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17 - Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen visit of Mutineers. In a little time, however,
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Speaker 1: no more canoes appearing. The fear of their coming wore off,
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Speaker 1: and I began to take my former thoughts of a
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Speaker 1: voyage to the main into consideration, being likewise assured by
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Speaker 1: Friday's father that I might depend upon good usage from
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Speaker 1: their nation on his account if I would go. But
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Speaker 1: my thoughts were little suspended when I had a serious
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Speaker 1: discourse with the Spaniard, and when I understood that there
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Speaker 1: were sixteen more of his countrymen and Portuguese, who, having
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Speaker 1: been cast away and made their escape to that side,
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Speaker 1: lived there at peace indeed with the savages, but were
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Speaker 1: very sore put to it for necessaries, indeed for life.
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Speaker 1: I asked him all the particulars of their voyage, and
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Speaker 1: found that they were a Spanish ship, bound from the
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Speaker 1: Rio de la Plata to the Havana, and being directed
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Speaker 1: to leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides and silver,
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Speaker 1: and to bring back what European goods they could meet
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Speaker 1: with there. That they had five Portuguese seamen on board,
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Speaker 1: whom they took out of another wreck, that five of
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Speaker 1: their own men were drowned when first the ship was lost,
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Speaker 1: and that these escaped through infinite dangers and hazards, and
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Speaker 1: arrived almost starved on the Cannibal coast, where they expected
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Speaker 1: to have been devoured every moment. He told me they
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Speaker 1: had some arms with them, but they were perfectly useless,
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Speaker 1: for that they had neither powder nor ball, the washing
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Speaker 1: of the sea having spoiled all their powder, but a little,
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Speaker 1: which they used at their first landing to provide themselves
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Speaker 1: with some food. I asked him what he thought would
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Speaker 1: become of them there, and if they had formed any
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Speaker 1: design of making their escape. He said they had many
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Speaker 1: consultations about it, but that, having neither vessel, nor tools
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Speaker 1: to build one, nor provisions of any kind, their counsels
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Speaker 1: always ended in tears and despair. I asked him how
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Speaker 1: he thought they would receive a proposal from me which
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Speaker 1: might tend towards an escape, and whether, if they were
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Speaker 1: all here it might not be done. I told him,
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Speaker 1: with freedom, I feared mostly their treachery and ill usage
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Speaker 1: of me if I put my life in their hands.
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Speaker 1: Gratitude was no inherent virtue in the nature of man,
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Speaker 1: Nor did men always square their dealings by the obligations
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Speaker 1: they had received. So much as they did by the
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Speaker 1: advantages they expected. I told him it would be very
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Speaker 1: hard that I should be made the instrument of their deliverance,
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Speaker 1: and that they should afterwards make me their prisoner in
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Speaker 1: New Spain, and where an Englishman was certain to be
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Speaker 1: made a sacrifice, what necessity or what accident soever brought
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Speaker 1: him thither, And that I had rather be delivered up
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Speaker 1: to the savages and be devoured alive, than fall into
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Speaker 1: the merciless clause of the priests and be carried into
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Speaker 1: the inquisition. I added that otherwise, I was persuaded, if
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Speaker 1: they were all here, we might, with so many hands
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Speaker 1: build a barque large enough to carry us all away,
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Speaker 1: either to the Brazils southward, or to the islands or
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Speaker 1: Spanish coast northward. But that if in requital they should,
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Speaker 1: when I had put weapons into their hands, carry me
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Speaker 1: by force among their own people, I might be ill
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Speaker 1: used for my kindness to them, and make my case
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Speaker 1: worse than it was before. He answered, with a great
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Speaker 1: deal of candor and ingenuousness, that their condition was so miserable,
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Speaker 1: and that they were so sensible of it, that he
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Speaker 1: believed they would abhor the thought of using any man
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Speaker 1: unkindly that should contribute to their deliverance, and that if
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Speaker 1: I pleased, he would go to them with the old
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Speaker 1: man and discourse with them about it, and return again
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Speaker 1: and bring me their answer. That he would make conditions
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Speaker 1: with them upon their solemn oath, that they should be
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Speaker 1: absolutely under my direction as their commander and captain, and
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Speaker 1: they should swear upon the Holy Sacraments and Gospel to
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Speaker 1: be true to me, and go to such Christian country
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Speaker 1: as I should agree to and know other, and to
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Speaker 1: be directed wholly and absolutely by my orders till they
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Speaker 1: were landed safely in such country as I intended, and
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Speaker 1: that he would bring a contract from them under their
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Speaker 1: hands for that purpose. Then he told me he would
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Speaker 1: first swear to me himself that he would never stir
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Speaker 1: from me as long as he lived till I gave
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Speaker 1: him orders, and that he would take my side to
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Speaker 1: the last drop of his blood if there should happen
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Speaker 1: the least breach of faith among his countrymen. He told
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Speaker 1: me they were all of them very civil, honest men,
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Speaker 1: and they were under the greatest distress imaginable, having neither weapons,
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Speaker 1: nor clothes, nor any food, But at the mercy and
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Speaker 1: discretion of the savages out of all hopes of ever
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Speaker 1: returning to their own country, and that he was sure
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Speaker 1: if I would undertake their relief, they would live and
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Speaker 1: die by me. Upon these assurances, are resolved to venture
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Speaker 1: to relieve them, if possible, and to send the old
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Speaker 1: savage and this Spaniard over to them to treat. But
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Speaker 1: when we had got all things in readiness to go,
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Speaker 1: the Spaniard himself started an objection which had so much
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Speaker 1: prudence in it on one hand, in so much sincerity
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Speaker 1: on the other hand, that I could not but be
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Speaker 1: very well satisfied in it, and by his advice, put
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Speaker 1: off the deliverance of his comrades for at least half
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Speaker 1: a year. The case was thus. He had been with
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Speaker 1: us now about a month, during which time I had
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Speaker 1: let him see in what manner I had provided, with
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Speaker 1: the assistance of providence for my support. And he saw
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Speaker 1: evidently what stock of corn and rice I had laid up, which,
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Speaker 1: though it was more than sufficient for myself, yet it
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Speaker 1: was not sufficient without good husbandry for my family. Now
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Speaker 1: it was increased to four, but much less would it
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Speaker 1: be sufficient if his countrymen, who were, as he said,
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Speaker 1: sixteen still alive, should come over and least of all,
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Speaker 1: would it be sufficient to vitual our vessel if we
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Speaker 1: should build one for a voyage to any of the
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Speaker 1: Christian colonies of America. So he told me he thought
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Speaker 1: it would be more advisable to let him and the
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Speaker 1: other two dig and cultivate some more land, as much
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Speaker 1: as I could spare seed to sow, and that we
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Speaker 1: should wait another harvest, that we might have a supply
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Speaker 1: of corn for his countrymen when they should come for want.
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Speaker 1: Might be a temptation to them to disagree, or not
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Speaker 1: to think themselves delivered otherwise than out of one difficulty
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Speaker 1: into another, you know, says he, the children of Israel,
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Speaker 1: though they rejoiced at first for their being delivered out
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Speaker 1: of Egypt, yet rebelled even against God himself that delivered
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Speaker 1: them when they came to want bread in the wilderness.
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Speaker 1: His caution was so seasonable, and his advice so good,
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Speaker 1: that I could not but be very well pleased with
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Speaker 1: his proposal, as well as I was satisfied with his fidelity.
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Speaker 1: So we fell to digging, all four of us, as
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Speaker 1: well as the wooden tools we were furnished with, permitted,
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Speaker 1: and in a bottom month's time, by the end of
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Speaker 1: which it was seed time. We had got as much
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Speaker 1: land cured and trimmed up as we sowed two and
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Speaker 1: twenty bushels of barleyon and sixteen jars of rice, which
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Speaker 1: was in short all the seed we had to spare. Indeed,
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Speaker 1: we left ourselves barely sufficient for our own food for
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Speaker 1: the next six months that we had to expect our crop,
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Speaker 1: that is to say, reckoning from the time we set
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Speaker 1: our seed aside for sowing, for it is not to
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Speaker 1: be supposed it is six months in the ground in
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Speaker 1: that country. Having now society enough in our numbers being
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Speaker 1: sufficient to put us out of fear of the savages
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Speaker 1: if they had come, unless their number had been very great,
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Speaker 1: we went freely all over the island whenever we found occasion.
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Speaker 1: And as we had had our escape or deliverance upon
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Speaker 1: our thoughts, it was impossible at least for me to
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Speaker 1: have the means of it out of mine. For this purpose,
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Speaker 1: I marked out several trees which I thought fit for
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Speaker 1: our work, and I set Friday and his father to
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Speaker 1: cut them down. And then I caused the Spaniard to
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Speaker 1: whom I imparted my thoughts in that affair, to oversee
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Speaker 1: and direct their work. I showed them with what indefatigable
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Speaker 1: work I had hewed a large tree into single planks,
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Speaker 1: and I caused them to do the like till they
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Speaker 1: made about a dozen large planks of good oak, near
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Speaker 1: two feet broad, thirty five feet long, and from two
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Speaker 1: inches to four inches thick. What prodigious labor it took
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Speaker 1: up anyone can imagine. At the same time, I contrived
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Speaker 1: to increase my little flock of tame goats as much
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Speaker 1: as I could, And for this purpose I made Friday
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Speaker 1: and the Spaniard go out one day, and myself with
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Speaker 1: Friday the next day, be where we took our turns,
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Speaker 1: And by this means we got about twenty young kids
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Speaker 1: to breed up with the rest, for whenever we shot
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Speaker 1: the dam, we saved the kids and added them to
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Speaker 1: our flock. But above all, the season for curing the
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Speaker 1: grapes coming on, I caused such a prodigious quantity to
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Speaker 1: be hung up in the sun that I believe had
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Speaker 1: we been at Alikante, where the raisins of the sun
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Speaker 1: are cured, we could have filled sixty or eighty barrels,
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Speaker 1: and these with our bread, formed a great part of
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Speaker 1: our food. Very good living too, I assure you, for
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Speaker 1: they are exceedingly nourishing. It was now harvest and our
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Speaker 1: crop in good order. It was not the most plentiful
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Speaker 1: increase I had seen in the island, but however it
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Speaker 1: was enough to answer our end. For from twenty two
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Speaker 1: bushels of barley we brought in and thrashed out above
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Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty bushels and the like in proportion
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Speaker 1: of the rice, which was store enough for our food
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Speaker 1: to the next harvest. Though all the sixteen Spaniards had
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Speaker 1: been on shore with me, or if we had been
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Speaker 1: ready for our voyage, it would very plentifully have victualled
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Speaker 1: our ship to have carried us to any part of
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Speaker 1: the world, that is to say, any part of America.
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Speaker 1: When we had thus housed and secured our magazine of corn,
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Speaker 1: we fell to work to make more wickerware than is
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Speaker 1: great baskets in which we kept it. And the Spaniard
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Speaker 1: was very handy and dexterous at this part, and often
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Speaker 1: blame me that I did not make some things for
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Speaker 1: defense of this kind of work, But I saw no
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Speaker 1: need of it, and now having a full supply of
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Speaker 1: food for all the guests, I expected. I gave the
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Speaker 1: Spaniard leave to go over to the main to see
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Speaker 1: what he could do with those he had left behind him. There.
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Speaker 1: I gave him a strict charge not to bring any
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Speaker 1: man who would not first swear in the presence of
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Speaker 1: himself and the Old Savage, that he would in no
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Speaker 1: way injure fight with or attack the person he should
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Speaker 1: find in the island who was so kind as to
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Speaker 1: send to them in order to their deliverance, but that
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Speaker 1: they would stand by him and defend him against all
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Speaker 1: such attempts, and wherever they went would be entirely under
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Speaker 1: and subjected to his command, And that this should be
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Speaker 1: put in writing and signed in their hands. How they
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Speaker 1: were to have done this, when I knew that they
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Speaker 1: had neither pen nor ink was a question which we
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Speaker 1: never asked. Under these instructions, the Spaniard and the Old Savage,
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Speaker 1: the father of Friday, went away in one of the
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Speaker 1: canoes which they might be said to have come in,
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Speaker 1: or were rather brought in. When they came as prisoners
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Speaker 1: to be devoured by the savages. I gave each of
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Speaker 1: them a musket with firelock on it, and about eight
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Speaker 1: charges of powder and ball, charging them to be very
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Speaker 1: good husbands of both, and not to use either of them,
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Speaker 1: but upon urgent occasions. This was a cheerful work, being
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Speaker 1: the first measures used by me in view of my
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Speaker 1: deliverance for now twenty si seven years and some days.
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Speaker 1: I gave them provisions of bread and dried grapes, sufficient
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Speaker 1: for themselves for many days, and sufficient for all the
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Speaker 1: Spaniards for about eight days time, and wishing them a
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Speaker 1: good voyage. I saw them go, agreeing with them about
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Speaker 1: a signal they should hang out at their return, by
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Speaker 1: which I should know them again when they came back
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Speaker 1: at a distance. Before they came on shore, they went
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Speaker 1: away with a fair gait on the day before the
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Speaker 1: moon was at full by my account, in the month
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Speaker 1: of October. But as for an exact reckoning of days,
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Speaker 1: after I once lost it, I could never recover it again,
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Speaker 1: nor had I kept even the number of years so
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Speaker 1: punctually as to be sure I was right. Though, as
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Speaker 1: it proved when I afterwards examined my account, I found
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Speaker 1: I had kept a true reckoning of years. It was
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Speaker 1: no less than eight days I had waited for them
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Speaker 1: when a strange and unforeseen accident intervened, of which the
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Speaker 1: like has not perhaps been heard of in history. I
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Speaker 1: was fast asleep in my hutch one morning when my
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Speaker 1: man Friday came running into me and called aloud, Master, Master,
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Speaker 1: they are come, they are come. I jumped up, and
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Speaker 1: regardless of danger, I went as soon as I could
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Speaker 1: get my clothes on through my little grove, which by
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Speaker 1: the way, was by this time grown to be of
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Speaker 1: very thick wood. I say, regardless of danger, I went
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Speaker 1: without my arms, which was not my custom to do.
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Speaker 1: But I was surprised when turning my eyes to the sea,
16:50
Speaker 1: I presently saw a boat at about a league and
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Speaker 1: a half distance standing in for the shore, with a
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Speaker 1: shoulder of mutton sail, as they call it, and the
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Speaker 1: wind blowing pretty fair to bring them in. Also, I
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Speaker 1: observed presently that they did not come from that side
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Speaker 1: which the shore lay on, but from the southernmost end
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Speaker 1: of the island. Upon this I called Friday in and
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Speaker 1: bade him lie close, for these were not the people
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Speaker 1: we looked for, and that we might not yet know
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Speaker 1: whether they were friends or enemies. In the next place,
17:30
Speaker 1: I went in to fetch my prospective class to see
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Speaker 1: what I could make of them, And having taken the
17:37
Speaker 1: ladder out. I climbed up to the top of the hill,
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Speaker 1: as I used to do when I was apprehensive of anything,
17:44
Speaker 1: and to take my view the planer without being discovered.
17:48
Speaker 1: I had scarce set my foot upon the hill when
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Speaker 1: my eye plainly discovered a ship lying at anchor, at
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Speaker 1: about two leagues and a half distance from me south southeast,
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Speaker 1: but not above a league and a half from the shore.
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Speaker 1: By my observation, it appeared plainly to be an English ship,
18:11
Speaker 1: and the boat appeared to be an English longboat. I
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Speaker 1: cannot express the confusion I was in, though the joy
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Speaker 1: of seeing a ship, and one that I had reason
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Speaker 1: to believe was manned by my own countrymen and consequently friends,
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Speaker 1: was such as I cannot describe. But yet I had
18:32
Speaker 1: some secret doubts hung about me I cannot tell from
18:36
Speaker 1: whence they came bidding me keep upon my guard. In
18:41
Speaker 1: the first place, it occurred to me to consider what
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Speaker 1: business and English ship could have in that part of
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Speaker 1: the world, since it was not the way too, or
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Speaker 1: from any part of the world where the English had
18:53
Speaker 1: any traffic, and I knew there had been no storms
18:58
Speaker 1: to drive them in there, and that if they were
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Speaker 1: really English, it was most probable that they were here
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Speaker 1: upon no good design, and that I had better continue
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Speaker 1: as I was than fall into the hands of thieves
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Speaker 1: and murderers. Let no man despise the secret hints and
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Speaker 1: notices of danger which sometimes are given him, when he
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Speaker 1: may think there is no possibility of its being real,
19:27
Speaker 1: that such hints and notices are given us. I believe
19:31
Speaker 1: few that have made any observation of things can deny
19:35
Speaker 1: that they are certain discoveries of an invisible world, and
19:41
Speaker 1: a converse of spirits we cannot doubt. And if the
19:45
Speaker 1: tendency of them seems to be to warn us of danger,
19:50
Speaker 1: why should we not suppose they are from some friendly agent,
19:54
Speaker 1: Whether supreme or inferior, and subordinate is not the question.
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Speaker 1: They are given for our good. The present question abundantly
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Speaker 1: confirms me in the justice of this reasoning, For had
20:08
Speaker 1: I not been made cautious by this secret admonition come
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Speaker 1: from whence it will I had been undone inevitably, and
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Speaker 1: in a far worse condition than before. As you will
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Speaker 1: see presently, I had not kept myself long in this
20:25
Speaker 1: posture till I saw the boat drawn near the shore,
20:28
Speaker 1: as if they looked for a creek to thrust a
20:31
Speaker 1: net for the convenience of landing. However, as they did
20:36
Speaker 1: not come quite far enough, they did not see the
20:39
Speaker 1: little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts, but ran
20:43
Speaker 1: their boat on shore upon the beach at about half
20:47
Speaker 1: a mile from me, which was very happy for me,
20:50
Speaker 1: for otherwise they would have landed just at my door,
20:53
Speaker 1: as I may say, and would soon have beaten me
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Speaker 1: out of my castle, and perhaps have plundered me of
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Speaker 1: all I had. When they were on shore, I was
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Speaker 1: fully satisfied they were Englishmen, at least most of them.
21:08
Speaker 1: One or two I thought were Dutch, but it did
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Speaker 1: not prove. So. There were in all eleven men, whereof
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Speaker 1: three of them I found were unarmed and as I thought, bound,
21:24
Speaker 1: And when the first four or five of them were
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Speaker 1: jumped on shore, they took those three out of the
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Speaker 1: boat as prisoners. One of the three I could perceive
21:35
Speaker 1: using the most passionate gestures of entreaty, affliction, and despair,
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Speaker 1: even to a kind of extravagance. The other two I
21:45
Speaker 1: could perceive lifted up their hands sometimes and appeared concerned, indeed,
21:51
Speaker 1: but not to such a degree as the first. I
21:55
Speaker 1: was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not what
21:58
Speaker 1: the meaning of it should be. Friday called out to
22:01
Speaker 1: me in English as well as he could. Oh, Master,
22:05
Speaker 1: you see English mans eat prisoner as well as savage man's. Why,
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Speaker 1: Friday says I. Do you think they are going to
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Speaker 1: eat them? Then? Yes, says Friday, they will eat them. No, no,
22:18
Speaker 1: says I Friday. I'm afraid they will murder them indeed,
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Speaker 1: but you may be sure they will not eat them.
22:26
Speaker 1: All this while I had no thought of what the
22:28
Speaker 1: matter really was, but stood trembling with the horror of
22:32
Speaker 1: the sight, expecting every moment when the three prisoners should
22:38
Speaker 1: be killed. Nay, once I saw one of the villains
22:41
Speaker 1: lift up his arm with a great cutlass as the
22:44
Speaker 1: seamen call it, or sword, to strike one of the
22:48
Speaker 1: poor men, and I expected to see him fall, every moment,
22:53
Speaker 1: at which all the blood in my body seemed to
22:56
Speaker 1: run chill in my veins. I wished heartily now for
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Speaker 1: the spaniard and the savage that had gone with him,
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Speaker 1: or that I had any way to have come undiscovered
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Speaker 1: within shot of them, that I might have secured the
23:09
Speaker 1: three men, for I saw no firearms they had among them.
23:15
Speaker 1: But it fell out to my mind another way, after
23:19
Speaker 1: I had observed the outrageous usage of the three men
23:22
Speaker 1: by the insolent seamen, I observed the fellows run scattering
23:27
Speaker 1: about the island, as if they wanted to see the country.
23:31
Speaker 1: I observed that the other three men had liberty to
23:34
Speaker 1: go where they pleased, But they sat down, all three
23:38
Speaker 1: upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like men in despair.
23:44
Speaker 1: This put me in mind of the first time when
23:46
Speaker 1: I came on shore and began to look about me,
23:50
Speaker 1: how I gave myself over for lost, how wildly I
23:53
Speaker 1: looked round me, what dreadful apprehensions I had, and how
23:59
Speaker 1: I lodged in the tree all night for fear of
24:01
Speaker 1: being devoured by wild beasts. As I knew nothing that
24:07
Speaker 1: night of the supply I was to receive by the
24:09
Speaker 1: providential driving of the ship nearer the land, by the
24:12
Speaker 1: storms and tide, by which I have since been so
24:15
Speaker 1: long nourished and supported. So these three poor desolate men
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Speaker 1: knew nothing, how certain of deliverance and supply they were,
24:25
Speaker 1: how near it was to them, and how effectually and
24:29
Speaker 1: really they were in a condition of safety at the
24:32
Speaker 1: same time that they thought themselves lost in their case desperate.
24:37
Speaker 1: So little do we see before us in the world,
24:40
Speaker 1: and so much reason have we to depend cheerfully upon
24:44
Speaker 1: the great maker of the world, that he does not
24:47
Speaker 1: leave his creatures so absolutely destitute, but that in the
24:52
Speaker 1: worst circumstances they have always something to be thankful for,
24:57
Speaker 1: and sometimes are nearer deliverance than they may imagine. Nay,
25:03
Speaker 1: are even brought to their deliverance by the means by
25:06
Speaker 1: which they seemed to be brought to their destruction. It
25:12
Speaker 1: was just at high water when these people came on shore,
25:16
Speaker 1: and while they rambled about to see what kind of
25:18
Speaker 1: place they were in, they had carelessly stayed until the
25:23
Speaker 1: tide was spent and the water was ebbed considerably away,
25:28
Speaker 1: leaving their boat aground. They had left two men in
25:32
Speaker 1: the boat, who, as I found afterwards, having drunk a
25:36
Speaker 1: little too much brandy, fell asleep. However, one of them
25:40
Speaker 1: waking a little sooner than the other, and finding the
25:43
Speaker 1: boat too fast a ground for him to stir it,
25:46
Speaker 1: he lowed out for the rest who were straggling about,
25:51
Speaker 1: upon which they all soon came to the boat. But
25:55
Speaker 1: it was past all their strength to launch her, the boat,
25:58
Speaker 1: being very heavy in the shore on that side, being
26:01
Speaker 1: a soft, oozy sand, almost like a quicksand in this condition,
26:07
Speaker 1: like true seamen, who are perhaps the least of all
26:10
Speaker 1: mankind given to forethought, they gave it over and away
26:16
Speaker 1: they strolled about the country again, and I heard one
26:19
Speaker 1: of them say aloud to the other, calling them off
26:22
Speaker 1: from the boat, why let her alone, Jack, can't you
26:25
Speaker 1: She'll float next tide, by which I was fully confirmed
26:29
Speaker 1: in the main inquiry of what countrymen they were. All
26:34
Speaker 1: this while I kept myself very close, not once daring
26:38
Speaker 1: to stir out of my castle any farther than to
26:41
Speaker 1: my place of observation near the top of the hill,
26:45
Speaker 1: and very glad I was to think how well it
26:47
Speaker 1: was fortified. I knew it was no less than ten
26:52
Speaker 1: hours before the boat could float again, and by that
26:55
Speaker 1: time it would be dark, and I might be at
26:58
Speaker 1: more liberty to see their motions and to hear their discourse,
27:02
Speaker 1: if they had any. In the meantime, I fitted myself
27:06
Speaker 1: up for a battle as before, though with more caution,
27:10
Speaker 1: knowing I had to do with another kind of enemy
27:13
Speaker 1: than I had at first. I ordered Friday, also whom
27:17
Speaker 1: I had made an excellent marksman with his gun, to
27:21
Speaker 1: load himself the arms. I took myself two falling pieces,
27:26
Speaker 1: and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, was
27:30
Speaker 1: very fierce. I had a formidable goat skin coat on
27:36
Speaker 1: with a great cat I have mentioned, a naked sword
27:39
Speaker 1: by my side, two pistols in my belt, and a
27:42
Speaker 1: gun upon each shoulder. It was my design, as I
27:46
Speaker 1: said above, not to have made any attempt till it
27:50
Speaker 1: was dark. But about two o'clock, being the heat of
27:53
Speaker 1: the day, I found that they were all gone, straggling
27:58
Speaker 1: into the woods, and as I thought laid down to sleep.
28:02
Speaker 1: The three poor distressed men, too anxious for their condition
28:06
Speaker 1: to get any sleep, had, however, sat down under the
28:10
Speaker 1: shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter of
28:13
Speaker 1: a mile from me, and, as I thought, out of
28:16
Speaker 1: sight of any of the rest, upon this, I resolved
28:21
Speaker 1: to discover myself to them, and learned something of their condition.
28:26
Speaker 1: Immediately I marched as above my man Friday, at a
28:30
Speaker 1: good distance behind me, as formidable for his arms as I,
28:34
Speaker 1: but not making quite so staring a specterlike figure as
28:39
Speaker 1: I did, I came as near them undiscovered as I could,
28:44
Speaker 1: and then before any of them saw me, I called
28:48
Speaker 1: aloud to them in Spanish, what are ye, gentlemen? They
28:53
Speaker 1: started up at the noise, but were ten times more
28:55
Speaker 1: confounded when they saw me and the uncouth figure that
28:59
Speaker 1: I made. They made no answer at all, but I
29:02
Speaker 1: thought I perceived them just going to fly from me.
29:05
Speaker 1: When I spoke to them in English, gentlemen, said I
29:09
Speaker 1: do not be surprised at me. Perhaps you may have
29:12
Speaker 1: a friend near when you did not expect it. He
29:16
Speaker 1: must be sent directly from heaven. Then, said one of them,
29:19
Speaker 1: very gravely to me, and pulling off his hat at
29:21
Speaker 1: the same time, to me. For our condition is past
29:25
Speaker 1: the help of man. All help is from heaven, Sir,
29:29
Speaker 1: said I, But can you put a stranger in the
29:32
Speaker 1: way to help you? For you seem to be in
29:36
Speaker 1: some great distress. I saw you when you landed, and
29:40
Speaker 1: when you seemed to make application to the brutes that
29:43
Speaker 1: came with you, I saw one of them lift up
29:46
Speaker 1: his sword to kill you. The poor man, with tears
29:50
Speaker 1: running down his face and trembling, looked like one astonished. Returned,
29:56
Speaker 1: Am I talking to God or man? Is it a
30:00
Speaker 1: real man or angel? Be in no fear Sir about that,
30:05
Speaker 1: said I. If God had sent an angel to you
30:09
Speaker 1: to relieve you. He would have come better clothed and
30:12
Speaker 1: armed after another manner than you see me. Pray, lay
30:17
Speaker 1: aside your fears. I am a man, an Englishman, and
30:22
Speaker 1: disposed to assist you. You see, I have one servant,
30:27
Speaker 1: only we have arms and ammunition. Tell us freely? Can
30:31
Speaker 1: we serve you? What is your case? Our case? Sir said?
30:35
Speaker 1: He is too long to tell you, while our murderers
30:38
Speaker 1: are so near us. But in short, Sir, I was
30:41
Speaker 1: commander of that ship. My men have mutinied against me.
30:46
Speaker 1: They have been hardly prevailed on not to murder me,
30:50
Speaker 1: and at last have set me on shore in this
30:52
Speaker 1: desolate place with these two men with me, one my
30:56
Speaker 1: mate and the other a passenger, where we expect to perish,
31:00
Speaker 1: believing the place to be uninhabited, and know not yet
31:04
Speaker 1: what to think of it. Where are these brutes your enemies?
31:09
Speaker 1: Said I? Do you know where they are gone? Why?
31:14
Speaker 1: There they lie, sir, said he, pointing to a thicket
31:17
Speaker 1: of trees. My heart trembles for fear they have seen
31:21
Speaker 1: us and heard you speak. If they have, they will
31:25
Speaker 1: certainly murder us. All Have they any firearms? Said I?
31:30
Speaker 1: He answered, they had only two pieces, one of which
31:34
Speaker 1: they left in the boat. Well then said, I leave
31:39
Speaker 1: the rest to me. I see they are all asleep.
31:43
Speaker 1: It is an easy thing to kill them all, but
31:46
Speaker 1: shall we rather take them prisoners? He told me there
31:51
Speaker 1: were two desperate villains among them that it was scarce
31:55
Speaker 1: safe to show any mercy to. But if they were
31:58
Speaker 1: secured leaved all the rest would return to their duty.
32:03
Speaker 1: I asked him which they were. He told me he
32:07
Speaker 1: could not at that distance distinguish them, but he would
32:11
Speaker 1: obey my orders in anything I would direct. Well, says I.
32:16
Speaker 1: Let us retreat out of their view or hearing lest
32:19
Speaker 1: they awake, and we will resolve further. So they willingly
32:24
Speaker 1: went back with me till the woods covered us from them.
32:29
Speaker 1: Look you, sir, said I, if I venture upon your deliverance,
32:33
Speaker 1: are you willing to make two conditions with me? He
32:37
Speaker 1: anticipated my proposals by telling me that both he and
32:40
Speaker 1: his ship, if recovered, should be wholly directed and commanded
32:44
Speaker 1: by me in everything, and if the ship was not recovered,
32:49
Speaker 1: he would live and die with me in what part
32:52
Speaker 1: of the world soever I would send him. And the
32:56
Speaker 1: two other men said the same. Well, says I, My
33:00
Speaker 1: conditions are but two. First, that while you stay in
33:05
Speaker 1: this island with me, you will not pretend to any
33:09
Speaker 1: authority here. And if I put arms in your hands,
33:14
Speaker 1: you will, upon all occasions give them up to me,
33:18
Speaker 1: and do no prejudice to me or mine upon this island,
33:23
Speaker 1: and in the meantime be governed by my orders. Secondly,
33:28
Speaker 1: that if the ship is or may be recovered, it
33:32
Speaker 1: will carry me and my man to England passage free.
33:36
Speaker 1: He gave me all the assurances that the invention or
33:40
Speaker 1: faith of man could devise, that he would comply with
33:43
Speaker 1: these most reasonable demands, and besides would owe his life
33:47
Speaker 1: to me and acknowledge it upon all occasions, so long
33:51
Speaker 1: as he lived well. Then said I, here are three
33:55
Speaker 1: muskets for you, with powder and ball. Tell me next
33:59
Speaker 1: what you think is proper to be done. He showed
34:02
Speaker 1: all the testimonies of his gratitude that he was able,
34:06
Speaker 1: but offered to be wholly guided by me. I told him,
34:10
Speaker 1: I thought it was very hard venturing anything, but the
34:15
Speaker 1: best method I could think of was to fire on
34:17
Speaker 1: them at once as they lay, and if any were
34:21
Speaker 1: not killed at the first folly and offered to submit,
34:25
Speaker 1: we might save them. And so put it wholly upon
34:28
Speaker 1: God's providence to direct the shot. He said very modestly
34:34
Speaker 1: that he was loath to kill them if he could
34:37
Speaker 1: help it, but that those two were incorrigible villains and
34:42
Speaker 1: had been the authors of all the mutiny in the ship,
34:45
Speaker 1: and if they escaped, we should be undone still, for
34:49
Speaker 1: they would go on board and bring the whole ship's
34:51
Speaker 1: company and destroy us all. Well, then, says I, Necessity
34:58
Speaker 1: legitimates my advice, for it is the only way to
35:01
Speaker 1: save our lives. However, seeing him still cautious of shedding blood,
35:07
Speaker 1: I told him they should go themselves and manage as
35:11
Speaker 1: they found convenient. In the middle of this, we heard
35:16
Speaker 1: some of them awake, and soon after we saw two
35:19
Speaker 1: of them on their feet. I asked him if either
35:23
Speaker 1: of them were the heads of the mutiny. He said no. Well,
35:27
Speaker 1: then said I, you may let them escape, and Providence
35:31
Speaker 1: seems to have awakened them on purpose to save themselves.
35:35
Speaker 1: Now says I, if the rest escape you, it is
35:39
Speaker 1: your fault. Animated with this, he took the musket I
35:43
Speaker 1: had given him in his hand, and a pistol in
35:46
Speaker 1: his belt, and his two comrades with him. With each
35:50
Speaker 1: a piece in his hand. The two men who were
35:53
Speaker 1: with him going first, made some noise, at which one
35:57
Speaker 1: of the seamen, who was awake turned by out, and
36:00
Speaker 1: seeing them coming, cried out to the rest. But was
36:04
Speaker 1: too late then for the moment he cried out, they fired,
36:08
Speaker 1: I mean the two men, the captain wisely reserving his
36:11
Speaker 1: own piece. They had so well aimed their shot at
36:15
Speaker 1: the men they knew that one of them was killed
36:18
Speaker 1: on the spot, and the other very much wounded. But
36:22
Speaker 1: not being dead, he started up on his feet and
36:25
Speaker 1: called eagerly for help to the other. But the captain,
36:29
Speaker 1: stepping to him, told him it was too late to
36:32
Speaker 1: cry for help. He should call upon God to forgive
36:36
Speaker 1: his villainy, and with that word knocked him down with
36:39
Speaker 1: the stock of his musket, so that he never spoke more.
36:44
Speaker 1: There were three more in the company, and one of
36:46
Speaker 1: them was slightly wounded. By this time I was come,
36:51
Speaker 1: And when they saw their danger and that it was
36:54
Speaker 1: vain to resist, they begged for mercy. The captain told
36:59
Speaker 1: them he would spare their lives if they would give
37:01
Speaker 1: him an assurance of their abhorrence of the treachery they
37:05
Speaker 1: had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful
37:07
Speaker 1: to him in recovering the ship, and afterwards in carrying
37:11
Speaker 1: her back to Jamaica, from whence they came. They gave
37:15
Speaker 1: him all the protestations of their sincerity that could be desired,
37:20
Speaker 1: and he was willing to believe them and spare their lives,
37:24
Speaker 1: which I was not against, only that I obliged him
37:27
Speaker 1: to keep them bound hand and foot while they were
37:31
Speaker 1: on the island. While this was doing, I sent Friday,
37:35
Speaker 1: with the captain's mate to the boat, with orders to
37:38
Speaker 1: secure her and bring away the oars and sails, which
37:41
Speaker 1: they did, and by and by three straggling men that
37:46
Speaker 1: were happily for them parted from the rest came back
37:50
Speaker 1: from hearing the guns fired, and seeing the captain, who
37:54
Speaker 1: was before their prisoner now their conqueror, they submitted to
37:58
Speaker 1: be bound also, And so our victory was complete. It
38:05
Speaker 1: now remained that the captain and I should inquire into
38:08
Speaker 1: one another's circumstances. I began first and told him my
38:12
Speaker 1: whole history, which he heard with an attention even to amazement,
38:17
Speaker 1: and particularly at the wonderful manner of my being furnished
38:23
Speaker 1: with provisions and ammunition, and indeed, as my story is
38:28
Speaker 1: a whole collection of wonders. It affected him deeply. But
38:34
Speaker 1: when he reflected from thence upon himself and how I
38:38
Speaker 1: seemed to have been preserved there on purpose to save
38:42
Speaker 1: his life, the tears ran down his face, and he
38:46
Speaker 1: could not speak a word more. After this communication was
38:50
Speaker 1: at an end, I carried him and his two men
38:53
Speaker 1: into my apartment, leading them in just where I came out,
38:57
Speaker 1: that is, at the top of the house, where I
39:01
Speaker 1: refreshed them with such provisions as I had, and showed
39:05
Speaker 1: them all the contrivances I had made during my long
39:09
Speaker 1: long inhabiting that place. All I showed them, all I
39:14
Speaker 1: said to them was perfectly amazing. But above all the
39:18
Speaker 1: Captain admired my fortification, and how perfectly I had concealed
39:23
Speaker 1: my retreat with a grove of trees, which, having been
39:27
Speaker 1: now planted nearly twenty years, and the trees growing much
39:30
Speaker 1: faster than in England, was become a little wood so
39:34
Speaker 1: thick that it was impassable in any part of it,
39:37
Speaker 1: But at that one side, where I had reserved my
39:40
Speaker 1: little winding passage into it. I told him this was
39:45
Speaker 1: my castle and my residence, but that I had a
39:49
Speaker 1: seat in the country, as most princes have whither I
39:53
Speaker 1: could retreat upon occasion, and I would show him that
39:56
Speaker 1: too another time. But at present our business was to
40:01
Speaker 1: consider how to recover the ship. He agreed with me
40:05
Speaker 1: as to that, but told me he was perfectly at
40:08
Speaker 1: a loss what measures to take. For that there were
40:14
Speaker 1: six and twenty hands still on board, who, having entered
40:19
Speaker 1: into a cursed conspiracy by which they had all forfeited
40:24
Speaker 1: their lives to the law, would be hardened in it
40:27
Speaker 1: now by desperation, and would carry it on, knowing that
40:31
Speaker 1: if they were subdued, they would be brought to the
40:34
Speaker 1: gallows as soon as they came to England or to
40:37
Speaker 1: any of the English colonies, and that therefore there would
40:41
Speaker 1: be no attacking them with so small a number as
40:45
Speaker 1: we were. I mused for some time on what he
40:49
Speaker 1: had said, and found it was a very rational conclusion,
40:53
Speaker 1: and that therefore something was to be resolved on speedily
40:58
Speaker 1: as well, to draw the men on board into some
41:01
Speaker 1: snare for their surprise, as to prevent their landing upon
41:05
Speaker 1: us and destroying us. Upon this, it presently occurred to
41:10
Speaker 1: me that in a little while, the ship's crew, wondering
41:13
Speaker 1: what was become of their comrades and of the boat
41:17
Speaker 1: would certainly come on shore and their other boat to
41:20
Speaker 1: look for them, and that then perhaps they might come
41:24
Speaker 1: armed and be too strong for us. This he allowed
41:28
Speaker 1: to be rational. Upon this, I told him the first
41:32
Speaker 1: thing we had to do was to stave the boat
41:34
Speaker 1: which lay upon the beach, so that they might not
41:38
Speaker 1: carry her off, and taking everything out of her, leave
41:42
Speaker 1: her so far useless as not to be fit to swim. Accordingly,
41:48
Speaker 1: we went on board, took the arms which were left
41:50
Speaker 1: on board out of her, and whatever else we found there,
41:54
Speaker 1: which was a bottle of brandy and another of rum,
41:57
Speaker 1: a few biscuit cakes, a horn of power, and a
42:00
Speaker 1: great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas. The
42:04
Speaker 1: sugar was five or six pounds, all which was very
42:07
Speaker 1: welcome to me, especially the brandy and sugar, of which
42:11
Speaker 1: I had had none left for many years. When we
42:16
Speaker 1: had carried all these things on shore, the oars, masted,
42:20
Speaker 1: sail and rudder of the boat were carried away before
42:23
Speaker 1: we knocked a great hole in her bottom. That if
42:27
Speaker 1: they had come strong enough to master us, yet they
42:30
Speaker 1: could not carry off the boat. Indeed, it was not
42:34
Speaker 1: much in my thoughts that we should be able to
42:37
Speaker 1: recover the ship. But my view was that if they
42:41
Speaker 1: went away without the boat, I did not much question
42:46
Speaker 1: to make her again fit to carry as to the
42:50
Speaker 1: Leeward Islands, and call upon our friends the Spaniards in
42:54
Speaker 1: my way, for I had them still in my thoughts.
43:02
Speaker 1: End of Chapter seventeen.