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07 - Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe · Adventure Books Library

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Chapter seven, Agricultural Experience. I had now been in this unhappy island above
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ten months. All possibility of deliverance from this condition seemed to be entirely taken
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from me, and I firmly believed that no human shape had ever set foot
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upon that place. Having now secured my habitation, as I thought fully to
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my mind, I had a great desire to make a more perfect discovery of
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the island, and to see what other productions I might find, which I
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yet knew nothing of. It was on the fifteenth of July that I began
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to take a more particular survey of the island itself. I went up the
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creek first, where as I hinted, I brought my rafts on shore.
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I found, after I came about two miles up, that the tide did
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not flow any high, and that it was no more than a little brook
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of running water, very fresh and good. But this being the dry season,
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there was hardly any water in some parts of it, at least not
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enough to run in any stream, so as it could be perceived. On
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the banks of this brook, I found many pleasant savannahs or meadows, plains
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smooth and covered with grass, and on the rising parts of them. Next
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to the higher grounds, where the water, as might be supposed, never
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overflowed, I found a great deal of tobacco, green and growing to a
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great and very strong stalk. There were divers other plants which I had no
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notion of or understanding about, that might perhaps have virtues of their own,
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which I could not find out. I searched for the cassavar root, which
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the Indians in all that climate make their bread of, but I could find
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none. I saw large plants of aloes, but did not understand them.
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I saw several sugar canes, but wild and for want of cultivation imperfect.
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I contented myself with these discoveries for this time, and came back musing with
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myself what course I might take to know the virtue and goodness of any of
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the fruits or plants which I should discover, but could bring it to no
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conclusion, For in short, I had made so little observation while I was
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in the Brazils that I knew little of the plants in the field, at
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least very little that might serve to any purpose. Now in my distress,
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the next day, the sixteenth, I went up the same way again,
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and after going somewhat for a seas than I had gone the day before.
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I found the brook and the savannahs cease, and the country become more woody
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than before. In this part I found different fruits, and particularly I found
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melons upon the ground in great abundance, and grapes upon the trees. The
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vines had spread indeed over the trees, and the clusters of grapes were just
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now in their prime, very ripe and rich. This was a surprising discovery,
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and I was exceeding glad of them. But I was warned by my
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experience to eat sparingly of them, remembering that when I was ashore in Barbary,
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the eating of grapes killed several of our Englishmen who were slaves there by
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throwing them into fluxes and fevers. But I found an excellent use for these
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grapes, and that was to cure or dry them in the sun, and
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keep them as dried grapes or raisins are kept, which I thought would be
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as indeed they were wholesome and agreeable to eat when no grapes could be had.
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I spent all that evening there and went back to my habitation, which
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by the way, was the first night, as I might say, I
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had lain from home. In the night I took my first contrivance and got
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up in a tree, where I slept well, and the next morning proceeded
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upon my discovery, traveling nearly four miles, as I might judge by the
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length of the valley, keeping still due north, with a ridge of hills
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on the south and north side of me. At the end of this march
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I came to an opening where the country seemed to descend to the west,
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and a little spring of fresh water, which issued out of the side of
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the hill by me, ran the other way, that is due east,
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and the country appeared so fresh, so green, so flourishing, everything being
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in a constant verdure or flourish of spring, that it looked like a planted
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garden. I descended a little on the side of that delicious vale, surveying
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it with a secret kind of pleasure, though mixed with my other afflicting thoughts,
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to think that this was all my own, that I was king and
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lord of all this country indefensibly, and had a right of possession, and
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if I could convey it, I might have it in inheritance as completely as
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any lord of a manor in England. I saw here abundance of cocoa trees,
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orange and lemon and citron trees, but all wild, and very few
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bearing any fruit at least not then. However, the green limes that I
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gathered were not only pleasant to eat, but very wholesome, and I mixed
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their juice afterwards with water and made it very wholesome and very cool and refreshing.
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I found now I had business enough to gather and carry home, and
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I resolved to lay up a store as well of grapes as limes and lemons,
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to furnish myself for the wet season, which I knew was approaching.
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In order to do this, I gathered a great heap of grapes in one
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place, a lesser heap in another place, and a great parcel of limes
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and lemons in another place, and taking a few of each with me,
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I traveled homewards, resolving to come again and bring a bag or sack,
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or what I can make to carry the rest home. Accordingly, having spent
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three days in this journey, I came home. So I must now call
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my tent in my cave my home. But before I got thither, the
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grapes were spoiled, the richness of the fruit and the weight of the juice.
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Having broken them and bruised them, they were good for little or nothing.
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As to the limes, they were good, but I could bring but
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a few. The next day, being the nineteenth, I went back,
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having made me two small bags to bring home my harvest. But I was
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surprised when coming to my heap of grapes, which were so rich and fine,
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when I gathered them, to find them all spread about, trod to
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pieces, and dragged about, some here, some there, and abundance eaten
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and devoured. By this, I concluded there were some wild creatures thereabouts which
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had done this, but what they were I knew not. However, as
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I found there was no laying them up on heaps, and no carrying them
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away in a sack, but that one way they would be destroyed, and
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the other way they would be crushed with their own weight. I took another
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course, for I gathered a large quantity of the grapes and hung them trees
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that they might cure and dry in the sun. And as for the limes
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and lemons, I carried as many back as I could well stand under.
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When I came home from this journey, I contemplated with great pleasure the fruitfulness
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of that valley, and the pleasantness of the situation, the security from storms
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on that side of the water and the wood, and concluded that I had
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pitched upon a place to fix my abode, which was by far the worst
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part of the country. Upon the whole I began to consider of removing my
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habitation and looking out for a place equally safe as where now I was situated,
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if possible, in that pleasant, fruitful part of the island. This
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thought ran long in my head, and I was exceedingly fond of it for
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some time, the pleasantness of the place tempting me. But when I came
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to a nearer view of it, I considered that I was now by the
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seaside where it was at least possible that something might happen to my advantage,
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and by the same ill fate that brought me hither might bring some other unhappy
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wretches to the same place. And though it was scarce probable that any such
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thing should ever happen, yet to enclose myself among the hills and woods and
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the center of the island was to anticipate my bondage, and to render such
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an affair not only improbable but impossible, and that therefore I ought not by
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any means to remove. However, I was so enamored of this place that
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I spent much of my time there for the whole of the remaining part of
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the month of July, And though upon second thoughts I resolved not to move,
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yet I built me a little kind of a bower and surrounded it at
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a distance with strong fence, being a double hedge as high as I could
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reach, well staked and filled between with brushwood. And here I lay very
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secure, sometimes two or three nights together, always going over it with a
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ladder, so that I found see. Now I had my country house and
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my seacoast house. And this work took me up to the beginning of August.
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I had but newly finished my fence and begun to enjoy my labor when
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the rains came on and made me stick close to my first habitation. For
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though I had made me a tent like the other with a piece of sail,
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and spread it very well, yet I had not the shelter of a
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hill to keep me from storms, nor a cave behind me to retreat.
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Into when the rains were extraordinary about the beginning of August, as I said,
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I had finished my bower and began to enjoy myself. The third of
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August, I found the grapes I had hung up perfectly dried, and indeed
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were excellent, good raisins of the sun. So I began to take them
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down from the trees. And it was very happy that I did so,
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for the rains which followed would have spoiled them, and I had lost the
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best part of my winter food, for I had above two hundred large bunches
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of them. No sooner had I taken them down and carried the most of
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them home to my cave. And then it began to rain, and from
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hints, which was the fourteenth of August, it rained more or less every
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day till the middle of October, and sometimes so violently that I could not
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stir out of my cave for several days. In this season, I was
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much surprised with the increase of my family. I had been concerned for the
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loss of one of my cats, who ran away from me, or as
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I thought had been dead, and I heard no more tidings of her till
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to my astonishment, she came home about the end of August with three kittens.
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This was the more strange to me because though I had killed a wild
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cat, as I called it, with my gun, yet I thought it
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was quite a different kind from our European cats. But the young cats were
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the same kind of house breed as the old one, and both my cats
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being females, I thought it very strange. But from these three cats,
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I afterwards came to be so pestered with cats that I was forced to kill
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them like vermin or wild beasts, and to drive them from my house as
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much as possible. From the fourteenth of August to the twenty sixth, incessant
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rain so that I could not stir, and was now very thankful not to
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be much wet. In this confinement, I began to be straightened for food,
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but venturing out twice I one day killed a goat, and the last
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day, which was the twenty sixth, found a very large tortoise, which
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was a treat to me, and my food was regulated. Thus I ate
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a bunch of raisins for my breakfast, a piece of the boat's flesh or
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of the turtle for my dinner, broiled for to my great misfortune. I
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had no vessel to boil or stew anything, and two or three of the
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turtle's eggs for my supper. During this confinement in my cover by the rain,
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I worked daily two or three hours at enlarging my cave, and by
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degrees worked it on towards one side till I came to the outside of the
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hill and made a door or way out which came beyond my fence or wall.
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And so I came in and out this way. But I was not
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perfectly easy at lying so open, For as I had managed myself before,
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I was in a perfect enclosure, whereas now I thought I lay exposed and
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opened for anything to come in upon me. And yet I could not perceive
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that there was any living thing to fear. The biggest creature that I had
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yet seen upon the island being a goat. September thirtieth, I was now
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come to the unhappy anniversary of my landing. I cast up the notches on
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my post and found I had been on shore three hundred and sixty five days.
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I kept this day as a solemn fast, setting it apart for religious
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exercise, prostrating myself on the ground with the most serious humiliation, confessing my
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sins to God, acknowledging his righteous judgments upon me, and praying to him
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to have mercy on me through Jesus Christ, and not having tasted the least
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refreshment for twelve hours even till the going down of the sun. I then
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ate a biscuit cake and a bunch of grapes, and went to bed,
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finishing the day as I began it. I had all this time observed no
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Sabbath day, for as at first I had no sense of religion upon my
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mind, I had after some time omitted to distinguish the weeks by making a
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longer notch than ordinary for the Sabbath day, and so did not really know
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what any of the days were. But now having cast up the days as
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above, I found I had been there a year. So I divided it
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in two weeks and set apart every seventh day for a Sabbath, though I
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found at the end of my account I had lost a day or two in
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my reckoning. A little after this, my ink began to fail me,
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and so I contented myself to use it more sparingly, and to write down
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only the most memorable events of my life without continuing a daily memorandum of other
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things. The rainy season and the dry season began now to appear regular to
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me, and I learned to divide them to provide for them accordingly. But
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I bought all my experience before I had it, and this I am going
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to relate was one of the most discouraging experiments that I made. I have
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mentioned that I had saved the few years of barley and rice, which I
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had so surprisingly found spring up as I thought of themselves, and I believe
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there were about thirty stocks of rice and about twelve of barley, and now
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I thought it a proper time to sow it. After the rains, the
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sunbeam in its southern position going from me. Accordingly, I dug up a
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piece of ground as well as I could with my wooden spade, and dividing
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it into two parts, I sowed my grain. But as I was sowing
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it casually occurred to my thoughts that I would not sew it all at first,
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because I did not know what was the proper time for it. I
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sewed about two thirds of the seed, and leaving about a handful of each.
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It was a great comfort to me afterwards that I did so for not
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one grain of what I sowed this time came to anything. For the dry
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months following the earth having had no rain after the seed was sown, it
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had little moisture to assist its growth, and never came up at all till
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the wet season had come again, and then it grew as much as if
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it had been but newly sown. Finding my first seed did not grow,
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which I easily imagined was by the drought, I sought out for a moisture
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piece of ground to make another trial, And I dug up a piece of
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ground near my new bower, and sowed the rest of my seed in February,
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a little before the vernal equinox. And this, having the rainy months
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of March and April toward, it sprung up very pleasantly and yielded a very
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good crop. And having part of the seed left only, and not daring
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to sow all that I had, I had but a small quantity at last,
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my whole crop, not amounting to above half a peck of each kind.
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But by this experiment I was made master of my business, and knew
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exactly when the proper season was to sow, and that I might expect two
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seed times and two harvests every year. While this corn was growing, I
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made a little discovery which was of use to me afterwards. As soon as
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the rains were over and the weather began to settle, which was about the
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month of November, I made a visit up the country to my bower,
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where, though I had not been some months yet, I found all things
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just as I left them. The circle or double edge that I had made
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was not only firm and entire, but the steaks which I had cut out
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of some trees that grew thereabouts were all shot out and grown with long branches,
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as much as a willow tree usually shoots the first year after lopping its
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head. I could not tell what tree to call it that these steaks were
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cut from. I was surprised and yet well pleased to see the young trees
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grow, and I pruned them and led them up to grow as much alike
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as I could. And it is scarce credible how beautiful a figure they grew
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into in three years, so that though the hedge made a circle of about
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twenty five yards in diameter, yet the trees for such as I might now
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call them, soon covered it, and it was a complete shade sufficient to
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lodge under all the dry season. This made me resolve to cut some more
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steak and make me a hedge like this in a semicircle round my wall.
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I mean that of my first dwelling, which I did in placing the trees
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or steaks in a double row at about eight yards distance from my first fence.
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They grew presently and were at first a fine cover to my habitation,
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and afterwards served for a defense. Also, as I shall observe in its
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order, I found now that the seasons of the year might generally be divided,
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not into summer and winter, as in Europe, but into the rainy
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seasons and the dry seasons, which were generally thus the half of February,
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the whole of March, and the half of April rainy, the sun being
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then on or near the equinox, the half of April, the whole of
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May, June and July, and the half of August dry, the sun
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being then to the north of the line. The half of August, the
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whole of September, and the half of October rainy, the sun being then
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come back the half of October, the whole of November, December, and
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January and the half of February dry, the sun being then to the south
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of the line. The rainy seasons sometimes held longer or shorter as the winds
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happened to blow. But this was the general observation I made. After I
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had found by experience the ill consequences of being abroad in the rain, I
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took care to furnish myself with provisions beforehand that I might not be obliged to
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go out, and I sat within doors as much as possible during the wet
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months. This time I found much employment, and very suitable also to the
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time, for I found great occasion for many things which I had no way
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to furnish myself with, but by hard labor and constant application. Particularly,
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I tried many ways to make myself a basket, but all the twigs I
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could get for the purpose proved so brittle that they would do nothing. It
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proved of excellent advantage to me now that when I was a boy, I
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used to take great delight in standing at a basket maker's in the town where
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my father lived, to see them make their wicker wear, and being as
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boys usually are very officious to help and a great observer of the manner in
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which they worked these things, and sometimes lending a hand. I had,
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by these means full knowledge of the methods of it, and I wanted nothing
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but the materials. When it came into my mind that the twigs of that
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tree from whence I cut my steaks that grew might possible be as tough as
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the sallows, willows and ossiers in England, and I resolved to try accordingly.
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The next day I went to my country house, as I called it,
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and cutting down some of the smaller twigs, I found them to my
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purpose as much as I could desire. Whereupon I came the next time prepared
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with a hatchet to cut down a quantity which I soon found, for there
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was a great plenty of them. These I set up to dry within my
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circle or hedge, and when they were fit for use, I carried them
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to my cave, and here during the next season I employed myself in making,
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as well as I could, a great many baskets, both to carry
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earth or to carry or lay up anything as I had occasion. And though
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I did not finish them very handsomely, yet I made them sufficiently serviceable for
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my purpose. Thus, afterwards I took care never to be without them,
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And as my wicker ware decayed, I made more, especially strong, deep
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baskets to place my corn in instead of sacks, when I should come to
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have any quantity of it. Having mastered this difficulty and employed a world of
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time about it, I bestirred myself to see, if possible, how to
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supply two Once I had no vessels to hold anything that was liquid, except
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two runlets which were almost full of rum, and some glass bottles, some
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of the common size, and others which were case bottles square for the holding
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of water, spirits, et cetera. I had not so much as a
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pot to boil anything except a great kettle, which I saved out of the
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ship, and which was too big for such as I desired it, that
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is, to make broth and stew a bit of meat by itself. The
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second thing I fain would have had was a tobacco pipe, but it was
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impossible to make me one. However, I found a contrivance for that too.
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At last I employed myself in planting my second rows of steaks or piles,
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and in this wicker working all the summer or dry season. When another
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business took me up more time than it could be imagined. I could spare
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end of chapter seven,