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11 - The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe · Adventure Books Library

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Chapter ten, He is left on shore. I was very angry with my
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nephew, the captain, and indeed with all the men, but with him
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in particular as well, for his acting so out of his duty as a
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commander of the ship, and having the charge of the voyage upon him,
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as in his prompting rather than cooling the rage of his blind men in so
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bloody and cruel an enterprise. My nephew answered me very respectfully, but told
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me that when he saw the body of the poor seamen whom they had murdered
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in so cruel and barbarous a manner, he was not master of himself,
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neither could he govern his passion. He owned he should not have done so,
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as he was commander of the ship, but as he was a man
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and nature moved him, he could not bear it. As for the rest
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of the men, they were not subject to me at all, and they
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knew it well enough, so they took no notice of my dislike. The
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next day we set sail, so we never heard any more of it.
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Our men differed in the account of the number they had killed, but according
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to the best of their accounts, put all together, they killed or destroyed
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about one hundred and fifty people, men, women and children, and left
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not a house standing in the town. As for the poor fellow Tom Jeffrey,
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as he was quite dead, for his throat was so cut that his
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head was half off, it would do him no service to bring him away,
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so they only took him down from the tree where he was hanging by
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one hand. However, just our men thought this action, I was against
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them in it, and I always after that time told them God would blast
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the voyage, for I looked upon all the blood they shed that night to
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be murder in them. For though it is true that they had killed Tom
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Jeffrey, yet Jeffrey was the aggressor, had broken the truce, and had
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ill used a young woman of theirs who came down to them innocently and on
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the faith of the public capitulation. The Bosun defended this quarrel when we were
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afterwards on board. He said it was true that we seemed to break the
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truce, but really had not, and that the war was begun the night
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before by the natives themselves, who had shot at us and killed one of
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our men without any just provocation, So that as we were in a capacity
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to fight them, now we might also be in a capacity to do ourselves
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justice upon them in an extraordinary manner, that though the poor man had taken
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a little liberty with the girl, he ought not to have been murdered,
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and that in such a villainous manner, and that they did nothing but what
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was just and what the laws of God allowed to be done to murderers.
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One would think this should have been enough to have warned us against going on
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shore amongst the heathens and barbarians. But it is impossible to make mankind wise
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but at their own expense, and their experience seems to be always of most
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use to them when it is dearest bought. We were now bound to the
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Gulf of Persia, and from thence to the coast of Coromandel, only to
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touch at Surat. But the chief of the super cargo's design lay at the
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Bay of Bengal, where if he missed his business outward bound, he was
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to go out to China and return to the coast as he came home.
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The first disaster that befell Us was in the Gulf of Persia, where five
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of our men venturing on shore on the Arabian side of the gulf were surrounded
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by the Arabians and either all killed or carried away into slavery. The rest
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of the boat's crew were not able to rescue them, and had but just
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time to get off their boat. I began to upbraid them with the just
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retribution of Heaven in this case, but the Bosun very warmly told me he
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thought I went further in my censures than I could show any warrant for in
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scripture, and referred to Luke thirteen four, where our Savior intimates that those
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men on whom the tower of Siloam fell were not sinners above all the Galileans.
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But that which put me to silence in the case was that not one
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of these five men who were now lost were of those who went on shore
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to the massacre of Madaga. So I always called it, though our men
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could not bear to hear the word massacre with any patience. But my frequent
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preaching to them on this subject had worse consequences than I expected, and the
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Bosun, who had been the head of the attempt, came up boldly to
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me one time and told me he found that I brought that affair continually upon
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the stage, that I made unjust reflections upon it, and had used the
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men very ill on that account, and himself in particular, that as I
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was but a passenger and had no command in the ship or concern in the
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voyage, they were not obliged to bear it that they did not know,
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but I might have some ill design in my head, and perhaps to call
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them to an account for it when they came to England. And that therefore,
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unless I would resolve to have done with it, and also not to
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concern myself any further with him or any of his affairs, he would leave
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the ship, for he did not think it safe to sail with me among
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them. I heard him payatiently enough till he had done, and then told
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him that I confessed I had all along opposed the massacre of Madagascar, and
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that I had on all occasions spoken my mind freely about it, though not
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more upon him than any of the rest. That as to having no command
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in the ship, that was true, nor did I exercise any authority,
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only took the liberty of speaking my mind in things which publicly concerned us all
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and what concern I had in the voyage was none of his business. That
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I was a considerable owner in the ship. In that claim, I conceived
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I had a right to speak even further than I had done, and would
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not be accountable to him or any one else, and began to be a
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little warm with him. He made but little reply to me at that time,
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and I thought the affair had been over. We were at this time
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in the road at Bengal, and being willing to see the place, I
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went on shore with the supercargo in the ship's boat to divert myself, and
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towards evening was preparing to go on board, when one of the men came
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to me and told me he would not have me trouble myself to come down
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to the boat, for they had orders not to carry me on board any
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more. Any One may guess what a surprise I was in at so insolent
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a message, and I asked the man who bade him deliver that message to
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me. He told me the coxswain. I immediately found out the supercargo and
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told him the story, adding that I foresaw there would be a mutiny in
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the ship, and entreated him to go immediately on board and acquaint the captain
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of it. But I might have spared this intelligence, for before I had
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spoken to him on shore. The matter was effected on board the bosun,
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the gunner, the carpenter, and all the inferior officers. As soon as
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I was gone off in the boat, came up and desired to speak with
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the captain, and then the Bosain, making a long harangue, and repeating
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all he had said to me, told the Captain that as I was now
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gone peaceably on shore, they were loath to use any violence with me,
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which if I had not gone on shore, they would otherwise have done to
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oblige me to have gone. They therefore thought fit to tell him that as
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they shipped themselves to serve in the ship under his command, they would perform
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it well and faithfully. But if I would not quit the ship, or
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the Captain obliged me to quit it, they would all leave the ship and
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sail no further with him. And at that word all he turned his face
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towards the mainmast, which was it seems, a signal agreed on. When
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the seamen being got together, there cried out one and all, one and
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all, my nephew. The captain was a man of spirit and of great
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presence of mind. And though he was surprised. Yet he told them calmly
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that he would consider of the matter, but that he could do nothing in
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it till he had spoken to me about it. He used some arguments with
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them to show them the unreasonableness and injustice of the thing, but it was
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all in vain. They swore and shook hands round before his face, that
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they would all go on shore unless he would engage to them not to suffer
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me to come any more on board the ship. This was a hard article
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upon him, who knew his obligation to me and did not know how I
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might take it. So he began to talk smartly to them, told them
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that I was a very considerable owner of the ship, and that if ever
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they came to England again, it would cost them very dear, that the
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ship was mine, and that he could not put me out of it,
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and that he would rather lose the ship and the voyage too than disoblige me
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so much, so they might do as they pleased. However, he would
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go on shore and talk with me, and invited the boatswun to go with
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him, and perhaps they might accommodate the matter with me. But they all
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rejected the proposal and said they would have nothing to do with me any more,
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and if I came on board, they would all go on shore.
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Well, said the captain, if you are all of this mind, let
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me go on shore and talk with him. So away he came to me
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with this account a little after the message had brought to me from the Coxswain.
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I was very glad to see my nephew, I must confess, for
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I was not without apprehensions that they would confine him by violence, set sail
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and run away with the ship. And then I had been stripped naked in
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a remote country, having nothing to help myself. In short, I had
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been in a worse case than when I was alone in the island. But
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they had not come to that length, it seems to my satisfaction. And
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when my nephew told me what they had said to him, and how they
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had sworn and shook hands, that they would one and all leave the ship
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if I was suffered to come on board, I told him he should not
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be concerned at it at all, for I would stay on shore. I
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only desired he would take care and send me all my necessary things on shore,
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and leave me a sufficient sum of money, and I would find my
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way to England as well as I could. This was a heavy piece of
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news to my nephew, but there was no way to help it but to
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comply. So in short, he went on board the ship again and satisfied
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the men that his uncle had yielded to their importunity and had sent for his
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goods from on board the ship, so that the matter was over. In
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a few hours, the men returned to their duty, and I began to
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consider what course I should steer. I was now alone in a most remote
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part of the world, for I was near three thousand leagues by sea,
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farther off from England than I was at my island. Only it is true,
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I might travel here by land over the Great Mogul's country to Surat,
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might go from Thence to Bassora by sea up the Gulf of Persia, and
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take the way of the caravans over the desert of Arabia to Aleppo and Scanderoon.
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From Thence by sea again to Italy, and so overland and to France.
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I had another way before me, which was to wait for some English
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ships which were coming to Bangulf from Aquin on the island of Sumatra, and
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get passage on board them. From England. But as I came hither without
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any concern of the East Indian Company, so it would be difficult to go
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from Hence without their license, unless with great favor of the captains of the
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ships or the company's factors, and to both I was an utter stranger.
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Here I had the mortification to see the ship set sail without me. However,
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my nephew left me two servants, or rather one companion and one servant.
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The first was clerk to the purser, whom he engaged to go with
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me, and the other was his own servant. I then took a good
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lodging in the house of an englishwoman, where several merchants lodged, some French,
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two Italians, or rather Jews, and one Englishman. Here I stayed
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above nine months, considering what course to take. I had some English goods
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with me of value and a considerable sum of money, my nephew furnishing me
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with a thousand pieces of eight and a letter of credit for more. If
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I had occasion that I might not be straightened whatever might happen, I quickly
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disposed of my goods to advantage, and as I originally intended, I bought
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here some very good diamonds, which of all other things, were the most
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proper for me in my present circumstances, because I could always carry my whole
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estate about me. During my stay here, many proposals were made for my
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return to England, but none falling out to my mind. The English merchant,
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who lodged with me and whom I had contracted an intimate acquaintance with,
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came to me one morning saying, countrymen, I have a project to communicate,
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which, as it suits with my thoughts, may for aught, I
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know suit with yours also when you shall have thoroughly considered it. Here we
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are posted you by accident, and I by my own choice, in a
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part of the world very remote from our own country. But it is in
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a country where by us who understand trade and business, a great deal of
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money is to be got. If you will put one thousand pounds to my
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one thousand pounds, we will hire a ship here the first we can get
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to our minds. You shall be captain, I'll be merchant, and we'll
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go a trading voyage to China. For what should we stand still? For
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the whole world is in motion? Why should we be idle? I liked
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this proposal very well, and the more so because it seemed to be expressed
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with so much good will. In my loose, unhinged circumstances, I was
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the fitter to embrace a proposal for trade, or indeed anything else. I
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might perhaps say with some truth that if trade was not my element, rambling
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was, and no proposal for seeing any part of the world which I had
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never seen before could possibly come amiss to me. It was, however,
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some time before we could get a ship to our minds, and when we
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had got a vessel, it was not easy to get English sailors, that
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is to say so many as were necessary to govern the voyage and manage the
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sailors which we should pick up. There After, some time we got a
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mate, a bosun, and a gunner English, a Dutch carpenter, and
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three foremast men. With these we found we could do well enough having Indian
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seamen such as they were, to make up. When all was ready,
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we set sail for Aquin in the island of Sumatra, and from thence to
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Siam, where we exchanged some of our wares for opium and some arak,
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the first a commodity which bears a great price among the Chinese, and which
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at that time was much wanted there. Then we went up to Saskan,
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where eight months out and on our return to Bengal, I was very well
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satisfied with my adventure. Our people in England often admire how officers which the
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company send into India and the merchants which generally stay there, get such very
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great estates as they do, and sometimes come home worth sixty or seventy thousand
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pounds at a time. But it is little matter for wonder when we consider
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the innumerable ports and places where they have a free commerce. Indeed, at
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the ports where the English ships come, there is such great and constant demands
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for the growth of all other countries, that there is a certain vent for
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return turns, as well as a market abroad for the goods carried out.
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I got so much money by my first adventure, and such an insight into
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the method of getting more, that had I been twenty years younger, I
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should have been tempted to have stayed here and sought no farther for making my
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fortune. But what was all this to a man upwards of three score that
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was rich enough and came abroad more in obedience to a restless desire of seeing
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the world than a covetous desire of gaining by it. A restless desire it
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really was, For when I was at home, I was restless to go
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abroad, and when I was abroad, I was restless to be at home.
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I say, what was this gain to me? I was rich enough
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already, nor had I any uneasy desires of getting more money. Therefore the
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profit of the voyage to me was of no great force for the prompting me
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forward to further undertakings. Hence I thought that by this voyage I had made
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no progress at all, because I was come back, as I might call
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it, to the place from whence I came as to a home. Whereas
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my eye, like that which Solomon speaks of, was never satisfied with seeing,
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I was come into a part of the world which I was never in
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before, and that part, in particular, which I heard much of,
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and was resolved to see as much of it as I could. And then
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I thought I might say I had seen all the world that was worth seeing.
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But my fellow traveler and I had different notions. I acknowledge his were
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the more suited to the end of a merchant's life, who when he is
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abroad upon adventures, is wise to stick to that as the best thing for
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him, which he is likely to get the most money by. On the
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other hand, mine was the notion of a mad rambling boy that never cares
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to see a thing twice over. But this was not all. I had
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a kind of impatience upon me to be nearer home, and yet an unsettled
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resolution which way to go. In the interval of these consultations, my friend,
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who was always upon the search for business, proposed another voyage among the
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Spice islands to bring home a loading of clothes from the Manilas or thereabouts.
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We were not long in preparing for this voyage. The chief difficulty was in
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bringing me to come into it. However, at last nothing else offering,
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and as sitting still to me especially was the unhappiest part of life, I
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resolved on this voyage too, which we made very successfully, touching at Borneo
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and several other islands, and came home in about five months, when we
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sold our spices with very great profit to the Persian merchants who carried them away
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to the Gulf. My friend, when we made up this account, smiled
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at me. Well, now, said he, with a sort of friendly
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rebuke on my indolent temper. Is not this better than walking about here like
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a man with nothing to do, and spending our time in staring at the
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nonsense and ignorance of the pagans, Why, truly, said I, my
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friend. I think it is, and I begin to be a convert to
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the principles of merchandising. But I must tell you, by the way,
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you do not know what I am doing. For if I once conquer my
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backwardness and embark heartily old as I am, I shall harass you up and
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down the world till I tire you. For I shall pursue it so eagerly
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I shall never let you lie still. End of Chapter ten.