anchor; for I had made me a kind of 
 
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 175 
 
 an anchor with a piece of a broken grappling which 
 I got out of the ship. 
 
 Having secured my boat, 1 took my gun and went 
 on shore, climbing 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 run 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, 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 it was not safe for me 
 to keep too close to the shore for the breach, nor to 
 go too far off because of the stream. 
 
 The third day, in the morning, the wind having 
 abated overnight, 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 
 
176 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 all I could do could not keep lier so muck 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 avoiding it ; so that I had no prospect 
 before me but of perishing ; not by the sea, for that 
 was calm enough, but of starving for hunger. I had 
 indeed found a tortoise on the shore, as big almost as 
 I could lift, and had tossed it into the boat; and I 
 had a great jar of fresh water, that is to say, one of 
 my earthen pots; but what was all this to being 
 driven into the vast ocean, where, to be sure, there 
 was no shore, no mainland 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 man- 
 kind could be in worse. Now I looked back upon 
 my desolate solitary island as the most pleasant place 
 in the world, and all the happiness my heart could 
 wish for was to be but there again. I stretched out 
 my hands to it, with eager wishes. “O happy des- 
 ert!” said I, “I shall never see thee more. O mis- 
 erable creature,” said I, “whither am I going?” 
 Then I reproached myself with my unthankful tem- 
 per, 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 con- 
 dition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries; nor 
 know how to value what we enjoy but by the want of 
 
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 177 
 
 it. It is scarce possible to imagine the consterna- 
 tion I was now in, being driven from my beloved 
 island (for so it appeared to me now to be) into the 
 wide ocean, almost two leagues, and in the utmost 
 despair of ever recovering it again. However, I 
 worked hard, till indeed my strength was almost 
 exhausted, and kept my boat as much to the north- 
 ward, 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. Ey this time I was 
 gotten at a frightful distance from the island; and 
 had the least cloud or hazy weather intervened, I had 
 been undone another way too ; for I had no compass 
 on board, and should never have known how to have 
 steered towards the island if I had but once lost sight 
 of it. But the weather continuing clear, I applied 
 myself to get up my mast again, and spread my sail, 
 standing away to the north as much as possible, to 
 get out of the current. 
 
 Just as I had set my mast and sail, and the boat 
 began to stretch away, I saw even by the clearness of 
 the water some alteration of the current was near; 
 for where the current was so strong the water was 
 foul. But perceiving the water clear, I found the 
 current abate, and presently I found to the east, at 
 about half a mile, a breach of the sea upon some 
 rocks. These rocks I found caused the current to 
 part again; and as the main sti’ess of it ran away 
 more southerly, leaving the rocks to the northeast, 
 so the other returned by the repulse of the rocks, and 
 
178 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 made a strong eddy, which ran back again to tin- 
 northwest with a very sharp stream. 
 
 They who know what it is to have a reprieve 
 brought to them upon the ladder, or to be rescued 
 from thieves just going to murder them, or who have 
 been in such like extremities, may guess what my 
 present surprise of joy was, and how gladly I put my 
 boat into the stream of this eddy; and the wind also 
 freshening, how gladly I spread my sail to it, running 
 cheerfully before the wind, and with a strong tide or 
 eddy under foot. 
 
 This eddy carried me about a league in my way 
 back again, directly towards the island, but about 
 two leagues more 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 say, the other end of the island, 
 opposite to that which I went out from. 
 
 When I had made something more than a league 
 of way by the help of this current or eddy, I found 
 it was spent, and served me no farther. However, I 
 found that being between the two great currents, viz., 
 that on the south side, which had hurried me away, 
 and that on the north, which lay about a league on 
 the other side ; I say, between these two, in the wake 
 of the island, I found the water at least still, and run- 
 ning no way ; and having still a breeze of wind fair 
 for me, I kept on steering directly for the island, 
 though not making such fresh way as I did before. 
 
 About four o’clock in the evening, being then 
 within about a league of the island, I found the point 
 of the rocks which occasioned this disaster stretching 
 out, as is described before, to the southward, and 
 casting off the current more southwardly had, of 
 
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 179 
 
 course, made another eddy to the north, and this I 
 found very strong, but not directly setting the way 
 my course lay, which was due west, but almost full 
 north. However, having a fresh gale, I stretched 
 across this eddy, slanting northwest; and in about 
 * an hour came within about a mile of the shore, where, 
 it being smooth water, I soon got to land. 
 
 When I was on shore, I fell on my knees, and 
 gave God thanks for my deliverance, resolving to lay 
 aside all thoughts of my deliverance by my boat; and, 
 refreshing myself with such things as I had, I brought 
 my boat close to the shore, in a little cove that I had 
 spied under some trees, and laid me down to sleep, 
 being quite spent with the labor and fatigue of the 
 voyage. 
 
 I was now at a great loss which way to get home 
 with my boat. I had run so much hazard, and knew 
 too much the case, to think of attempting it by the 
 way I went out; and what might be at the other side 
 (I mean the west side) I knew not, nor had I any 
 mind to run any more ventures. So I only resolved 
 in the morning to make my way westward along the 
 shore, and to see if there was no creek where I might 
 lay up my frigate in safety, so as to have her again 
 if I wanted her. In about three miles, or there- 
 ibouts, 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 harbor for my boat, and 
 where she lay as if she had been in a little dock made 
 on purpose for her. Here I put in, and having 
 stowed my boat very safe, I went on shore to look 
 about me, and see where I was. 
 
 I soon found I had but a little passed by the place 
 
180 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 wliere 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, 1 
 began my march. The way was comfortable enough 
 after such a voyage as I had been upon, and I reached 
 my old bower in the evening, where I found every- 
 thing standing as I left it; for I always kept it in 
 good order, being, as I said before, my country house. 
 
 I got over the fence, and laid me down in the shade 
 to rest my limbs, for I was very weary, and fell 
 asleep. But judge you, if you can, that read my 
 story, what a surprise I must be in, when I was 
 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 Crusoe? 
 Where are you? Where have you been? ” 
 
 I was so dead asleep at first, being fatigued with 
 rowing, or paddling, as it is called, the first part of 
 the day, and 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 continued 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 bemoan- 
 ing language I had used to talk to him, and teach 
 liim ; and he had learned it so perfectly that he would 
 sit upon my finger, and lay his bill close to my face, 
 and cry, “Poor Robin Crusoe! Where are you? 
 Where have you been? How come you here ? ” and 
 such things as I had taught him. 
 
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 181 
 
 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 continued talking to me, — Poor Robin 
 Crusoe! and how did I come here? and where had I 
 been? — just as if he had been overjoyed to see me 
 again; and so I carried him home along with me. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 HIS ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 I had now had enough of rambling to sea for some 
 time, and had enough to do for many days to sit still, 
 and reflect upon the danger I had been in. I would 
 have been very glad to have had my boat again on 
 my side of the island; but I knew not how it was 
 practicable to get it about. As to the east side of 
 the island, which I had gone round, I knew well 
 enough there was no venturing that way; my very 
 heart would shrink, and my very blood run chill, but 
 
 I 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 be without any boat, though it 
 \ had been the product of so many months’ labor to 
 make it, and of so many more to get it unto the sea. 
 
 In this government of my temper I remained near 
 a year, lived a very sedate, retired life, as you may 
 well suppose ; and my thoughts being very much 
 composed as to my condition, and fidly comforted in 
 resigning myself to the dispositions of Providence, I 
 thought I lived really very happily in all things, 
 except that of society. 
 
Ills ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 183 
 
 I improved myself in this time in all the mechanic 
 exercises which my necessities put me upon applying 
 myself to, and I believe could, upon occasion, make 
 a very good carpenter, especially considering how few 
 tools I had. Besides this, I arrived at an unexpected 
 perfection in my earthenware, and contrived well 
 enough to make them with a wheel, which I found 
 infinitely easier and better, because I made things 
 round and shapable which before were filthy things 
 indeed to look on. But I think I was never more 
 vain of my own performance, or more joyful for any- 
 thing I found out, than for my being able to make 
 a tobacco-pipe. And 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 com- 
 forted with it; for I had been always used to smoke, 
 and there were pipes in the ship, but I forgot them 
 at first, not knowing that there was tobacco in the 
 island; and afterwards, when I searched the ship 
 again, I could not come at any pipes at all. 
 
 In my wicker ware also I improved much, and 
 made abundance of necessary baskets, as well as my 
 invention 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 example, 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 for me, and bring them home in a basket, 
 and leave the rest behind me. Also large deep bas- 
 kets were my receivers for my corn, which I always 
 
184 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 rubbed out as soon as it was dry, and cured, and kept 
 it in great baskets. 
 
 I began now to perceive my powder abated consid- 
 erably, and this was a want which it was impossible 
 for me to supply, and I began seriously to consider 
 what I must do when I should have no more powder ; 
 that is to say, how I should do to kill any goats. I 
 had, as is observed, in the third year of my being 
 here kept a young kid, and bred her up tame, and I 
 was in hope of getting a he goat. But I could not 
 by any means bring it to pass, till my kid grew an 
 old goat; and I could never find in my heart to kill 
 her, till she 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, without setting the trap, 
 and I could easily perceive that the goats had gone 
 in and eaten up the corn, for I could see the mark of 
 their feet. At length I set three traps in one night, 
 and going the next morning, I found them all stand- 
 ing, and yet the bait eaten and gone; this was very 
 
HIS ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 185 
 
 discouraging. However, I altered my trap; and, 
 not to trouble you with particulars, going one morn- 
 ing 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; 
 thatris tolsay, to go about to bring him away alive, 
 which was what 1 wanted. I could have killed him, 
 but that was not my business, nor would it answer 
 my end ; so I even let him out, and he ran away, as 
 if he had been frighted out of his wits. But 1 had 
 forgot then what 1 learned afterwards, that hunger 
 will tame a lion. If I had let him stay there three 
 or four days without food.* and then have carried him 
 some water to drink, and then a little corn, he would 
 have been as tame as one of the kids, for they are 
 mighty sagacious, tractable creatures where they are 
 well used. 
 
 However, for the present I let him go, knowing 
 no better at that time. Then I went to the three 
 kids, and taking them one by one, I tied them with 
 strings together, and with some difficulty brought 
 them all home. 
 
 It was a good while before they would feed, but 
 throwing them some sweet corn, it tempted them, 
 and they began to be tame. And now I found that 
 if I expected to supply myself with goat-flesh when 
 I had no powder or shot left, breeding some up tame 
 was my only way, when perhaps I might have them 
 about my house like a flock of sheep. 
 
 But then it presently occurred to me that I must 
 keep the tame from the wild, or else they would 
 always run wild when they grew up; and the only 
 
186 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 way for this was to have some enclosed piece of 
 ground, well fenced either with hedge or pale, to 
 keep them in so effectually that those within might 
 not break out, or those without break in. 
 
 This was a great undertaking for one pair of hands ; 
 yet as I saw there was an absolute necessity of doing 
 it, my first piece of work was to find out a proper 
 piece of ground, viz., where there was likely to be 
 herbage for them to eat, water for them to drink, 
 and cover to keep them from the sun. 
 
 Those who understand such enclosures will think 
 I had very little contrivance when I pitched upon a 
 place very proper for all these, being a plain open 
 piece of meadow land, or savanna (as our people call 
 it in the western colonies},;, which had two or three 
 littlq drills of fresh water in it, and at one end was 
 very woody ; I say, they will smile at my forecast, 
 when I shall tell them I began my enclosing of this 
 piece of ground in such a manner that my hedge or 
 pale must have been at least two miles about. Nor 
 was the madness of it so great as to the compass, for 
 if it was ten miles about, I was like to have time 
 enough to do it in. But I did not consider that my 
 goats would be as wild in so much compass as if they 
 had had the whole island, and I should have so much 
 room to chase them in that I should never catch them. 
 
 My hedge was begun and carried on, I believe, 
 about fifty yards, when this thought occurred to me, 
 so I presently stopped short, and, for the first begin- 
 ning, I resolved to enclose a piece of about one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards in length, and one hundred yards 
 in breadth ; which, as it would maintain as many as 
 I should have in any reasonable time, so, as my flock 
 increased, I could add more ground to my enclosure. 
 
Ills ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 187 
 
 This was acting with some prudence, and I went to 
 work with courage. I was about three months hedg- 
 ing in the first piece, and, till I had done it, I teth- 
 ered 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 Imc several pieces of ground 
 to feed them in, with littHjiens 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’ 
 flesh to feed on when I pleased, but milk too, a thin« 
 which, indeed, in my beginning, I did not so mind 
 think 
 
 as tlnnk of, and which, when it came 
 "thoughts, was really an agreeable surprise 
 
 into mj 
 
 For no\t 
 
 1 set up my dairy, and had sometimes a gallon or two 
 of milk in a day; and as Nature, who gives supplies 
 of food to every creature, dictates even naturally 
 how to make use of it, so I that 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, made me both butter 
 
 and cheese at last, and never wanted it afterwards 
 
 How mercifully can our great Creator treat His 
 creatures, even in those conditions in which they 
 seemed to be overwhelmed in destruction ! How can 
 
188 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 He sweeten the bitterest pi'ovidences, and give us 
 cause to praise Him for dungeons and prisons ! What 
 a table was here spread for me in a wilderness where 
 I saw nothing at first but to perish for hunger ! 
 
 It would have made a stoic smile to have seen me 
 and my little family sit down to dinner. There was 
 my majesty, the prince and lord of the whole island. 
 
 • I had the lives of all my subjects at my absolute 
 command. 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 servants. Poll, as if he had been my / 
 favorite, was the only person permitted to talk to me. V 
 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 special 
 - favor. 
 
 But these were not the two cats which I brought 
 on shore at first, for they were both of them dead, 
 and had been interred near my habitation, by my 
 own 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 run wild in 
 she woods, and became indeed troublesome to me at 
 List; for they would often come into my house, and 
 plunder me too, till at last I was obliged to shoot 
 them, and did kill a great many ; at length they left 
 me. With this attendance, and in this plentiful 
 > manner, I lived ; neither could I be said to want any- 
 
 C tiling but society ; and of that, in some time after this, 
 
 I was like to have too much. ^ 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TIIE FOOTPRINT. 
 
 I WAS something impatient, as I have observed, to 
 have the use of my boat, though very loath to run any 
 more hazards ; and therefore sometimes I sat contriv- 
 ing ways to get her about the island, and at other 
 times I sat myself down contented enough without 
 her. But I had a strange uneasiness in my mind to 
 go down to the point of the island where, as I have 
 said, in my last ramble, I went up the hill to see how 
 the shore lay, and how the current set, that I might 
 see what I had to do. This inclination increased 
 upon me every day, and at length I resolved to travel 
 thither by land, following the edge of the shore. I 
 did so ; but had any one in England been to meet 
 such a man as I was, it must either have frighted 
 them, or raised a great deal of laughter; and as I 
 frequently stood still to look at myself, I could not 
 but smile at the notion of my travelling through 
 Yorkshire, with such an equipage, and in such a 
 dress. Be pleased to take a sketch of my figure, as 
 follows. 
 
 I had a great high shapeless cap, made of 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. 
 
190 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 I had a short jacket of goat 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, hut 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 barbai’ous 
 shape, as indeed were all the rest of my clothes. 
 
 I had on a broad belt of goat’s skin dried, which 
 I drew together with two thongs of the same, instead 
 of buckles ; and in a kind of a frog on either side of 
 this, instead of a sword and 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 shoulder; aixd at 
 the end of it, under my left arm, hung two pouches, 
 both made of goat’s skin too; in one of which hung 
 my powder, in the other my shot. At my back I 
 carried my basket, on my shoulder my gun, and over 
 my head a great clumsy ugly goat-skin umbrella, 
 but which, after all, was the most necessary thing I 
 had about me, next to my gun. As for my face, the 
 color of it was really not so mulatto-like as one might 
 expect from a man not at all careful of it, and living 
 within nineteen degrees of the equinox. My beard 
 I had once suffered to grow till it was about a quarter 
 of a yard long ; but as I had both 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 
 
THE FOOTPRINT . 
 
 191 
 
 Moors did not wear such, though the Turks did* Of 
 these mustacliios or whiskers, I will not say they 
 were long enough to hang my hat upon them, but 
 they were of a lengtji 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 that it was of no manner 
 of consequence; so I say no more to that part. In 
 this kind of figure I went my new journey, and was 
 out five or six days. I travelled first along the sea- 
 shore, directly to the place where I first brought my 
 boat to an anchor, to get up upon the rocks. And 
 having no boat now to take care of, I went over the 
 land, a nearer way, to the same height that I was 
 upon before; when, looking forward to the point of 
 the rocks which lay out, and which I was obliged to 
 double with my boat, as is said above, I was sur- 
 prised to see the sea all smooth and quiet, no rip- 
 pling, no motion, no current, any more there than 
 in other places. 
 
 I was at a strange loss to understand this, and 
 resolved to spend some time in the observing it, to 
 ?ee if nothing from the sets of the tide had occasioned 
 it. But I was presently convinced how it was, viz., 
 -hat the tide of ebb setting from the west, and join- 
 ing with the current of waters from some great river 
 on the shore, must be the occasion of this current; 
 and that according as the wind blew more forcibly 
 from the west, or from the north, this current came 
 near, or went farther from the shore; for waiting 
 thereabouts till evening, I went up to the rock again, 
 and then the tide of ebb being made, I plainly saw 
 the current again as before, only that it tun farther 
 
192 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 not have done. 
 
 This observation convinced me that I had nothing 
 to do but to observe the ebbing and the flowing of 
 the tide, and I might very easily bring my boat about 
 the island again. But when I began to think of 
 putting it in practice, I had such a terror upon my 
 spirits at the remembrance of the danger I had been 
 in that I could not think of it again with any pa- 
 tience ; but, on the contrary, I 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 understand that now I had, as I may 
 call it, two plantations in the island; one, my little 
 fortification or tent, with the wall about it, under the 
 rock, with the cave behind me, which, by this time, 
 I had enlarged into several apartments or caves, one 
 within another. One of these, which was the driest 
 and largest, and had a door out beyond my wall or 
 fortification, that is to say, beyond where my wall 
 joined to the rock, was all filled up with 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 
 
THE FOOTPRINT. 193 
 
 there was not the least appearance, to any one’s view, 
 of any habitation behind them. 
 
 Near this dwelling - of mine, but a little farther 
 within the land, and upon lower ground, lay my two 
 pieces of corn ground, which I kept duly cultivated 
 and sowed, and which duly yielded me their harvest 
 in its season; and whenever I had occasion for more 
 corn, I had more land adjoining as fit as that. 
 
 Besides this, I had my Country seat, and I had 
 now a tolerable plantation there also; for, first, I 
 had my little bower, as I called it, which I kept in 
 repair; that is to say, I kept the hedge which circled 
 it in constantly fitted up to its usual height, the lad- 
 der standing always in the inside. I kept the trees, 
 which at first were no more than my stakes, but were 
 now grown very firm and tall, I kept them always so 
 cut that they might spread and grow thick and wild, 
 and make the more agreeable shade, which they did 
 effectually to my mind. In the middle of this, I had 
 my tent always standing, being a piece of a sail spread 
 over poles, set up for that purpose, and which never 
 wanted any repair or renewing; and under this I had 
 made me a scpiab 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 hei'e, whenever I had occasion 
 to be absent from my chief seat, I took up my coun- 
 try habitation. 
 
 Adjoining to this I had my enclosures for my cat- 
 tle, 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 
 
194 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 till, with infinite labor, I had stuck the outside of 
 the hedge so full of small stakes, and so near to one 
 another, that it was rather a pale than a hedge, and 
 there was scarce room to put a hand through between 
 them ; which afterwards, when those stakes grew, as 
 they all did in the next rainy season, made the enclo- 
 sure 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 ap- 
 peared necessary for my comfortable support; for I 
 considered the keeping up a breed of tame creatures 
 thus at my hand would be a living magazine of flesh, 
 milk, butter, and cheese for me as long as I lived in 
 the place, if it were to be forty years ; and that keep- 
 ing them in my reach depended entirely upon my 
 perfecting my enclosures to such a degree that I 
 might be sure of keeping them together; which, by 
 this method, indeed, I so effectually secured that 
 when these little stakes began to grow, I had planted 
 them so very thick I was forced to pull some of 
 them up again. 
 
 In this place also I had my grapes growing, which 
 I principally depended on for my winter store of 
 raisins, and which I never failed to preserve very 
 carefully, as the best and most agreeable dainty of 
 my whole diet. And indeed they were not agreeable 
 only, but physical, wholesome, nourishing, and re- 
 freshing 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 
 
THE FOOTPRINT 
 

THE FOOTPRINT. 
 
 195 
 
 good order. Sometimes I went out in her to divert 
 myself, but no more hazardous voyages would I go, 
 nor scarce ever above a stone’s cast or two from the 
 shore, I was so apprehensive of being hurried out of 
 my knowledge again by the currents or winds, or any 
 other accident. But now I come to a new scene of 
 my life. 
 
 It happened one day, about noon, going towards 
 my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print 
 of a man’s naked foot on the shore, which was very 
 plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like one thun- 
 derstruck, or as if I had seen an apparition. I lis- 
 tened, 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 coidd see no other impression 
 but that one. I went to it again to see if there were 
 any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy ; 
 but there was no room for that, for there was exactly 
 the very print of a foot — toes, heel, and every part 
 of a foot. How it came thither I knew not, nor could 
 in the least imagine. But after innumerable flutter- 
 ing thoughts, like a man perfectly confused and out 
 of myself, I came home to my fortification, not feel- 
 ing, as we say, the ground I went on, but terrified to 
 the last deg ree, 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 af- 
 frighted imagination represented things 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 m y castle , for so I think I called 
 
196 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 it ever after tliis, I fled into it like one pursued. 
 Whether I went over hy 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 night. The farther I was from 
 the occasion of my fright, the greater my apprehen- 
 sions were ; which is something contrary to the nature 
 of such things, and especially to the usual practice of 
 all creatures in fear. But I was so embarrassed with 
 my own frightful ideas of the thing, that I formed 
 liothing but dismal imaginations to myself, even 
 though I was now a great way off it. Sometimes I 
 fancied it must he 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 was 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, hut 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 amuse- 
 ment 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 
 
THE FOOTPRINT. 
 
 197 
 
 wind, would have defaced entirely. All this seemed 
 inconsistent with the thing itself, and with all the 
 notions we usually entertain of the subtilty of the devil. 
 
 Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue 
 me out of all apprehensions of its being the devil; 
 and I presently concluded, then, that it must be some 
 more dangerous creature, viz.y that it must be some 
 of the savages of the mainland over against me, who 
 had wandered out to sea in their canoes, and, either 
 driven by the currents or by contrary winds, had 
 made the island, and had been on shore, but were 
 gone away again to sea, being as loath, perhaps, to 
 have stayed in this desolate island as I would have 
 been to have had them. 
 
 While these reflections were rolling upon my mind, 
 I was very thankful in my 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 inhabitants had been in the 
 place, and perhaps have searched farther for me. 
 Then terrible thoughts racked my imagination about 
 their having found my boat, and that thei'e were 
 people here ; and that if so, I should certainly have 
 them come again in greater numbers, and devour me ; 
 that if it should happen so that they should not find 
 me, yet they would find my enclosure, destroy all my 
 corn, carry away all my flock of tame goats, and I 
 should perish at last for mere want. 
 
 Thus my fear ban ished all my religious hope. All 
 that former confidence in 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 goodness. I reproached myself with my easiness, 
 that would not sow any more corn one year than 
 would just serve me till the next season, as if no acci- 
 dent could intervene to prevent my enjoying the crop 
 that was upon the ground. And this I thought so 
 just a reproof that I resolved for the future to have 
 two or three years’ corn beforehand, so that, .whatever 
 might come, I might not perish for want of bread. 
 
 How strange a chequer work of Providence is the 
 life of man ! and by what secret differing springs are 
 the affections hurried about as differing circumstances 
 present! To-day we love what to-morrow we hate; 
 to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we 
 desire what to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at 
 the apprehensions of. This was exemplified in me, 
 at this time, in the most lively manner imaginable; 
 for I, whose only affliction was that I seemed banished 
 from human society, that I was alone, circumscribed 
 by the boundless ocean, cut off from mankind, and 
 condemned to what I called silent life ; that I was as 
 one whom Heaven thought not worthy to be numbered 
 among the living, or to appear among the rest of His 
 creatures; that to have seen one of my own species 
 would have seemed to me a raising me from death to 
 life, and the greatest blessing that Heaven itself, next 
 to the supreme blessing of salvation, could bestow; 
 I say, that I should now tremble at the very apprehen- 
 sions 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 the uneven state of human life; and it 
 afforded me a great many curious speculations after- 
 wards, when I had a little recovered my first surprise. 
 I considered that this was the station of life the in- 
 
THE FOOTPRINT. 
 
 199 
 
 finitely wise and good providence of God had deter- 
 mined for me ; that, as I could not foresee what the 
 ends of Divine wisdom might be in all this, so 1 was 
 not to dispute His sovereignty, who, as I was His 
 creature, had an undoubted right, by creation, to 
 
 govern and dispose of me absolutely as He thought 
 
 fit, a nd who, as I was .a creature who had offended 
 Him, had likewise a judicial right to condemn me to 
 what punishment He thought fit ; and that it was my 
 part to submit to bear Ilis indignation, because I 
 had sinned against Him. 
 
 I then reflected that God, who was not only right- 
 eous, but omnipotent, as He had thought fit thus to 
 punish and afflict me, so He was able to deliver me ; 
 that if He did not think fit to do it, ’t was my unques- 
 tioned duty to resign myself absolutely and entirely to 
 His will; and, on the other hand, it was my duty also 
 to hope in Him, pray to Him, and quietly to attend 
 the dictates and directions of His daily providence. 
 
 These thoughts took me up many hours, days, nay, 
 I may say, weeks and months; and one particular 
 effect of my cogitations on this occasion I cannot 
 omit, viz., one morning early, lying in my bed, and 
 filled with thought about my danger ( from the appear- 
 ance of savages, I found it discomposed me very 
 much ; upon which those words of the Scripture came 
 into my thoughts, “Call upon Me in the day of trou- 
 ble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify 
 Me.” 
 
 Upon this, rising cheerfully out of my bed, my 
 heart was not only comforted, but I was guided and 
 encouraged to pray earnestly to God for deliverance. 
 When I had done praying, I took up my Bible, and 
 opening it to read, the first words that presented to 
 
200 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 me were, “ Wait on tlie Lord, and be of good clieer, 
 md He shall strengthen thy heart; wait, I say, on 
 the Lord.” It is impossible to express the comfort 
 this gave me. In answer, I thankfully laid down the 
 book, and was no more sad, at least, not on that 
 occasion. 
 
 In the middle of these cogitations, apprehensions, 
 and reflections, it came into my 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 myself it 
 was all a delusion, that it was nothing else but my 
 own foot ; and why might not I come that way from 
 the boat, as well as I was going that way to the boat? 
 Again, I considered also that' I could by no means 
 tell, for certain, where I had trod, and where I had 
 not; and that if, at last, this was only the print of 
 my own foot, I had played the part of those fools 
 who strive to make stories of spectres and apparitions, 
 and then are frighted at them more than anybody. 
 
 Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad 
 again, for I had not stirred out of my castle for three 
 days and nights, so that I began to starve for provi- 
 sion; for I had little or nothing within doors but 
 some barley-cakes and water. Then I knew that my 
 goats wanted to be milked too, which usually was my 
 evening diversion; and the poor creatures were in 
 great pain and inconvenience for want of it; and, 
 indeed, it almost spoiled some of them, and almost 
 x 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 
 
THE FOOTPRINT. 
 
 201 
 
 shadow, I began to go abroad again, and went to my 
 country house to milk my flock. But to see with 
 what fear I went forward, how often I looked behind 
 me, how I was ready, every now and then, to lay 
 down my basket, and run for my life, it would have 
 made any one have thought I was haunted with an 
 evil conscience, or that I had been lately most terribly 
 frighted ; and so, indeed, I had. 
 
 However, as I went down thus two or three days, 
 and having seen nothing, I began to be a little bolder, 
 and to think there was really nothing in it but my 
 own imagination. But I could not persuade myself 
 fully of this till I should go down to the shore again, 
 and see this print of a foot, and measure it by my 
 own, and see if there was any similitude or fitness, 
 that I might be assured it was my own foot. But 
 when I came to the place, first, it appeared evidently 
 to me that when I laid up my boat, I could not pos- 
 sibly be on shore anywhere thereabout ; secondly, 
 when I came to measure the mark with my own foot, 
 I found my foot not so large by a great deal. Both 
 these things filled my head with new imaginations, 
 and gave me the vapors again to the highest degree ; 
 >o that I shook with cold, like one in an ague; and 
 1 went home again, filled with the belief that some 
 man or men had been on shore there ; or, in short, 
 chat the island was inhabited, and 1 might be sur- 
 prised before I was aware. And what course to take 
 for my security, I knew not. 
 
 Oh, what ridiculous resolution men take when pos- 
 sessed 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 
 
202 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the woods, that the enemy might not find them, and 
 then frequent the island in prospect of the same or 
 the like booty ; then to the simple thing of digging 
 up my two corn-fields, that they might not find such 
 a grain there, and still be prompted to frequent the 
 island ; then to demolish my bower and tent, that they 
 might not see any vestiges of habitation, and be 
 prompted to look farther, in order to find out the 
 persons inhabiting. s 
 
 These were the subject of the first night’s cogita- 
 tion, after I was come home again, while the appre- 
 hensions which had so overrun my mind were fresh 
 upon me, and my head was full of vapors, as above. 
 Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terri- 
 fying than danger itself when apparent to the eyes; 
 and we find the burthen of anxiety greater, by much, 
 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 defence and deliverance ; 
 which, if I had done, I had at least been more cheer- 
 fully supported under this new surprise, and perhaps 
 carried through it with more resolution. 
 
 This confusion of my thoughts kept me waking all 
 night, but in the morning I fell asleep; and having, 
 by the amusement 1 of my mind, been, as it were, 
 
 1 See also the use of the word on page 196. Before the word 
 came to have its present meaning, it signified “ mental abstrac- 
 tion,” “ musing,” in fact ; and in both these cases that meaning 
 seems to hold. 
 
THE FOOTPRINT. 
 
 203 
 
 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; 
 and upon the utmost debate with myself, I concluded 
 that this island, which was so exceeding pleasant, 
 fruitful, and no farther from the mainland than as 
 I had seen, was not so entirely abandoned as I might 
 imagine; that although there were no stated inhabi- 
 tants who lived on the sjiot, 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 hei'e fifteen years now, and had not met 
 with the 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. 
 
 / 
 
 X 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 Now I began sorely to repent that I bad dug m3 
 cave so large as to bring a door through again, -which 
 door, as I said, came out beyond where my fortifica- 
 tion joined to the rock. Upon maturely considering 
 this, therefore, I resolved to draw me a second forti- 
 fication, in the same manner of a semicircle, at a dis- 
 tance from my wall just where I had planted a 
 double row of trees about twelve years before, of 
 which I made mention. These trees, having been 
 planted so thick before, they wanted but a few piles 
 to be driven between them, that they should be 
 thicker and stronger, and my wall would be soon 
 finished. 
 
 So that I had now a double wall; and my outer 
 wall was thickened with pieces of timber, old cables, 
 and everything I could think of, to make it strong, 
 having in it seven little holes about as big as I might 
 put my arm out at. In the inside of this I thickened 
 my wall to above ten feet thick, with continual bring- 
 ing eartli out of my cave, and laying it at the foot of 
 the wall, and walking upon it ; and through the seven 
 holes I contrived to plant the muskets, of which I 
 took notice that I got seven on shore out of the ship. 
 These, I say, I planted like my cannon, and fitted 
 them into frames, that held them like a carriage, that 
 so I could fire all the seven guns in two minutes’ 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 205 
 
 time. This wall I was many a weary month a-finish- 
 ing, and yet never thought myself safe till it was done. 
 
 When this was done, I stuck all the ground with- 
 out 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 thou- 
 sand 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 of six^b* 11,8 ’ time I had -a wood before my 
 dwelling, growing so monstrous thick and strong 
 that it was indeed perfectly impassable ; and no men, 
 of what kind soever, would ever imagine that there 
 was anything beyond 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 lad- 
 ders, one to a part of the rock which was low, and 
 then broke in, and left room to place another ladder 
 upon that; so when the two ladders were taken down, 
 no man living could come down to me without mis- 
 chievin g himself; and if they had come down, they 
 were still on the outside of my outer wall.. 
 
 Thus 1 took all the measures human prudence 
 \ could suggest for my own preservation; and it will 
 \ be seen, at length, that they were not altogether with- 
 Laut 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 affairs ; for I had a great concern upon 
 me for my little herd of goats. They were not only 
 
206 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 a present supply to me upon every occasion, and be- 
 gan to be sufficient to me, without the expense of 
 powder and shot,' but also without the fatigue of 
 hunting after the wild ones ; and I was loath to lose 
 the advantage of them, and to have them all to nurse 
 up over again. 
 
 To this purpose, after long consideration, I could 
 think of but two ways to preserve them. One was, 
 to find another convenient place to dig a cave under 
 ground, and to drive them into it every night; and 
 the other .was, to enclose two or three little bits of 
 land, remote from one another, and as much concealed 
 as I could, where I might keep about half a dozen 
 young goats in each place; so that if any disaster 
 happened to the flock in general, I might be able to 
 raise them again with little trouble and time. And 
 this, though it would require a great deal of time and 
 labor, I thought was the most rational design. 
 
 Accordingly I spent some time to find out the most 
 retired parts of the island ; and I pitched upon one 
 which was as private indeed as my heart could wish 
 for. It was a little damp piece of ground, in the 
 middle of the hollow and thick woods, where, as is 
 observed, I almost lost myself once before, endeavor- 
 ing to come back that way from the eastern part of 
 the island. Here I found a clear piece of land, near 
 three acres, so surrounded with woods that it was 
 almost an enclosure by Nature; at least, it did not 
 want near so much labor to make it so as the other 
 pieces of ground I had worked so hard at. 
 
 I immediately went to work with this piece of 
 ground, and in less than a month’s time I had so 
 fenced it round that my flock, or herd, call it which 
 you please, who were not so wild now as at first they 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 207 
 
 might be supposed to be, were well enough secured 
 in it. So, without any farther delay, I removed ten 
 young she goats and two he goats to this piece. And 
 when they were there, I continued to perfect the 
 fence till I had made it as secure as the other, which, 
 however, I did at more leisure, and it took me up 
 more time by a great deal. 
 
 All this labor I was at the expense of, purely from 
 my apprehensions on the account of the print of a 
 man’s foot which I had seen; for, as yet, I never saw 
 any human creature-empe 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 appli- 
 cation 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 afflic- 
 tion and pressure of mind, surrounded with danger, 
 and in expectation every night of being murdered 
 and devoured before morning; and I must testify 
 from my experience that a temper of peace, thank- 
 fulness, love, and affection is much more the proper 
 frame for prayer than that of terror and discompo- 
 sure; and that under the dread of mischief impend- 
 ing, a man is no more fit for a comforting perfor- 
 mance of the duty of praying to God, than he is for 
 repentance on a sick-bed. For these discomposures 
 
208 
 
 R 0 BINS ON CR USOE. 
 
 affect the mind, as the others do the body ; and the 
 discomposure of the mind must necessarily be as 
 great a disability as that of the body, and much 
 greater, praying to God being properly an act of the 
 mind, not of the body. 
 
 But to go on. After I had thus secured one part 
 of my little living stock, I went about the whole 
 island, searching for another private place to make 
 such another deposit; when, wandering more to the 
 west point of the island than I had ever done yet, 
 and looking out to sea, I thought I saw a boat upon 
 the sea, at a great distance. I had found a prospec- 
 tive glass 1 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 more out without a 
 prospective glass in my pocket. 
 
 When I was come down the hill to the end of the 
 island, where, indeed, I had never been before, I was 
 presently convinced that the seeing the print of a 
 man’s foot was not such a strange thing in the island 
 as I imagined. And, but that it was a special provi- 
 dence that I was cast upon the side of the island 
 where the savages never came, I should easily have 
 known that nothing was more frequent than for the 
 canoes from the main, when they happened to be a 
 little too far out at sea, to shoot over to that side of 
 the island for harbor; likewise, as they often met 
 and fought in their canoes, the victors having taken 
 1 I. e., a spy-glass. 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 209 
 
 any prisoners would bring them over to this shore, 
 where, according to their dreadful customs, being all 
 cannibals, they would kill and eat them; of which 
 hereafter. 
 
 When I was come down the hill to the shore, as I 
 said above, being the S. W. point of the island, I 
 was perfectly confounded and amazed; nor is it pos- 
 sible for me to express the horror of my mind at see- 
 ing 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 feastings upon the bodies of their fel- 
 low-creatures. 
 
 I was so astonished with the sight of these things 
 that I entertained no notion of any danger to myself 
 from it for a long while. All my apprehensions were 
 buried in the thoughts of such a pitch of inhuman, 
 hellish brutality, and the horror of the degeneracy of 
 human nature, which, though I had heard of often, 
 yet I never had so near a view of before. In short, 
 I turned away my face from the horrid spectacle. 
 My stomach grew sick, and I was just at the point of 
 fainting, when Nature discharged the disorder from 
 my stomach. And having vomited with an uncom- 
 mon violence, I was a little relieved, but could not 
 bear to stay in the place a moment ; so I got me up 
 the hill again with all the speed I could, and walked 
 on towards my own habitation. 
 
 When I came a little out of that part of the island, 
 I stood still a while, as amazed; and then recovering 
 myself, I looked up with the utmost affection of my 
 soul, and with a flood of tears in my eyes, gave God 
 
210 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 thanks that had cast my first lot in a part of the 
 world where I was distinguished from such dreadful 
 creatures as these ; and that, though I had esteemed 
 my present condition very miserable, had yet given 
 me so many comforts in it that I had still more to 
 give thanks for than to complain of; and this above 
 all, that I had, even in this miserable condition, been 
 / comforted with the knowledge of Himself, and the 
 hope of Ilis blessing; which was a felicity more than 
 sufficiently equivalent to all the misery which I had 
 suffered, or could suffer. 
 
 In this frame of thankfulness I went home to my 
 castle, and began to be much easier now, as to the 
 safety of my circumstances, than ever I was before ; 
 for I observed that these wretches never came to this 
 island in search of what they could get ; perhaps not 
 seeking, not wanting, or not expecting, 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 
 eighteen years, and never saw the 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 
 manner of occasion to do ; it being my only business 
 to keep myself entirely concealed where I was, unless 
 I found a better sort of creatures than cannibals to 
 make myself known to. 
 
 Yet I entertained such an abhorrence of the savage 
 wretches that I have been speaking of, and of the 
 wretched inhuman custom of their devouring and 
 eating one another up, that I continued pensive and 
 sad, a>nd kept close within my own circle for almost 
 two years after this. When I say my own circle, I 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 211 
 
 mean by it my three plantations, viz., my castle, my 
 country seat, which I called my bower, and my en- 
 closure in the woods. Nor did I look after this for 
 any other use than as an enclosure for my goats ; for 
 the aversion which Nature gave me to these hellish 
 wretches was such that I was fearful of seeing them 
 as of seeing the devil himself. Nor did I so much 
 as go to look after my boat in all this time, but 
 began rather to think of making me another; for I 
 could not think of ever making any more attempts 
 to bring the other boat round the island to me, lest 
 I should meet with some of 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 satisfaction I had that I 
 was in no danger of being discovered by these people, 
 began to wear off my uneasiness about them ; and I 
 began to live just in the same composed manner as 
 before; only with this difference, that I used more 
 caution, and kept my eyes more about me, than I did 
 before, lest I should happen to be seen by any of 
 them; and particularly, I was more cautious of firing 
 my gun, lest any of them 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 
 any more 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 before; so that for two 
 years after this I believe I never fired my gun once 
 off, though I never went out without it; and, which 
 was more, as I had saved three pistols out of the 
 ship, I always carried them out with me, or at least 
 two of them, sticking them in my goat-skin belt- 
 
212 
 
 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 broadsword hanging at my side in a belt, but 
 without a scabbard. 
 
 Things going on thus, as I have said, for some 
 time, 1 seemed, excepting these cautions, to be re- 
 duced 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, com- 
 pared to some others ; nay, to many other particulars 
 of life, which it might have pleased God to have 
 made my lot. It put me upon reflecting how little 
 repining there would be among mankind at any con- 
 dition 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 com- 
 plainings. 
 
 As in my present condition there were not really 
 many things which I wanted, so indeed I thought 
 that the frights I had been in about these savage 
 wretches, and the concern I had been in for my own 
 preservation, had taken off the edge of my invention 
 for my own conveniences. And I had dropped a 
 good design, which I had once bent my thoughts too 
 much upon ; and that was, to try if I could not make 
 some of my barley into malt, and then try to brew 
 myself some beer. This was really a whimsical 
 thought, and I reproved myself often for the simpli- 
 city of it ; for I presently saw there would be the want 
 of several things necessary to the making my beer, 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 213 
 
 that it would be impossible for me to supply. As, 
 first, casks to preserve it in, which was a thing that, 
 as I have observed already, I could never compass-, 
 no, though I spent not many days, but weeks, nay, 
 months, in attempting it, but to no purpose. In the 
 next place, I had no hops to make it keep, no yeast 
 to make it work, no copper or kettle to make it boil; 
 and yet 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 
 u ndertaken it, and perhaps brought it to pass ton: fo r 
 I seldom gave anything over without accomplishing it , 
 when I once had it in my head enough to begin it. 
 
 But my invention now run quite another way; for, 
 night and day, I could think of nothing but how I 
 might destroy some of these monsters in their cruel, 
 bloody entertainment, and, if possible, save the vic- 
 tim they should bring hither to destroy. It would 
 take up a larger volume than this whole work is in- 
 tended to be, to set down all the contrivances I 
 hatched, or rather brooded upon, in my thought, for 
 the destroying these creatures, or at least frighting 
 them so as to prevent their coming hither any more. 
 But all was abortive; nothing could be possible to take 
 effect, unless I was to be there to do it myself. And 
 what could one man do among them, when perhaps 
 there might be twenty or thirty of them together, with 
 their darts, or their bows and arrows, with which they 
 could shoot as true to a mark as I could with my gun? 
 
 Sometimes 1 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 file, would consequently take fire, and blow up 
 all that was near it. But as, in the first place, I 
 
214 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 should be very loath 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 about their ears, and fright them, but not 
 sufficient to make them forsake the place. So I laid 
 it aside, and then proposed that I would place myself 
 in ambush in some convenient place, with my three 
 guns all double-loaded, and, in the middle of their 
 bloody ceremony, let fly at them, when I should be 
 sure to kill or wound perhaps two or three at every 
 shot; 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 several days to find out proper places 
 to put myself in ambuscade, as I said, to watch for 
 them; and I went frequently to the place itself, 
 which was now grown more familiar to me; and espe- 
 cially while my mind was thus filled with thoughts of 
 revenge, and of a bloody putting twenty or thirty of 
 them to the sword, as I may call it, the horror I had 
 at the place, and at the signals of the barbarous 
 wretches devouring one another, abated my malice. 
 
 Well, at length I found a place in the side of the 
 hill, where I was satisfied I might securely wait till 
 I saw any of their boats coming; and might then, 
 even before they would be ready to come on shore, 
 convey myself, unseen, into thickets of trees, in one 
 of which there was a hollow large enough to conceal 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 215 
 
 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 
 shot, or that I could fail wounding three or four of 
 them at the first shot. 
 
 In this place, then, I resolved to fix my design; 
 and, accordingly, I prepared two muskets and my 
 ordinary fowling-piece. The two muskets I loaded 
 with a brace of slugs each, and four or five smaller 
 bullets, about the size of pistol-bullets ; and the fowl- 
 ing-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 , 1 well 
 provided with ammunition for a second and third 
 charge, I prepared myself for my expedition. 
 
 After I had thus laid the scheme of my design, 
 and in my imagination put it in practice, I contin- 
 ually made my tour every morning up to the top of 
 the hill, which was from my castle, as I called it, 
 about three miles or more, to see if I could observe 
 any boats upon, the sea coming near the island, or 
 standing over towards it. But I began to tire of this 
 hard duty, after I had, for two or three months, con- 
 stantly 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 wdiole ocean, so far as my eyes 
 or glasses could reach every way. 
 
 As long as I kept up my daily tour to the hill to 
 look out, so long also I kept up the vigor of my de- 
 sign, and my spirits seemed to be all the while in a 
 
 1 Posture here is not the attitude of the body, but has the 
 meaning of condition. 
 
216 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 suitable form for so outrageous an execution as tlie 
 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 unnatural 
 custom of that people of the country ; who, it seems, 
 had been suffered by Providence, in His wise disposi- 
 tion of the world, to have no other guide than that of 
 their own abominable and vitiated passions; and con- 
 sequently were left, and perhaps had been so for some 
 ages, to act such horrid things, and receive such 
 dreadful customs, as nothing but Nature entirely aban- 
 doned of Heaven, and acted 1 by some hellish degen- 
 eracy, could have run them into. But now when, as 
 I have said, I began to be weary of the fruitless ex- 
 cursion which I had made so long and so far every 
 morning in vain, so my opinion of the action itself 
 began to alter ; and I began, with cooler and calmer 
 thoughts, to consider what it was I was going to en- 
 gage in. What authority or call I had to pretend to 
 be judge and executioner upon these men as crimi- 
 nals, whom Heaven had thought fit, for so many 
 ages, to suffer, unpunished, to go on, and to be, as 
 it were, the executioners of His judgments 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 debated 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 reproach- 
 
 1 We have abandoned this use of the verb and substituted the 
 /form actuated. 
 
THE FORTIFICATION. 
 
 217 
 
 in<r them. They do not know it to be an offence, and 
 then commit it in defiance of Divine justice, as we 
 do in almost all the sins we commit. They think H 
 no more a crime to kill a captive taken in war than 
 we do to kill an ox ; nor to eat human flesh than we 
 do to eat mutton. 
 
 When I had considered this a little, it followed 
 necessarily that I was certainly in the wrong in it ; 
 that these people were not murderers in the sense 
 that I had before condemned them in my thoughts, 
 any more than those Christians were murderers who 
 often put to death the prisoners taken in battle; or 
 more frequently, upon many occasions, put whole 
 troops of men to the sword, without giving quarter, 
 though they threw down their arms and submitted. 
 
 In the next place it occurred to me that albeit the 
 usage they thus gave one another was thus brutish 
 and inhuman, yet it was really not hing 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 conse- 
 quently no design upon me, and therefore it could 
 not be just for me to fall upon them. That this 
 would justify the conduct of the Spaniards in all 
 their barbarities practised in America, and where 
 they destroyed millions of these people; who, how- 
 ever 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 detestation by even 
 
218 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the Spaniards themselves at this time, and by all 
 other Christian nations of Europe, as a mere butch- 
 ery, a bloody and unnatural piece of cruelty, unjusti- 
 fiable 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 Chris- 
 tian compassion; as if the kingdom of Spain were 
 particularly eminent for the product of a race of men 
 who were without principles of tenderness, or the com- 
 mon bowels of pity to the miserable, which is reck- 
 oned to be a mark of generous temper in the mind. 
 
 These considerations really put me to a pause, and 
 to a kind of a full stop; and I began, by little and 
 little, to be off of my design, and to conclude I had 
 taken 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 not to deliver myself, but entirely 
 to ruin and destroy myself; for unless I was sure to 
 kill every one that not only should be on shore at that 
 time, but that should ever come on shore afterwards, 
 if but one of them escaped to tell their country people 
 what had happened, they would come over again by 
 thousands to revenge the death of their fellows, and 
 I should only bring upon myself a certain destruction 
 —wh ich, at present, I had no manner of occasion for. 
 
 Upon the whole, I concluded that neither in prin- 
 ciples 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 
 
THE FOR TIFICA TION. 2 1 9 
 
 guess by that there were any living creatures upon 
 the island; I mean of human shape. 
 
 Religion joined in with this prudential , 1 and I was 
 
 convinced now r -™mny wavs, that I was perfectly out 
 
 o f mv duty when T was laying -ill my bl oody stdnuno s 
 for the d^tenetirm — i nnocent- creatur es ; I mean 
 innocent as to me. As to the crimes they were guilty 
 of towards one another, I had nothing to do with 
 them. They were national, and I ought to leave 
 them to the justice of God, who is the Governor of 
 nations, and knows how, *by national punishments, 
 to make a just retribution for national offences, and 
 to bring public judgments upon those who offend in 
 a public manner by such ways as best pleases Him. 
 
 This appeared so clear to me now, that nothing was 
 a greater satisfaction to me than that I had not been 
 suffered to do a thing which I now saw so much rea- 
 son to believe would have been no less a sin than that 
 of wilful murder, if I had committed it. And I gave 
 most humble thanks on my knees to God that had 
 thus delivered me from blood -guiltiness ; beseeching 
 Him to grant me the protection of His providence, 
 that I might not fall into the hands of 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. 
 
 1 Prudential here is a noun, and is formed like credential 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE OLD GOAT AND THE CAVE. 
 
 In this disposition I continued for near a year after 
 this; and so far was I from desiring an occasion for 
 falling upon these wretches, that in all that time I 
 never once went up the hill to see whether there were 
 any of them in sight, or to know whether any of them 
 had been on shore there or not, that I might not be 
 •tempted to renew any of my contrivances against 
 them, or be provoked, by any advantage which might 
 present itself, to fall upon them. Only this I did, 
 I went and removed my boat, which I had on the 
 other side the island, and carried it down to the east 
 end of the whole island, where I ran it into a little 
 cove, which I found under some high rocks, and 
 where I knew, by reason of the currents, the savages 
 durst not, at least would not come, with their boats, 
 upon any account whatsoever. 
 
 With my boat I carried away everything that I 
 had left there belonging to her, though not necessary 
 for the bare going thither, viz., a mast and sail which 
 I had made for her, and a thing like an anchor, but 
 indeed which could not be called either anchor or 
 grappling; however, it was the best I could make of 
 its kind. All these I removed, that there might not 
 be the least shadow of any discovery, or any appear- 
 ance of any boat, or of any human habitation, upon 
 the island. 
 
THE OLD GOAT AND THE CAVE. 
 
 221 
 
 Besides this, I kept myself, as I said, more retired 
 than ever, and seldom went from my cell, other than 
 upon my constant employment, viz., to milk my she 
 goats, and manage my little flock in the wood, which, 
 as it was quite on the other part of the island, was 
 quite out of danger; for certain it is, that these sav- 
 age people, who sometimes haunted this island, never 
 came with any thoughts of finding anything here, and 
 consequently never wandered off from the coast; and 
 I doubt not but they might have been several times 
 on shore after my apprehensions of them had made 
 me cautious, as well as before ; and indeed, I looked 
 back with some horror upon the thoughts of what my 
 condition would have been if I had chopped 1 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, X 
 had, instead of that, seen fifteen or twenty savages, 
 and found them pursuing me, and by the swiftness of 
 their running, no possibility of my escaping them ! ^ 
 The thoughts of this sometimes sunk my very soul 
 within me, and distressed my mind so much that Ij 
 could not soon recover it, to think what 1 should 
 have done, and how I not only should not have been 
 able to resist them, but even should not have hat 
 presence of mind enough to do what I might have 
 done, much less what now, after so much considera • 
 tion and preparation, I might be able to do. Indeed^ 
 after serious thinking of these things, I should be 
 very melancholy, and sometimes it would last a great 
 1 Chopped, i. e., came suddenly upon. The use is now obsolete. 
 
222 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 while ; but I resolved it, at last, all into thankfulness 
 to that Providence which had delivered me from so 
 many unseen dangers, and had kept me from those 
 mischiefs which I could no way have been the agent 
 in delivering myself from, because I had not the least 
 notion of any such thing depending, or the least sup- 
 position of it being possible. 
 
 This renewed a contemplation which often had 
 come to my thoughts in former time, when first I be- 
 gan to see the merciful dispositions of Heaven, in the 
 dangers we run through in this life. How wonder- 
 fully we are delivered when we know nothing of it. 
 How, when we are in a quandary, as we call it, a 
 doubt or hesitation, whether to go this way or that 
 way, a secret hint shall direct us this way, when we 
 intended to go that way; nay, when sense, our own 
 inclination, and perhaps business, has called to go 
 the other way, yet a strange impression upon the 
 mind from we know not what springs, and by we 
 know not what power, shall 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 reflections I afterwards made it a certain rule 
 with me, that whenever I found those secret hints or 
 pressings of my mind to doing, or not doing, any- 
 thing that presented, or to going this way or that 
 way, I never failed to obey the secret dictate, though 
 I knew no other reason for it than that such a pres- 
 sure, or such a hint, hung upon my mind. I could 
 give many examples of the success of this conduct in 
 the course of my life, but more especially in the latter 
 part of my inhabiting this unhappy island; besides 
 
THE OLD GOAT AND THE CAVE. 223 
 
 many occasions which it is very likely I might have 
 taken notice of, if I had seen with the same eyes then 
 that I saw with now. But ’t is never too late to he 
 wise ; and I cannot but advise all considering men, 
 whose lives are attended with such extraordinary in- 
 cidents as mine, or even though not so extraordinary, 
 not to slight such secret intimations of Providence, 
 let them come from what invisible intelligence they 
 will. That I shall not discuss, and perhaps cannot 
 account for; but certainly they are a proof of the 
 converse of spirits, and the secret communication 
 between those embodied and those unembodied, and 
 such a proof as can never be withstood, of which I 
 shall have occasion to give some very remarkable 
 instances in the remainder of my solitary l’esidence 
 in this dismal place. 
 
 I believe the reader of this will not think strange 
 if I confess that these anxieties, these constant dan- 
 gers I lived in, and the concern that was now upon 
 me, put an end to all invention, and to all the contri- 
 vances that I had laid for my future accommodations 
 and conveniences. I had the care of my safety more 
 now upon my hands than that of my food. I cared 
 not to drive a nail, or chop a stick of wood now, for 
 fear the noise I should make should be heard ; much 
 less would I fire a gun, for the same reason; and,, 
 above all, I was intolerably uneasy at making any 
 fire, lest the smoke, which is visible at a great dis- 
 tance in the day, should betray me ; and for this 
 reason I removed that part of my business which 
 required fire, such as burning of pots and pqies, 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 
 
224 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 in a vast way, and where, I dare say, no savage ; had 
 he been at the month of it, would be so hardy as to 
 venture in; nor, indeed, would any man else, but one 
 who, like me, wanted nothing so much as a safe retreat. 
 
 The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of a 
 great r®ck, where, by mere accident I would say (if 
 I did not see abundant reason to ascribe all such 
 things now to Providence), I was cutting down some 
 thick branches of trees to make charcoal; and before 
 I go on, I must observe the reason of my making this 
 charcoal, which was thus. 
 
 I was afraid of making a smoke about my habita- 
 tion, as I said before; and 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 tui’f, till it became chark, or 
 dry coal; and then putting the fire out, I preserved 
 the coal to carry home, and perform the other ser- 
 vices which fire was wanting for at home, without 
 danger of smoke. 
 
 But this is by the bye. While I was cutting down 
 some wood here, I perceived that behind a very thick 
 branch of low brushwood, or underwood, there was 
 a kind of hollow place. I was curious to look into 
 it; and getting with difficulty into the mouth of it, 
 I found it was pretty large ; that is to say, sufficient 
 for me to stand upright in it, and perhaps another 
 with me. But I must confess to you I made more 
 haste out than I did in when, looking farther into 
 the place, and which was perfectly dark, I saw two 
 broad shining eyes of some creature, whether devil 
 or man I knew not, which twinkled like two stars, 
 the dim light from the cave’s mouth shining directly 
 in, and making the reflection. 
 
THE OLD GOAT AND THE CAVE. 
 
 225 
 
 However, after some pause I recovered myself, and 
 began to call myself a thousand fools, and tell myself 
 that he that was afraid to see the devil was not fit to 
 live twenty ye ars i n an island all alone, and that 1 
 durst to believe there was nothing in this cave that 
 was more frightful than myself. Upon this, plucking 
 up my courage, I took up a great firebrand, and ir ; 
 I rushed again, with the stick flaming in my hand. 
 I had not gone three steps in, but I was almost 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 
 myself a little with considering that the power and 
 presence of God was everywhere, and was able to 
 protect me, upon this I stepped forward again, and 
 by the light of the firebrand, holding it up a little 
 over my head, I saw lying on the ground a most mon- 
 strous, 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 he might even 
 lie there; for if he had frighted me so, he would 
 certainly fright any of the savages, if any of them 
 should be so hardy as to come in there while he had 
 any life in him. 
 
 I was now recovered from my surprise, and began 
 
226 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 to look round me, when I found the cave was but 
 very small; that is to say, it might be about twelve 
 feet over, but in no manner of shape, either round or 
 square, no hands having ever been employed in mak- ' 
 ing 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 resolved to come again 
 the next day, provided with candles and a tinder-box, 
 which I had made of the lock of one of the muskets, 
 with some wild-fire 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, nor what was 
 beyond it. When I was got through the strait, I 
 found the roof rose higher up, I believe near twenty 
 feet. But never was such a glorious sight seen in 
 the island, I dare say, as it was to look round the 
 sides and roof of this vault or cave; the walls re- 
 flected a hundred thousand lights to me from my 
 two candles. What it was in the rock, whether dia- 
 monds, or any other precious stones, or gold, which 
 I rather supposed it to be, I knew not. 
 
 The place I was in was a most delightful cavity or 
 grotto of its kind, as could be expected, though per- 
 fectly 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 
 
THE OLD GOAT AND THE CAVE. 227 
 
 was there any damp or wet on the sides or roof. 
 The only difficulty in it was the entrance, which, 
 however, as it was a place of security, and such a 
 retreat as I wanted, I thought that was a convenience ; 
 so that I was really rejoiced at the discovery, and 
 resolved, without any delay, to bring some of those 
 things which I was most anxious about to this place; 
 particularly, I l’esolved to bring hither my magazine 
 of powder, and all my sjrnre 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 outmost 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 growing hard, had preserved the inside 
 like a kernel in a shell; so that I had near sixty 
 pounds of very good powder in the centre of the cask. 
 And this was an agreeable discovery to me at that 
 time; so I carried all away thither, never keeping 
 above two or three pounds of powder with me in my 
 castle, for fear of a surprise of any kind. I also 
 carried thither all the lead I had left for bullets. 
 
 I fancied myself now like one of the ancient giants, 
 which were said to live in caves and holes in the 
 rocks, where none could come at them; for I per- 
 suaded 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. 
 
228 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 The old goat, whom I found expiring, died in the 
 mouth of the cave the next day after I made this dis- 
 covery ; and I found it much easier to dig a great 
 hole there, and throw him in and cover him with 
 earth, than to drag him out; so I interred him there, 
 to prevent the offence to my nose. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE SAVAGES. 
 
 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 1 , 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 ca- 
 pitulated for spending the rest of my time there, even 
 to the last moment, till I had laid me down and died, 
 like the old goat in the cave. I had also arrived to 
 some little diversions and amusements, which made 
 the time pass more pleasantly with me a great deal 
 than it did before. As, first, I had taught my Poll, 
 as I noted before, to speak; and he did it so famil- 
 iarly, and talked so articulately and plain, that it 
 was very pleasant to me; and he lived with me no 
 less than six and twenty years, How long he might 
 live afterwards I 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. I wish 
 no Englishman the ill luck to come there and hear 
 him ; but if he did, he would certainly believe it was 
 the devil. My dog was a very pleasant and loving 
 companion to me for no less than sixteen years of my 
 time, and then died of mere old age. As for my 
 cats, they multiplied,, as I have observed, to that 
 degree that I was obliged to shoot several of them 
 
230 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 at first to keep them from devouring me and all 1 
 liad ; 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, ex- 
 cept two or three favorites, 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, 
 whom 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 the pains with any of them that I 
 had done with him. I had also several tame sea- 
 fowls, whose names I know not, whom I caught upon 
 the shore, and cut their wings ; and the little stakes 
 which I had planted before my castle wall being now 
 grown up to a good thick grove, these fowls all lived 
 among these low trees, and bred there, which was 
 very agreeable to me; so that, as I said above, I 
 began to be very well contented with the life I led, 
 if it might but have been secured from the dread of 
 the savages. 
 
 But it was otherwise directed; and it may not be 
 amiss for all people who shall meet with my story, to 
 Tnake t his jus t nhsprvqtion fvmn it . via . . , -Imw fee - 
 . piently. in the .co ra atn of onr live s .- the ovi l- whloh ' 4n 
 it self we seek m o st,_to--fihmi 1 and wl.rm 
 
 fallen into it. is the most, dreadful to ns, is oftentimes 
 the very means nr dnnr of nnr deli vnvn by which 
 alone we can be raised again from the affliction we 
 are fallen into. I could give many examples of this 
 in the course of my unaccountable life; but in nothing 
 was it more particularly remarkable than in the cir- 
 
THE RETURN OF THE SAVAGES. 231 
 
 cumstances of my last years of solitary residence in 
 this island. 
 
 It was now the month of December, as I said 
 above, in my twenty-third year; and this, being the 
 southern solstice (for winter I cannot call it), was the 
 particular time of my harvest, and required my being 
 pretty much abroad in the fields; when, going out 
 pretty early in the morning, even before it was thor- 
 ough daylight, I was surprised with seeing a light of 
 some fire upon the shore, at a distance from me of 
 about two miles, towards the end of the island, where 
 I had observed some savages had been, as before. 
 But not on the other side; but, to my great affliction, 
 it was on my side of the island. 
 
 I was indeed terribly' surprised at the sight, and 
 stepped short within my g ; rove, not daring to go out, 
 lest I might be surprised; and yet I had no more 
 peace within, from the apprehensions I had that if 
 these savages, in rambling over the island, should 
 find my corn standing or cut, or any of my works 
 and improvements, they would immediately conclude 
 that there were people in the place, and would then 
 never give over till they had found me out. In this 
 extremity I went back directly to my castle, pidled 
 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 defence. I loaded all my cannon, as I 
 called them, that is to say, my muskets, which were 
 mounted upon my new fortification, and all my pis- 
 tols, 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 
 fleliver me out of the hands of the barbarians. And 
 
232 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 in this posture I continued about two hours; but 
 began to be mighty impatient for intelligence abroad, 
 for I had no spies to send out. 
 
 After sitting a while longer, and musing what I 
 should do in this case, I was not able to bear sitting 
 in ignorance any longer; so setting up my ladder to 
 the side of the hill where there was a flat place, as I 
 observed before, and then pulling the ladder up after 
 me, I set it up again, and mounted to the top of the 
 hill; and pulling out my prospective glass, which I 
 had taken on purpose, I laid me down flat on my 
 belly on the ground, and began to look for the place. 
 I presently ‘found there was no less than nine naked 
 savages sitting round a small fire they had made, not 
 to warm them, for they had no need of that, the 
 weather being extreme hot, but, as I supposed, to 
 dress some of their barbarous diet of human flesh 
 which they had brought with them, whether alive or 
 dead, I could not know. 
 
 They had two canoes with them, which they had 
 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 see- 
 ing them come on my side the island, and so near me 
 too. But when I observed their' coming must be al- 
 ways 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 not on shore before; and hav- 
 ing made this observation, I went abroad about my 
 harvest-work with the more composure. 
 
 As I expected, so it proved; for as soon as the tide 
 made to the westward, I saw them all take boat, and 
 
THE RETURN OF THE SAVAGES. 233 
 
 row (or paddle, as we call it) all away. I should 
 have observed, that for an hour and more before they 
 went off, they went to dancing; and I could easily 
 discern their postures and gestures by my glasses. 1 
 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. 
 
 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 loaden 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, making over for the main. 
 
 This was a dreadful sight to me, especially when, 
 going down to the shore, I could see the marks of 
 horror which the dismal work they had been about 
 had left behind it, viz., tbe blood, the bones, and 
 part of the flesh of human bodies, eaten and devoured 
 by those wretches with merriment and sport. I was 
 so filled with indignation at the sight that I began 
 now to premeditate the destruction of the next that 
 I saw there, let them be who or how many soever. 
 
 It seemed evident to me that the visits which they 
 thus made to this island are not very frequent, 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 tbe rainy seasons, then they are 
 
234 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 sure not to come abroad, at least not so far. Yet all 
 this while I lived uncomfortably, by reason of the 
 constant apprehensions I was in of their coming upon 
 me by surprise; from whence I observe that the 
 expectation of evil is more bitter than the suffering, 
 especially if there is no room to shake off that expec- 
 tation, or those apprehensions. 
 
 During all this time I was in the murdering humor, 
 and took up most of my hours, which should have 
 been better employed, in contriving how to circum- 
 vent and fall upon them the very next time I should 
 see them; especially if they should be divided, as 
 they were the last time, into two parties. Nor did I 
 consider at all that if I killed one party, suppose ten 
 or a dozen, I was still the next day, or week, or 
 month, to kill another, and so another, even ad 
 infinitum , till I should be at length no less a mur- 
 derer than they were in being man-eaters, and per- 
 haps much more so. 
 
 / I spent my days now in great perplexity and anx- 
 iety of mind, expecting that I should, one day or 
 other, fall into the hands of these merciless creatures ; 
 and if I did at any time venture abroad, it was not 
 without looking round me with the greatest care and 
 caution imaginable. And now I found, to my great 
 comfort, ho.w happy it was that I provided for a tame 
 flock or herd of goats; for I durst not, upon any 
 account, fire my gun, especially near that side of the 
 island where they usually came, lest I should alarm 
 
 I the savages. And if they had fled from me now, I 
 
 I was sure to have them come back again, with perhaps 
 two or three hundred canoes with them, in a few 
 days, and then I knew what to expect. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE WRECK. 
 
 However, I wore out a year and three months more 
 before I ever saw any more of the savages, and then 
 I found them again, as I shall soon observe. It is true 
 they might have been there once or twice, but either 
 they made no stay, or at least I did not hear them ; 
 but in the month of May, as near as I could calcu- 
 late, and in my four and twentieth year, I had a very 
 strange encounter with them ; of which in its place. 
 
 The pertui’bation 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 calendar would reckon, for I marked all 
 upon the post still; I say, it was the sixteenth of May 
 that it blew a very 'great storm 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 par- 
 ticular occasion of it, but as I was reading in the 
 Bible, and taken up with very serious thoughts about 
 my present condition, I was surprised with a noise of 
 a gun, as I thought, fired at sea. 
 
236 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 ^Tliis was, to be sure, a surprise of a quite different 
 nature from any I liad met with before ; for the no- 
 tions this put into my thoughts were quite of another 
 kind. I started up in the greatest haste imaginable, 
 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 driven down the cur- 
 rent in my boat. 
 
 I immediately considered that this must be some 
 ship in distress, and that they had some comrade, or 
 some other ship in company, and fired these guns for 
 signals of distress, and to obtain help. I had this 
 presence of mind, at that minute, as to think that 
 though I could not help them, it may be they might 
 help me; so I brought together all the dry wood I 
 could get at hand, and, making a good handsome 
 pile, I set it on fire upon the hill. The wood was 
 dry, and blazed freely; and though the wind blew 
 very hard, yet it burnt fairly out; so that I was cer- 
 tain, 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 till day broke ; and when 
 it was broad day, and the air cleared up, I saw some- 
 thing at a great distance at sea, full east of the 
 island, whether a sail or a hull I could not distin- 
 guish, no, not with my glasses, the distance was so 
 great, and the weather still something hazy also; at 
 least it was so out at sea. 
 
THE WRECK. 
 
 237 
 
 I looked frequently at it all that day, and socti^ 
 perceived that it did not move; so I presently con- 
 cluded 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 ran toward the south side of the 
 island, to the rocks where I had formerly been car- 
 ried away with the current; and getting up there, 
 the weather by this time being perfectly clear, I could 
 plainly see, to my great sorrow, the wreck of a ship, 
 cast away in the night upon those concealed rocks 
 which I found when I was out in my boat; and which 
 rocks, as they checked the violence of the stream, and 
 made a kind of counter-stream or eddy, were the occa- 
 sion of my recovering from the most desperate, hope- 
 less condition that ever I had been in in all my life. 
 
 Thus, what is one man’s safety is another man’s 
 destruction; for it seems these men, whoever they 
 were, being out of their knowledge, and the rocks 
 being wholly under water, had been driven upon them 
 in the night, the wind blowing hard at E. and E. N. 
 E. Had they seen the island, as I must necessarily 
 suppose they did not, tbey must, as I thought, have 
 endeavored 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, 1 imagined that 
 upon seeing my light, they might have put themselves 
 into their boat, and have endeavored to make the 
 shore ; but that the sea going very high, they might 
 have been cast away. Other times I imagined that 
 they might have lost their boat before, as might be 
 the case many ways; as, particularly, by the breaking 
 of the sea upon their ship, which many times obliges 
 men to stave, or take in pieces their boat, and some- 
 
238 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 times to throw it overboard with their own hands. 
 
 # 
 
 Other time* I imagined they had some other ship or 
 ships in company, who, upon the signals of distress 
 they had made, had taken them up and carried them 
 off. Other whiles I fancied they were all gone off to 
 sea in their boat, and, being hurried away by the 
 current that I had been formerly in, were carried out 
 into the great ocean, where there was nothing but 
 misery and perishing; and that, perhaps, they might 
 by this time think of starving, and of being in a con- 
 dition to eat one another. 
 
 As all these were but conjectures at best, so, in the 
 condition I was in, I could do no more than look on 
 upon the misery of the poor men, and pity them ; 
 which had still this good effect on my side, that it 
 gave me more and more cause to give thanks to God, 
 who had so happily and comfortably provided for me 
 in my desolate condition ; and that of two ships’ com- 
 panies 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 expect that they did not all perish 
 there, except the possibility only of their being taken 
 up by another ship in company; and this was but 
 mere possibility indeed, for I saw not the least signal 
 or appearance of any such thing. 
 
 I cannot explain, by any possible energy of words, 
 
THE WRECK. 
 
 239 
 
 what a strange longing or hankering of desires I felt 
 in my soul upon this sight, breaking out sometimes 
 thus: “Oh, that there had been but one or two, nay, 
 or but one soul, saved out of this ship, to have es- 
 caped to me, that I might but have had one compan- 
 ion, one fellow-creature, to have spoken to me, and 
 to- have conversed with ! ” In all the time of my soli- 
 tary 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 it. 
 
 There are some secret moving springs in the affec- 
 tions which, when they are set agoing by some object 
 in view, or be it some object, though not in view, yet 
 rendered present to the mind by the power of imagi- 
 nation, that motion carries out the soul by its impetu- 
 osity to such violent, eager embracings of the object, 
 that the absence of it is insupportable. 
 
 Such were these earnest wishings that but one man 
 had been saved! “Oh, that it had been but one! ” I 
 believe I repeated the words, “Oh, that it had been 
 but one!' a thousand times; and the desires were so 
 moved by it that when I spoke the words my hands 
 would clinch together, and my fingers press the palms 
 of my hands, that if I had had any soft thing in my 
 hand, it would have crushed it involuntarily; and my 
 teeth in my head would strike together, and set 
 against one another so strong, that for some time I 
 could not part them again. 
 
 Let the naturalists explain these things, and the 
 reason and manner of them. All I can say to them 
 is to describe the fact, which was even surprising to 
 me when I found it, though I knew not from what it 
 should proceed. It was doubtless the effect of ardent 
 wishes, and of strong ideas formed in my mind, real- 
 
240 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 izing the comfort which the conversation of one of 
 my fellow-Christians would have been to me. 
 
 But it was not to he. 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 affliction, 
 some days after, to see the corpse of a drowned boy 
 come on shore at the end of the island which was 
 next the shipwreck. He had on no clothes but a 
 seaman’s waistcoat, a pair of open-kneed linen 
 drawers, and a blue linen shirt ; but nothing to direct 
 me so much as to guess what nation he was of. He 
 had nothing in his pocket but two pieces of eight and 
 a tobacco-pipe. The last was to me of ten times 
 more value than the first. 
 
 It was now calm, and I had a great mind to ve n- 
 ture out in my boat to t his wreck, not doubting but 
 I migh t find s ernTetliingdnTboard that might, be useful 
 to me. But that did not altogether press me so much 
 as the possibility that there might be yet some living 
 creature on board, whose life I might not only save, 
 but might, by saving that life, comfort my own to 
 the last degree. And this thought clung so to my 
 heart that I could not be quiet night nor day, but I 
 must venture out in my boat on board this wreck; 
 and committing the rest to God’s providence, I 
 thought, the impression was so strong upon my mind 
 that it could not be resisted, that it must come fi-om 
 some invisible direction, and that I should be want- 
 ing to myself if I did not go. 
 
 Under the power of this impression, I hastened 
 back to my castle, prepared everything for my voy- 
 age, took a quantity of bread, a great pot for fresh 
 water, a compass to steer by, a bottle of rum (for I 
 
THE WRECK. 
 
 241 
 
 had still a great deal of that left), a basket full 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 a great 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 labor 
 and sweat, I brought to my boat. And praying to 
 God to direct my voyage, I put out; and rowing, 01 
 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 terri- 
 ble to me, from the remembrance of the hazard I had 
 been in before, and my heart began to fail me ; for 
 I foresaw that if I was driven into either of those 
 currents, I should be carried a vast way out to sea, 
 and perhaps out of my reach, or sight of the island 
 again; and that then, as my boat was but small, if 
 any little gale of wind should rise, I should be inevi- 
 tably lost. 
 
 These thoughts so oppressed my mind that I began 
 to give over my enterprise; and having hauled my 
 joat into a little creek on the shore, I stepped out, 
 and sate me down upon a little I'ising bit of ground, 
 very pensive and anxious, between fear and desire, 
 about my voyage; when, as I was musing, I could 
 perceive that the tide was turned, and the flood come 
 on ; upon which my going was for so many hours 
 
242 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 impracticable. 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 expect to be driven another way home, 
 with the same rapidness of the currents. This 
 thought was no sooner in my head but I cast my eye 
 upon a little hill, which sufficiently overlooked the 
 sea both ways, and from whence I had a clear view 
 of the currents, or sets of the tide, and which way I 
 was to guide myself in my return. Here I found, 
 that as the current of the ebb set out close by the 
 south point of the island, so the current of the flood 
 set in close by the shore of the north side ; and that 
 I had nothing to do but to keep to the noi'th 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 
 great watch-coat I mentioned, I launched out. I 
 made first a little out to sea, full north, till I began 
 to feel the benefit of the current which set eastward, 
 and which carried me at a great rate; and yet did 
 not so hurry me as the southern side current had 
 done before, and so as to take from me all govern- 
 ment of the boat; but having a strong steerage with 
 my paddle, I went at a great rate directly for the 
 wreck, and in less than two hours I came up to it. 
 
 It was a dismal sight to look at. The ship, which, 
 by its building, was Spanish, stuck fast, jammed in 
 between two rocks. All the stern and quarter of her 
 was beaten to pieces with the sea; and as her fore- 
 castle, which stuck in the rocks, had run on with 
 
THE WRECK . 
 
 243 
 
 great violence, her mainmast and foremast were 
 brought by the board; that is to say, broken short 
 off; but her bowsprit was sound, and the head and 
 bow appeared firm. When I came close to her a dog 
 appeared upon her. who, seeing me coming, yelped 
 and cried; and as soon as I called him, jumped into 
 the sea to come to me, and I took him into the boat, 
 but found him almost dead for hunger and thirst. I 
 gave him a cake of my bread, and he eat it like a 
 ravenous wolf that had been starving a fortnight in 
 the snow. I then gave the poor creature some fresh 
 water, with which, if I would have let him, he would 
 have burst himself. 
 
 After this I went on board; but the first sight I 
 met with was two men drowned in the cook-room, or 
 forecastle of the ship, with their arms fast about one 
 another. I concluded, as is indeed probable, that 
 when the ship struck, it being in a storm, the sea 
 broke so high, and so continually over her, that the 
 men were not able to bear it, and were strangled with 
 the constant rushing in of the water, as much as if 
 they had been under water. Besides the dog, there 
 was nothing left in the ship that had life; nor any 
 goods that I could see, but what were spoiled by the 
 water. There were some casks of liquor, whether 
 vine or brandy I knew not, which lay lower in the 
 Jlold, and which, the water being ebbed out, I could 
 see; but they were too big to meddle with. I saw 
 several chests, which I believed belonged to some of 
 the seamen; and I got two of them into the boat, 
 without examining what was in them. 
 
 Had the stern of the ship been fixed, and the fore- 
 part broken off, I am persuaded I might have made 
 a good voyage; for by what I found in these two 
 
•244 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 bliests, 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 
 die Buenos Ayres, or the Rio de la 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, 
 but of no use, at that time, to anybody; and what 
 became of the rest of her people, I then knew not. 
 
 I found, besides these chests, a little cask full of 
 liquor, of about twenty gallons, which I got into my 
 boat with much difficulty. There were several mus- 
 kets 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 even- 
 ing, about an hour within night, I reached the island 
 again, weary and fatigued to the last degree. 
 
 I reposed that night in the boat ; and in the morn- 
 ing I resolved to harbor what I had gotten in my 
 new cave, not to carry it home to my castle. After 
 refreshing myself, I got all my cargo on shore, and 
 began to examine the particulars. The cask of liquor 
 I found to be a kind of rum, but not such as we had 
 at the 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. For example, I found in one a 
 fine case of bottles, of an extraordinary kind, and 
 filled with cordial waters, fine, and very good; the 
 bottles held about three pints each, and were tipped 
 
THE WRECK. 
 
 245 
 
 with silver. I found two pots of very good suecades, 
 or sweetmeats, so fastened also on top that the salt 
 water had not hurt them ; and two more of the same, 
 which the water had spoiled. I found some very 
 goqd__sliirts, which were very welcome to me; and 
 about a dozen and half of linen white handkerchiefs 
 and colored 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, 1 found there three great bags of pieces of. 
 eight, which held out about eleven hundred pieces in 
 all; and in one of them, wrapped up in a paper, six 
 doubloons of gold, and some small bars or wedges of 
 gold. I suppose they might all weigh near a pound. 
 
 The other chest I found had some clothes in it, but 
 of little value; but by the circumstances, it must 
 have belonged to the gunner’s mate; though there 
 was no powder in it, but about two pounds of fine 
 glazed powder, in three small flasks, kept, I suppose, 
 for charging their fowling-pieces on occasion. Upon 
 the whole, I got very little by this voyage that was 
 of any use to me ; for as to the money, I had no 
 manner of occasion for it; ’twas to me as the dirt 
 under my feet; and I would have given it all for 
 three or four pair of English shoes and stockings, 
 which were things I greatly wanted, but had not had 
 on my feet now for many years. I had indeed gotten 
 two pair of shoes now, which I took off of the feet 
 of the two drowned men whom I saw in the wreck, 
 and I found two pair more in. one of the chests, which 
 were very welcome to me ; but they were not like our 
 English shoes, either for ease or service, being rather 
 what we call pumps than shoes. I found in this sea- 
 man’s chest about fifty pieces of eight in royals, but no 
 
246 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 gold. I suppose this belonged to a poorer man than 
 the other, which seemed to belong to some officer. 
 
 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, 
 jis I said, that the other part of this ship had not 
 come to my share, for I am satisfied I might have 
 loaded my canoe several times over with money, 
 which, if I had ever escaped to England, would have 
 "lain here safe enough till I might have come again 
 and fetched it. 
 
 Having now brought all my things on shore, and 
 secured them, I went back to my boat, and rowed or 
 paddled her along the shore to her old harbor, where 
 I laid her up, and made the best of my way 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 with- 
 out so many precautions, and such a load of arms and 
 ammunition as I always carried with me if I went the 
 other way. 
 
 lived in this conditiqji near two years more; but 
 my unlucky head, that was always to let me know it 
 was born to make my body miserable, was all this 
 two years filled with projects and designs, how, if it 
 were possible, I might get away from this island ; for 
 sometimes I was for making another voyage to the 
 wreck, though my reason told me that there was 
 
THE WRECK. 
 
 247 
 
 nothing left there worth the hazard of my voyage a 
 sometimes for a ramble one way, sometimes another! 
 and I believe 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 have been, in all my circumstances, a memento 
 to those who are touched with the general plague of 
 mankind, whence, for aught I know, one half of their 
 miseries flow ; I mean, that of not being satisfied 
 with the station wherein God and Nature has placed 
 them ; for not to look back upon my primitive condi- 
 tion, and the excellent advice of my father, the oppo- 
 sition 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 condi- 
 tion ; for had that Providence, 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 improvements I had 
 made in that little time I lived there, and the increase 
 I should probably have made if I had stayed, I might 
 have been worth an hundred thousand moidores. 
 And what business had I to leave a settled fortune, 
 a well-stocked plantation, improving and increasing, 
 to turn supercargo to Guinea to fetch negroes, when 
 patience and time would have so increased our stock 
 at home, that we could have bought them at our own 
 door from those whose business it was to fetch them ; 
 and though it had cost us something more, yet the 
 difference of that price was by no means worth saving 
 at so great a hazard. 
 
248 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 But as tins is ordinarily the fate of young heads, 
 so reflection upon the folly of it is as ordinarily the 
 exercise of more years, or of the dear-bought experi- 
 ence of time ; and so it was with me now. And yet, 
 so deep had the mistake taken root in my temper 
 that I could not satisfy myself in my station, but was 
 continually poring upon the means and possibility of 
 my escape from this place. And that I may, with 
 the greater pleasure to the reader, bring on the re- 
 maining part of my story, it may not be improper to 
 give some account of my first conceptions on the sub- 
 ject of j liis foolish scheme for my escap e, and how, 
 and upon what foundation, I acted. 
 
 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. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE LONGING FOR ESCAPE. 
 
 It was one of the nights in the rainy season in 
 March, the four and twentieth year of my first set- 
 ting 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 this island, and also of the 
 part of my life since I came to this island. In my 
 reflections upon the state of my case since I came on 
 shore on this island, I was comparing the happy pos- 
 ture 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 sav- 
 ages 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 
 incapable of any apprehensions about it. My satis- 
 
250 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 faction was perfect, though my danger was the same; 
 and I was as happy in not knowing my danger as if 
 I had never really been exposed to it. This furnished 
 my thoughts with many very profitable reflections, and 
 particularly this one : how infinitely good that Provi- 
 dence is which has provided, in its government of 
 mankind, such narrow bounds to his sight and know- 
 ledge of things ; and though he walks in the midst of 
 so many thousand dangers, the sight of which, if dis- 
 covered to him, would distract his mind and sink his 
 spirits, he is kept serene and calm, by having the 
 events of things hid from his eyes, and knowing 
 nothing of the dangers which surround him. 
 
 , -After these thoughts had for some time entertained 
 me, I came to reflect seriously upon the real danger 
 I had been in for so many years in this very island, 
 and how I had walked about in the greatest security, 
 and with all possible tranquillity, even when perhaps 
 nothing but a brow of a hill, a great tree, or the 
 casual approach of night had been between me and 
 the worst kind of destruction, viz., that of falling into 
 the hands of cannibals and savages, who would have 
 seized on me with the same view as I did of a goat 
 or a turtle, and have thought it no more a crime to 
 kill and devour me than I did of a pigeon or a cur- 
 lew. I would unjustly slander myself if I should say 
 I was not sincerely thankful to my great Preserver? 
 to whose singular protection I acknowledged, with 
 great humility,’ that all these unknown deliverances 
 were due, and without which I must inevitably have 
 fallen into their merciless hands. 
 
 When these thoughts were over, my head was for 
 some time taken up in considering the nature of these 
 wretched creatures, I mean the savages, and how it 
 
THE LONGING FOR ESCAPE. 
 
 251 
 
 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) specula- 
 tions, 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 not order myself and my business 
 so, that I might be as able to go over thither as they 
 were to come to me. 
 
 I never so much as troubled myself to consider 
 what I should do with myself when I came thither; 
 what would become of me, if I fell into the hands of 
 the savages; or how I should escape from them, if 
 they attempted me; no, nor so much as how it was 
 possible for me to reach the coast, and not be at- 
 tempted by some or other of them, without any pos- 
 sibility 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. looked back 
 upon my present condition as the most miserable tha t 
 could possibly be; th at 1 was not able to throw my- 
 self 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 
 
252 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 tlie worse came to the worst, I could but die, which 
 . would put an end to all these miseries at once. Jiray — 
 note, a ll this was the f ruit of a disturbed mind, an 
 impatient temper, made as it were desperate by the* 
 
 long continuance of my troubles, and the disappoint- 
 
 ments I had met in the wreck T had been on board 
 of. and where I had boon wn np_av *hr> nlUm'ning 
 I so earnestly longed for, viz., somebody to speak to, 
 
 and tc learn some knowJp.do-p. from nf flip plnpp wIiptp 
 
 I was, - and of the prob able means of my deliverance.^ 
 
 L I say, 1 was agitated wholly by these thoughts. All 
 my calm of mind, in my resignation to Providence, 
 and waiting the issue of the dispositions of Heaven, 
 seemed to be suspended; and I had, as it were, no 
 power to turn my thoughts to anything but to the 
 project of a voyage to the main, which came upon me 
 with such force, and such an impetuosity of desire, 
 that it was not to be resisted. 
 
 When this had agitated my thoughts for two hours, 
 or more, with such violence that it setnny very blood 
 into a ferment, and my pulse beat as high as if I had 
 been in a fever, merely with the extraordinary fervor 
 of my mind about it, Nature, as if I had been fa- 
 tigued and exhausted with the very thought of it,, 
 threw me into a sound sleep. One would have 
 thought I should have dreamed of it, but I did not, 
 nor of anything relating to it ; but I dreamed that as 
 I was going out in the morning, as usual, from my 
 castle, I saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven 
 savages coming to land, and that they brought with 
 them another savage, whom they were going to kill 
 in order to eat him; when, on a sudden, the savage 
 that they were going to kill jumped away, and ran 
 for his life. And I thought, in my sleep, that he 
 
THE LONGING FOR ESCAPE. 
 
 253 
 
 came running into my little thick grove before m3 
 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 smiling upon 
 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; and that 
 as 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 for fear of being devoured ; what 
 places to venture into, and what to escape.” I waked 
 with this thought, and was under such inexpressible 
 impressions of joy at the prospect of my escape in my 
 dream, that the disappointments which I felt upon 
 coming to myself and finding it was no more than a 
 dream were equally extravagant the other way, and 
 threw me into a very great dejection of spirit. 
 
 Upon this, however. J made this conclusion; that 
 mv only way to go about an attempt for an escape 
 
 w as , if possibl e — t o get a , sa vage; into my possession ; 
 
 and, if possi ble, it should be one of their prisoners 
 whom they had con demned to be eaten, and should 
 bri ng thithe r-in_k^lh J»ut these thoughts still were 
 attended with this difficulty, that it was impossible 
 to effect _this without attacking a whole caravan of 
 them, and killing them all ; and this was not only a 
 very desperate attempt, and might miscarry, but, on 
 the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the lawfulness 
 of it to me ; and my heart trembled at the thoughts 
 of shedding so much blood, though it was for my 
 deliverance. I need not repeat the arguments whicH 
 
254 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 occurred to me against this, they being the same 
 mentioned before. But though I had other reasons 
 to offer now, viz., that those men were enemies to my 
 life, and would devour me if they could; that it was 
 self-preservation, in the highest degree, to deliver 
 myself from this death of a life, and was acting in 
 my own defence as much as if they were actually 
 assaulting me, and the like; I say, though these 
 things argued for it, yet the thoughts of shedding 
 human blood for my deliverance were very terrible to 
 me, and such as I could by no means reconcile myself 
 to a great while. 
 
 However, a t last, after man y secret dispu tes wi th 
 myself, and after great perplexities about it. tor a. 11 
 these arguments, one way and another, struggled in 
 
 my head a lon g *-hr> HIM . pvnvnilinrr flonino nf . 
 
 deliver a nce ;lt lnvinf|-> vnmiWn rJ ,|11 1 .1m m i ll I - 
 
 r esolved, if poss i ble, fn get rmo nf thnnn nswnoipn l ute 
 mv hand s, cost, what it would- 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 see them when they came 
 on shore, and leave the rest to the event, taking such 
 measures as the opportunity should present, let be 
 what would be. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 With these resolutions in my thoughts, I set ray* 
 self upon the scout as often as possible, anti indeed 
 so often, till I was heartily tired of it; for it was 
 above a year a nd half that I waited; and for great 
 part of that time went out to the west end, and to the 
 southwest 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 
 I cannot say that it did in this case, as it had done 
 some time before that, viz., wear off the edge of my 
 desire to the thing. But the longer it seemed to be 
 delayed, the more eager I was for it. In a word, I 
 was not at first so careful to shun the sight of these 
 savages, and avoid being seen by them, as I was now 
 eager to be upon them. 
 
 Besides, I fancied myself able to manage one, nay, 
 two or three savages, if I had them, so as to make 
 them entirely slaves to me, to do whatever I should 
 direct them, and to prevent their being able at any 
 time to do me any hurt. It was a great while that 
 I pleased myself with this affair; but nothing still 
 presented. All my fancies and schemes came to 
 nothing, for no savages came near me for a great 
 while. 
 
 About a year and half after I had entertained 
 these notions, and by l6ng musing had, as it were, 
 
256 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 resolved tliem all into nothing, for want of an occa- 
 sion to put them in execution, I was surprised, one 
 morning early, with seeing no less than five canoes 
 all on shore together on my side the island, and the 
 people who belonged to them all landed, and out of 
 my sight. The number of them broke all my mea- 
 sures : for seeing so many, and knowing that they 
 always came four, or six, or sometimes more, in a 
 boat, I could not tell what to think of it, or how to 
 take my measures to attack twenty or thirty men 
 single-handed; so I lay still in my castle, perplexed 
 and discomforted. However, I put myself into all 
 the same postures for an attack that I had formerly 
 provided, and was just ready for action if anything 
 had presented. Having waited a good while, listen- 
 ing to hear if they made any noise, at length, being 
 very impatient, I set my guns at the foot of my lad- 
 der, and clambered up to the top of the hill, by my 
 two stages, as usual; standing so, however, that my 
 head did not appear above the hill, so that they could 
 not perceive me by any means. Here I observed, by 
 the help of my prospective glass, that they were no 
 less than thirty in number, that they had a fire kin- 
 dled, that they had had meat dressed. How they 
 had cooked it, that I knew not, or what it was ; but 
 they were all dancing, in I know not how many bar- 
 barous gestures and figures, their own way, round 
 the fire. 
 
 While I was thus looking on them, I perceived by 
 my prospective two miserable wretches dragged from 
 the boats, where, it seems, they were laid by, and 
 were now brought out for the slaughter. I perceived 
 one of them immediately fell, being knocked down, 
 I suppose, with a club or wooden sword, for that was 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 257 
 
 their way, and two or three others were at work im- 
 mediately, cutting him open for their cookery, while 
 the other victim was left standing by himself, till 
 they should be ready for him. In that very moment 
 this poor wretch seeing himself a little at liberty, 
 Nature inspired him with hopes of life, and he started 
 away from them, and ran with incredible swiftness 
 along the sands directly towards me, I mean towards 
 that part of the coast where my habitation was. 
 
 I was dreadfully frighted (that I must acknowledge) 
 when I perceived him to run my way, and especially 
 when, as I thought, I saw him pursued by the whole 
 body; and now I expected that part of my dream 
 was coming to pass, and that he woidd certainly take 
 , shelter in my grove ; but I could not depend, by any 
 means, upon my dream for the rest of it, viz., that 
 the other savages would not pursue him thither, and 
 find him there. However, I kept my station, and 
 my spirits began to recover when I found that there 
 was not above three men that followed him ; and still 
 more was I encouraged when I found that he out 
 stripped them exceedingly in running, and gained 
 ground of them ; so that if he could but hold it for 
 half an hour, I saw easily he would fairly get away 
 from them all. 
 
 There was between them and my castle the creek J 
 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 plunging in, swam 
 through in about thirty strokes or thereabouts, landed, 
 and ran on with exceedin'’ strength and swiftness. 
 
258 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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, which, as it happened, was very well for him 
 in the main. 
 
 I observed, that the two who swam were yet more 
 than twice as long swimming over the creek as the 
 fellow was that fled from them. It came now very 
 warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, 
 that now was my time to get me a servant, and per- 
 haps a companion or assistant, and that I was called 
 plainly by Providence to save this poor creature’s 
 life. I immediately run 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 
 having a very short cut, and all down hill, clapped 
 myself in the way between the pursuers and the pur- 
 sued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, who, looking 
 back, was at first perhaps as much frighted at me as 
 at them; but I beckoned with my hand to him to 
 come back; and, in the meantime, I slowly advanced 
 towards the two that followed ; then rushing at once 
 upon the foremost, I knocked him down with the 
 stock of my piece. I was loath to fire, because I 
 would not have the rest hear; though, at that dis- 
 tance, 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 him 
 stopped, as if he had been frighted, and I advanced 
 apace towards him ; but as I came nearer, I perceived 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 259 
 
 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 hal- 
 looed again to him, and made signs to come forward, 
 which he easily understood, and came a little way, 
 then stopped again, and then a little 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 enemies 
 were. I beckoned him again to come to me, and 
 gave him all the signs of encouragement that I could 
 think of; and he came nearer and nearer, kneeling 
 down every ten or twelve steps, in token of acknow- 
 ledgment for my saving his life. I smiled -at him, 
 and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to come 
 still nearer. At length he came close to me, and 
 then he kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and 
 laid his head upon the ground, and~taking me by the 
 foot, set my foot upon his head. This, it seems, was 
 in token of swearing to be ray slave forever. I took 
 him up, and made much of him, and encouraged him 
 all I could. But there was more work to do yet; for 
 I perceived the savage whom I knocked down was 
 not killed, but stunned with the blow, and began to 
 come to himself; so I pointed to him, and showing 
 him the savage, that he was not dead, upon this he 
 spoke some words to me; and though I could not 
 
2C0 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 understand them, } r ct 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 years. But there was no time for such 
 reflections now. The savage who was knocked down 
 recovered himself so far as to sit up upon the ground, 
 and I perceived that my savage began to be afraid; 
 but when I saw that, I presented my other piece at 
 the man, as if I would shoot him. Upon this my 
 savage, for so I call him now, made a motion to me 
 to lend him my sword, which hung naked in a belt 
 by my side ; so I did. He no sooner had it but he 
 runs to his enemy, and, at one blow, cut off his head 
 as cleverly, no executioner in Germany could have 
 done it sooner or better ; which I thought very 
 strange for one who, I had reason to believe, never 
 saw a sword in his life before, except their own 
 wooden swords. However, it seems, as I learned 
 afterwards, they make their wooden swords so sharp, 
 so heavy, and the wood is so hard, that they will cut 
 off heads even with them, ay, and arms, and that at 
 one blow too. When he had done this, he comes 
 laughing to me in sign of triumph, and brought me 
 the sword again, and with abundance of gestures, 
 which I did not understand, laid it down, with the 
 head of the savage that he had killed, just before me. 
 
 But that which astonished him most was to know 
 how I had killed the other Indian so far off ; so point- 
 ing to him, he made signs to me to let him go to 
 him ; so I bade him go, as well as I could. When 
 he came to him, he stood like one amazed, looking at 
 him, turned him first on one side, then on t’other, 
 looked at the wound the bullet had made, which, it 
 seems, was just in his breast, where it had made a 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 261 
 
 hole, and no great quantity of blood liad followed; 
 but he had bled inwardly, for he was quite dead. 
 He took up his bow and arrows, and came back ; s® 1 
 turned to go away, and beckoned to him to follow me, 
 making 1 si<ms to him that more might come after thenn 
 
 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 p art, viz., that he came into mv grove 
 l or sh elter. " 
 
 Heref-gave him bread and a bunch of raisins to 
 eat, and a draught of water, which I found he was 
 indeed in great distress for, by his running; and 
 having refreshed him, I made signs for him to go lie 
 down and sleep, pointing to a place where I had laid 
 a great parcel of rice-straw, and a blanket upon it, 
 which I used to sleep upon myself sometimes; so the 
 poor creature laid down, and went to sleep. 
 
 He was a comely, handsome fellow, perfectly well 
 made, with straight strong limbs, not too large, tall 
 and well-shaped, and, as I reckon, about twenty-six 
 years of age. He had a very good countenance, not 
 a fierce and surly aspect, but seemed to have some- 
 thing very manly in his face ; and yet he had all the 
 sweetness and softness of an European in his counte- 
 nance too, especially when he smiled. His hail was 
 
262 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 / 
 
 long and black, not curled like wool; bis forehead 
 very high and large ; and a great vivacity and spark- 
 ling sharpness in his eyes. The color of his skin was 
 not quite black, but very tawny; and yet not of an 
 ugly, yellow, nauseous tawny, as the Brazilians and 
 Virginians, a nd other natives of America are, but of 
 a bright kind of a dun olive color, that had in i:; 
 something very agreeable, though not very easy to 
 describe. His face was round and plump ; his nose 
 small, not flat like the negroes; 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 the ground, with all the possible signs of an 
 humble, thankful disposition, making a many antic 
 gestures to show it. At last he lays his head flat 
 upon the ground, close to my foot, and sets my other 
 foot upon his head, as he had done before, and after 
 this made all the signs to me of subjection, servitude, 
 and submission imaginable, to let me know how 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. I likewise taught him to say 
 master, and then let him know that was to be my 
 name. I likewise taught him to say Yes and No, 
 and to know the meaning of them. I gave him some 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 268 
 
 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 bi’ead 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 beckoned 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 exactly 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, ex- 
 pressed 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, and saw plainly 
 the place where they had been, but no appearance of 
 them or of their canoes; so that it was plain that 
 they were gone, and had left their two comrades be- 
 hind them, without any search after them. 
 
 But I was not content with this discovery; but 
 having now more courage, and consequently more 
 curiosity, I takes 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 dexter- 
 ously, making him carry one gun for me,, and 1 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, ami 
 
264 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 my heart sunk within me, at the horror of the spec- 
 tacle. 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 hones, 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 victory over their 
 enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands, and the 
 bones of three or four legs and feet, and abundance 
 of other parts of the bodies; and Friday, by his 
 signs, made me understand that they brought over 
 four prisoners to feast upon ; that three of them were 
 eaten up, and that he, pointing to himself, was the 
 fourth; that there had been a great battle between 
 them and their next king, whose subjects it seems he 
 had been one of, and that they had taken a great 
 number of prisoners; all which were carried to several 
 places by those that had taken them in the fight, in 
 J 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 bum 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 2G5 
 
 I had out of the poor gunner’s chest I mentioned, 
 and which I found in the wreck; and which, with a 
 little alteration, fitted him very well. Then I made 
 him a jerkin of goat’s skin, as well as my skill would 
 allow, and I was now grown a tolerable good tailor ; 
 and I gave him a cap, which I had made of a hare- 
 skin, very convenient and fashionable enough; and 
 thus he was clothed for the present tolerably well, 
 and was mighty well pleased to see himself almost as 
 well clothed as his master. It is true he went awk- 
 wardly 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 aft er 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 per- 
 fectly 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 oiy 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 bid- 
 ders too; so that Friday could no way come at me in 
 the inside of my innermost wall without making so 
 much noise in getting over that it must needs waken 
 me ; for my first wall had now a complete roof over 
 it of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up 
 to the side of the hill, which was again laid cross 
 with smaller sticks instead of laths, and then thatched 
 
266 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 into my side 
 every night. 
 
 But I needed none of all this precaution ; for .never 
 man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant 
 than Friday was to me; without passions, sullenness, 
 or designs, perfectly obliged and engaged ; 1 his very 
 affections were tied to me, like those of a child to 
 a father ; and I dare say he would have sacrificed his 
 life for the saving mine, upon any occasion whatso- 
 ever. The many testimonies he gave me of this put 
 it out of doubt, and soon convinced me that I needed 
 to use no precautions as to my safety on his account. 
 
 This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and 
 that with wonder, that however it had pleased God, 
 in His providence, and in the government of the 
 works of His hands, to take from so great a part of 
 the world of His creatures the best uses to which their 
 faculties and the powers of their souls are adapted, 
 yet that He has bestowed upon them the same powers, 
 the same reason, -the same affections, the same senti- 
 ments of kindness and obligation, the same passions 
 and resentments of wrongs, the same sense of grati- 
 tude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities of doing 
 good and receiving good, that He has given to us; 
 and that when He pleases to offer to them occasions 
 of exerting these, they are as ready, nay, more 
 ready, to apply them to the right uses for which 
 ' That is, under a sense of obligation and engagement. 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 267 
 
 they were bestowed than we are. And this made me 
 very melancholy sometimes, in reflecting, as the sev- 
 eral occasions presented, how mean a use we make of 
 all these, even though we have these powers enlight- 
 ened by the great lamp of instruction, the Spirit of 
 God, and by the knowledge of His Word added to 
 our understanding; and why it has pleased God to 
 hide the 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. a 
 
 From hence, I sometimes was led too far to invade 
 the sovereignty of Providence, and as it were arraign 
 the justice of so arbitrary a disposition of things, 
 that should hide that light from some, and reveal it 
 to others, and yet expect a like duty from both. But 
 I shut it up, and checked my thoughts with this con- 
 clusion: first, 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 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 discoveied to us; and, second, that still, as 
 we are all the clay in the hand of the potter, no vessel 
 c'" could say to Him, “Why hast Thou formed me 1 
 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 proper to make him useful, 
 handy, and helpful; but especially to make him 
 speak, and understand me when I spake. And he 
 
268 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 was the. nptest s dinlnr fl int ever wa_s : and particularly 
 was so merry, so constantly diligent, and so pleased 
 when lie could but understand me, or make me under- 
 stand him, that it was very pleasant to me to talk to 
 him. And now my life began to be so easy that I 
 began to say to myself, that could I but have been 
 safe from more savages, I cared not if I was never to 
 remove from the place while I lived. 
 
 After I had been two or three days returned to my 
 castle, I thought that, in order to bring Friday off 
 from his horrid way of feeding, and from the relish of 
 a cannibal’s stomach, I ought to let him taste other 
 flesh ; so I took him out with me one morning to the 
 woods. I went, indeed, intending to kill a kid out 
 of my own flock, and bring him home ami 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. Immedi- 
 ately I presented my piece, shot and killed one of the 
 kids. The poor creature, who had, at a distance in- 
 deed, seen me kill the savage, his enemy, but did not 
 know, or could imagine, how it was done, was sensi- 
 bly surprised, trembled and shook, and looked so 
 amazed that I thought he would have sunk down. 
 He did not see the kid I had shot at, or perceive I 
 had killed it, but ripped up his waistcoat to feel if 
 he was not wounded; and, as I found presently, 
 thought I was resolved to kill him ; for he came and 
 kneeled down to me, and embracing my knees, said 
 a great many things I did not understand; but I 
 could easily see that the meaning was to pray me not 
 to kill him. 
 
 I soon found away to convince him that I would do 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 
 
 269 
 
 him no harm; and taking him up by the hand, laughed 
 at him, and pointing to the kid which I had killed, 
 beckoned to him to run and fetch it, which he did ; 
 and while he was wondering, and looking to see how 
 the creature was killed, I loaded my gun again ; and 
 by and by I saw a great fowl, like a hawk, sit upon 
 a tree, within shot; so, to let Friday understand a 
 little what I would do, I called him to me again, 
 pointing at the fowl, which was indeed a parrot, . 
 though I thought it had been a hawk ; I say, point- 
 ing 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 understand 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 found he 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 destruction 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 7 
 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. 
 
 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 a good 
 way off from the place where she fell. However, he 
 
270 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 found her, took her up, and brought her to me; and 
 as I had perceived his ignorance about the gun before, 
 
 I took this advantage to charge the gun again, and 
 not let him see me do it, that I might be ready for 
 any other mark that might present. But nothing 
 more offered at that time ; so I brought home the kid, 
 and the same evening I took the skin off, and cut it 
 out as well as I could; and having a pot for that 
 purpose, I boiled or stewed some of the flesh, and 
 made some very good broth ; 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 and sputter at 
 it, washing his mouth with fresh water after it. On 
 the other hand, I took some meat in my mouth with- 
 out salt, and I pretended to spit and sputter for want 
 of salt, as fast as he had done at the salt. But it 
 would not do; he would never care for salt with his 
 meat or in his broth ; at least, not a great while, and 
 then but a very little. 
 
 Having thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, 
 I was resolved to feast him the next day with roast- 
 ing 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 of 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 
 
MAN FRIDAY. 271 
 
 mover eat man’s flesh any more, which I was very 
 glad to hear. 
 
 The next day I set him to work to beating- some 
 corn out, and sifting it in the manner I used to do, 
 as I observed before ; and he soon understood how to 
 do it as well as I, especially after he had seen what 
 the meaning of it was, and that it was to make bread 
 of; for after that I let him see me make my bread, 
 and bake it too ; and in a little time Friday was able to 
 do all the work for me, as well as I could do it myself. 
 
 I began now to consider that, having two mouths 
 to feed instead of one, I must provide more ground 
 for my harvest, and plant a larger quantity of corn 
 than I used to do ; so I marked out a larger piece of 
 land, and began the fence in the same manner as 
 before, in which Friday not only worked very will- 
 ingly and very hard, but did it very cheerfully ; and 
 I told him what it was for; that it was for corn to 
 make more bread, because he was now with me, and 
 that I might have enough for him and myself too. 
 He appeared very sensible of that part, and let me 
 know that he thought I had much more labor upon 
 me on his account than I had for myself ; and that 
 he would work the harder for me, if 1 would tell him 
 what to do. 
 
CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 
 
 This was the pleasantest year of all the life I led 
 in this place. Friday began to talk pretty well, and 
 understand the names of almost everything I had 
 occasion to call for, and of every place I had to send 
 him to, and talk a great deal to me; so that, in 
 short, I began now to have some use for my tongue 
 again, which, indeed, I had very little occasion for 
 before, that is to say, about speech. Besides the 
 pleasure of talking to him, I had a singular satisfac- 
 tion in the fellow himself. His simple, unfeigned 
 honesty appeared to me more and more every day, 
 and I began really to love the creature; and, on his 
 side, I believe he loved me more than it was possible 
 for him ever to love anything before. 
 
 I had a mind once to try if he had any hankering 
 inclination to his own country again; and having 
 learned him English so well that he could answer me 
 almost any questions, I asked him whether the nation 
 that he belonged to never conquered in battle ? At 
 which he smiled, and said, “Yes, yes, we always 
 fight the better;” that is, he meant, always get the 
 better in fight; and so we began the following dis- 
 course: “You always fight the better, ” said I. “How 
 came you to be taken prisoner then, Friday?” 
 
 Friday. My nation beat much for all that. 
 
 Master. How beat? If your nation beat them, 
 how came you to be taken? 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 273 
 
 Friday. They more many than my nation in the 
 place where me was; they take one, two, three, and 
 me. My nation overheat them in the yonder place, 
 where me no was; there my nation take one, two, 
 great thousand. 
 
 Harter. But why did not your side recover you 
 from the hands of your enemies then? 
 
 Friday. They run one, two, three, and me, and 
 make go in the canoe ; my nation have no canoe that 
 time. 
 
 Master. Well, Friday, and what does your nation 
 do with the men they take? Do they carry them 
 away and eat them, as these did? 
 
 Friday. Yes, my nation eat mans too; eat all up. 
 
 Master. Where do they carry them? 
 
 Friday. Go to other place where they think. 
 
 Master. Do they come hither? 
 
 Friday. Yes, yes, they come hither; come other 
 else place. 
 
 Master. Have you been here with them? 
 
 Friday. Yes, I been here. ( Points to the N. W. 
 side of the island , which , it seems , was their sided) 
 
 By this I understood that my man Friday had for- 
 merly been among 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 men, two Z 
 women, and one child. He could not tell twenty in 
 English, but he numbered them by laying so many 
 stones on a row, and pointing to me to tell them over. 
 
 I have told this passage, because it introduces what 
 
274 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 follows ; that after I had had this discourse with him, 
 I asked him how far it was from our island to the 
 sliore, 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 a 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 draught 
 and reflux of the mighty river Oroonoko, in the 
 mouth or the gulf of which river, as I found after- 
 wards, our island lay; and this land which I per- 
 ceived to the W. and N. W. was the great island 
 Trinidad, on the north point of the mouth of the 
 river. I asked Friday a thousand questions about 
 the country, the inhabitants, the sea, the coast, and 
 what nation were near. He told me all he knew, 
 with the greatest openness imaginable. I asked him 
 the names of the several nations of his sort of people, 
 but could get no other name than Caribs; from 
 whence I easily understood that these were the Carib- 
 bees, which our maps place on the part of America 
 which reaches from the mouth of the river Oroonoko 
 to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha. He told me 
 that up a great way beyond the moon, that was, be- 
 yond the setting of the moon, which must be W. 
 from their country, there dwelt white-bearded men, 
 like me, and pointed to my gTeat whiskers, which I 
 mentioned before; and that they had killed much 
 
 ( mans, — that was his word; by all which I understood 
 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. 
 
 y 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 275 
 
 I inquired if he could tell me how I might come 
 from this island and get among those white men. He 
 told me, “Yes, yes, I might go in two canoe.” I 
 could not understand what he meant, or make him 
 describe to me what he meant by two canoe ; till at 
 last, with great difficulty, I 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 had now been 
 with me, and that he began to speak to me, and un- 
 derstand me, I was not wanting to lay a foundation 
 of reli gious knowledge in his mind; particularly I 
 asked him one time, Who made him? The poor crea- 
 ture did not understand nxe 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 Benamuckee, that lived beyond all. 
 He could describe nothing of this great person, but 
 that he was very old, much older, he said, than the 
 sea or the land, than the moon or the stars. I asked 
 him then, if this old person had made all things, why 
 did not all things worship him? He looked very 
 grave, and with a perfect look of innocence said, 
 “All things do say O to him.” I asked him if the 
 people who die in his country went away anywhei'e? 
 He said, “Yes, they all went to Benamuckee.” 
 Then I asked him whether these they eat up went 
 thither too? lie said, “Yes.” 
 
 _.A 
 
276 
 
 HO BINS ON CRUSOE. 
 
 From these things I began to instruct him in the 
 knowledge of the true God. I told him that the 
 great Maker of all things lived up there, pointing up 
 towards heaven ; 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 from us; 
 and thus, by degrees, I opened his eyes. He listened 
 with great attention, and received with pleasure the 
 notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us, and 
 of the manner of making our prayers to God, and 
 His being able to hear us, even into heaven. He 
 told me one day that if our God could hear us up 
 beyond the sun, He must needs be a greater God 
 than their Benamuckee, who lived but a little way 
 off, and yet could not hear till they went Tip to the 
 great mountains where he dwelt to speak to him. I 
 asked him if he ever went thither to speak to him ? 
 He said, No ; they never went that were young men ; 
 none went thither but the old men, whom he called 
 their Oowokakee, that is, as I made him explain it 
 to me, their religious, or clergy ; and that they went 
 to say O (so he called saying prayers), and then came 
 back, and told them what Benamuckee said. By 
 this I observed that there is priestcraft even amongst j 
 the most blinded, ignorant pagans in the world ; and, 
 the policy of making a secret religion in order to pre- 
 serve 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 bru- 
 tish and barbarous savages. 
 
 I endeavored to clear up this fraud to my man 
 Friday, and told him that the pretence of their old 
 men going up to the mountains to say O to their god 
 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 277 
 
 Benamuckee was a cheat, and their bringing word 
 from thence what he said was much more so; that if 
 they met with any answer, or spoke with any one 
 there, it must be with an evil spirit; and then I en- 
 tered into a long discourse with him about the devil, 
 the original of him, his rebellion against God, his 
 enmity to man, the reason of it, his setting himself 
 up in the dark parts of the world to be worshipped 
 instead of God, and as God, and the many strata- 
 gems he made use of to delude mankind to their 
 ruin ; how he had a secret access to our passions and 
 to our affections, to adapt his snares so to our incli- 
 nations as to cause us even to be our own tempters, 
 and to run upon our destruction by our own choice. 
 
 I found it was not so easy to imprint right notions 
 in his mind about the devil as it was about the being 
 of a God. Nature assisted all my arguments to evi- 
 dence to him even the necessity of a great First Cause 
 and overruling, governing Power, a secret directing 
 Providence, and of the equity and justice of paying 
 homage to Him that made us, and the like. But 
 there appeared nothing of all this in the notion of an 
 evil spirit; of his original, his being, his nature, and 
 above all, of his inclination to do evil, and to draw 
 us in to do so too; and the poor creature puzzled me 
 once in such a manner by a question merely natural 
 and innocent, that I scarce knew what to say to him. 
 I had been talking a great deal to him of the power 
 of God, His omnipotence, His dreadful aversion to 
 sin, His being a consuming fire to the workers of 
 iniquity; how, as He had .made us all, He could 
 destroy us and all the world in a moment; and he 
 listened with great seriousness to me all the while. 
 
 After this I had been telling him how the devil 
 
278 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 > was God’s enemy in the hearts of men, and used all 
 his malice and skill to defeat the good designs of 
 Providence, and to ruin the kingdom of Christ in the 
 world, and the like. “Well,” says Friday, “but you 
 say God is so strong, so great; is He not much 
 strong, much might as the devil?” “Yes, yes,” says 
 I, “Friday, God is stronger than the devil; God is 
 above the devil, and therefore we pray to God to 
 tread him down under our feet, and enable us to 
 resist his temptations, and quench his fiery darts.” 
 ; “But,” says he again, “if God much strong, much 
 might as the devil, why God no kill the devil, so 
 make him no more do wicked?” 
 
 | I was strangely surprised at his question ; and after 
 all, though I was now an old man, yet I was but 
 a young doctor, and ill enough qualified for a casuist, 
 or a solver of difficulties ; and at first I could not tell 
 what to say; so I pretended not to hear him, and 
 asked him what he said. But he was too earnest for 
 an answer to forget his question, so that he repeated 
 it in the very same broken words as above. By this 
 time I had recovered myself a little, and I said, 
 “God will at last punish him severely; he is reserved 
 for the judgment, and is to be cast into the bottom- 
 less pit, to dwell with everlasting fire.” This did 
 not satisfy Friday ; but he returns upon me, repeat- 
 ing my words, “ Reserve at last ! me no understand r 
 but why not kill the devil now? not kill great ago?” 
 “You may as Well ask me,” said I, “why God does 
 not 4rill^yon and I when we do wicked things here 
 that offend Him ; we are preserved to repent and be 
 pardoned.” He muses awhile at this. “Well, well,” 
 says he, mighty affectionately, “that well; so you, I, 
 devil, all wicked, all preserve, repent, God pardon 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 279 
 
 all.” Here I was run down again by him to the last 
 degree, and it was a testimony to me how the mere 
 notions of nature, though they will guide reasonable 
 creatures to the knowledge of a God, and of a wor- 
 ship or homage due to the supreme being of God, as 
 the consequence of our nature, yet no thing but Divine 
 revelation can form the know ledge -o f J o r . u n Chrisf r , 
 antboDalrecleniption p urc has ed for _us, of a Med iator^ 
 of the new co venant, and of an Intpropsuor .thc^ 
 f ootstool of God’s throne; I say, nothing but a reve- 
 lation from heaven can form these in the soul, and 
 that therefore the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, I mean the Word of God, and the 
 Spirit of God, promised for the guide and sanctifier 
 of His people, are the absolutely necessary instruc- 
 tors 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 He would enable me to instruct savingly this 
 poor savage, assisting, by His Spirit, the heart of the 
 poor ignorant creature to receive the light of the 
 knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling him to 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 with him 
 upon the subject of the redemption of man by the 
 Saviour of the world, and of the doctrine of the Gos- 
 pel 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 
 
280 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 Redeemer took not on Him the nature of angels, but 
 the seed of Abraham ; and how, for that reason, the 
 fallen angels had no share in the redemption; that 
 He came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, 
 and the like. 
 
 I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge 
 in all the methods I took for this poor creature’s in- 
 struction, and must acknowledge, what I believe all 
 that act upon the same principle will find, that in 
 laying things open to him, I really informed and in- 
 structed myself in many things that either I did not 
 know, or had not fully considered before, but which 
 occurred naturally to my mind upon my searching 
 into them for the information of this poor savage. 
 And I had more affection in my inquiry after things 
 upon this occasion than ever I felt before; so that 
 whether this poor wild wretch was the better for me 
 or no, I had great reason to be thankful that ever he 
 came to me. My grief set lighter upon me, my habi- 
 tation grew comfortable to me beyond measure ; and 
 when I reflected, that in this solitary life which I had 
 been confined to, I had not only been moved myself 
 to look up to heaven, and to seek to the Hand that 
 had brought me there, but was now to be made an 
 instrument, under Providence, to save the life and, 
 for aught I know, the sold of a poor savage, and 
 bring him to the true knowledge of religion and of 
 \ the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ 
 \ Jesus, to know whom is life eternal; — I say, when 
 u reflected upon all these things, a secret joy run 
 through every part of my soul, and I frequently re- 
 joiced that ever I was brought to this place, which I 
 liad so often thought the most dreadful of all afflic» 
 tions that could possibly have befallen me. 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 281 
 
 In this thankful frame I continued all the remain- 
 der of my time, and the conversation which employed 
 the hours between Friday and 1 1 was such as made 
 the three years which we lived there together perfectly 
 and completely happy, if any such thing as complete 
 happiness can be formed in a sublunary state. The 
 savage was now a good Chris tian, a much better than 
 I ; though I have reason to hope, and bless God for 
 it, that we were equally penitent, and comforted, 
 restored penitents. We had here the Word of God 
 to read, and no farther off from His Spirit to instruct 
 than if we had been in England. 
 
 I always applied myself to reading the Scripture, 
 ro let him know, as well as I could, the meaning of 
 what I read ; and he again, by his serious inquiries 
 and questions, made me, as I said before, a much 
 better scholar in the Scripture knowledge than I 
 should ever have been by my own private mere read- 
 ing. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing 
 here also, from experience in this retired part of my 
 life, viz., how infinite and inexpressible a blessing it 
 is that the knowledge of God, and of the doctrine of 
 salvation by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in 
 the Word of God, so easy to be received and under- 
 stood ; that as the bare reading the Scripture made 
 me capable of understanding enough of my duty to 
 carry me directly on to the great work of sincere re- 
 / pentance for my sins, and laying hold of a Saviour for 
 life and salvation, to a stated reformation in practice, 
 and obedience to all God’s commands, and this with- 
 out any teacher or instructor (I mean human); so the 
 
 1 More than once in this book the reader will notice colloquial 
 forms which a strict regard for grammar no longer sanctions. 
 This same phrase occurred on page 278. 
 
282 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 same plain instruction sufficiently served to the en- 
 lightening' 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 
 contention which has happened in the world about 
 religion, whether niceties in doctrines, or schemes 
 of church government, they were all perfectly useless 
 to us; as, for aught I can yet see, they have been to 
 all the rest in the world. We had the sure guide to 
 heaven, viz., the Word of God; and we had, blessed 
 be God, comfortable views of the Spirit of God teach- 
 ing and instructing us by His Word, leading us into 
 all truth, and making us both willing and obedient to 
 the instruction of His Word; and I cannot see the 
 least use that the greatest knowledge of the disputed 
 points in religion, which have made such confusions 
 in the world, would have been to us if we could have 
 obtained it. But I must go on with the historical 
 part of things, and take every part in its order. 
 
 After Friday and I became more intimately ac- 
 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. 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 283 
 
 I described to him the country of Europe, and par- 
 ticularly England, which I came from; how we lived, 
 how we worshipped God, how we behaved to one an- 
 other, 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 musing 
 a great while, and said nothing. I asked him what 
 it was he studied upon. At last says he, “Me see 
 such boat like come to place at my nation.” 
 
 I did not understand him a good while ; but at last, 
 when I had examined further mto 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 ex- 
 plained 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. 
 
 h riday 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 white mans, as he called them, in the boat. 
 “Yes, ’ he said, “the boat full of white mans.” I 
 asked him how many. lie told upon his fingers sev- 
 
284 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 enteen. I asked him then what became of them. He 
 told me, “They live, they dwell at my nation.” 
 
 This put new thoughts into my head ; for I pres- 
 ently imagined that these might be the men belong- 
 ing 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 vic- 
 tuals to live. I asked him how it came to pass they 
 did not kill them, and eat them. He said, “No, 
 they make brother with them;” that is, as I under- 
 stood 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 
 on the top of the hill, at the east side of the island 
 (from whence, as I have said, I had in a clear day 
 discovered the main or continent of America), Fri- 
 day, the weather being very serene, looks very ear- 
 nestly towards the mainland, and, in a kind of sur- 
 prise, falls a-jiunping and dancing, and calls out to 
 me, for I was at some distance from him. I asked 
 him what was the matter. “O joy!” says he, “O 
 glad ! there see my country, there my nation ! ” 
 
 I observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure ap- 
 peared in his face, and his eyes sparkled, and his 
 countenance discovered a strange eagerness, as if he 
 had a mind to be in his own country again ; and this 
 
THE CHRISTIANIZING OF FRIDAY. 285 
 
 observation of mine put a great many thoughts into 
 me, which made me at first not so easy about my new 
 man Friday as I was before; and I made no doubt 
 but that if Friday could get back to his own nation I 
 again, lie would not only forget all his religion, butl 
 all his obligation to m e ; and would be forward enough 
 to give his countrymen an account of me, and come 
 back perhaps with a hundred or two of them, and 
 make a feast upon me, at which he might be as merry 
 as he used to be with those of his enemies, when tlieyf 
 were taken in war. 
 
 But I wronged the poor honest creature very much, 1 
 for which I was very sorry afterwards. However, as 
 my jealousy increased, and held me some weeks, I 
 was a little more circumspect, and not so familiar and 
 Wind to him as before; in which I was certainly in 
 the wrong too, the honest, grateful creature having 
 no thought about it but what consisted with the besi 
 principles, both as a religious Christian and as 
 grateful friend, as appeared afterwards to m 
 satisfaction, 
 
 While my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure 
 I was every day pumping him, to see if he would dis- 
 cover any of the new thoughts which I suspected were 
 in him; but I found everything he said was so honest 
 and so innocent that I could find nothing to nourish 
 my suspicion ; and, in spite of all my uneasiness, he 
 made me at last entirely his own again, nor did he 
 in the least perceive that I was uneasy, and therefore 
 I could not suspect him of deceit. 
 
 One day, walking up the same hill, but the weather 
 being hazy at sea, so that we could not see the conti- 
 nent, I called to him, and said, “Friday, do not you 
 wish yourself in your own country, your own na- 
 
 / 
 
 </ 
 
286 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 tion?” “Yes,” lie said, “I be much O glad to be at 
 my own nation.” “What would you do there?” 
 said I. “Would you turn wild again, eat men’s 
 flesh again, and be a savage as you were before?” 
 lie looked full of concern, and shaking his head said, 
 “No, no; Friday tell them to live good; tell them to 
 pray God; tell them to eat corn-bread, cattle-flesh, 
 milk, no eat man again.” “Why then,” said I to 
 him, “they will kill you.” He looked grave at that, 
 and then said, “No, they no kill me, they willing 
 love learn.” He meant by this they would be willing 
 to learn. He added, they learned much of the 
 bearded mans that come in the boat. Then I asked 
 him if he would go back to them. He smiled at 
 that, and told me he could not swim so far. I told 
 him I would make a canoe for him. He told me he 
 would go if I would go with him. “I go! ” says I; 
 “why, they will eat me if I come there.” “No, no,” 
 says he, “me make they no eat you; me make thej 
 much love you.” He meant, he would tell them how 
 I had killed his enemies, and saved his life, and so 
 he would make them love me. Then he told me, as 
 well as he could, how kind they were to seventeen 
 white men, or bearded men, as he called them, who 
 came on shore there in distress. 
 
 
 v 
 
 / 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 PLANS TO REACH THE MAINLAND. 
 
 From this time I confess I had a mind to venture 
 over, and see if I could possibly join with these 
 bearded men, who, I made no doubt, were Spaniards 
 or Portuguese ; not doubting but, if I could, we might 
 find some method to escape from thence, being upon 
 the continent, and a good company together, better 
 than I could from an island forty miles off the shore, 
 and alone, without help. So, after some days, I took 
 Friday to work again, by way of discourse, and told 
 him I would give him a boat to go back to his own 
 nation ; and accordingly I carried him to my frigate, 
 which lay on the other side of the island, and having 
 cleared it of water, for I always kept it sunk in the 
 water, I brought it out, showed it him, and we both 1/ 
 went into it. 
 
 I found he was a most dexterous fellow at manag- 
 ing it, would make it go almost as swift and fast 
 again as I could. So when he was in I said to him, 
 “Well now, Friday, shall we go to your nation?” 
 
 He looked very dull at my saying so, which, it seems, 
 was because he thought the boat too small to go so 
 far. I told him then I had a bigger; so the next 
 day I went to the place where the first boat lay which 
 I had made, but which I could not get into water. 
 
 He said that was big enough ; but then, as I had 
 taken no care of it, and it had lain two or three and 
 
288 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 twenty years there, the sun had split and dried it, 
 that it was in a manner rotten. Friday told me such 
 a boat would do very well, and would carry “much 
 enough vifctual, drink, bread;” that was his way of 
 talking. 
 
 Upon the whole, I was by this time so fixed upon 
 my design of going over with him to the continent, 
 that I told him we would go and make one as big as 
 that, and he should go home in it. He answered not 
 one word, but looked very grave and sad. I asked 
 him what was the matter with him? He asked me 
 again thus, “Why you angry mad with Friday? 
 what me done?” I asked him what he meant. I 
 told him I was not angry with him at all. “No an- 
 gry! no angry! ” says he, repeating the words several 
 times. “Why send Friday home away to my na- 
 tion?” “Why,” says I, “Friday, did you not say 
 you wished you were there?” “Yes, yes,” says he, 
 “wish be both there; no wish Friday there no mas- 
 ter 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,” 
 says he; “you teach wild mans to be good, sober, 
 tame mans ; you tell them know God, pray God, and 
 live new life.” “Alas! Friday,” says I, “thouknow- 
 est not what thou sayest. I am but an ignorant man 
 myself.” “Yes, yes,” say$ 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 hatch- 
 ets which he used to wear, he takes it up hastily, 
 comes and gives it me. “What must I do with 
 
PL A NS TO REACH THE MAINLAND. 289 
 
 this?” says I to him. “You take kill Friday,” says 
 he. “What must I kill you for?” said I again. 
 Ho 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 ut- 
 most affection in him to me, and a firm resolution in 
 him, that I told him then, and often after, that I 
 would never send him away from me if he was will- 
 ing to stay with me. 
 
 Upon the whole, as I found by all his discourse a 
 settled affection to me, and that nothing should part 
 him from me, so I found all the foundation of his 
 desire to go to his own country was laid in hi s ardent 
 a ffecti on to the people, a nd his hnpps" of my fining 
 1 1 1 cm good l a thing which, as L duuUm-v- -not i on— of 
 myself, so I had not the least thought or intention or 
 
 BuFstiTTl found a 
 inclination to my attempting an escape, as above, 
 founded on the supposition gathered from the dis- 
 course, 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 periagna, or canoe, to under- 
 take the voyage. There were trees enough in the 
 island to have built a little fleet, not of perictgua ° 
 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 was made, to 
 avoid the mistake I committed at first. 
 
 desii’e of undertaking i 
 
 strong 
 
 At last Friday pitched upon a tree, for I found he 
 knew much better than I what kind of wood was fit- 
 test for it; nor can I tell, to this day, what wood to 
 call the tree we cut down, except that it was very like 
 
290 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the tree we call fustic, or between that and the Nica- 
 ragua wood, for it was much of the same color and 
 smell. Friday was for burning 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 labor 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 
 how swift my man Friday would manage her, turn 
 her, and paddle her along. So I asked him if he 
 would, and if we might venture over in her. “Yes,” 
 he said, “he venture over in her very well, though 
 great blow wind.” However, I had a farther design 
 that he knew nothing of, and that was to make a 
 mast and sail, and to fit her with an anchor and 
 cable. As to a mast, that was easy eifough to get; 
 so I pitched upon a straight young cedar-tree, which 
 I found near the place, and which there was great 
 plenty of in the island ; and I set Friday to work to 
 cut it down, and gave him directions how to shape 
 and order it. But as to the sail, that was my par- 
 ticular care. I knew I had old sails, or rather pieces 
 of old sails enough; but as I had' had them now 
 twenty-six years by me, and had not been very care- 
 ful to preserve them, not imagining that I should 
 ever have this kind of use for them, I did not doubt 
 
PLANS TO REACH THE MAINLAND. 291 
 
 but they were all rotten, and, indeed, most of them 
 were so. However, I found two pieces which ap- 
 peared pretty good, and with these I went to work, 
 and with a great deal of pains, and awkward, tedious 
 stitching (you may be sure) for want of needles, I at 
 length made a three-cornered ugly thing, like wlia 
 we call in England a shoulder-of-mutton sail, to go 
 with a boom at bottom, and a little short sprit at the 
 top, such as usually our ships’ long-boats sail with, 
 and such as I best knew how to manage ; because it 
 was such a one as I had to the boat in which I made 
 my escape from Barbary, as related in the first uar 
 of my story. 
 
 I was near two months performing this last work, 
 viz., rigging and fitting my mast and sails; for I fin- 
 ished them very complete, making a small stay, and 
 a sail, or foresail, to it, to assist, if we should turn 
 to windward ; and, which was more than all, I fixed 
 a rudder to the stern of her to steer with ; and though 
 I was but a bungling shipwright, yet as I knew the 
 usefulness, and even necessity, of such a thing, I 
 applied myself with so much pains to do it that at 
 last I brought it to pass; though, considering the 
 many dull contrivances I had for it that failed, I 
 think it cost me almost as much labor 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; for though 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 saw me 
 work the boat to 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 
 
292 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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, ex- 
 cept 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 anniversary of my landing here with the 
 same thankfulness to God for His mercies as at first ; ' 
 and if I had such cause of acknowledgment at first, 
 
 I had much more so now, having such additional tes- 
 timonies of the care of Providence over me, and the 
 great hopes I had of being effectually and speedily 
 delivered; for I had an invincible impression upon 
 my thoughts that my deliverance was at hand, and 
 that I should not be another year in this place. 
 However, I went on with my husbandry, digging, 
 planting, 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 
 
PL A NS TO REACH THE MAINLAND. 29 ‘6 
 
 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 cross the end of it, 
 to keep the water out ; and so she lay dry, as to the 
 tide from the sea; and to keep the rain off, wc laid 
 a great many houghs of trees, so thick that she was 
 as well thatched as a house ; and thus we waited for 
 the month of November and December, in which 1 1 
 designed to make my adventure. 
 
CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 When tlie settled season began to come in, as the 
 thought of my design returned with the fair weather, 
 I was preparing daily for the voyage ; and the first 
 thing I did was to lay by a certain quantity of provi- 
 sions, 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 seashore and see if he could 
 find a turtle, or tortoise, a thing which we generally 
 got once a week, for the sake of the eggs as well as 
 the flesh. Friday had not been long gone when he 
 came running back, and flew over my 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 master! 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 speak- 
 ing, I concluded there were six; but, on inquiry, 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 fellow 
 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 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 295 
 
 trembled so that I scarce knew wliat 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 
 woidd defend me, and stand by me, and do just as 
 I bid him. lie 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 hus- 
 band of my rum that I had a great deal left. When 
 he had drank itr, I made him take the two fowling- 
 pieces, which we always carried, and load them with 
 large swan-shot, as big as small pistol-bullets. Then 
 I took four muskets, and loaded them with two slugs 
 and five small bullets each; and my two pistols I 
 loaded with a brace of bullets each. I hung my 
 great sword, as usual, naked by my side, and gave 
 Friday his hatchet. 
 
 When I had thus prepared myself, I took my pro- 
 spective glass, and went up to the side of the hill to 
 see what I could discover; and I found quickly, by 
 my glass, that there were one and twenty savages, 
 three prisoners, and three canoes, and that their 
 whole business seemed to be the triumphant banquet 
 upon these three human bodies; a barbarous feast 
 indeed, but nothing more than, as I had observed, 
 was usual with them. 
 
 I observed also that they were landed, not where 
 they had done when Friday made his escape, but 
 nearer to my creek, where the shore was low, and 
 
29G 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 where a thick wood came close almost down to the 
 sea. This, with the abhorrence of the inhuman er- 
 rand these wretches 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. 
 He was now gotten over his fright, and his spirits 
 being a little raised with the dram I had given him, 
 he was very cheerful, and told me, as before, he 
 would die when I bid die. 
 
 In this fit of fury, I took first and divided the arms 
 which I had charged, as before, between us. I gave 
 Friday one pistol to stick in his girdle, and three 
 guns upon his shoulder; and I took one pistol, and 
 the other three myself, and in this posture we marched 
 out. I took a small bottle of rum in my pocket, and 
 gave Friday a large bag with more powder and bullet; 
 and as to orders, I charged him to keep close behind 
 me, and not to stir, 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 glass, it was easy to do. 
 
 While I was making this march, my former 
 thoughts returning, I began to abate my resolution. 
 I do not mean that I entertained any fear of their 
 number; for as they were naked, unarmed wretches, 
 ’t is certain I was superior to them; nay, though 1 
 had been alone. But it occurred to my thoughts 
 what call, what occasion, much less what necessity, 
 I was in to go and dip my hands in blood, to attack 
 people who had neither done or intended me any 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 297 
 
 wrong; who, as to me, were innocent, and whose bar- 
 barous ^customs were their own disaster; being in 
 them a token indeed of God’s having left them, with 
 the other nations of that part of the world, to such 
 stupidity, and to such inhuman courses; but did not 
 call me to take upon me to be a judge of their actions, 
 much less an executioner of His justice; that when- 
 ever He thought fit, He would take the cause into 
 His own hands, and by national vengeance punish 
 them, as a people, for national crimes; but that, in 
 the meantime, it was none of my business; that, it 
 was true, Friday might justify it, because he was a 
 declared enemy, and in a state of war with those 
 very particular people, and it was lawful for him to 
 attack them ; but I could not say the same with re- 
 spect to me., These things were so warmly pressed 
 upon my thoughts all the way as I went, that I re- 
 solved I would only go and place myself near them, 
 that I might observe their barbarous feast, and that 
 I would act then as God should direct; but that, 
 unless something offered that was more a call to me 
 than yet I knew of, I would not meddle with them. 
 
 With this resolution I entered the wood, and with 
 all possible wariness and silence, Friday following 
 close at my heels, I marched till I came to the skirt 
 of the wood, on the side which was next to them ; 
 only that one corner of the wood lay between me and 
 them. Here I called softly to Friday, and 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 be plainly viewed there; that 
 they were all about their fire, eating the flesh of one 
 
298 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 of their prisoners, and that another lay bonne] 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, whom 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 lie was an European, 
 and had clothes on. 
 
 There was another tree, and a little thicket beyond 
 it, about fifty yards nearer to them than the place 
 where I was, which, by going a little way about, I 
 saw I might come at undiscovered, and* that then I 
 should be within half shot of them ; so I withheld my 
 passion, though I was indeed enraged to the highest 
 degree; and going back about twenty paces, I got 
 behind some bushes, which held all the way till I 
 came to the other tree; and then I came to a little 
 rising ground, which gave me a full view of them, at 
 the distance of about eighty yards. 
 
 I had now not a moment to lose, for nineteen of 
 the dreadful wretches sat upon the ground, all close 
 huddled together, and had just sent the other two to 
 butcher the poof Christian, and bring him, perhaps 
 limb by limb, to their fire; and they were stooped 
 down to untie the bands at bis feet. I turned to 
 Friday: “Now, Friday,” said I, “do as I bid thee.” 
 Friday said he would. “Then, Friday,” says I, “do 
 exactly as you see me do; fail in nothing.” So I 
 set down one of the muskets and the fowling-piece 
 upon the ground, and Friday did the like by his; and 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 299 
 
 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 
 an the side that he shot he killed two of them, and 
 Wounded three more ; and on my side I killed one, 
 and wounded two. They were, you may be sure, in 
 a dreadful consternation ; and all of them who were 
 not hurt jumped up upon their feet, but did not im- 
 mediately know which way to run, or which way to 
 look, for they knew not from whence their destruction 
 came. Friday kept his eyes close upon me that, as 
 I had bid him, he might observe what I did; so as 
 soon as the first shot was made I threw down the 
 piece, and took up the fowling-piece, and Friday did 
 the like. He sees me cock and present; he did the 
 same again. “Are you ready, Friday?” said I. 
 “Yes,” says he. “Let fly, then,” 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 quite dead. 
 
 “Now, Friday,” says I, laying down the dis- 
 charged pieces, and taking up 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 Friday do so 
 
300 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 too; and running as fast as I could, which, by the 
 way, was not very fast, being loaden with arms as I 
 was, I made directly towards the poor victim, who 
 was, as I said, lying upon the beach, or shore, be- 
 tween the place where they sat and the sea. The 
 two butchers, who were just going to work with him, 
 had left him at the surprise of our first fire, and fled 
 in a terrible fright to the seaside, and had jumped 
 into a canoe, and three more of the rest made the 
 same way. 1 turned to Friday, and bid him step 
 forwards and fire at them. He. understood me imme- 
 diately, 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 them, I pulled out 
 my knife and cut the flags that bound the poor vic- 
 tim; and loosing his hands and feet, I lifted him up, 
 and asked him in the Portuguese tongue what he was. 
 He answered in Latin, “ Christianas ; ” but was so 
 weak and faint that he could scarce stand or speak. 
 I took my bottle out of my pocket and gave it him, 
 making signs that he should drink, which he did ; and 
 I gave him a piece of bread, which he eat. Then I 
 asked him what countryman he was; and he said, 
 “ Espagniole ; ” and being a little recovered, let me 
 know, by all the signs he could possibly make, how 
 much he was in my debt for his deliverance. “Seign- 
 ior,” 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 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 SOI 
 
 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 vigor 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 crea- 
 tures were so much frighted with the noise of our 
 pieces that they fell down for mere amazement and 
 fear, and liatl 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. 
 
 I kept my piece in my hand still without firing, 
 being willing to keep my charge ready, because I had 
 given the Spaniard my pistol and sword. So I called 
 to Friday, and bade him run up to the tree from 
 whence we first fired, and fetch the arms which lay 
 there that had been discharged, which he did with 
 great swiftness; and then giving him my musket, I sat 
 down myself to load all the rest again, and bade them 
 come to me when they wanted. While I was loading 
 these pieces, there happened a fierce engagement be- 
 tween the Spaniard afid one of the savages, who made 
 at him with one of their great wooden swords, the 
 same weapon that was to have killed him before if 
 I had not prevented it. The Spaniard, who was as 
 bold and as brave as could be imagined, though weak, 
 had fought this Indian a good while, and had cut him 
 two great wounds on his head; but the savage being 
 a stout, lusty fellow, closing in with him, had thrown 
 him down, being faint, and was wringing my sword 
 out of his hand, when the Spaniard, though under- 
 most, wisely quitting the sword, drew the pistol from 
 
302 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 liis girdle, shot the savage through the body, and 
 killed him upon the spot, before I, who was running 
 to help him, could come near him. 
 
 Friday, being now left to his liberty, pursued the 
 flying wretches with no weapon in his hand but his 
 hatchet; and with that he despatched those three 
 who, as I said before, were wounded at first, and 
 fallen, and all the rest he could come up with; and 
 the Spaniard coming to me for a gun, I gave him 
 one of the fowling-pieces, with which he pursued two 
 of the savages, and wounded them both; but as he 
 i was not able to run, they both got from him into the 
 wood, where Friday pursued them, and killed one of 
 \ them; but the other was too nimble for him, and 
 though he was wounded, yet had plunged himself into 
 the sea, and swam with all his might off to those two 
 who were left in the canoe ; which three in the canoe, 
 with one wounded, who we know not whether he died 
 or no, were all that escaped our hands of one and 
 twenty. The account of the rest is as follows : — 
 
 3 killed at our 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. 
 
 1 killed by ditto in the wood. 
 
 3 killed by the Spaniard. 
 
 4 killed, being found dropped here and there 
 
 of their wounds, or killed by Friday in his 
 chase of them. 
 
 4 escaped in the boat, whereof one wounded, if 
 not dead. 
 
 21 in all. 
 
 Those that were in the canoe worked hard to get 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 '303 
 
 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 pursued 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 
 another poor creature lie there alive, bound hand and 
 foot, as the Spaniard was, for the slaughter, and al- 
 most dead with fear, not knowing what the matter 
 was; for he had not been able to look up over the 
 side of the boat, he was tied so hard, neck and heels, 
 and had been tied so long that he had really but 
 little life in him. 
 
 I immediately cut the twisted flags or rushes which 
 they had bound him with, and would have helped him 
 up; but he could not stand or speak, but groaned 
 most piteously, believing, it seems, still that he was 
 only unbound in order to be killed. 
 
 When Friday came to him, I bade him speak to 
 him, and tell him of his deliverance; and pulling out 
 my bottle, made him give the poor wretch a dram ; 
 which, with the news of his being delivered, revived 
 him, and he sat up in the boat. But when Friday 
 came to hear him speak, and 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 
 
304 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 distracted creature. It was a good while before I 
 could make him speak to me, or tell me what was 
 the matter; but when he came a little to himself, he 
 . told me that it was his father. 
 
 It is not easy for me to express how it moved me 
 
 I to see what ecstasy and filial affection had worked in 
 this poor savage at the sight of his father, and of his 
 being delivered from death; nor, indeed, can I de- 
 scribe half the extravagancies of his affection after 
 this ; for he went into the boat, and out of the boat, 
 a great many times. When he went in to him, he 
 would sit down by him, open his breast, and hold his 
 father’s head close to his bosom, half an hour to- 
 gether, to nourish it ; then he took his arms and an- 
 kles, which were numbed and stiff with the binding, 
 and chafed and rubbed them with his hands; and I, 
 perceiving what the case was, gave him some rum out 
 of my bottle to rub them with, which did them a 
 great deal of good. 
 
 This action put an end to our pursuit of the canoe 
 with the other savages, who were now gotten almost 
 •Dut 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 northwest, which was against them, that I 
 could not suppose their boat could live, or that they 
 ever reached to their own coast. 
 
 - But to return to Friday. He was so busy about 
 his father that I could not find in my heart to take 
 him off for some time; but after I thought he could 
 leave him a little, I called him to me, and he came 
 jumping and laughing, and pleased to the highest 
 extreme. Then I asked him if he had given his 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 305 
 
 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 pur- 
 pose. I also gave him a dram for himself, but he 
 would not taste it, but carried it to his father. I had 
 in my pocket also two or three bunches of my raisins, 
 so I gave him a handful of them for his father. He 
 had no sooner given his father these raisins, but I 
 saw him come out of the boat and run away, as if he 
 had been bewitched, he ran at such a rate; for he 
 was the swiftest fellow of his foot that ever I saw. I 
 say, he run at such a rate that he was out of sight, 
 as it were, in an instant; and though I called, and 
 hallooed too, after him, it was all one, away he went ; 
 and in a quarter of an hour I saw him come back 
 again, though not so fast as he went; and as he came 
 nearer I found his pace was slacker, because he had 
 something in his hand. 
 
 When he came up to me, I found he had been 
 quite home for/ an earthen jug, or pot, to bring his 
 father some fresh water, and that he had got two 
 more cakes or loaves of bread. The bread he gave 
 me, but the water he carried to his father. How- 
 ever, 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 faint- 
 ing 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 Span- 
 iard too, who was indeed very weak, and was repos- 
 ing himself upon a green place under the shade of 
 
306 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 a tree ; and whose limbs were also very stiff, and very 
 much swelled with the rude bandage he had been tied 
 with. When I saw that upon Friday’s coming to 
 him with the water he sat up and drank, and took 
 the bread, and began to eat, I went to him, and gave 
 him a handful of raisins. He looked up in my face 
 with all the tokens of gratitude and thankfulness that 
 could appear in any countenance ; but was so weak, 
 notwithstanding he had so exerted himself in the 
 fight, that he could not stand up upon his feet. He 
 tried to do it two or three times, but was really nor 
 able, his ankles were so swelled and so painful to 
 him; so I bade him sit still, and caused Friday to 
 rub his ankles, and bathe them with rum, as he had 
 done his father’s. 
 
 I observed the poor affectionate creature, every two 
 minutes, or perhaps less, all the while he was here, 
 turned his head about to see if his father was in the 
 same place and posture as he left him sitting ; and at 
 last he found he was not to be seen; at which he 
 started up, and, without speaking a word, flew with 
 that swiftness to him that one could scarce perceive 
 his feet to touch the ground as he went. But when 
 he came, he only found he had laid himself down to 
 ease his limbs; so Friday came back to me presently, 
 and I then spoke to the Spaniard to let Friday help 
 him up, if he could, and lead him to the boat, and 
 then he should carry him to our dwelling, where I 
 would take care of him. But Friday, a lusty strong 
 fellow, took the Spaniard quite up upon his back, 
 and carried him away to the boat, and set him down 
 softly upon the side or gunnel of the canoe, with his 
 feet in the inside of it, and then lifted him quite in, 
 and set him close to his father; and presently, step- 
 
THE FIGHT WITH CANNIBALS. 
 
 307 
 
 ping out again, launched the boat off, and paddled it 
 along the shore faster than I could walk, though the 
 wind blew pretty hard too. So he brought them 
 both safe into our creek, and leaving them in the 
 boat, runs away to fetch the other canoe. As he 
 passed me, I spoke to him, and asked him whither 
 he went. He told me, “Go fetch more boat.” So 
 away he went like the wind, for sure never man or 
 horse ran like him; and he had the other canoe in 
 the creek almost as soon as I got to it by land ; so 
 he wafted me over, and then went to help our new 
 guests out of the boat, which he did; but they were 
 neither of them able to walk, so that poor Friday 
 knew not what to do. 
 
 To remedy this I went to work in my thought, and 
 calling to Friday to bid them sit down on the bank 
 while he came to me, I soon made a kind of hand- 
 barrow to lay them on, and Friday and I carried 
 them up both together upon it between us. But when 
 we got them to the outside of our wall, or fortifica- 
 tion, we were at a worse loss than before, for it was 
 impossible to get them over, and I was resolved not 
 to break it down. So I set to work again; and Fri- 
 day and I, in about two hours’ time, made a very 
 handsome tent, covered with old sails, and above that 
 with boughs of trees, being in the space without our 
 outward fence, and between that and the grove of 
 young wood which I had planted ; and here we made 
 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* 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE AND HIS SUBJECTS. 
 
 My island was now peopled, and I thought myself 
 very rich in subjects ; and it was a merry reflection, 
 which I frequently made, how like a king I looked. 
 'First of all, the whole country was my own mere 
 property, so that I had an undoubted right of domin- 
 ion. Secondly, my people were perfectly subjected. 
 I was absolute lord and lawgiver; they all owed their 
 lives to me, and were ready to lay down their lives, 
 if there had been occasion of it, for me. It was 
 remarkable, too, we had but three subjects, and they 
 were of three different religions. My man Friday 
 was a Protestant, his father was a Pagan and a can- 
 nibal, and the Spaniard was a Papist. However, I 
 allowed liberty of conscience throughout my domin- 
 ions. 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 think of making some provi- 
 sion for them; and the first thing I did, I ordered 
 Friday to take a yearling goat, betwixt a kid and a 
 goat, out of my particular flock, to be killed; 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 assure 
 you, of flesh and broth, having put some barley and 
 rice also into the broth ; and as I cooked it without 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE AND HIS SUBJECTS. 809 
 
 doors, for I made no fire within my inner wall, so I 
 carried it all into the new tent, and having set a table 
 there for them, I sat down and ate my 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 Spaniard 
 too; for the Spaniard spoke the language of the sav- 
 ages pretty well. 
 
 After we had dined, or rather supped, I ordered 
 Friday to take one of the canoes and go and fetch 
 our muskets and other 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 doing myself; nay, I could not bear to 
 see them, if I went that way. All which he punc- 
 tually performed, and defaced 1 the very appearance of 
 the savages being there ; so that when I went again 
 I could scarce know where it was, otherwise than by 
 the corner of the wood pointing to the place. 
 
 I then began to enter into a little conversation with 
 my two new subjects; and first, I set Friday to in- 
 quire of his father what he thought of the escape of 
 the savages in that canoe, and whether we might 
 expect a return of them, with a power too great for 
 us to resist. His first opinion was, that the savages 
 in the boat never could live out the storm which blew 
 that night they went off, but must, of necessity, be 
 drowned, or driven south to those other shores, where 
 they were as sure to be devoured as they were to be 
 1 The form we should now use would be effaced. 
 
310 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 drowned if they were cast away. But as to wliat 
 they would do if they came safe on shore, he said he 
 knew not; but it was his opinion that they were so 
 dreadfully frighted with the manner of their Being 
 attacked, the noise, and the fire, that he believed thej 
 would tell their people they were all killed by thunder 
 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 not men with weapons. This, he said, he 
 knew, because he heard them all cry out so in their 
 language to one another; for it was impossible to 
 them to conceive that a man could dart fire, and 
 speak thunder, and kill at a distance without lifting 
 up the hand, as was done now. And this old savage 
 was in the right ; for, as 1 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 escape the sea), that they believed whoever went 
 to that enchanted island would be destroyed with fire 
 from the gods. This, however, I knew not, and there- 
 fore was under continual apprehensions for a good 
 while, and kept always upon my guard, me 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 appear- 
 ing, the fear of their coming wore off, and I began to 
 take my former thoughts of a voyage to the main into 
 consideration; being likewise assured, by Friday’s 
 father, that I might depend upon good usage from 
 their nation, on his account, if I would go. 
 
 But my thoughts were a little suspended when I 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE AND HIS SUBJECTS. 311 
 
 had a serious discourse with the Spaniard, and when 
 I understood that there were sixteen more of his 
 countrymen and Portuguese, who, having been cast 
 away, and made their escape to that side, lived there 
 at peace, indeed, with the savages, but were very sore 
 put to it for necessaries, and indeed for life. I asked 
 him all the particulars of their voyage, and found 
 they were a Spanish ship bound from the Rio de la 
 Plata to the Havana, being directed to leave their 
 loading there, which was chiefly hides and silver, and 
 to bring back what European goods they could meet 
 with there ; that they had five Portuguese seamen on 
 board, whom they took out of another wreck; that 
 five of their own men were drowned when the first 
 ship was lost, and that these escaped, through infinite 
 dangers and hazards, and arrived, almost starved, on 
 the cannibal coast, where they expected to have been 
 devoured every moment. 
 
 He told me they had some arms with them, but 
 they were perfectly useless, for that they had neither 
 powder 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. 
 
 I asked him what he thought would become of them 
 there, and if they had formetl 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 es- 
 cape; 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 
 
312 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 my life in their hands; for that gratitude was no 
 inherent virtue in the nature of man, nor did men 
 always square their dealings by the obligations they 
 had received, so much as they did by the advantages 
 they expected. I told him it would be very hard 
 that I should be the instrument of their deliverance, 
 and that they should afterwards make me their pris- 
 oner in New Spain, where an Englishman was certain 
 to be made a sacrifice, what necessity or what acci- 
 dent soever brought him thither; and that I had 
 rather be delivered up to the savages, and be devoured 
 alive, than fall into the merciless claws of the priests, 
 and be carried into the Inquisition. I added, that 
 otherwise I was persuaded, if they were all here, we 
 might, with so many hands, build a bark large enough 
 to carry us all away, either to the 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 candor and in- 
 genuity, 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 con- 
 ditions with them upon their solemn oath that they 
 should be absolutely under my leading, as their com- 
 mander and captain; and that they should swear 
 upon the holy sacraments and the gospel to be true 
 to me, and to go to such Christian country as that 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE AND HIS SUBJECTS. 313 
 
 I should agree to, and no other, and to be directed 
 wholly and absolutely by my orders till they were 
 landed safely in such country as I intended; and that 
 he would bring a contract from them, under their 
 hands, for that purpose. 
 
 Then he told me he would first swear to me him- 
 self, 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 country- 
 men. 
 
 He told me they were all of them very civil, honest 
 men, and they were under the greatest distress imagin- 
 able, having neither weapons or clothes, or any food, 
 but at the mercy and discretion of the savages; out 
 of all hopes of ever returning to their own country; 
 and that he was sure, if I would undertake their 
 relief, they would live and die by me. 
 
 Upon these assurances, I resolved to venture to 
 relieve them, if possible, and to send the old savage 
 and this Spaniard over to them to treat. But when 
 we had gotten all things in a readiness to go, the 
 Spaniard himself started an objection, which had so 
 much prudence in it on one hand, and so much sin- 
 cerity on the other hand, that I could not but be very 
 well satisfied in it, and by his advice put off the de- 
 liverance 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 
 l ice I had laid up ; which, as it was more than suffi- 
 cient for myself, so it was not sufficient, at least with- 
 
814 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 out good "husbandry, for my family, now it was in* 
 creased to number four; but much less would it be 
 sufficient if his countrymen, who were, as he said, 
 fourteen, still alive, should come over; and least of 
 all would it be sufficient to victual our vessel, if we 
 should build one, for a voyage to any of the Christian 
 colonies of America. So he told me he thought it 
 would be more advisable to let him and the two others 
 dig and cultivate some more land, as much as I could 
 spare seed to sow ; and that we should wait another 
 harvest, that we might have a supply of corn for his 
 countrymen when they should come ; for want might 
 be a temptation to them to disagree, or not to think 
 themselves delivered, otherwise than out of one diffi- 
 culty into another. “You know,” says he, “the 
 children of Israel, 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 satisfied with his fidel- 
 ity. So we fell to digging all four of us, as well as 
 the wooden tools we were furnished with permitted; 
 and in about a month’s time, by the end of which it 
 was seed-time, we had gotten as much land cured and 
 trimmed up as we sowed twenty -two bushels of barley 
 on, and sixteen jars of rice; which was, in short, all 
 the seed we had to spare; nor, indeed, did we leave 
 ourselves barley sufficient for our own food for the 
 six months that we had to expect our crop; that is to 
 say, reckoning from the time we set our seed aside 
 for sowing; for it is not to be supposed it is six 
 months in the ground in that country. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE AND HIS SUBJECTS. 3l5 
 
 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 deliver- 
 ance upon our thoughts, it was impossible, at least 
 for me, to have the means of it out of mine. To this 
 purpose I marked out several trees which I thought 
 fit for our work, and I set Friday and his father to 
 cutting them down ; and then I caused the Spaniard, 
 to whom I imparted my thought on that affair, to 
 oversee and direct their work. I showed them with 
 what indefatigable pains I had hewed a large tree 
 into single planks, and I caused them to do the like, 
 till they had made about a dozen large planks of good 
 oak, near two feet broad, thirty -five feet long, and 
 from two inches to four inches thick. What produ 
 gious labor it took up, any one may imagine. 
 
 At the same time, I contrived to increase my little 
 flock of tame goats as much as I could ; and to this 
 purpose I made Friday and the Spaniard 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 curing the grapes coming on, I caused such a 
 prodigious quantity to be hung up in the sun, that I 
 believe, had we been at Alicant, where the raisins of 
 the sun are cured, we 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 
 
816 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 the 
 rice ; which was store enough for our food to the next 
 harvest, though all the sixteen Spaniards had been on 
 shore with me ; or if we had been ready for a voyage, 
 it would very plentifully have victualled our ship to 
 have carried us to any part of the world, that is to 
 say, of America. 
 
 When we had thus housed and secured our maga- 
 zine of corn, we fell to work to make more wicker 
 work, viz., great baskets, in which we kept it; and 
 the Spaniard was very handy and dexterous at this 
 part, and often blamed me that I did not make some 
 things for defence of this kind of work; but I saw no 
 need of it. 
 
 And now having a full supply of food for all the 
 guests I expected, 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 strict 
 charge in writing not to bring any man with him who 
 would not first swear, in the presence of himself and 
 of the old savage, that he would no way injure, fight 
 with, or attack the person he should find in the island, 
 who was so kind to send for them in order to their 
 deliverance ; but that they would stand' by and defend 
 him against all such attempts, and wherever they 
 went would be entirely under and subjected to his 
 commands; and that this should be put in writing, 
 and signed with their hands. How we were to have 
 this done, when I knew they had neither pen or ink, 
 that indeed was a question which we never asked. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE AND HIS SUBJECTS. 317 
 
 Under these instructions, the Spaniard and the old 
 savage, the father of Friday, went away in one of the 
 canoes which they might he 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, charg- 
 ing 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 
 themselves for many days, and sufficient for all their 
 countrymen for about eight days’ time; and wishing 
 them a good voyage, I see 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 a fair gale on the day that 
 the moon was at full, by my account in the month of 
 October ; but as for an exact reckoning of days, after 
 I had once lost it, I could never recover it again ; nor 
 had I kept even the number of years so punctually 
 as to be sure that I was right, though as it proved, 
 when I afterwards examined my account, I found I 
 had kept a true reckoning of years. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE COMING OF ENGLISHMEN. 
 
 It was no less than eight days I had waited foi 
 them, when a strange and unforeseen accident inter- 
 vened, of which the like has not perhaps been heard 
 of in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch one 
 morning, when my man Friday came running in to 
 me, and called aloud, “Master, master, they are 
 come, they are come ! ” 
 
 I jumped up, and, regardless of danger, I went out 
 as soon as I could get my clothes on, through my 
 little grove, which, by the way, was by this time 
 grown to be a very thick wood; I say, regardless of 
 danger, I went without my arms, which was not my 
 custom to do ; but I was surprised when, turning my 
 eyes to the sea, I presently saw a boat at about a 
 league and half’s distance standing in for the shore, 
 with a slioulder-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 south- 
 ernmost end of the island. Upon this I called Fri- 
 ( day 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 prospec- 
 tive glass, to see what I could make of them; and 
 having taken the ladder out, I climbed up to the top 
 
THE COMING OF ENGLISHMEN. 
 
 319 
 
 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 an half’s distance from me, south- 
 southeast, but not above a league and an half 1 from 
 the shore. By my observation, it appeared plainly 
 to be an English ship, and the boat appeared to be 
 an English long-boat. I cannot express the confusion 
 I was in; though the joy of seeing a ship, and one 
 who I had reason to believe was manned by my own 
 countrymen, and consequently friends, was such as I 
 cannot describe. But yet 1 had some secret doubtfi': 
 hung about me, I cannot tell from whence they came, 
 bidding me keep upon my guard. In the first place^ 
 it occurred to me to consider what business an English 
 ship could have in that. part of the world, since it was 
 not the way to or from any part of the world where 
 the English had any traffic; and I knew there had 
 been no storms to drive them in there, as in distress; 
 and that if they were English really, it was most 
 probable that they were here upon no good design ; 
 and that I had better continue as I was than fall into 
 the hands of thieves and murderers. 
 
 Let no man d espise the secret hints and notices of 
 danger which sometimes are gi"VAn hi'in~whpr> Eh may 
 
 ilunk there _js no po ssibilit y of 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 
 
 1 To use the form now an half would be to slip into the cockney 
 suppression of the h sound. 
 
820 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the tendency of them seems to be to warn us of clan- 
 ger, why should we not suppose they are from some 
 friendly agent, — whether supreme, or inferior and 
 subordinate, is not the question, — and that they are 
 given for our good? The present question abundantly 
 confirms me in the justice of this reasoning; for had 
 I not been made cautious by this secret admonition, 
 come it from whence it will, I had been undone in- 
 evitably, and in a fas: worse condition than before, as 
 you will see presently. 
 
 I had not kept myself long in this posture, but I 
 saw the boat draw near the shore, as if they looked 
 for a creek to thrust in at, for the convenience of 
 landing. However, as they did not come quite far 
 - enough, they did not see the little inlet where I for- 
 merly landed my rafts ; but run their boat on shore 
 upon the beach, at about half a mile from me, which 
 was very happy for me; for otherwise they would 
 have landed just, as I may say, at my door, and 
 would 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 Englishmen, at least most of them; 
 one or two I thought were Dutch, but it did not 
 prove so. There were in all eleven jnen, whereof 
 three of them I found were unarmed, and, as I 
 thought, 'bound; and when the first four or five of 
 them were jumped on shore, they took those three 
 out of the boat, as prisoners. One of the three I 
 could perceive using the most passionate gestures of 
 entreaty, affliction, and despair, even to a kind of 
 extravagance ; the other two, I could perceive, lifted 
 up their hands sometimes, and appeared concerned 
 indeed, but not to such a degree as the first- 
 
THE COMING OF ENGLISHMEN. 
 
 321 
 
 I was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew 
 not what the meaning of it should be. Friday called 
 out to me in English as well as he could, “ O master ! 
 you see English mans eat prisoner as well as savage 
 mans.” “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, “Friday, 
 I am afraid they will murder them indeed, but you 
 may be sure they will not eat them.” 
 
 All this while I had no thought of what the matter 
 really was, but stood trembling with the horror of the 
 sight, expecting every moment when the three pris- 
 oners should be killed; nay, once I saw one of the 
 villains lift up his arm with a great cutlass, as the 
 seamen call it, or sword, to strike one of the poor 
 men ; and I expected to see him fall every moment, 
 at which all the blood in my body seemed to run chill 
 in my veins. 
 
 I wished heartily now for 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 three upon the ground, very 
 pensive, and looked like men in despair. 
 
 This put me in mind of the first time when I cam 6 
 on shore, and began to look about me; how I gave 
 myself over for lost; how wildly I looked round me; 
 
322 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 ; so 
 these three poor desolate men knew nothing how cer- 
 tain of deliverance and supply they were, how near 
 it was to them, and how effectually and really they 
 were in a condition of safety, at the same time that 
 they thought themselves lost, and their case desper- 
 ate. 
 
 So little do we see before us in the world, and so 
 much reason have we to depend cheerfully upon the 
 great Maker of the world, that He does not leave 
 His creatures so absolutely destitute, but that, in the 
 worst circumstances, they have always something to 
 be thankful for, and sometimes are nearer their deliv- 
 erance than they imagine ; nay, are even brought to 
 their deliverance by the means by which they seem 
 to be brought to their destruction. 
 
 It was just at the top of high-water when these 
 people came on shore; and while partly they stood 
 parleying with the prisoners they brought, and partly 
 while they rambled about to see what kind of 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, having drank a little too much brandy, 
 fell asleep. However, one of them waking sooner 
 than the other, and finding the boat too fast aground 
 for him to stir it, hallooed for the rest, who were 
 
the coming of Englishmen. 
 
 823 
 
 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 per- \ 
 haps 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 again, and by that time it would be 
 dark, and I might be at more liberty to see their 
 motions, and to hear their discourse, if they had any. 
 
 In the meantime, I fitted myself up for a battle, as 
 before, though with more caution, knowing I had to 
 do with another kind of enemy than I had at first. 
 
 I ordered Friday also, whom I had made an excellent 
 marksman with his gun, to load himself with arms. 
 
 I took myself two fowling-pieces, and I gave him 
 ihree muskets. My figure, indeed, was very fierce. 
 
 I had my formidable goat-skin coat on, with the great 
 cap I have mentioned, a naked sword by my side, two 
 pistols in my belt, and a gun upon each shoulder. 
 
 It was my design, as I said above, not to have 
 made any attempt till it was dark; but about two 
 o’clock, being the heat of the day, I found that, in 
 slioit, they were all gone straggling into the woods, 
 
324 
 
 ROBINSON CRUS LjS. 
 
 and, as I thought, were laid down to sleep. The 
 three poor distressed men, too anxious for their con- 
 dition to get any sleep, were, however, set down 
 under the shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter 
 of a mile from me, and, as I thought, out of sight of 
 any of the rest. 
 
 Upon this I resolved to discover myself to them, 
 and learn something of their condition. Immediately 
 I marched in the figure as above, my man Friday at 
 a good distance behind me, as formidable for his 
 arms as I, but not making quite so staring a spectre- 
 like figure as I did. 
 
 I came as near them undiscovered as I could, and 
 then, before any of them saw me, I called aloud to 
 them in Spanish, “What are ye, gentlemen? ” 
 
 They started up at the noise, but were ten times 
 more confounded when they saw me, and the uncouth 
 figure that I made. They made no answer at all, 
 but I thought I perceived them just going to fly from 
 me, when I spoke to them in English. “Gentlemen,” 
 said I, “ do not be surprised at me ; perhaps you may 
 have a friend near you, when you did not expect it.” 
 “He must be sent directly from heaven then,” said 
 one of them very gravely to me, and pulling off his 
 hat at the same time to me, “for our condition is 
 past the help of man.” “All help is from heaven, 
 sir,” said I. “But can you put a stranger in the 
 way how to help you, for you seem to me to be in 
 some great distress? I saw you when you landed; 
 and when you seemed to make applications to the 
 brutes that came with you, I saw one of them lift up 
 his sword to kill you.” 
 
 The poor man, with tears running down his face, 
 and trembling, looking like one astonished, returned, 
 
THE COMING OF ENGLISHMEN. 
 
 325 
 
 “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 dis- 
 posed to assist you, you see. I have one servant 
 only ; we have arms and ammunition ; tell us freely, 
 can we serve you? AVhat 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 murder me; and at last have set me on shore in 
 this desolate place, with these two men with me, one 
 my mate, the other a passenger, where we expected 
 to perish, believing the place to be uninhabited, and 
 know not yet what to think of it.” 
 
 “Where are those brutes, your enemies?” said I. 
 “Do you know where they are gone? ” “There they 
 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 certainly 
 murder us all.” 
 
 “Have they any firearms? ” said I. lie 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 prison- 
 ers?” 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 return to their duty. I asked him which they 
 were. He told me he could not at that distance 
 
326 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 describe them, but be would obey my orders in any. 
 tiling I would direct. “Well,” says I, “let us re- 
 treat out of their view or hearing, lest they awake, 
 and we will resolve further.” So they willingly went 
 back with me, till the woods covered us from them. 
 
 “Look you, sir,” said I, “if I venture upon your 
 deliverance, are you willing to make two conditions 
 with me?” He anticipated my proposals, by telling 
 me that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be 
 wholly directed and commanded by me in 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. 1. 
 That while you stay on this island with me, you will 
 not pretend to any authority here ; and if I put arms 
 into your hands, you will, upon all occasions, give 
 them up to me, and do no prejudice to me or mine 
 upon this island; and in the meantime, be governed 
 by my orders. 2. That if the ship is, or may be, 
 recovered, you will carry me and my man to Eng-- 
 land, 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 demands; and, besides, 
 would owe his life to me, and acknowledge it upon 
 all occasions, as long as he lived. 
 
 “Well then,” said I, “here are three muskets for 
 you, with powder and ball; tell me next what you 
 think is proper to be done.” He showed all the tes- 
 timony of his gratitude that he was able, but offered 
 i to be wholly guided by me. I told him I thought it 
 jwas hard venturing anything; but the best method 
 I could think of was to fire upon them at once, as 
 
THE COMING OF ENGLISHMEN. 
 
 
 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 direct tlie 
 shot. 
 
 He said very modestly that he was loath to kill 
 them, if he could help it; but that those two wer 3 
 incorrigible villains, and had been the authors of all 
 the mutiny in the ship, and if they escaped, wle 
 should be undone still; for they would go on boaiid 
 and bring the whole ship’s company, and destroy us 
 all. “Well then,” saj r s I, “necessity legitimates my 
 advice, for it is the only way to save our lives.” 
 However, seeing him still cautious of shedding bloo 
 I told him they should go themselves, and manage 
 they found convenient. 
 
 I11 the middle of this discourse we heard some of 
 them awake, and soon after we saw two of them 011 
 their feet. I asked him if either of them were of the 
 men who he had said were the heads of the mutiny. 
 He said, “No.” “ Well then,” said I, “you nay let 
 
 them escape ; and Providence seems to have wakened 
 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 a piece in 
 his hand. The two men who were with him r , oin«r 
 first made some noise, at which one of the seamen 
 who was awake turned about, and seeing them com- 
 ing 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 
 
828 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 the other very much wounded ; hut 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 ’t was too late to cry for help, he should call 
 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 mercy. The captain told them he 
 would spare their lives if they would give him any 
 assurance of their abhorrence of the treachery they 
 had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful to 
 him in recovering the ship, and afterwards in carry- 
 ing her back to Jamaica, from whence they came. 
 They gave him all the protestations of their sincerity 
 that could be desired, and he was willing to believe 
 them, and spare their lives, which I was not against, 
 only I obliged him to keep them bound hand and foot 
 while they were upon the island. 
 
 While this was doing, I sent Friday with the cap- 
 tain’s mate to the boat, with orders to secure her, 
 and bring away the oars and sail, which they did; 
 and by and by three straggling men, that were (hap- 
 pily for them) parted from the rest, came back upon 
 hearing the guns fired; and seeing their captain, 
 wdio before was their prisoner, now their conqueror, 
 they submitted to be bound also, and so our victory 
 was complete. 
 
 It now remained that the captain and I should 
 inquire into one another’s circumstances. I began 
 first, and told him my whole history, which he heard 
 with an attention even to amazement; and particu- 
 
THE COMING OF ENGLISHMEN. 
 
 329 
 
 larly at the wonderful manner of my being furnished 
 with provisions and ammunition ; and, indeed, as my 
 story is a whole collection of wonders, it affected him 
 deeply. But when he reflected from thence upon 
 himself, and how I seemed to have been preserved 
 there on purpose to save his life, the tears ran down 
 his face, and he could not speak a word more. 
 
 After this communication was at an end, I carried 
 him and his two men into my 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 per- 
 fectly amazing; but above all, the captain admired 
 my fortification, and how perfectly 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 impassable in any 
 part of it but at that one side where I had reserved 
 my little winding passage into it. I told him this 
 was my castle and my residence, but that I had' a seat 
 in the country, as most princes have, whither I could 
 retreat upon occasion, and I would 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 perfectly 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 be hardened in it now 
 by desperation, and would carry it on, knowing that 
 if they were reduced, they should be brought to the 
 
330 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 gallows as soon as they came to England, or to any of 
 the English colonies; and that therefore there would 
 he no attacking them with so small a number as we 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 I mused for some time upon what he said, and 
 found it was a very rational conclusion, and that 
 therefore something was to be resolved on very 
 speedily, as well to draw the men on board into some 
 snare for their surprise, as to prevent their landing 
 upon us, and destroying us. Upon this it presently 
 occurred to me that in a little while the ship’s crew, 
 wondering what was become of their comrades, and of 
 the boat, would certainly come on shore in their other 
 boat to see for them ; and that then, perhaps, they 
 might come armed, and be too strong for us. This 
 he allowed was rational. 
 
 Upon this, I told him the first thing we had to do 
 was to stave the boat, which lay upon the beach, so 
 that they might not carry her off ; and taking every- 
 thing out of her, leave her so far useless as not to be 
 fit to swim. Accordingly we went on board, took the 
 arms which were left on board out of her, and what- 
 ever else we found there, which was a bottle of brandy, 
 and another of rum, a few biscuit-cakes, a horn of 
 powder, and a great lump of sugar in a piece of can- 
 vas — the sugar was five or six pounds ; all which 
 was very welcome to me, especially the brandy and 
 sugar, of which I had had none left for many years. 
 When we had carried all these things on shore (the 
 oars, mast, sail, and rudder of the boat were carried 
 
332 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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. In- 
 deed, it was not much in my thoughts that we could 
 be able to l'ecover 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 Span- 
 iards in my way ; for I had them still in my thoughts. 
 
 While we were thus preparing our designs, and had 
 first, by main strength, heaved the boat up upon the 
 beach so high that the tide would not fleet 1 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 2 as a signal for the boat to come on board. 
 But no boat stirred ; and they fired several times, 
 making other signals for the boat. 
 
 At last, when all their signals and firings proved 
 fruitless, and they found the boat did not stir, we saw 
 them, by the help of my glasses, hoist another boat 
 amt, and row towards the shore ; and we found, as 
 they approached, that there was no less than ten men 
 In her, and that they had firearms with them. 
 
 As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore, 
 we had a full view of them as they came, and a plain 
 sight of the men, even of their faces ; because the tide 
 having set them a little to the east of the other boat, 
 they rowed up under shore, to come to the same place 
 where the other had landed, and where the boat lay. 
 
 1 To fleet here is to float. There is a nautical use of the word 
 in the sense of to change the position of tackle. 
 
 2 A corrupt form of ensign. 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 333 
 
 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 cir- 
 cumstances were past the operation of fear ; that seeing 
 almost every condition that could be was better than 
 that which we were supposed to be in, we ought to 
 expect that the consequence, whether death or life, 
 would be sure to be a deliverance. I asked him what 
 he thought of the circumstances of my life, and 
 whether a deliverance were not worth venturing for. 
 “And where, sir,” said I, “is your belief of my being 
 preserved here on purpose to save your life, which 
 elevated you a little while ago ? For my part,” said I, 
 
 “ there seems to be but one thing amiss in all the pros- 
 pect of it.” “ What ’s that? ” says he. “ Why,” said 
 I, “ ’t is that, as you say, there are three or four honest 
 fellows among them, which should be spared ; had t hey 
 been all of the wicked part of the crew I should have 
 thought God’s providence had singled them out to 
 deliver them into your hands ; for depend upon it, 
 every man of them that comes ashore are our own, and 
 shall die or live as they behave to us.” 
 
 As I spoke this with a raised voice and cheerful 
 countenance, I found it greatly encouraged him ; so 
 we set vigorously to our business. We had, upon the , 
 
334 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 first appearance of the boat’s coming from the ship, 
 considered of separating our prisoners, and had, in- 
 deed, secured them effectually. 
 
 Two of them, of whom the captain was less assured 
 than ordinary, I sent with Friday and one of the three 
 delivered men to my cave, where they were remote 
 enough, and out of danger of being heard or dis- 
 covered, or of finding their way out of the woods if 
 they could have delivered themselves. Here they left 
 them bound, but gave them provisions, and promised 
 them, if they continued there quietly, to give them 
 their liberty in a day or two ; but that if they at- 
 tempted their escape, they should be put to death 
 without mercy. They promised faithfully to bear 
 their confinement with patience, and were very thank- 
 ful that they had such good usage as to have provisions 
 and a light left them ; for Friday gave them candles 
 (such as we made ourselves) for their comfort; and 
 they did not know but that he stood sentinel over 
 them at the entrance. 
 
 The other prisoners had better usage. Two of them 
 were kept pinioned, indeed, because the captain was 
 not free to trust them ; but the other two were taken 
 into my service, upon their captain’s recommendation, 
 and upon their solemnly engaging to live and die 
 with us ; so with them and the three honest men we 
 were seven men well armed ; and I made no doubt we 
 should be able to deal well enough with the ten that 
 were a-coming, considering that the captain had said 
 there were three or four honest men among them also. 
 
 As soon as they got to the place where their other 
 boat lay they ran their boat into the beach, and came 
 all on shore, hauling the boat up after them, which I 
 was glad to see ; for I was afraid they would rather 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 335 
 
 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 compan- 
 ions hear, but all was to no purpose. Then they came 
 all close in a ring, and fired a volley of their small 
 arms, which, indeed, we heard, and the echoes made 
 the woods ring. But it was all one ; those in the cave 
 we were sure could not hear, and those in our keeping, 
 though they heard it well enough, yet durst give no 
 answer to them. 
 
 They were so astonished at the surprise of this that, 
 as they told 11s afterwards, they resolved to go all on 
 board again, to their ship, and let them know there 
 that the men were all murdered, and the long-boat 
 staved. Accordingly, they immediately launched their 
 boat again, and gat all of them on board. 
 
 The captain was terribly amazed, and even con- 
 founded at this, believing they would go on board the 
 ship again, and set sail, giving their comrades for lost, 
 and so he should still lose the ship, which he was in 
 hopes we should have recovered ; but he was quickly 
 as much frighted the other way. 
 
 They had not been long put off with the boat but 
 we perceived them all coming on shore again ; but 
 with this new measure in their conduct, which it seems 
 they consulted together upon, viz., to leave three men 
 in the boat, and the rest to go on shore, and go up 
 into the country to look for their fellows. 
 
336 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 This was a great disappointment to us, for now we 
 were at a loss what to do ; for our seizing those seven 
 men on shore would be no advantage to us if we let 
 the boat escape, because they would then row away to 
 the ship, and then the rest of them would be sure to 
 weigh and set sail, and so our recovering the ship 
 would be lost. However, we had no remedy but to 
 wait and see what the issue of things might present. 
 The seven men came on shore, and the three who re- 
 mained in the boat put her off to a good distance 
 from the shore, and came to an anchor to wait for 
 them ; so that it was impossible for us to come at 
 them in the boat. 
 
 Those that came on shore kept close together, 
 marching towards the top of the little hill under 
 which my habitation lay ; and we could see them 
 plainly, though they could not perceive us. We could 
 have been very glad they would have come nearer to 
 us, so that we might have fired at them, or that they 
 would have gone farther off, that we might have come 
 abroad. 
 
 But when they were come to the brow of the hill, 
 where they could see a great way into the valleys and 
 woods which lay towards the northeast part, and 
 where the island lay lowest, they shouted and hallooed 
 till they were weary ; and not caring, it seems, to 
 venture far from the shore, nor far from one another, 
 they sat down together under a tree, to consider of it. 
 Had they thought fit to have gone to sleep there, as 
 the other party of them had done, they had done the 
 job for us ; but they were too full of apprehensions of 
 danger to venture to go to sleep, though they could 
 not tell what the danger was they had to fear neither. 
 
 The captain made a very just proposal to me upon 
 
THE FIGIIT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 337 
 
 this consultation of theirs, viz., that perhaps they would 
 all fire a volley again, to endeavor to make their 
 fellows hear, and that we should all sally upon them, 
 just at the juncture when their pieces were all dis- 
 charged, and they would certainly yield, and we 
 should have them without bloodshed. 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 irresolute 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. 
 
 W e waited a great while, though very impatient for 
 their removing; 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 dread- 
 ful apprehensions upon them of the danger of the 
 place that they resolved to go on board the ship again, 
 give their companions 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 forgoing 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 
 
338 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 woods, as possible, and then 
 wheel about again to me by such ways as I directed 
 them. 
 
 They were just going into the boat when Friday 
 and the mate hallooed ; and they presently heard 
 them, and answering, run along the shore westward, 
 towards the voice they heard, when they were presently 
 stopped by the creek, where the water being up, they 
 could not get over, and called for the boat to come up 
 and set them over, as, indeed, I expected. 
 
 When they had set themselves over, I observed that 
 the boat being gone up a good way into the creek, and, 
 as it were, in a harbor within the land, they took one 
 of the three men out of her to go along with them, 
 and left only two in the boat, having fastened her to 
 the stump of a little tree on the shore. 
 
 This was what I wished for ; and immediately 
 leaving Friday and the captain’s mate to their business, 
 I took the rest with me, and crossing the creek out of 
 their sight, we 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 going to start up. The cap- 
 tain, 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. 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 339 
 
 There needed very few arguments to persuade a 
 single man to yield when he saw five men upon him, 
 and his comrade knocked down ; besides, this was, it 
 seems, one of the three who were not so hearty in the 
 mutiny as the rest of the crew, and therefore was easily 
 persuaded not only to yield, but afterwards to join 
 very sincerely with us. 
 
 In the meantime, Friday and the captain’s mate so 
 well managed their business with the rest that thej 
 drew them, by hallooing and answering, from one hill 
 to another, and from one wood to another, till they not 
 only heartily tired them, but left them where they 
 were very sure they could not reach back to the boat 
 before it was dark ; and, indeed, they were heartily 
 tired themselves also by the time they came back to us. 
 
 We had nothing now to do but to watch for them 
 in the dark, and to fall upon them, so as to make sure 
 work with them. 
 
 It was several hours after Friday came back to me 
 before they came back to their boat ; and we could 
 hear the foremost of them, long before they came 
 quite up, calling to those behind to come along, and 
 could also hear them answer and complain how lame 
 and tired they were, and not able to come any faster ; 
 ft'hich was very welcome news to us. 
 
 At length they came up to the boat ; but ’t is im- 
 possible 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 ono 
 another they were gotten into an enchanted island ; 
 that either there were inhabitants in it, ancf they should 
 all be murdered, or else there were devils and spirits in 
 it, and they should be all carried away and devoured. 
 
340 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 They hallooed again, and called their two comrades 
 by their names a great many times ; but no answer. 
 Aiter some time we could see tliem, 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 the same thing 
 over again. 
 
 My 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 
 junwilling to hazard the killing any of our own men, 
 knowing the other were very well armed. I resolved to 
 wait, to see if they did not separate ; and, therefore, 
 to make sure of them. I drew my ambuscade nearer, 
 and ordered F riday 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 himself the most dejected 
 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, 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 341 
 
 though he did not die till an hour or two after ; and 
 the third ran for it. 
 
 At the noise of the fire I immediately advanced 
 with my whole army, which was now eight men, viz., 
 myself, generalissimo ; Friday, my lieutenant-general ; 
 the captain and his two men, and the three prisoners 
 of war, whom 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 one of 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 condition then was, they would 
 be very willing to capitulate. So he calls out as loud 
 as he could to one of them, “ Tom Smith ! Tom 
 Smith ! ” Tom Smith answered immediately, “ Who ’s 
 that? Robinson ? ” — for it seems he knew his voice. 
 Tire 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 been hunting 
 you this two hours ; the boatswain is killed, Will Frye 
 i? 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, 
 “ an we will yield ? ” “I ’ll go and ask, if you prom- 
 ise to yield,” says Robinson. So he asked the cap- 
 tain, and the captain then calls himself out, “ You, 
 Smith, you know my voice, if you lay down your arms 
 
 immediately, and submit, you shall have your lives. 
 
 all but w : 11 A flri,lg 
 
342 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 ty- 
 ing 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 gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 In a word, they all laid down their arms, and 
 begged their lives ; and I sent the man that had 
 parleyed with them and two more, who bound them 
 all; and then my great army of fifty men, which, 
 particularly with those three, were all but eight, came 
 up, and seized upon them all, and upon their boat ; 
 only that I kept myself and one more out of sight for 
 reasons of state. 
 
 Our next work was to repair the boat, and 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 practices with him, 
 and at length upon the farther wickedness of their 
 design, and how certainly it must bring them to 
 misery and distress in the end, and perhaps to the 
 gallows. 
 
 They all appeared very penitent, and begged hard 
 for their lives. As for that, he told them they were 
 none of his prisoners, but the commander of the 
 island ; that they thought they had set him on shore 
 in a barren uninhabited island ; but it had pleased 
 God so to direct them that the island was inhabited, 
 and that the governor was an Englishman ; that he 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 343 
 
 might hang - them all there, if he pleased ; but as he had 
 given them all quarter, he supposed he would send 
 them to England, to be dealt with there as justice re- 
 quired, except Atkins, whom he was commanded by 
 the governor to advise to prepare for death, for that 
 he would be hanged in the morning. 
 
 Though this was all a fiction of his own, yet it had 
 its desired effect. Atkins fell upon his knees, to beg 
 the captain to intercede with the governor for his 
 life ; and all the rest begged of him, for God’s sake, 
 that they might not be sent to England. 
 
 It now occurred to me that the time of our deliv- 
 erance 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, “ Cap- 
 tain, the commander calls for you.” And presently 
 the captain replied, “Tell his excellency I am just 
 a-coming.” This more perfectly amused 1 them, and 
 they all believed that the commander was just by 
 with liis fifty - men. 
 
 Upon the captain’s coming to me, I told him my 
 project for seizing the ship, which he liked of wonder- 
 fully well, and resolved to put it in 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 pin- 
 ioned to the cave where the others lay. This was 
 
 1 Amused, here is in the sense of beguiled, a common usage in 
 the eighteenth century. 
 
344 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 committed to Friday and the two men who came on 
 shore with the captain. 
 
 They conveyed them to the cave, as to a prison. 
 And it was indeed a dismal place, especially to men 
 in their condition. The others I ordered to my 
 bower, as I called it, of which I have given a full de- 
 scription ; and as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, 
 the place was secure enough, considering they were 
 upon their behavior. 
 
 To these in the morning I sent the captain, who 
 was to enter into a parley with them; in a word, to 
 try them, and tell me whether he thought they might 
 be trusted or no to go on board and surprise the ship. 
 He talked to them of the injury done him, of the 
 condition they were brought to ; and that though the 
 governor had given them quarter for their lives as to 
 the present action, yet that if they were sent to Eng- 
 land 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 engage- 
 ment for their pardon. 
 
 Any one may guess how readily suck a proposal 
 would be accepted by men in their ..condition. They 
 fell down on their knees to the captain, and promised, 
 with the deepest imprecations, that they would be 
 faithful to him to the last drop, and that they should 
 owe their lives to him, and would go with him all 
 over the world ; that they would own him for a father 
 to them as long as they lived. 
 
 “ Well,” says the captain, “ I must go and tell the 
 governor what you say, and see what I can do to 
 bring him to consent to it.” So he brought me an 
 account of the temper he found them in, and that 
 he verily believed they would be faithful. However 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 345 
 
 that we might be very secure, I told him he should go 
 back again and choose out five of them, and tell them 
 they might see that he did not want men, that he 
 would take ont those five to be his assistants, and that 
 the governor would keep the other two and the three 
 that were sent prisoners to the castle, my cave, as 
 hostages for the fidelity of those five ; and that if they 
 proved unfaithful in the execution, the five hostages 
 should be hanged in chains alive upon the shore. 
 
 This looked severe, and convinced them that the 
 governor was in earnest. However, they had no way 
 left them but to accept it ; and it was now the busi- 
 ness 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 expe- 
 dition. 1. The captain, his mate, and passenger. 
 2. Then the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom, 
 having their characters from the captain, 1 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 re- 
 leased. 4. These five released at last ; so that they 
 were twelve in all, besides five we kept prisoners in 
 the cave for hostages. 
 
 I asked the captain if he was willing to venture 
 with these hands on board the ship ; for as for me 
 and my man Friday, I did not think it was proper for 
 us to stir, having seven men left behind, and it was 
 employment enough for us to keep them asunder and 
 supply them with victuals. As to the five in the cave, 
 I resolved to keep them fast ; but Friday went in 
 twice a day to them, to supply them with necessaries, 
 and I made the other two carry provisions to a certain 
 distance, where Friday was to take it. 
 
346 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 When I showed myself to the two hostages, it was 
 witli 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 any- 
 where but by my direction ; that if they did, they 
 should be fetched into the castle, and be laid in irons ; 
 so that as we never suffered them to see me as govfernor, 
 so I now appeared as another person, and spoke of the 
 governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like, upon 
 all occasions. 
 
 The captain now had no difficulty before him but to 
 furnish his two boats, stop the breach of one, and man 
 them. He made his passenger captain of one, with 
 four other men ; and himself, and his mate, and five 
 more went in the other ; and they contrived their 
 business very well, for they came up to the ship about 
 midnight. As soon as they came within call of the 
 ship, he made Robinson hail them, and tell them they 
 had brought off the men and the boat, but that it was 
 a long time before they had found them, and the like, 
 holding them in a chat till they came to the ship’s 
 side ; when the captain and the mate entering first, 
 with their arms, immediately knocked down the second 
 mate and carpenter with the butt-end of their mus- 
 kets, 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 at the fore-chains, secured 
 the forecastle of the ship, and 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 
 captain ordered the mate, with three men, to break into 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 347 
 
 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 brok s 
 his arm, and wounded two more of the men, but kille. I 
 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 effectually, 
 without any more lives lost. 
 
 As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain 
 ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal 
 agreed upon with me to give me notice of his success, 
 which you may be sure I was very glad to hear, having 
 sat watching upon the shore for it till near two of 
 the clock in the morning. 
 
 Having thus heard the signal plainly, I hud me 
 down ; and it having been a day of great fatigue to 
 me, I slept very sound, till I was something surprised 
 with the noise of a gun ; and presently starting up, I 
 heard a man call me by the name of “ Governor,” 
 “ Governor,” and presently I knew the captain’s 
 voice ; when climbing up to the top of the hill, there 
 he stood, and pointing to the ship, he embraced me in 
 his arms. “ My dear friend and deliverer,” says he, 
 “ there ’s your ship, for she is all yours, and so are we, 
 and all that belong to her.” I cast my eyes to the 
 ship, and there she rode within little more than half a 
 mile of the shore ; for they had weighed her anchor 
 
348 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 as soon as they were masters of her, and, the weather 
 being fair, had brought her to an anchor just against 
 the mouth of the little 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 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 pulls a 
 bottle out of his pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial, 
 which he had brought on purpose 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 
 deliverei-, and we rejoiced together. I told him I 
 looked upon him as a man sent from heaven to deliver 
 me, and that the whole transaction seemed to be a 
 \ chain of wonders ; that such things as these were the 
 t testimonies we had of n. secret hand of Providence 
 governing the world, and an evidence that the eyes of 
 an infinite Power could search into the remotest corner 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 349 
 
 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 con- 
 dition, but from whom every deliverance must always 
 be acknowledged 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 go without me. 
 
 First, he had brought me a case of bottles full of 
 excellent cordial waters, six large bottles of Madeira 
 wine (the bottles held two quarts apiece), two pounds 
 of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the 
 ship’s beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, 
 and about a hundred-weight of biscuit. 
 
 He brought me also a box of sugar, a box of flour, 
 a bag full of lemons, and two bottles of lime juice, and 
 abundance of other things ; but besides these, and 
 what was a thousand times more usefid to me, he 
 brought me six clean new shirts, six very good neck- 
 cloths, 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 
 
350 . 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 may imagine, to one in my circumstances ; but never 
 was anything in the world of that kind so unpleasant, 
 awkward, and uneasy as it was to me to wear such 
 clothes at their first putting on. 
 
 After these ceremonies passed, and after all his 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 ns or no, especially 
 two of them, whom we knew to be incorrigible and 
 refractory to the last degree ; and the captain said he 
 knew they were such rogues that there was no obliging 
 them ; and if he did carry them away, it must be in 
 irons, as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at 
 the first English colony he could come at ; and I found 
 that the captain himself was very anxious about it. 
 
 Upon this I told him that, if he desired it, I durst 
 undertake to bring the two men he spoke of to make 
 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 for 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. 
 
 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 behavior to the cap- 
 tain, and how they had run away with the ship, and 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 351 
 
 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. 
 
 1 let them know that by my direction the ship had 
 been seized, that she lay now in the road, and they 
 might see, by and by, that their new captain had 
 received the reward of his 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 fact, 
 as by my commission they could not doubt I had au- 
 thority to do. 
 
 One of them answered in the name of the rest that 
 they had nothing to say but this, that when they were 
 taken the captain promised them their lives, and they 
 humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew 
 not what mercy to show them ; for as for myself, I had 
 resolved to quit the island with all my men, and had 
 taken passage with the captain to go for England. 
 And as for the captain, he could not carry them to 
 England other than as prisoners in irons, to be tried 
 for mutiny, and running away with the ship ; the con 
 sequence of which, they must needs know, would bt 
 the gallows ; so that I could not tell which was bes i 
 for them, unless they had a mind to take their fate in 
 the island. If they desired that, I did not care, a ; 
 
 I had liberty to leave it. I had some inclination to 
 give them their lives, if they thought they could shift 
 on shore. 
 
 They seemed very thankful for it, said they would 
 much rather venture to stay there than to be carried 
 to England to be hanged ; s o I left it on that issue. 
 
 However, the. captain ^emed) to make some diftv - 
 
352 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 culty of i ff ns if lie d mat not loavo them there ? Upon 
 fcliis 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 favor, I would be 
 as good as my word ; and that if he did not think fit 
 to consent to it, I would set them at liberty, as I found 
 them ; and if he did not like it, he might take there 
 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 pre- 
 pare my things, and desired him to go on board in the 
 meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send 
 the boat on shore the next day for me ; ordering him, 
 in the meantime, to cause the new captain, who was 
 killed, to be hanged at the yard-arm, that these men 
 might see him. 
 
 When the captain was gone, I sent for the men up 
 to me to my apartment, and entered seriously into dis- 
 course with them of their circumstances. I told them 
 I thought they had made a right choice ; that if the 
 captain carried them away, they would certainly be 
 hanged. I showed them the new captain hanging at 
 the yard-arm of the ship, and told them they had 
 nothing less to expect. 
 
 When they had all declared their willingness to 
 stay, I then told them I would let them into the story 
 of my living there, and put them into the way of mak- 
 ing it easy to them. Accordingly I gave them the 
 
THE FIGHT WITH MUTINEERS. 
 
 353 
 
 whole history of the 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 expected, for whom I left a letter, and 
 made them promise to treat them in common with 
 themselves. 
 
 j. I left them my firearms, viz., five muskets, 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 
 r both butter and cheese. 
 
 In a word, I gave them every part of my own 
 story, and I told them I would prevail with the cap- 
 tain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder more, 
 and some garden seeds, which I told them I would 
 have been very glad of. Also I gave them the bag 
 of peas which the captain had brought me to eat, aud 
 bade them be sure to sow and increase them. 
 
 Having done all this, I left them the next day, and 
 went on board the ship. We prepared immediately 
 to sail, but did not weigh that night. The next morn- 
 ing early two of the five men came swimming to the 
 ship’s side, and, making a most lamentable complaint 
 of the other three, begged to be taken into the ship 
 for God’s sake, for they should be murdered, and 
 begged the captain to take them on board, though he 
 hanged them immediately. 
 
 Upon this the captain pretended to have no power 
 without me; but after some difficulty, and after their 
 solemn promises of amendment, they were taken on 
 
354 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 board, and were some time after soundly whipped and 
 pickled , 1 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 intercession, caused 
 their chests and clothes to be added, which they took, 
 and were very thankful for. I also encouraged them 
 by telling them that if it lay in my way to send any 
 vessel to take them in, I would not forget them. 
 
 When I took leave of this island, I carried on 
 board, for relics, the great goat-skin cap I had made, 
 my umbrella, and 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 tar- 
 nished, 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. 
 
 1 We still have the saying “I have a rod in piekle for you.” 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 
 
 And thus I left the island, the 19th of December, 
 as I found by the ship’s account, in the year 1686, 
 after I had been upon it eight and twenty years, two 
 months, and nineteen days, being delivered from this 
 second captivity *.1tp ^ q y» f th A rnnntV. Hint. T tW 
 made my escape in the barco-lonqo , from among the 
 Moors of Sallee. 
 
 In this vessel, after a long voyage, I arrived in 
 England, the 11th of June, in the year 1687, having 
 been thirty and five years absent. 
 
 When I came to England, I was as perfect a stranger 
 to all the world as if I had never been known there. 
 My benefactor and faithful steward, whom I had left 
 in trust with my money, was alive, but had had great 
 misfortunes in the world, was become a widow the 
 second time, and very low in the world. I made her 
 easy as to what she owed me, assuring her I would give 
 her no trouble ; but on the contrary, in gratitude to 
 her former care and faithfulness to me, I relieved her 
 as my little stock would afford ; which, at that time, 
 would indeed allow me to do but little for her ; but I 
 assured her I would never forget her former kindness 
 to me, nor did I forget her when I had sufficient to 
 help her, as shall be observed in its place. 
 
 I went down afterwards into Yorkshire ; but my 
 father was dead, and my mother and all the family 
 
356 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 extinct, except that I found two sisters, and two of the 
 children of one of ray brothers ; and as I had been 
 long ago given over for dead, there had been no pro- 
 vision made for me ; so that, in a word, I found no- 
 thing to relieve or assist me ; and that little money I 
 had would not do much for me as to settling in the 
 world. 
 
 I met with one piece of gratitude, indeed, which I 
 did not expect ; and this was, that the master of the 
 ship whom I had so happily delivered, and by the 
 same means saved the ship and cargo, having given 
 a very handsome account to the owners of the man- 
 ner how I had saved the lives of the men, and the 
 ship, they invited me to meet them and some other 
 merchants concerned, and all together made me a very 
 handsome compliment upon the subject, and a present 
 of almost £200 sterling. 
 
 1 But after making several reflections upon the cir- 
 cumstances 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 had 
 reason to suppose had some years now given nib over 
 for dead. 
 
 With this view I took shipping for Lisbon, where 
 I arrived in April following ; my man Friday accom- 
 panying me very honestly in all these ramblings, and 
 proving a most faithful servant upon all occasions. 
 
 When I came to Lisbon, I found out, by inquiry, 
 and to my particular satisfaction, my old friend the 
 captain of the ship who first took me up at sea off of 
 the shore of Africa. He was now grown old, and had 
 Left off the sea, having put his son, who was far from 
 
R OBI NS ON CR US OE LEA VES HIS ISLAND. 85 7 
 
 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 ac- 
 quaintance, I inquired, yoiwnay 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, whom I had 
 joined with him to take cognizance of my part, were 
 both dead. That, however, he believed that I would 
 have a very good account of the improvement of the 
 plantation ; for that upon the general belief of my 
 being cast away and drowned, my trustees had given 
 in the account of the produce of my part of the plan- 
 tation to the procurator-fiscal, who had appropriated 
 it, in case I never came to claim it, one third to the 
 king, and two thirds to the monastery of St. Augus- 
 tine, 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 annual production, being distributed 
 to charitable uses, could not be restored. But he 
 assured me that the steward of the king’s revenue 
 from lands, and the provedidore , or steward of the 
 monastery, had taken great care all along that the in- 
 cumbent, that is to say, my partner, gave every year a 
 faithful account of the produce, of which they re- 
 ceived duly my moiety. 
 
 I asked him if he knew to what height of improve- 
 ment he had brought the plantation, and whether he 
 
358 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 thought it might be worth looking after ; or whether, 
 on my going thither, I should meet with no obstruc- 
 tion to my possessing my just right in the moiety. 
 
 He told me he could not tell exactly to what degree 
 the plantation was improved ; but this he knew, that 
 my partner was grown exceeding rich upon the enjoy- 
 ing but one half of it ; # and that, to the best of his 
 remembrance, he had heard that the king’s third of 
 my part, which was, it seems, granted away to some 
 other monastery or religious house, amounted to above 
 two hundred moidores a year. That as to my being 
 restored to a quiet possession of it, there was no 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 
 people, and very wealthy ; and he believed I would not 
 only have their assistance for putting me in possession, 
 but would find a very considerable sum of money in 
 their hands for my account, being the produce of the 
 farm while their fathers held the trust, and before it 
 was given up, as above ; which, as he remembered, 
 was 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 effects, 
 when he knew that I had made my will, and had made 
 him, the Portuguese captain, my universal heir, etc. 
 
 He told me, that was true ; but that as there was no 
 proof of my being dead, he could not act as executor 
 until some certain account should come of my death ; 
 and that besides, he was not willing to intermeddle 
 with a thing so remote ; that it was true he had regis- 
 tered my will, and put in his claim ; and could he 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEA VES HIS ISLAND. 359 
 
 have given any account of ray being dead or alive, he 
 would have acted by procuration, and taken possession 
 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 ac- 
 ceptable to you as the rest ; and that is, that believing 
 you were lost, and all the world believing so also, your 
 partner and trustees did offer to account to me, in 
 your name, for six or eight of the first years of 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 an- 
 cient friend, he brought me an account of the six 
 first years’ income of my plantation, signed by my 
 partner and the merchant-trustees, being always de- 
 livered in goods, viz., tobacco in roll, and sugar in 
 chests, besides rum, molasses, etc., which is the conse- 
 quence of a sugar-work ; and I found, by this account, 
 that every year the income considerably increased ; 
 but, as above, the disbursement being large, the sum 
 at first was small. However, the old man let me see 
 that he was debtor to me four hundred and seventy 
 moidores of gold, besides sixty chests of sugar, and 
 fifteen double rolls of tobacco, which were lost in 
 his ship, he having been shipwrecked coming home 
 to Lisbon, about eleven years after my leaving the 
 place. 
 
3G0 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 The good man then began to complain of his mis- 
 fortunes, and how he had been obliged to make use of 
 my money to recover his losses, and buy him a share 
 in a new ship. “ However, my old friend,” says he, 
 “ you shall not want a supply in your necessity ; and 
 as soon as my son returns, you shall be fully satis- 
 fied.” 
 
 Upon this he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me 
 one hundred and sixty 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 was too much moved with the honesty and kind- 
 ness of the poor man to be able to bear this ; and re- 
 membering 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 weep- 
 ing at what he said to me ; therefore first I asked 
 him if his circumstances admitted him to spare so 
 much money at that time, and if it would not straiten 
 him. He told me he could not say but it might 
 -straiten him a little ; but, however, it was my money, 
 and I might want it more than he. 
 
 Everything the good man said was full of affection, 
 and I could hardly refrain from tears while he spoke ; 
 in short, I took a hundred of the moidores, and called 
 for a pen and ink to give him a receipt for them. Then 
 I returned him the rest, and told him if ever I had pos- 
 session 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEA VES HIS ISLAND. 361 
 
 money, I found lie was honest enough to pay me ; and 
 if I did not, but came to receive what he gave me 
 reason to expect, I would never have a penny more 
 from him. 
 
 When this was 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 directed me to send it, with a 
 letter of his writing, to a merchant of his acquaintance 
 at the place, and then proposed my staying with' him 
 till an account came of the return. 
 
 Never anything was more honorable than the pro- 
 ceedings upon this procuration ; for in less than seven 
 months I received a large 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 1174 
 moidores in my favor. 
 
 Secondly, there was the account of four years more, 
 while they kept the effects in their hands, before the 
 
362 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 government claimed the administration, as being the 
 effects cf a person not to be found, which they called 
 civil death ; and the balance of this, the value of the 
 plantation increasing, amounted to 38,892 crusadoes, 
 which made 3241 moidores. 
 
 Thirdly, there was the prior of the Augustines’ 
 account, who had received the profits for above four- 
 teen years ; but not being to account for what was 
 disposed to the hospital, very honestly declared he had 
 872 moidores not distributed, which he acknowledged 
 to my account ; as to the king’s part, that refunded 
 nothing. 
 
 There was a letter of my partner’s congratulating me 
 very affectionately upon my being alive, giving me an 
 account how the estate was improved, and what it pro- 
 duced a year, with a particular of the number of squares 
 or acres that it contained ; how planted, how many 
 slaves there were upon it, and making two and twenty 
 crosses for blessings, told me he had said so many Ave 
 Marias to thank the Blessed Virgin that I was alive ; 
 inviting me very passionately to come over and take 
 possession of my own ; and in the meantime, to give 
 him orders to whom he should deliver my effects, 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 voyage than I. He sent me also five 
 chests of excellent sweetmeats, and a hundred pieces 
 »f gold uncoined, not quite so large as moidores. By 
 the same fleet, my two merchant-trustees shipped me 
 twelve hundred chests of sugar, eight hundred rolls of 
 tobacco, and the rest of the whole account in gold. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEA VES HIS ISLAND. 363 
 
 I might well say now, indeed, that the latter end of 
 Job was better than the beginning. It is impossible to 
 express 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 which brought my letters brought 
 my goods, and the effects were safe in the river before 
 the letters came to my hand. In a word, I turned 
 pale, and grew sick ; and had not the old man run and 
 fetched me a cordial, I believe the sudden surprise of 
 joy had overset Nature, and I had died upon the spot. 
 
 Nay, after that I continued very ill, and was so 
 some hours, till a physician being sent for, and some- 
 thing of the real cause of my illness being known, he 
 ordered me to be let blood, after which I had relief, 
 and grew well ; but I verily believe, if it had not been / 
 eased by a vent given in that manner to the spirits, I 
 should have died. i 
 
 I was now master, all on a sudden, of above five 
 thousand pounds sterling in money, and had an estate, 
 as I might well call it, in the Brazils of above a thou- 
 sand pounds a year, as sure as an estate of lands in 
 England ; and in a word, I was in a condition which 
 I scarce knew how to understand, or how to compose 
 myself for the enjoyment of it. 
 
 The first thing I did was to recompense my original 
 benefactor, my good old captain, who had been first 
 charitable to me in my distress, kkul to me in my be- 
 ginning, 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 hundredfold. So I 
 first returned to him the hundred moidores I had 
 
864 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 received of him ; then I sent for a notary, and caused 
 him to draw up a general release or discharge for the 
 four hundred and seventy moidores which he had ac- 
 knowledged he owed me in the fullest and firmest 
 manner possible ; after which I caused a procuration 
 to be drawn, empowering him to be my receiver of the 
 annual profits of my plantation, and appointing my 
 partner to account to him, and make the returns by 
 the usual fleets to him in my name ; and a clause in 
 the end, being a grant of one hundred moidores a 
 year to him, during his life, out of the effects, and 
 fifty moidores a year to his son after him, for his life ; 
 and thus I requited my old man. 
 
 I was now to consider which way to steer my course 
 next, and what to do with the estate that Providence 
 had thus put into my hands ; and, indeed, I had more 
 care upon my head now than I had in my silent state 
 of life in the island, where I wanted nothing but what 
 I had, and had nothing but what I wanted ; whereas I 
 had now a great charge upon me, and my business was 
 f how to secure it. I had ne’er a cave now to hide my 
 I money in, or a place where it might lie without lock or 
 / key till it grew mouldy and tarnished before anybody 
 I would meddle with it. On the contrary, I knew not 
 where to put it, or whom 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 effects in some safe hands behind me. At 
 first I thought of my old friend the widow, who I 
 knew was honest, and would be just to me ; but then 
 she was in years, and but poor, and for aught I knew 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEA VES HIS ISLAND. 365 
 
 might be in' debt ; so that, in a- word, I had no way 
 but to go back to England myself, and take my effects 
 with me. 
 
 It was some months, however, before I resolved 
 upon this ; and therefore, as I had rewarded the old 
 captain fully, and to his satisfaction, who had been my 
 former benefactor, so I began to think of my poor 
 widow, whose husband had been my first benefactor, 
 and she, while it was m her power, my faithful steward 
 and instructor. So the first thing I did, I got a 
 merchant in Lisbon to write to his correspondent in 
 London, not only to pay a bill, but to go find her 
 out, and carry her in money an hundred pounds from 
 me, and to talk with her, and comfort her in her 
 poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, have a 
 further supply. At the same time I sent my two sisters 
 in the country each of them an hundred pounds, they 
 being, though not in want, yet not in very good circum- 
 stances ; one having been married, and left a widow ; 
 and the other having a husband not so kind to her as 
 
 he should be. ^ 
 
 But among all my relations or acquaintances, I could Al 
 not yet pitch upon one to whom I durst commit th^ I 
 gross of my stock, that I might go away to the BrazilsA 
 and leave things safe behind me ; and this greatly per- 
 plexed me. ' 
 
 I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils aniK 
 have settled myself there, for I was, as it were, l 
 naturalized to the place. But I had some little scruple r 
 in my mind about rel ip-ion , which insensibly drew me 9 
 back, of which I shall say more presently. However,/ 
 it was not religion that kept me from going there for 
 the present ; and as I had made no scruple of being 
 openly of the religion of the country all the while I 
 
866 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 was among them, so neither did I yet, only that, 
 now and then, having of late thought more of it than 
 formerly, when I began to think of living and dying 
 among them, I began to regret my having professed 
 myself a Papist, and thought it might not be the best 
 religion to die 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 effects behind 
 me ; so I resolved, at last, to go to England with it, 
 where, if I arrived, I concluded I should make some 
 acquaintance, or find some relations, that would be 
 faithful to me ; and accordingly I prepared to go for 
 England with all my wealth. 
 
 In order to prepare things for my going home, I 
 first, the Brazil fleet being just going away, resolved 
 to give answers suitable to the just and faithful account 
 of things I had from thence. And first, to the prior 
 of St. Augustine I wrote a letter full of thanks for 
 their just dealings, and the offer 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 direct, desiring the good padre’s 
 prayers for me, and the like. 
 
 I wrote next a letter of thanks to my two trustees, 
 with all the acknowledgment that so much justice and 
 honesty called for. As for sending them any present, 
 they were far above having any occasion of it. 
 
 Lastly, I wrote to my partner, acknowledging his 
 industry in the improving the plantation, and his in- 
 tegrity 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEA VES HIS ISLAND. 367 
 
 to me till lie should hear from me more particularly ; 
 assuring him that it was my intention not only to come 
 to him, but to settle myself there for the remainder of 
 my life. To this I added a very handsome present of 
 some Italian silks for his wife and two daughters, for 
 such the captain’s son informed me he had, with two 
 pieces of fine English broadcloth, the best I could get 
 in Lisbon, five pieces of black baize, and some Flanders 
 lace of a good value. 
 
 Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and 
 turned all my effects into good bills of exchange, my 
 next difficulty was which way to go to England. I 
 had been accustomed enough to the sea, and yet I had 
 a strange aversion to going to England by sea at 
 that time ; and though I could give no reason for it, 
 yet the difficulty increased upon me so much that 
 though I had once shipped my baggage in order to 
 go, yet I altered my mind, and that not once, but two 
 or three times. 
 
 It is true I had been very unfortunate by sea, and' 
 this might be some of the reason ; but let no man 
 slight the strong impulses of his own thoughts in cases 
 of such moment. Two of the ships which I had singled 
 out to go in, I mean more particularly singled out than 
 any other, that is to say, so as in one of them to put 
 my things on board, and in the other to have agreed 
 with the captain ; I say, two of these ships miscarried, 
 viz., one was taken by the Algerines, and the other 
 was cast away on the Start, near Torbay, and all tha j 
 people drowned except three ; so that in either of those J 
 vessels I had been made miserable ; and in whjylf^ 
 most, it was hard to say. 
 
 Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old 
 pilot, to whom I communicated everything, pressed me 
 
368 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 k up to Madrid, and so all the way by land 
 through France. 
 
 In a word, I was so prepossessed against my going 
 by sea at all, except from Calais to Dover, that I 
 resolved to travel all the way by land ; which, as I 
 was not in haste, and did not value the charge, was by 
 much the pleasanter way. And to make it more so, 
 my old captain brought an English gentleman, the son 
 of a merchant in Lisbon, who was willing to travel 
 with me ; after which we picked up two 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 servants ; the two merchants and 
 the two Portuguese contenting themselves with one 
 servant between two, to save the charge ; and as for 
 me, I got an English sailor to travel with me as a 
 servant, besides my man Friday, who was too much a 
 stranger to be capable of supplying the place of a ser- 
 vant on the road. 
 
 In this manner I set out from Lisbon ; and our com- 
 pany being all very well mounted and armed, we made 
 a little troop, whereof they did me the honor to call me 
 captain, as well because I was the oldest man, as be- 
 cause I had two servants, and indeed was the original 
 of the whole journey. 
 
 As I have troubled you with none of my sea jour- 
 nals, 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 3G9 
 
 strangers to Spain, were willing to stay some time to 
 see the court of Spain, and to see what was worth 
 observing ; but it being the latter part of the summer 
 we hastened away, and set out from Madrid about the 
 middle of October ; but when we came to the edge of 
 Navarre, we were alarmed at several towns on the way 
 with an account that so much snow was fallen on the 
 French side of the mountains, that several travellers 
 were obliged to come back to Pampeluna, after having 
 attempted, at an extreme hazard, to pass on. 
 
 When we came to Pampeluna itself, we found it so 
 indeed ; and to me, that had been always used to a hot 
 climate, and indeed to countries where we could scarce 
 bear any clothes on, the cold was insufferable ; nor 
 indeed was it more painful than it was surprising to 
 come but ten days before out of the Old Castile, where 
 the weather was not only warm, but very hot, and 
 immediately to feel a wind from the Pyrenean moun- 
 tains so very keen, so severely cold, as to be intolerable, 
 and to endanger benumbing and perishing of our fin- 
 gers and toes. Poor Friday was really frighted when 
 he saw the mountains all covered with snow, and felt 
 cold weather, which he had never seen or felt before 
 in his life. 
 
 To mend the matter, 1 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 before, 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 danger of being 
 
 1 we should expect some such phrase as “ to make matters 
 worse; ” mend here is “ to add to.” 
 
870 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 buried alive every step. We stayed no less than 
 twenty clays at Pampeluna; when seeing the winter 
 coining on, and no likelihood 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 gentlemen, who having been stopped on 
 the French side of the passes, as we wei’e on the 
 Spanish, had found out a guide, who, traversing the 
 country near the head of Languedoc, had brought 
 them over the mountains by such ways that they were 
 not much incommoded with the snow ; and where they 
 met with snow in any quantity, they said it was 
 frozen hard enough to bear them and their horses. 
 
 We sent for this guide, who told us he would 
 undertake to carry us the same way with no hazard 
 from the snow, provided we were armed sufficiently to 
 protect us from wild beasts ; for he said, upon these 
 great snows it was frequent for some wolves to show 
 themselves at the foot of the mountains, being made 
 ravenous for want of food, the ground being covered 
 with snow. We told him we were well enough pre- 
 pared for such creatures as they were, if he would 
 ensure us from a kind of two-legged wolves, which, 
 we were told, we were in most danger from, especially 
 on the French side of the mountains. 
 
 [ He satisfied us there was no danger of that kind in 
 the way that we were to go ; so we readily agreed to 
 follow him, as did also twelve other gentlemen, with 
 their servants, some French, some Spanish, who, as I 
 said, had attempted to go, and were obliged to come 
 back again. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVE i HIS ISLAND. 371 
 
 Accordingly we all set out from Pampeluna, with 
 our guide, on the 15th of November ; and, indeed, I 
 was surprised when, instead of going forward, he came 
 directly back with us on the same road that we came 
 from Madrid, above twenty miles ; when being passed 
 two rivers, and come into the plain country, we found 
 ourselves in a warm climate again, where the country 
 was pleasant, and no snow to be seen ; but on a 
 sudden, turning to his left, he approached the moun- 
 tains another way ; and though it is true the hills and 
 precipices looked dreadful, yet he made so many tours, 
 such meanders, and led us by such winding ways, that 
 we were insensibly passed the height of the mountains 
 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 night so fast that we 
 could not travel ; but he bid us be easy, we should 
 soon be past it all. We found, indeed, that we be- 
 gan to descend every day, and to come more north 
 than before ; and so, depending upon our guide, we 
 went on. 
 
 It was about two hours before night when, our 
 guide being something before us, and not just in sight, 
 out rushed three monstrous wolves, and after them a 
 bear, out of a hollow way adjoining to a thick wood. 
 Two of the wolves flew upon the guide, and had he 
 been half a mile before us he had been devoured 
 indeed before we could have helped him. One of 
 them fastened upon his horse, and the other attacked 
 the man with that violence that he had not time, 
 
872 ROBINSON CRUSlN. 
 
 or not presence of mind enough, to draw his pistol, 
 hut hallooed and cried out to us most lustily. My 
 man Friday being next to me, I bid him ride up, 
 and see what was the matter. As soon as Friday 
 came in sight of the man, he hallooed as loud as 
 t’ other, “ O master ! O master ! ” but, like a bold fel- 
 low, rode directly up to the poor man, and with his 
 pistol shot the wolf that attacked him into 1 the head. 
 
 It was happy for the poor man that it was my man 
 Friday, for he, having been used to that kind of 
 creature in his country, had no fear upon him, but 
 went close up to him and shot him, as above ; whereas 
 any of us would have fired at a farther distance, and 
 have perhaps either missed the wolf, or endangered 
 shooting the man. 
 
 But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man 
 than I ; and, indeed, it alarmed all our company, 
 when, with the noise of Friday’s pistol, we heard on 
 both sides the dismallest 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 was not such a few 
 as that we had no cause of apprehensions. 
 
 However, as Friday had killed this wolf, the other 
 that had fastened upon the horse left him immediately 
 and fled, having happily fastened upon his head, where 
 the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his teeth, so that 
 he had not done him much hurt. The man indeed 
 was most hurt ; for the raging creature had bit him 
 twice, once on the arm, and the other time a little 
 above his knees ; and he was just as it were tumbling 
 down by the disorder of his horse, when Friday came 
 up and shot the wolf. 
 
 1 A more specific and more rational usage which has gone by. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 373 
 
 It is easy to suppose that at the noise of Friday’s 
 pistol we all mended our pace, and rid up as fast as 
 the way, which was very difficult, would give us leave, 
 to see what was the matter. As soon as we came 
 clear of the trees, which blinded us before, we saw 
 clearly what had been the case, and how Friday had 
 disengaged the poor guide, though we did not presently 
 discern what kind of creature it was he had killed. 
 
 But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in 
 such a surprising manner, as that which followed 
 between Friday and the bear, which gave us all, 
 though at first we were surprised and afraid for him, 
 the greatest diversion imaginable. As the bear is a 
 heavy^ clumsy creature and does not gallop as the 
 wolf does, who is swift and light, so he has two par- 
 ticular qualities, which generally are the rule of his 
 actions : first, as to men, who are not his proper prey ; 
 I say, not his proper prey, because, though I 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 l’oad, 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 
 look 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 a 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 
 
374 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 have satisfaction in point of honor. That is his first 
 quality ; the next is, that if he be once affronted, he 
 will never leave you, night or day, till he has his re- 
 venge, but follows, at a good round rate, till he over- 
 takes 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 fl ighted, and 
 indeed the last more than the first ; when, on the sud- 
 den, 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 surprised when we saw 
 him ; but when Friday saw him, it was easy to see joy 
 and courage in the fellow’s countenance. “ 0 ! O ! 
 O ! ” says Friday, three times pointing to him. “ Oh, 
 master ! you give me te leave ; me shakee te hand 
 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 put on a 
 pair of pumps, as we call the flat shoes they wear, 
 and which he had in his pocket, gives my other ser- 
 vant his horse, and with his gun away he flew, swift 
 like the wind. 
 
 The bear was walking softly on, and offered to 
 meddle with nobody till Friday, coming pretty near, 
 calls to him, as if the bear could understand him. 
 “Hark ye, hark ye,” says Friday, “me speakee wit 
 you.” We followed at a distance ; for now being 
 come down on the Gascoign side of the mountains, 
 we were entered a vast great forest, where the country 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 375 
 
 was plain and pretty open, though many trees in it 
 scattered here and there. 
 
 Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, 
 came up with him quickly, and takes up a great stone 
 and throws at him, and hit him just on the head, but 
 did him no more harm than if he had thrown it 
 against a wall. But it answered Friday’s end, for the 
 rogue was so void of fear that he did it purely to 
 make the bear follow him, and show us some laugh, 
 as he called it. 
 
 As soon as the bear felt the stone, and saw him, lie 
 turns about, and comes after him, taking devilish 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 run towards 
 us for help ; so we all resolved to fire at once upon 
 the bear, and deliver my man ; though I was angry 
 at him heartily for bringing the bear back upon us, 
 when he was going about his own business another 
 way ; and especially I was angry that he had turned 
 the bear upon us, and then run away ; and I called 
 out, “ You dog,” said I, “ is this your making us 
 laugh ? Come away, and take your horse, that we may 
 shoot the creature.” He hears me, and cries out, “ No 
 shoot, no shoot ; stand still, you get much laugh.” 
 And as the nimble creature run two feet for the 
 beast’s one, he turned on a sudden, on one side of us, 
 and seeing a great oak-tree fit for his purpose, he 
 beckoned 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 
 
376 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 gun, smelt to it, but let it lie, and up lie scrambles 
 into the tree, climbing like a cat, though so mon- 
 strously heavy. I was amazed at the folly, as I 
 thought it, of my man, and could not for my life see 
 anything to laugh at yet, till seeing the bear get up 
 the tree, we all rode nearer to him. 
 
 When we came to the tree, there was Friday got 
 out to the small 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, at which the bear began to totter, 
 but stood still, and began to look behind him, to see 
 how he should get back. Then, indeed, we did laugh 
 heartily. But Friday had not done with him by a 
 great deal. When he sees him stand still, he calls 
 out to him again, as if he had supposed the bear 
 could speak English, “ What, you no come farther? 
 pray you come farther;” so he left jumping and shak- 
 ing the tree ; and the bear, just as if he had under- 
 stood what he said, did come a little farther ; then he 
 fell a-jumping again, and the bear stopped again. 
 
 We thought now was a good time to knock him on 
 the head, and 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 ; ” he 
 would have said by and by. However, to shorter} the 
 story, Friday danced so much, and the bear stood so 
 ticklish, that we had laughing enough indeed, but still 
 could not imagine what the fellow would do ; for first 
 we thought he depended upon shaking the bear off ; 
 and we found the bear was too cunning for that too ; 
 for ne would not go out far enough to be thrown 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 37 1 
 
 down, but clings fast with his great broad claws and 
 feet, so that we could not imagine what would be the 
 end of it, and where the jest would be at last. 
 
 But Friday put us out of doubt quickly ; for seeing 
 the bear cling fast to the bough, and that he would not 
 be persuaded to come any farther, “ Well, well,” says 
 Friday, “you no come farther, me go, me go; 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 ran to 
 his gun, takes it up, and stands still. 
 
 “ Well,” said I to him, “Friday, what will you do 
 now? Why don’t you shoot him?” “No shoot,” 
 says Friday, “ no yet ; me shoot now, me no kill ; me 
 stay, give you one more laugh.” And, indeed, so he 
 did, as you will see presently ; for when the bear sees 
 his enemy gone, he comes back from the bough where 
 he stood, but did it mighty leisurely, looking behind 
 him every step, and coming backward till he got into 
 the body of the tree ; then with the same hinder end 
 foremost he comes down the tree, grasping it with his 
 claws, and moving one foot at a time, very leisurely. 
 At this juncture, and just before he could set his hind 
 feet upon the ground, Friday stepped up close to him, 
 clapped the muzzde 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 when he saw we were pleased by our 
 looks, he falls a-laughing himself very loud. “ So we 
 kill bear in my country,” says Friday. “ So you kill 
 them? ’ saj’s I; “ why, you have no guns.” “No,” 
 says he. *' no gun, but shoot great much long arrow.” 
 
378 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 This was indeed a good diversion to us ; but we 
 were still in a wild place, and our guide very much 
 hurt, and what to do we hardly knew. The howling of 
 wolves ran much in my head ; and indeed, except the 
 noise 1 once heard on the shore of Africa, of which I 
 have said something already, I never heard anything 
 *hat filled me with so much horror. 
 
 These things, and the approach of night, called us 
 off, or else, as Friday would have had us, we should 
 certainly have taken the skin of this monstrous creature 
 off, which was worth saving ; hut we had three leagues 
 to go, and our guide hastened us ; so we left him, and 
 went forward on our journey. 
 
 The ground was still covered with snow, though not 
 so deep and dangerous as on the mountains ; and the 
 ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards, were come 
 down into the forest and plain country, pi’essed by 
 hunger to seek for £ood, and had done a great deal 
 of mischief in the villages, where they surprised the 
 country people, killed a great many of their sheep and 
 horses, and some people too. 
 
 We had one dangerous place to pass, which our 
 guide told us if there were any more wolves in the 
 country we should find them there ; and this was in a 
 small plain, surrounded with woods on every side, and 
 a long narrow defile, or lane, which we wei’e 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 379 
 
 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 onr 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-eoming. 
 
 We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us ; 
 but we saw no more wolves till we came through that 
 wood, which was near half a league, and entered the 
 plain. As soon as we came into the plain, we had 
 occasion enough to look about us. The first object we 
 met with was a dead horse, that is to say, a poor horse 
 which the wolves had killed, and at least a dozen of 
 them at work ; we could not say eating of him, but 
 picking of his bones rather, for they had eaten up all 
 the flesh before. 
 
 We did not think fit to disturb them at their feast, 
 neither did they take much notice of us. Friday 
 would have let fly at them, but I would not suffer him 
 by any means, for I found we were like to have more 
 business upon our hands than we were aware of. We 
 were not gone half over the plain, but we began to 
 hear the wolves howl in the wood on our left in a 
 frightful manner, and presently after we saw about a 
 hundred coming on directly towards us, all in a body, 
 and most of them in a line, as regularly as an army 
 drawn up by experienced officers. I scarce knew in 
 what manner to receive them, but found to draw our- 
 selves in a close line was the only way ; so we formed 
 in a moment; but that we might not have too much 
 interval, I ordered that only every other man should 
 fire, and that the others who had not fired should 
 stand ready to give them a second volley immediately, 
 if they continued to advance upon us ; and that then 
 
380 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 necessity ; for upon firing the first 
 volley the enemy made a full stop, being terrified as 
 well with the noise as with the fire. Four of them, 
 being shot into the head, dropped ; several others were 
 wounded, and went bleeding off, as we could see by 
 the snow. I found they stopped, but did not imme- 
 diately retreat; whereupon, remembering that I had 
 been told that the fiercest creatures were terrified at 
 the voice of a man, I caused all our company to halloo 
 as loud as we could ; and I found the notion not alto- 
 gether 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 fio time, we kept going. But we 
 had but little more than loaded our fusees, and put 
 ourselves into a readiness, when we heard a terrible 
 noise in the same wood, on our left, only that it was 
 farther onward, the same way we were to go. 
 
 The night was coming on, and the 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. How- 
 ever, as they did not fall upon us, we kept our way 
 forward as fast as we could make our horses go, which, 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 381 
 
 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, 
 coining nearer the lane, or pass, we saw a confused 
 number of wolves standing just at the entrance. 
 
 On a sudden, at another opening of the wood, we 
 heard the noise of a gun, and, looking that way, out 
 rushed a horse, with a saddle and a bridle on him, flying 
 like the wind, and sixteen or seventeen wolves after 
 him, full speed ; indeed, the horse had the heels of 
 them ; but as we supposed that he could not hold it at 
 that rate, we doubted not but they would get up with 
 him at last, and no question but they did. j 
 
 But here we had a most horrible sight ; for ridin<V 
 up to the entrance where the horse came out, we found 
 the carcass of another horse and of two men devoured 
 by the ravenous creatures ; and one of the men was no 
 doubt the same whom we heard fire the gun, for there 
 lay a gun just by him fired off ; but as to the man, his j 
 head and the upper part of his body was eaten up. 'j 
 This filled us with horror, and we knew not what 
 course to take ; but the creatures resolved us soon, for 
 they gathered about us presently in hopes of prey, and 
 I verily believe there were three hundred of them. It 
 happened very much to our advantage That, at the 
 entrance into the wood, but a little way from it, there 
 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 pla- 
 cing 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 a triangle, or three fronts, 
 enclosing our horses in the centre. 
 
382 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 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 fire as before, every other man ; and they took 
 their aim so sure that indeed they killed several of the 
 wolves at the first volley ; but there was a necessity to 
 keep a continual firing, for they came on like devils, 
 those behind pushing on those before. 
 
 When we had fired our second volley of our fusees, 
 we thought they stopped a little, and I hoped they 
 would have gone off ; but it was but a moment, for 
 others came forward again ; so we fired two volleys 
 of our pistols ; and I believe in these four firings we 
 had killed seventeen or eighteen of them, and lamed 
 twice as many, yet they came on again. 
 
 I was loath to spend our last shot too hastily ; so I 
 called my servant, not my man Friday, for he was 
 better employed, for with the greatest dexterity imag- 
 inable 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 
 a large train. He did so, and had but just time to 
 ^t 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 383 
 
 in an instant, and the rest were so frighted with the 
 light, which the night, for it was now very near dark, 
 made more terrible, that they drew back a little ; 
 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, whom we found struggling 
 on the ground, and fell a-cutting them with our swords, 
 which answered our expectation ; for the crying and 
 howling they made was better understood by their 
 fellows, so that they all fled and left us. 
 
 We had, first and last, killed about threescore of 
 them, and had it been daylight we had killed many 
 more. The field of battle being thus cleared, we 
 made forward again, for we had still near a league to 
 go. We heard the ravenous creatures howl and yell 
 in the woods as we went several times, and sometimes 
 we fancied we saw some of them, but the snow daz- 
 zling 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 cattle, and, indeed, their peo- 
 ple. 
 
 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 Toulouse, 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 Toulouse, they told us it 
 
384 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 was nothing hut what was ordinary in the great forest 
 at the foot of ^he mountains, especially when the snow 
 lay on the ground ; hut they inquired much what kind 
 of a guide we had gotten that would ventui’e to bring 
 us that way in such a severe season, and told us it was 
 very much we were not all devoured. When we told 
 them how we placed ourselves, and the horses in the 
 middle, they blamed us exceedingly, and told us it 
 was fifty to one but we had been all destroyed ; for it 
 was the sight of the horses which made the wolves so 
 furious, seeing their prey; and that, at other times, 
 they are really afraid of a gun ; but the being exces- 
 sive hungry, and raging on that account, the eagerness 
 to come at the horses had made them senseless of dan- 
 ger ; 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 other- 
 wise ; and withal they told us that, at last, if we had 
 stood all together, and left our horses, they would 
 have been so eager to have devoured them that we 
 might have come off safe, especially having our fire- 
 arms in our hands, and being so many in number. 
 
 For my part, I was never so sensible of danger in 
 my life ; for seeing above three hundred devils come 
 roaring and open-mouthed to devour us, and having 
 nothing to shelter us or retreat to, I gave myself over 
 for lost ; and as it was, I believe I shall never care to 
 cross those mountains again. I think I would much 
 rather go a thousand leagues by sea, though I were 
 sure to meet with a storm once a week. 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 385 
 
 I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in my 
 passage through France ; nothing hut what ether trav- 
 ellers have given an account of with much more ad- 
 vantage than I can. I travelled from Toulouse to 
 Paris, and without any considerable stay came to 
 Calais, and landed safe at Dover, the 14th of January, 
 after having had a severe cold season to travel in. 
 
 I was now come to the centre of my travels, and 
 had in a little time all my new-discovered estate safe 
 about me, the hills of exchange which I brought with 
 me having been very currently 1 paid. 
 
 My principal guide and privy councillor was my 
 good ancient widow ; who, in gratitude for the money 
 I haj 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 perfectly easy as to the 
 security of my effects ; anil indeed I was very happy 
 from my beginning, and now to the end, in the un- 
 spotted 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 
 kneAV 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; un 
 less on the other hand I resolved to be a sacrifice to 
 my principles, be a martyr for religion, and die in the 
 Inquisition. So I resolved to stay at home, and if I 
 could find means for it, to dispose of my plantation. 
 
 To this purpose I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, 
 
 1 That is, paid in good currency. 
 
386 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 who in return gave me notice that he could easily dis- 
 pose of it there ; but that if I thought fit to give him 
 leave to offer it in my name to the two merchants, the 
 survivors of my trustees, who lived in the Brazils, who 
 must fully understand the value of it, who lived just 
 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 
 33,000 pieces of eight to a correspondent of theirs at 
 Lisbon to pay for it. 
 
 In return, I signed the instrument of sale in the 
 form which they sent from Lisbon, and sent it to my 
 old man, who sent me bills of exchange for 32,800 
 pieces of eight to me, for the estate ; reserving the 
 payment of a hundred moidores a year to him, the old 
 man, during his life, and fifty moidores 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 compli- 
 cated good fortune I was past running any more haz- 
 ards ; and so indeed I had been, if other circumstances 
 had concurred. But I was inured to a w anderin g 
 life, had no family, not many relations, nor, however 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 387 
 
 rich, had I contracted 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 he upon the wing again ; especially I could 
 not resist the strong inclination I had to see my island, 
 and to know if the poor Spaniards were in being there, 
 and how the rogues I left there had used them. 
 
 My true friend, the widow, earnestly dissuaded me 
 from it, and so far prevailed with me, that for almost 
 seven years she prevented my running abroad, during 
 which time I took my two nephews, the children of 
 one of my brothers, into my care. The eldest, having 
 something of his own, I bred up as a gentleman, and 
 gave him a settlement of some addition to his estate 
 after my decease. The other I put out to a captain of 
 a ship, and after five years, finding him a sensible, 
 bold, enterprising young fellow, I put him into a good 
 ship, and sent him to sea ; and this young fellow after- 
 wards drew me in, as old as I was, to farther adven- 
 tures myself. 
 
 In the meantime, I in part settled myself here ; for, 
 first of all, I married, and that not either to my disad- 
 vantage 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 impor- 
 tunity, prevailed, and engaged me to go in his ship as 
 a private trader to the East Indies. This was in the 
 year 1694. 
 
 In this voyage I visited my new colony in the island, 
 saw my successors the Spaniards, had the whole story 
 of their lives, and of the villains I left there ; how at 
 first they insulted the poor Spaniards, how they after- 
 wards agreed, disagreed, united, separated, and how 
 
388 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. 
 
 'j at last the Spaniards were obliged to use violence with 
 / them ; how they were subjected to the Spaniards ; how 
 j 1 honestly the Spaniards used them ; a history, if it were 
 entered into, as full of variety and wonderful acci- 
 dents as my own part ; particularly also as to their 
 battles with the Caribbeans, who landed several times 
 upon the island, and as to the improvement they made 
 upon the island itself ; and how five of them made an 
 attempt upon the mainland, and brought away eleven 
 men and five women prisoners, by which, at my com- 
 ing, 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, pow- 
 der, 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, reserved to myself the property of the whole, 
 but gave them such parts respectively as they agreed 
 on ; and having settled all things with them, and en- 
 gaged 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 ; and in it, besides other supplies, I sent 
 seven women, being such as I found proper for service, 
 or for wives to such as would take them. As to the 
 Englishmen, I promised them to send them some 
 women from England, with a good cargo of necessa- 
 
 I ries if they would apply themselves to planting ; which 
 I afterwards performed ; 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 
 
ROBINSON CRUSOE LEAVES HIS ISLAND. 389 
 
 with calf, some sheep, and some hogs, which, when I 
 came again, were considerably increased. 
 
 But all these things, with an account how three 
 hundred Caribbees came and invaded them, and ruined 
 their plantations, and how they fought with that whole 
 number twice, and were at first defeated and three of 
 them killed ; but at last a storm destroying their ene- 
 mies’ canoes, they famished or destroyed almost all 
 the rest, and renewed and recovered the possession of 
 their plantation, and still lived upon the island; — all 
 these things, with some very surprising incidents in 
 some new adventures of my own, for ten years more, 
 I may perhaps give a farther account of hereafter. 
 
ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 £* Short History of England’s Literature. By Eva 
 
 March Tappan. $ .96 
 
 A Student’s History of English Literature. By Wil- 
 liam Edward Simonds. 1.25 
 
 Lives of Great English Writers. From Chaucer to 
 Browning. By W. S. Hinchman and Francis B. Gum- 
 mere. 1.50 
 
 Masterpieces of British Literature. Edited by Horace 
 E. Scudder. i. 00 
 
 Readings in English Prose of the 18th Century. 
 
 Edited by Raymond Macdonald Alden. 3.00 
 
 A Victorian Anthology. Edited by Edmund Clarence 
 
 STEDMAN. Student's Edition. 2.25 
 
 AMERICAN LITERATURE 
 
 A Short History of England’s and America’s Literature. 
 
 By Eva March Tappan. 1.28 
 
 A Short History of A merica’s Literature. With Selec- 
 tions from Colonial and Revolutionary writers. By Eva 
 March Tappan. .92 
 
 A History of American Literature. By William E. Si- 
 monds. 1. 10 
 
 Masterpieces of American Literature. Edited by Horace 
 
 E. Scudder. 1.00 
 
 Readings in English Prose of the 19th Century. Edited 
 by Raymond Macdonald Alden. Part /, #1.65, Part II, 
 
 $1.65. Complete 2. go 
 
 The Chief American Prose Writers. Edited by Norman 
 Foerster. 2.00 
 
 An American Anthology. Edited by Edmund Clarence 
 > Stedman. Student's Edition. 2.50 
 
 The Chief American Poets. Edited by Curtis Hidden 
 Page 2.00 
 
 The Little Book of Modern Verse. Edited by Jessie 
 B. Rittenhouse. R.L.S. No. 254. Library binding. .55 
 
 The Little Book of American Poets. Edited by Jessie 
 B. Rittenhouse. R.L.S. No. 255. Library binding. .65 
 
 Prices are net , postpaid 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
 181& 
 
LITERATURE SELECTIONS 
 
 Modern Prose and Poetry for Secondary Schools. 
 
 Edited by Margaret Ashmun. $ .88 
 
 Prose Literature for Secondary Schools. With some 
 suggestions for correlation with composition. Edited 
 
 by Margaret Ashmun. With an Introduction by Wil- 
 lard G. Bleyer. .84 
 
 The High School Prize Speaker. Edited by William L. 
 
 Snow. t.oo 
 
 American and English Classics for Grammar Grades. .60 
 
 Selections from the Riverside Literature Series for 
 Fifth Grade Reading. .52 
 
 Selections from the Riverside Literature Series for 
 
 Sixth Grade Reading. .52 
 
 Selections from the Riverside Literature Series for 
 
 Seventh Grade Reading. .52 
 
 Selections from the Riverside Literature Series for 
 Eighth Grade Reading. .52 
 
 American Classics. (Poems and Prose.) .80 
 
 American Poems. Edited by Horace E. Scudder. 1.00 
 
 American Prose. Edited by Horace E. Scudder. 1. 00 
 
 Literary Masterpieces. .90 
 
 Masterpieces of American Literature. Edited by Hor- 
 ace E. Scudder. 1.00 
 
 Masterpieces of British Literature. Edited by Horace 
 
 E. Scudder. LOO 
 
 Masterpieces of Greek Literature. (Translations.) 
 
 Supervising editor, John Henry Wright. I>5° 
 
 Masterpieces of Latin Literature. (Translations.) 
 
 Edited by G. J. Lalng. 1*5° 
 
 Prices are net , postpaid. 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO, 
 
 14*3 
 

 823 
 
 823.5! 
 
 D32to 
 
 Defoe, Daniel 
 
 tur^s of f p h? d Strange Adven- 
 
 s of Robinson Crusoe 
 
 ' ! f f r 
 
 .51 1)314^^. p 59051 
 
 l