The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)

"This terrible fight tamed the Englishmen for some time, considering how unfortunate they might have been had they fallen into their hands, who would not only kill them as enemies, but also for food, as we do cattle; and indeed so much did this nauseate their stomachs, that it not only made them very sick, but more tractable to the common necessary business of the whole society, planting, sowing, and reaping, with the greatest signs of amity and friendship; so, that being now all good friends, we began to consider of circumstances in general; and the first thing we thought of was, whether, as we perceived the savages haunted that side of the island, and there being more retired parts of it, and yet as well suited to our manner of living, and equally to our advantage, we ought not rather to move our place of residence, & plant it in a much safer place, both for the security of our corn and cattle.

"After a long debate on this head; it was resolved, or rather voted, nemine comradicente, not to remove our ancient castle, and that for this very good reason, that some time or other we expected to hear from our supreme governor, (meaning you, Sir) whose messengers not finding us there, might think the place demolished, and all his subjects destroyed by the savages.

"As to the next concern relating to our corn and cattle, we consented to have them removed to the valley where the cave was, that being most proper and sufficient for both. But yet when we considered farther, we altered one part of our resolution, which was to remove part of our cattle thither and plant only part of our corn there; so that in case one part was destroyed, the other might be preserved. Another resolution we took, which really had a great deal of prudence in it; and that was, in not trusting the three savages whom we had taken prisoners, with any knowledge of the plantations we had made in the valley, of what number of cattle we had there, much less of the cave, wherein we kept several arms, and two barrels of powder you left for us at your departure from this island. But though we could not change our habitation, we resolved to make it more fortified and more secret. To this end, Sir, as you planted trees at some distance before the entrance of your palace; so we, imitating your example, planted and filled up the whole space of ground, even to the banks of the creek, nay, into the very ooze where the tide flowed, not leaving a place for landing; and among those I had planted, they had intermingled so many short ones, all of which growing wonderfully fast and thick, a little dog could scarcely find a passage through them. Nor was this sufficient, as we thought, for we did the same to all the ground, on the right and left hand of us, even to the top of the hill, without so much as leaving a passage for ourselves, except by the ladder; which being taken down, nothing but what had wings or witchcraft could pretend to come near us. And indeed this was exceedingly well-contrived, especially to serve that occasion for which we afterwards found it necessary.

"Thus we lived two years in a happy retirement, having, all this time, not one visit from the savages. Indeed one morning we had an alarm, which put us in some amazement; for a few of my Spaniards being out very early, perceived no less than twenty canoes, as it were coming on shore: upon which returning home, with great precipitation, they gave us the alarm, which obliged us to keep at home all that day and the next, going out only in the night-time to make our observations; but, as good luck would have it, they were upon another design, and did not land that time upon the island.

"But now there happened another quarrel between the three wicked Englishmen, and some of my Spaniards. – The occasion was this: One of them being enraged at one of the savages, whom he had taken prisoner, for not being able to comprehend something which he was showing him, snatched up a hatchet in a great fury not to correct, but to kill him; yet missing his head gave him such a barbarous-cut in the shoulder, that he had like to have struck off his arm; at which one of my good-natured Spaniards interposing between the Englishman and the savage beseeched the former, not to murder the poor creature, but this kindness had like to have cost the Spaniard his life, for the Englishman, struck at him in the same manner; which he nimbly and wisely avoiding, returned suddenly upon. him with his shovel, (being all at work about their corn land), and very fairly knocked the brutish creature down. Hereupon another Englishman coming to his fellow's assistance, laid the good Spaniard on the earth; when immediately two others coming to his relief were attacked by the third Englishman, armed with an old cutlass, who wounded them both. This uproar soon reached our ears, when we rushing out upon them, took the three Englishmen prisoners, and then our next question was, what would be done to such mutinous, and impudent fellows, so furious, desperate, and idle, that they were mischievious to the highest degree and consequently not safe for the society to let them live among them.

"Now, Sir, as I was governor in your absence, so I also took the authority of a judge, and, having them brought before me; I told them, that if they had been of my country, I would have hanged every mother's son of them, but since it was an Englishman (meaning you, kind Sir,) to whom we were indebted for our preservation and deliverance, I would, in gratitude, use them with all possible mildness, but at the same time leave them to the judgment of the other two Englishmen who, I hoped, forgetting their resentments, would deal impartially by them.'

"Hereupon one of his countrymen stood up: Sir, said he, leave it not for us, for you may be sensible we have reason to sentence them to the gallows: besides, Sir, this fellow, Will Atkins, and the two others, proposed to us, that we might murder you all in your sleep, which we could not consent to: but knowing their inability, and your vigilance, we did not think fit to discover it before now.

"How, Signor, said I, do you hear what is alledged against you? What can you say to justify so horrid an action, as to murder us in cold blood? So far, Sir, was the wretch from denying it, that he swore, damn him but he would do it still. But what have we done to you, Seignor Atkins, said I, or what will you gain by killing us? What shall we do to prevent you? Must we kill you, or you kill us? Why will you Seignor Atkins, said I, smiling, put us to such an unhappy dilemma, such a fatal necessity? But so great a rage did my scoffing and yet severe jest put him into, that he was going to fly at me and undoubtedly had attempted to kill me if he had been possessed of weapons, and had not been prevented by three Spaniards. This unparalleled and villainous carriage, made us seriously consider what was to be done. The two Englishmen and the Spaniard, who had saved the poor Indian's life, mightily petitioned me to hang one of them, for an example to the others, which should be him that had twice attempted to commit murder with his hatchet, it being at that time thought impossible the poor slave should recover. But they could never gain my consent to put him to death, for the reasons above mentioned, since it was an Englishman (even yourself) who was my deliverer; and as merciful counsels are most prevailing when earnestly pressed, so I got them to be of the same opinion as to clemency. But to prevent them doing us any farther mischief; we all agreed, that they should have no weapons, as sword, gun, powder, or shot, but be expelled from the society, to live as they pleased by themselves; that neither the two Englishmen, nor the rest of the Spaniards, should have conversation with them upon any account whatsoever; that they should be kept from coming within a certain distance of our castle; and if they dared to offer us any violence, either by spoiling, burning, killing, or destroying any of the corn, plantings, buildings, fences, or cattle, belonging to the society, we would shoot them as freely as we would do beasts of prey, in whatsoever places we should find them.

"This sentence seemed very just to all but themselves; when, like a merciful judge, I called out to the two honest Englishmen, saying, You must consider they ought not to be starved neither: and since it will be some time before they can raise corn and cattle of their own, let us give them some corn to last them eight months, and for seed to sow, by which time they'll raise some for themselves; let us also bestow upon them six milch goats, four he ones, and six kids, as well for their present support, as for a further increase; with tools necessary for their work, as hatchets, an ax, saw, and other things convenient to build them huts: all which were agreed: but before they took them into possession, I obliged them solemnly to swear, never to attempt any thing against us, or their countrymen for the future. Thus dismissing them from our society, They went away, sullen & refractory, as though neither willing to go nor stay; however seeing no remedy, they took what provision was given them, proposing to choose a convenient place where they might live by themselves.

"About five days after, they came to those limits appointed, in order for more victuals, and sent me word by one of my Spaniards, whom they called to, where they had pitched their tents; and marked themselves out an habitation and plantation, at the N.E. and most remote part of the island. And, indeed, there they built themselves two very handsome cottages, resembling our little castle, being under the side of a mountain, with some trees already growing on three sides of it; so that planting a few more, it would be obscured from sight, unless particularly sought for. When these huts were finished, we gave them some dry goat-skins for bedding and covering; & upon their giving us fuller assurances of their good behaviour for the future, we gave them some pease, barley, and rice for sowing and whatever tools we could spare.

"Six months did they live in this separate condition, in which they got their first harvest in, the quantity of which was but small, because they had planted but little land; for, indeed, all their plantations being to form, made it more difficult; especially as it was a thing out of their element; and when they were obliged to make their boards and pots, &c. they could make little or nothing of it. But the rainy season coming on, put them into a greater perplexity for want of a cave to keep their corn dry, and prevent it from spoiling: and so much did this humble them, that they begged of my Spaniards to help them, to which the good-natured men readily consented, and in four days space, worked a great hole in the side of the hill for them, large enough for their purpose, to secure their corn and other things from the rain, though not comparable to ours, which had several additional appartments.

"But a new whim possessed these rogues about three quarters of a year after, which had like to have ruined us, and themselves too: for it seems, being tired and weary of this sort of living, which made them work for themselves, without hopes of changing their condition, nothing would serve them, but that they would make a voyage to the continent, and try if they could seize upon some of the savages, and bring them over as slaves, to do their drudgery, while they lived at ease and pleasure.

"Indeed the project was not so preposterous, if they had not gone farther; but they neither did, nor proposed any thing, but what had mischief in the design, or the event. One morning, these three fellows came down to the limited station, and humbly desired to be admitted to talk with us, which we readily granted; they told us in short, that being tired of their manner of living, and the labour of their hands in such employments, not being sufficient to procure the necessaries of life, they only desired one of the canoes we came over in, with some arms and ammunition for their defence, and they would seek their fortunes abroad, and never trouble us any more. To be sure we were glad enough to get rid of such wretched plagues; but yet honesty made us ingenuously represent to them, by what we ourselves had suffered, the certain destruction they were running into, either of being starved to death or murdered by the savages. To this they very audaciously replied, that they neither could nor would work: and consequently that they might as well be starved abroad as at home: & neither had they any wives or children to cry after them: nay, so intent were they upon their voyage, that if the Spaniards had not given them arms, so they had but the canoe they would have gone without them.

"Though we could not well spare our fire arms, rather than they should go like naked men, we let them have two muskets, a pistol, a cutlass, and three hatchets, which were thought very sufficient: we gave them also goat's flesh, a great basket full of dried grapes, a pot of fresh butter, a young live kid, and a large canoe sufficient to carry twenty men. And thus, with a mast made of a long pole, and a sail of six large goat-skins dried, having a fair breeze, and a flood-tide with them, they merrily sailed away, the Spaniards calling after them, Bon voyaje, no man ever expecting to see them more.

"When they were gone, the Spaniards and Englishmen would often say to one another, O how peaceably do we now live, since these turbulent fellows have left us! Nothing could be farther from their thoughts than to behold their faces any more; and yet scarce two and twenty days had passed over their heads, but one of the Englishmen, being abroad a planting, perceived at a distance, three men well armed, approaching towards him. Away he flies with speed to our castle, and tells me and the rest, that we were all undone, for that strangers were landed upon the island, and who they were he could not tell; but added that they were not savages but men habited, bearing arms. Why then, said I, we have the less occasion to be concerned, since, if they were not Indians, they must be friends; for I am sure there is no Christian people upon earth, but what will do us good rather than harm. But while we were considering of the event, up came the three Englishmen, whose voices we quickly knew, and so all our admiration of that nature ceased at once. And our wonder was succeeded by another sort of inquiry, which was, what could be the occasion of their returning so quickly to the island, when we little expected, and much less desired their company? But as this was better to be related by themselves, I ordered them to be brought in, when they gave me the following relation of their voyage.

"After two days sail, or something less, they reached land, where they found the people coming to give them another sort of reception than what they expected or desired; for, as the savages were armed with bows and arrows, they durst not venture on shore, but steered northward, six or seven hours, till they gained an opening, by which they plainly perceived, that the land that appeared from this place, was not the main land, but an island. At their entrance into the opening of the sea, they discovered another island, on the right hand northward, and several more lying to the westward; but being resolved to go on shore some where or other, they put over to one of the western islands. Here they found the natives very courteous to them, giving them several roots and dried fish; nay, even their women too were as willing to supply them with what they could procure them to eat, bringing it a great way to them upon their heads. Among these hospitable Indians they continued some days, inquiring by signs and tokens, what nations lay around them; and were informed, that there were, several fierce and terrible people lived every way, accustomed to eat mankind; but for themselves they never used such diet, except those that were taken in battle, and of them they made a solemn feast.

"The Englishmen inquired how long it was since they had a feast of that kind? They answered, about two moons ago, pointing to the moon, and then two fingers; that, at this time, their king had two hundred prisoners, which were fattening up for the slaughter. The Englishmen were mighty desirous of seeing the prisoners, which the others mistaking, thought that they wanted some of them for their own food: upon which they beckoned to them, pointing to the rising, and then to the setting of the sun; meaning, that by the time it appeared in the east next morning, they would bring them some: and indeed they were as good as their word; for by that time they brought eleven men & five women, just as so many cows & oxen are brought to sea-port towns to victual a ship. But as brutish as these Englishmen were, their stomachs turned at the sight. What to do in this case, they could not tell: to refuse the prisoner, would have been the highest affront offered to the savage gentry; and to dispose of them, they knew not, in what manner; however, they resolved to accept them, and so gave them, in return, one of their hatchets, an old key, a knife, and six or seven of their bullets; things which, tho' they were wholly ignorant of, yet of seemed entirely contented with; & dragging the poor wretches into the boat, with their hands bound behind them, delivered them to the Englishmen. But this obliged them to put off as soon as they had these presents, lest the donors should have expected two or three of them to be killed, and to be invited to dinner the next day; and so taking leave with all possible respect and thanks, though neither of them understood what the others said, they sailed away back to the first island, and there set eight of the prisoners at liberty. In their voyage they endeavoured to comfort, and have some conversation with the poor captives; but it was impossible to make them sensible of any thing; and nothing they could say or give, or do for them, could make them otherwise persuaded, but that they were unbound only to be devoured: if they gave them any food, they thought it was only to fatten them for the slaughter; or looked at any one more particularly, the poor creature supposed itself to be the 'first sacrifice'; and even when we brought them to our island, and began to use them with the greatest humanity and kindness, yet they expected every day that their new masters would devour them.

"And thus, Sir, did these three strange wanderers conclude their unaccountable relation of their voyage, which was both amazing and entertaining. Hereupon, I asked them, where there new family was? They told me they had put them into one of their huts, and they came to beg some victuals for them. This, indeed, made us all long to see them; and taking Friday's father with us, leaving only two at our castle, we came down to behold these poor creatures.

"When we arrived at the hut, (they being bound again by the Englishmen, for fear of escaping) we found them stark naked, expecting their fatal tragedy: there were three lusty men, well shaped, with straight and good limbs, between thirty and five and thirty years old; and five women, two of them might be from thirty to forty, two more not above four and twenty; and the last, a comely tall maiden of about seventeen. Indeed, all the women were very agreeable, both in proportion and features, except that they were tawny, which their modest behaviour, and other graces, made amends for, when they afterwards came to be clothed.

"This naked appearance, together with their miserable circumstances, was no very comfortable sight to my Spaniards, who, for their parts, I may venture, Sir, without flattery, to say, are men of the best behaviour, calmest tempers, and sweetest nature, that can possibly be; for they immediately ordered Friday's father to see if he knew any of them, or if he understood what they could say. No sooner did the old Indian appear, but he looked at them with great seriousness; yet, as they were not of his nation, they were utter strangers to him, and none could understand his speech or signs, but one woman. This was enough to answer the design, which was to assure them they would not be killed, being fallen into the hands of Christians, who abhorred such barbarity. When they were fully satisfied of this, they expressed their joy by such strange gestures, and uncommon tones, as it is not possible for me to describe. But the woman their interpreter, was ordered next to enquire, whether they were content to be servants, and would work for the men who had brought them hither to save their lives? Hereupon, (being at this time unbound) they fell a capering and dancing, one taking this thing upon her shoulders, and the other that, intimating, that they were willing to do any thing for them. But now, Sir, having women among us, and dreading that it might occasion some strife, if not blood, I asked the three men 'what they would do, and how they intended to use these creatures, whether as servants or women?' One of them very pertly and readily answered, 'they would use them as both,' Gentlemen, said I as you are your own masters, I am not going to restrain you from that; but methinks, for avoiding dissentions among you, I would only desire you to engage, that none of you will take more than one for a woman or wife, and that having taken this one, none else should presume to touch her; for though we have not yet a priestly authority to marry you, yet it is but reasonable, that whoever thus takes a woman, should be obliged to maintain her, since nobody has any thing to do with her; and this, indeed, appeared so just to all present, that it was unanimously agreed to. The Englishmen then asked my Spaniards, 'whether they designed to take any of them? but they all answered, No; some declaring they had already wives in Spain; and others that they cared not to join with infidels. On the reverse, the Englishmen took each of them a temporary wife, and so set up a new method of living. As to Friday's father, the Spaniards, and the three savage servants we had taken in the late battle, they all lived with me in our ancient castle; and indeed we supplied the main part of the island with food, as necessity required. But the most remarkable part of the story is, how these Englishmen, who had been so much at variance, should agree about the choice of those women; yet they took a way good enough to prevent quarreling among themselves. They let the five women in one of their huts, and going themselves to the other, drew lots which should have the first choice. Now, he that had the first lot went to the hut, and fetched out her he chose; and it is remarkable, that he took her that was the most homely and eldest of the number, which made the rest of the Englishmen exceedingly merry; the Spaniards themselves could not help but smile at it; but as it happened, the fellow had the best thought, in choosing one fit for application and business; and indeed she proved the best wife of all the parcel.

"But when the poor creatures perceived themselves placed in a row, and separated one by one, they were again seized with an unspeakable terror, as now thinking they were going to be slain in earnest; and when the Englishmen came to take the first, the rest set up a lamentable cry, clasped their arms around her neck, and hanging about her, took their last farewell, as they thought, in such trembling agonies, and affectionate embraces, as would have softened the hardest heart in the world, and made the driest eyes melt into tears; nor could they be persuaded but that they were going to die, till such time as Friday's father made them sensible that the Englishmen had chosen them for their wives, which ended all their terror and concern upon this occasion.

"Well, after this, the Englishmen went to work, and being assisted by my good natured Spaniards, in a few hours they, erected every one of them a new hut or tent for their separate lodging, since those they had already were, filled with tools, household stuff, and provision. They all continued on the north shore of the island, but separate as before; the three wicked ones pitching farther off, and the two honest men nearer our castle; so that the island seemed to be peopled in three places, three towns beginning to be built for that purpose. And here I cannot but remark, what is very common, that the two honest men had the worst wives, (I mean as to industry, cleanliness, and ingenuity) while the three reprobates enjoyed women of quite contrary qualities.

"But another observation I made was, in favour of the two honest men, to show what disparity there is between a diligent application to business, on the one hand, and a slothful negligent, and idle temper, on the other. Both of them had the same parcel of ground laid out, and corn to sow, sufficient either in their cultivation or their planting. The two honest men had a multitude of young trees planted about their habitations, so that when you approached near them, nothing appeared but a wood, very pleasing and delightful. Every thing they did prospered and flourished: their grapes, planted in order, seemed as though managed in a vineyard and were infinitely preferable to any of the others. Nor were they wanting to find out a place of retreat, but dug a cave in the most retired part of a thick wood, to secure their wives and children, with their provision and chiefest goods, surrounded with innumerable stakes, and having a most subtle entrance, in case any mischief should happen either from their fellow countrymen, or the devouring savages.