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Daniel Dafoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719)
Summary
of Chapters 11 - 13:
In Chapter 11 of Daniel Dafoe’s Robinson
Crusoe, the castaway has been living
alone on his island for fifteen years. In that time he has worked hard to
establish a plantation which will sustain him. He has planted enough acreage
of corn to make bread for himself each year. He has a thriving herd of goats
which provide him with milk and meat. For companions, Crusoe has a dog, who has grown old and crazy, two cats, and a parrot whom
he has taught to talk. One day, combing the beach, Crusoe is thunderstruck to
come upon the footprint of a man: a single footprint and no other sign of
human to be found. Crusoe has dreamed of finding a companion with whom he can
talk and assuage his terrible loneliness, but his first reaction to a real
human presence is terror: he suspects that he is being haunted by the Devil
and then convinces himself that savage cannibals have come to his island. But
nothing happens, and as more years pass, Crusoe disguises his hut by creating
elaborate defensive fortifications.
In Chapter 12, Crusoe discovers the
remains of a cannibal feast on the opposite side of the island from his
‘plantation’. Crusoe is revolted by the cannibals, and after overcoming his
fear, he lays elaborate plans to destroy them with his muskets and pistols if
they ever return to the island. Upn further
reflection, he agonizes over the morality of such a plan and decides instead
to try to avoid ever encountering them by leading a intensely discreet existence: only rarely
lighting fires and firing his muskets for hunting. He discovers a cave in the
island where he leaves the greater part of his remaining gun powder and plans
to use this as a hiding place if he should ever be discovered.
In Chapter 13, eight years after he
saw the mysterious footprint on the beach., Crusoe
again observes the cannibals feasting, except this time the natives have
beached their canoes on his side of the island. Again, he is revolted by the
cannibals’ barbarism, but he keeps his distance, and eventually, they canoe
away. Later in this episode, Crusoe hears a great gun firing in the night out
at sea, so he lights a signal fire and hears the gun fire several more times.
Days later he discovers the corpse of a sailor on the beach, and he resolves
to use his own dugout canoe to chance the currents and visit what he figures
must be a wreck. He sets out and finds a Spanish ship which had foundered on
rocks off the island, and as he approaches the ship he prays that there might
be a survivor, someone to end his terrible loneliness. All he finds though is
a half starved dog amid the wreckage. He saves the
dog and brings him back to the island to live with him.
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CHAPTER
XIV - A DREAM REALISED
HAVING
now brought all my things on shore and secured them, I went back to my boat,
and rowed or paddled her along the shore to her old harbour,
where I laid her up, and made the best of my way to my old habitation, where
I found everything safe and quiet. I began now to repose myself, live after
my old fashion, and take care of my family affairs; and for a while I lived
easy enough, only that I was more vigilant than I used to be, looked out
oftener, and did not go abroad so much; and if at any time I did stir with
any freedom, it was always to the east part of the island, where I was pretty
well satisfied the savages never came, and where I could go without so many
precautions, and such a load of arms and ammunition as I always carried with
me if I went the other way. I lived in this condition near two years more;
but my unlucky head, that was always to let me know it was born to make my
body miserable, was all these two years filled with projects and designs how,
if it were possible, I might get away from this island: for sometimes I was
for making another voyage to the wreck, though my reason told me that there
was nothing left there worth the hazard of my voyage; sometimes for a ramble
one way, sometimes another - and I believe verily, if I had had the boat that
I went from Sallee in, I should have ventured to
sea, bound anywhere, I knew not whither. I have been, in all my
circumstances, a memento to those who are touched with the general plague of
mankind, whence, for aught I know, one half of their miseries flow: I mean
that of not being satisfied with the station wherein God and Nature hath
placed them - for, not to look back upon my primitive condition, and the
excellent advice of my father, the opposition to which was, as I may call it,
my ORIGINAL SIN, my subsequent mistakes of the same kind had been the means
of my coming into this miserable condition; for had that Providence which so
happily seated me at the Brazils as a planter blessed me with confined
desires, and I could have been contented to have gone on gradually, I might
have been by this time - I mean in the time of my being in this island - one
of the most considerable planters in the Brazils - nay, I am persuaded, that
by the improvements I had made in that little time I lived there, and the
increase I should probably have made if I had remained, I might have been
worth a hundred thousand moidores - and what business had I to leave a settled
fortune, a well-stocked plantation, improving and increasing, to turn
supercargo to Guinea to fetch negroes, when patience and time would have so
increased our stock at home, that we could have bought them at our own door
from those whose business it was to fetch them? and
though it had cost us something more, yet the difference of that price was by
no means worth saving at so great a hazard. But as this is usually the fate
of young heads, so reflection upon the folly of it is as commonly the
exercise of more years, or of the dear-bought experience of time - so it was
with me now; and yet so deep had the mistake taken root in my temper, that I
could not satisfy myself in my station, but was continually poring upon the
means and possibility of my escape from this place; and that I may, with
greater pleasure to the reader, bring on the remaining part of my story, it
may not be improper to give some account of my first conceptions on the
subject of this foolish scheme for my escape, and how, and upon what
foundation, I acted.
I
am now to be supposed retired into my castle, after my late voyage to the
wreck, my frigate laid up and secured under water, as usual, and my condition
restored to what it was before: I had more wealth, indeed, than I had before,
but was not at all the richer; for I had no more use for it than the Indians
of Peru had before the Spaniards came there.
It
was one of the nights in the rainy season in March, the four- and-twentieth
year of my first setting foot in this island of solitude, I was lying in my
bed or hammock, awake, very well in health, had no pain, no distemper, no
uneasiness of body, nor any uneasiness of mind more than ordinary, but could
by no means close my eyes, that is, so as to sleep; no, not a wink all night
long, otherwise than as follows: It is impossible to set down the innumerable
crowd of thoughts that whirled through that great thoroughfare of the brain,
the memory, in this night's time. I ran over the whole history of my life in
miniature, or by abridgment, as I may call it, to my coming to this island,
and also of that part of my life since I came to this island. In my
reflections upon the state of my case since I came on shore on this island, I
was comparing the happy posture of my affairs in the first years of my
habitation here, with the life of anxiety, fear, and care which I had lived
in ever since I had seen the print of a foot in the sand. Not that I did not believe
the savages had frequented the island even all the while, and might have been
several hundreds of them at times on shore there; but I had never known it,
and was incapable of any apprehensions about it; my satisfaction was perfect,
though my danger was the same, and I was as happy in not knowing my danger as
if I had never really been exposed to it. This furnished my thoughts with
many very profitable reflections, and particularly this one: How infinitely
good that Providence is, which has provided, in its government of mankind,
such narrow bounds to his sight and knowledge of things; and though he walks
in the midst of so many thousand dangers, the sight of which, if discovered
to him, would distract his mind and sink his spirits, he is kept serene and
calm, by having the events of things hid from his eyes, and knowing nothing
of the dangers which surround him.
After
these thoughts had for some time entertained me, I came to reflect seriously
upon the real danger I had been in for so many years in this very island, and
how I had walked about in the greatest security, and with all possible tranquillity, even when perhaps nothing but the brow of a
hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night, had been between me and
the worst kind of destruction - viz. that of falling into the hands of
cannibals and savages, who would have seized on me with the same view as I
would on a goat or turtle; and have thought it no more crime to kill and
devour me than I did of a pigeon or a curlew. I would unjustly slander myself
if I should say I was not sincerely thankful to my great Preserver, to whose
singular protection I acknowledged, with great humanity, all these unknown
deliverances were due, and without which I must inevitably have fallen into
their merciless hands.
When
these thoughts were over, my head was for some time taken up in considering
the nature of these wretched creatures, I mean the savages, and how it came
to pass in the world that the wise Governor of all things should give up any
of His creatures to such inhumanity - nay, to something so much below even
brutality itself as to devour its own kind: but as this ended in some (at
that time) fruitless speculations, it occurred to me to inquire what part of
the world these wretches lived in? how far off the
coast was from whence they came? what they ventured
over so far from home for? what kind of boats they
had? and why I might not order myself and my
business so that I might be able to go over thither, as they were to come to
me?
I
never so much as troubled myself to consider what I should do with myself
when I went thither; what would become of me if I fell into the hands of
these savages; or how I should escape them if they attacked me; no, nor so
much as how it was possible for me to reach the coast, and not to be attacked
by some or other of them, without any possibility of delivering myself: and
if I should not fall into their hands, what I should do for provision, or
whither I should bend my course: none of these thoughts, I say, so much as
came in my way; but my mind was wholly bent upon the notion of my passing
over in my boat to the mainland. I looked upon my present condition as the
most miserable that could possibly be; that I was not able to throw myself
into anything but death, that could be called worse; and if I reached the
shore of the main I might perhaps meet with relief, or I might coast along,
as I did on the African shore, till I came to some inhabited country, and
where I might find some relief; and after all, perhaps I might fall in with
some Christian ship that might take me in: and if the worst came to the
worst, I could but die, which would put an end to all these miseries at once.
Pray note, all this was the fruit of a disturbed mind, an impatient temper, made
desperate, as it were, by the long continuance of my troubles, and the
disappointments I had met in the wreck I had been on board of, and where I
had been so near obtaining what I so earnestly longed for - somebody to speak
to, and to learn some knowledge from them of the place where I was, and of
the probable means of my deliverance. I was agitated wholly by these
thoughts; all my calm of mind, in my resignation to Providence, and waiting
the issue of the dispositions of Heaven, seemed to be suspended; and I had as
it were no power to turn my thoughts to anything but to the project of a
voyage to the main, which came upon me with such force, and such an
impetuosity of desire, that it was not to be resisted.
When
this had agitated my thoughts for two hours or more, with such violence that
it set my very blood into a ferment, and my pulse beat as if I had been in a
fever, merely with the extraordinary fervour of my
mind about it, Nature - as if I had been fatigued and exhausted with the very
thoughts of it - threw me into a sound sleep. One would have thought I should
have dreamed of it, but I did not, nor of anything relating to it, but I
dreamed that as I was going out in the morning as usual from my castle, I saw
upon the shore two canoes and eleven savages coming to land, and that they
brought with them another savage whom they were going to kill in order to eat
him; when, on a sudden, the savage that they were going to kill jumped away,
and ran for his life; and I thought in my sleep that he came running into my
little thick grove before my fortification, to hide himself; and that I
seeing him alone, and not perceiving that the others sought him that way,
showed myself to him, and smiling upon him, encouraged him: that he kneeled
down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him; upon which I showed him my
ladder, made him go up, and carried him into my cave, and he became my
servant; and that as soon as I had got this man, I said to myself, "Now
I may certainly venture to the mainland, for this fellow will serve me as a
pilot, and will tell me what to do, and whither to go for provisions, and
whither not to go for fear of being devoured; what places to venture into,
and what to shun." I waked with this thought; and was under such
inexpressible impressions of joy at the prospect of my escape in my dream,
that the disappointments which I felt upon coming to myself, and finding that
it was no more than a dream, were equally extravagant the other way, and
threw me into a very great dejection of spirits.
Upon
this, however, I made this conclusion: that my only way to go about to
attempt an escape was, to endeavour to get a savage
into my possession: and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners,
whom they had condemned to be eaten, and should bring hither to kill. But
these thoughts still were attended with this difficulty: that it was
impossible to effect this without attacking a whole caravan of them, and
killing them all; and this was not only a very desperate attempt, and might
miscarry, but, on the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the lawfulness of it
to myself; and my heart trembled at the thoughts of shedding so much blood,
though it was for my deliverance. I need not repeat the arguments which
occurred to me against this, they being the same mentioned before; but though
I had other reasons to offer now - viz. that those men were enemies to my
life, and would devour me if they could; that it was self-preservation, in
the highest degree, to deliver myself from this death of a life, and was
acting in my own defence as much as if they were
actually assaulting me, and the like; I say though these things argued for
it, yet the thoughts of shedding human blood for my deliverance were very
terrible to me, and such as I could by no means reconcile myself to for a
great while. However, at last, after many secret disputes with myself, and
after great perplexities about it (for all these arguments, one way and
another, struggled in my head a long time), the eager prevailing desire of
deliverance at length mastered all the rest; and I resolved, if possible, to
get one of these savages into my hands, cost what it would. My next thing was
to contrive how to do it, and this, indeed, was very difficult to resolve on;
but as I could pitch upon no probable means for it, so I resolved to put
myself upon the watch, to see them when they came on shore, and leave the
rest to the event; taking such measures as the opportunity should present,
let what would be.
With
these resolutions in my thoughts, I set myself upon the scout as often as
possible, and indeed so often that I was heartily tired of it; for it was
above a year and a half that I waited; and for great part of that time went
out to the west end, and to the south- west corner of the island almost every
day, to look for canoes, but none appeared. This was very discouraging, and
began to trouble me much, though I cannot say that it did in this case (as it
had done some time before) wear off the edge of my desire to the thing; but
the longer it seemed to be delayed, the more eager I was for it: in a word, I
was not at first so careful to shun the sight of these savages, and avoid
being seen by them, as I was now eager to be upon them. Besides, I fancied
myself able to manage one, nay, two or three savages, if I had them, so as to
make them entirely slaves to me, to do whatever I should direct them, and to
prevent their being able at any time to do me any hurt. It was a great while
that I pleased myself with this affair; but nothing still presented itself;
all my fancies and schemes came to nothing, for no savages came near me for a
great while.
About
a year and a half after I entertained these notions (and by long musing had,
as it were, resolved them all into nothing, for want of an occasion to put
them into execution), I was surprised one morning by seeing no less than five
canoes all on shore together on my side the island, and the people who
belonged to them all landed and out of my sight. The number of them broke all
my measures; for seeing so many, and knowing that they always came four or
six, or sometimes more in a boat, I could not tell what to think of it, or
how to take my measures to attack twenty or thirty men single-handed; so lay
still in my castle, perplexed and discomforted. However, I put myself into
the same position for an attack that I had formerly provided, and was just
ready for action, if anything had presented. Having waited a good while,
listening to hear if they made any noise, at length, being very impatient, I
set my guns at the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to the top of the
hill, by my two stages, as usual; standing so, however, that my head did not
appear above the hill, so that they could not perceive me by any means. Here
I observed, by the help of my perspective glass, that they were no less than
thirty in number; that they had a fire kindled, and that they had meat
dressed. How they had cooked it I knew not, or what it was; but they were all
dancing, in I know not how many barbarous gestures and figures, their own
way, round the fire.
While
I was thus looking on them, I perceived, by my perspective, two miserable
wretches dragged from the boats, where, it seems, they were laid by, and were
now brought out for the slaughter. I perceived one of them immediately fall;
being knocked down, I suppose, with a club or wooden sword, for that was
their way; and two or three others were at work immediately, cutting him open
for their cookery, while the other victim was left standing by himself, till
they should be ready for him. In that very moment this poor wretch, seeing
himself a little at liberty and unbound, Nature inspired him with hopes of
life, and he started away from them, and ran with incredible swiftness along
the sands, directly towards me; I mean towards that part of the coast where
my habitation was. I was dreadfully frightened, I must acknowledge, when I
perceived him run my way; and especially when, as I thought, I saw him
pursued by the whole body: and now I expected that part of my dream was
coming to pass, and that he would certainly take shelter in my grove; but I
could not depend, by any means, upon my dream, that the other savages would
not pursue him thither and find him there. However, I kept my station, and my
spirits began to recover when I found that there was not above three men that
followed him; and still more was I encouraged, when I found that he
outstripped them exceedingly in running, and gained ground on them; so that,
if he could but hold out for half-an-hour, I saw easily he would fairly get
away from them all.
There
was between them and my castle the creek, which I mentioned often in the
first part of my story, where I landed my cargoes out of the ship; and this I
saw plainly he must necessarily swim over, or the poor wretch would be taken
there; but when the savage escaping came thither, he made nothing of it,
though the tide was then up; but plunging in, swam through in about thirty
strokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran with exceeding strength and
swiftness. When the three persons came to the creek, I found that two of them
could swim, but the third could not, and that, standing on the other side, he
looked at the others, but went no farther, and soon after went softly back
again; which, as it happened, was very well for him in the end. I observed
that the two who swam were yet more than twice as strong swimming over the
creek as the fellow was that fled from them. It came very warmly upon my
thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was the time to get me a servant,
and, perhaps, a companion or assistant; and that I was plainly called by
Providence to save this poor creature's life. I immediately ran down the
ladders with all possible expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were both
at the foot of the ladders, as I observed before, and getting up again with the
same haste to the top of the hill, I crossed towards the sea; and having a
very short cut, and all down hill, placed myself in
the way between the pursuers and the pursued, hallowing aloud to him that
fled, who, looking back, was at first perhaps as much frightened at me as at
them; but I beckoned with my hand to him to come back; and, in the meantime,
I slowly advanced towards the two that followed; then rushing at once upon
the foremost, I knocked him down with the stock of my piece. I was loath to
fire, because I would not have the rest hear; though, at that distance, it
would not have been easily heard, and being out of sight of the smoke, too,
they would not have known what to make of it. Having knocked this fellow
down, the other who pursued him stopped, as if he had been frightened, and I
advanced towards him: but as I came nearer, I perceived presently he had a
bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at me: so I was then obliged to
shoot at him first, which I did, and killed him at the first shot. The poor
savage who fled, but had stopped, though he saw both his enemies fallen and
killed, as he thought, yet was so frightened with the fire and noise of my
piece that he stood stock still, and neither came forward nor went backward,
though he seemed rather inclined still to fly than to come on. I hallooed
again to him, and made signs to come forward, which he easily understood, and
came a little way; then stopped again, and then a little farther, and stopped
again; and I could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had been
taken prisoner, and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies were. I
beckoned to him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of
encouragement that I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer, kneeling
down every ten or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for saving his
life. I smiled at him, and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to come
still nearer; at length he came close to me; and then he kneeled down again,
kissed the ground, and laid his head upon the ground, and taking me by the
foot, set my foot upon his head; this, it seems, was in token of swearing to
be my slave for ever. I took him up and made much
of him, and encouraged him all I could. But there was more work to do yet;
for I perceived the savage whom I had knocked down was not killed, but
stunned with the blow, and began to come to himself: so I pointed to him, and
showed him the savage, that he was not dead; upon this he spoke some words to
me, and though I could not understand them, yet I thought they were pleasant
to hear; for they were the first sound of a man's voice that I had heard, my
own excepted, for above twenty-five years. But there was no time for such
reflections now; the savage who was knocked down recovered himself so far as
to sit up upon the ground, and I perceived that my savage began to be afraid;
but when I saw that, I presented my other piece at the man, as if I would
shoot him: upon this my savage, for so I call him now, made a motion to me to
lend him my sword, which hung naked in a belt by my side, which I did. He no
sooner had it, but he runs to his enemy, and at one blow cut off his head so
cleverly, no executioner in Germany could have done it sooner or better;
which I thought very strange for one who, I had reason to believe, never saw
a sword in his life before, except their own wooden swords: however, it
seems, as I learned afterwards, they make their wooden swords so sharp, so
heavy, and the wood is so hard, that they will even cut off heads with them,
ay, and arms, and that at one blow, too. When he had done this, he comes
laughing to me in sign of triumph, and brought me the sword again, and with
abundance of gestures which I did not understand, laid it down, with the head
of the savage that he had killed, just before me. But that which astonished
him most was to know how I killed the other Indian so far off; so, pointing
to him, he made signs to me to let him go to him; and I bade him go, as well
as I could. When he came to him, he stood like one amazed, looking at him,
turning him first on one side, then on the other; looked at the wound the
bullet had made, which it seems was just in his breast, where it had made a
hole, and no great quantity of blood had followed; but he had bled inwardly,
for he was quite dead. He took up his bow and arrows, and came back; so I
turned to go away, and beckoned him to follow me, making signs to him that
more might come after them. Upon this he made signs to me that he should bury
them with sand, that they might not be seen by the rest, if they followed;
and so I made signs to him again to do so. He fell to work; and in an instant
he had scraped a hole in the sand with his hands big enough to bury the first
in, and then dragged him into it, and covered him; and did so by the other
also; I believe he had him buried them both in a quarter of an hour. Then,
calling away, I carried him, not to my castle, but quite away to my cave, on
the farther part of the island: so I did not let my dream come to pass in
that part, that he came into my grove for shelter. Here I gave him bread and
a bunch of raisins to eat, and a draught of water, which I found he was
indeed in great distress for, from his running: and having refreshed him, I
made signs for him to go and lie down to sleep, showing him a place where I
had laid some rice-straw, and a blanket upon it, which I used to sleep upon
myself sometimes; so the poor creature lay down, and went to sleep.
He
was a comely, handsome fellow, perfectly well made, with straight, strong
limbs, not too large; tall, and well-shaped; and, as I reckon, about
twenty-six years of age. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce and
surly aspect, but seemed to have something very manly in his face; and yet he
had all the sweetness and softness of a European in his countenance, too,
especially when he smiled. His hair was long and black, not curled like wool;
his forehead very high and large; and a great vivacity and sparkling
sharpness in his eyes. The colour of his skin was
not quite black, but very tawny; and yet not an ugly, yellow, nauseous tawny,
as the Brazilians and Virginians, and other natives of America are, but of a
bright kind of a dun olive-colour, that had in it
something very agreeable, though not very easy to describe. His face was
round and plump; his nose small, not flat, like the negroes; a very good
mouth, thin lips, and his fine teeth well set, and as white as ivory.
After
he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half-an-hour, he awoke again, and
came out of the cave to me: for I had been milking my goats which I had in
the enclosure just by: when he espied me he came running to me, laying
himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an humble,
thankful disposition, making a great many antic gestures to show it. At last
he lays his head flat upon the ground, close to my foot, and sets my other
foot upon his head, as he had done before; and after this made all the signs
to me of subjection, servitude, and submission imaginable, to let me know how
he would serve me so long as he lived. I understood him in many things, and
let him know I was very well pleased with him. In a little time I began to
speak to him; and teach him to speak to me: and first, I let him know his
name should be Friday, which was the day I saved his life: I called him so
for the memory of the time. I likewise taught him to say Master; and then let
him know that was to be my name: I likewise taught him to say Yes and No and
to know the meaning of them. I gave him some milk in an earthen pot, and let
him see me drink it before him, and sop my bread in it; and gave him a cake
of bread to do the like, which he quickly complied with, and made signs that
it was very good for him. I kept there with him all that night; but as soon
as it was day I beckoned to him to come with me, and let him know I would
give him some clothes; at which he seemed very glad, for he was stark naked.
As we went by the place where he had buried the two men, he pointed exactly
to the place, and showed me the marks that he had made to find them again,
making signs to me that we should dig them up again and eat them. At this I
appeared very angry, expressed my abhorrence of it, made as if I would vomit
at the thoughts of it, and beckoned with my hand to him to come away, which
he did immediately, with great submission. I then led him up to the top of
the hill, to see if his enemies were gone; and pulling out my glass I looked,
and saw plainly the place where they had been, but no appearance of them or
their canoes; so that it was plain they were gone, and had left their two
comrades behind them, without any search after them.
But
I was not content with this discovery; but having now more courage, and
consequently more curiosity, I took my man Friday with me, giving him the
sword in his hand, with the bow and arrows at his back, which I found he
could use very dexterously, making him carry one gun for me, and I two for
myself; and away we marched to the place where these creatures had been; for
I had a mind now to get some further intelligence of them. When I came to the
place my very blood ran chill in my veins, and my heart sunk within me, at
the horror of the spectacle; indeed, it was a dreadful sight, at least it was
so to me, though Friday made nothing of it. The place was covered with human
bones, the ground dyed with their blood, and great pieces of flesh left here
and there, half-eaten, mangled, and scorched; and, in short, all the tokens
of the triumphant feast they had been making there, after a victory over
their enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands, and the bones of three or four
legs and feet, and abundance of other parts of the bodies; and Friday, by his
signs, made me understand that they brought over four prisoners to feast
upon; that three of them were eaten up, and that he, pointing to himself, was
the fourth; that there had been a great battle between them and their next
king, of whose subjects, it seems, he had been one, and that they had taken a
great number of prisoners; all which were carried to several places by those
who had taken them in the fight, in order to feast upon them, as was done
here by these wretches upon those they brought hither.
I
caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever remained,
and lay them together in a heap, and make a great fire upon it, and burn them
all to ashes. I found Friday had still a hankering stomach after some of the
flesh, and was still a cannibal in his nature; but I showed so much
abhorrence at the very thoughts of it, and at the least appearance of it, that
he durst not discover it: for I had, by some means, let him know that I would
kill him if he offered it.
When
he had done this, we came back to our castle; and there I fell to work for my
man Friday; and first of all, I gave him a pair of linen drawers, which I had
out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, which I found in the wreck, and
which, with a little alteration, fitted him very well; and then I made him a
jerkin of goat's skin, as well as my skill would allow (for I was now grown a
tolerably good tailor); and I gave him a cap which I made of hare's skin,
very convenient, and fashionable enough; and thus he was clothed, for the
present, tolerably well, and was mighty well pleased to see himself almost as
well clothed as his master. It is true he went awkwardly in these clothes at
first: wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of the
waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a little
easing them where he complained they hurt him, and using himself to them, he
took to them at length very well.
The
next day, after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to consider where I
should lodge him: and that I might do well for him and yet be perfectly easy
myself, I made a little tent for him in the vacant place between my two
fortifications, in the inside of the last, and in the outside of the first.
As there was a door or entrance there into my cave, I made a formal framed
door-case, and a door to it, of boards, and set it up in the passage, a
little within the entrance; and, causing the door to open in the inside, I
barred it up in the night, taking in my ladders, too; so that Friday could no
way come at me in the inside of my innermost wall, without making so much
noise in getting over that it must needs awaken me; for my first wall had now
a complete roof over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up
to the side of the hill; which was again laid across with smaller sticks,
instead of laths, and then thatched over a great thickness with the rice- straw,
which was strong, like reeds; and at the hole or place which was left to go
in or out by the ladder I had placed a kind of trap- door, which, if it had
been attempted on the outside, would not have opened at all, but would have
fallen down and made a great noise - as to weapons, I took them all into my
side every night. But I needed none of all this precaution; for never man had
a more faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me: without
passions, sullenness, or designs, perfectly obliged and engaged; his very
affections were tied to me, like those of a child to a father; and I daresay
he would have sacrificed his life to save mine upon any occasion whatsoever -
the many testimonies he gave me of this put it out of doubt, and soon
convinced me that I needed to use no precautions for my safety on his
account.
This
frequently gave me occasion to observe, and that with wonder, that however it
had pleased God in His providence, and in the government of the works of His
hands, to take from so great a part of the world of His creatures the best
uses to which their faculties and the powers of their souls are adapted, yet
that He has bestowed upon them the same powers, the same reason, the same
affections, the same sentiments of kindness and obligation, the same passions
and resentments of wrongs, the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity,
and all the capacities of doing good and receiving good that He has given to
us; and that when He pleases to offer them occasions of exerting these, they
are as ready, nay, more ready, to apply them to the right uses for which they
were bestowed than we are. This made me very melancholy sometimes, in
reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we make of all
these, even though we have these powers enlightened by the great lamp of
instruction, the Spirit of God, and by the knowledge of His word added to our
understanding; and why it has pleased God to hide the like saving knowledge
from so many millions of souls, who, if I might judge by this poor savage,
would make a much better use of it than we did. From hence I sometimes was
led too far, to invade the sovereignty of Providence, and, as it were,
arraign the justice of so arbitrary a disposition of things, that should hide
that sight from some, and reveal it - to others, and yet expect a like duty
from both; but I shut it up, and checked my thoughts with this conclusion:
first, that we did not know by what light and law these should be condemned;
but that as God was necessarily, and by the nature of His being, infinitely
holy and just, so it could not be, but if these creatures were all sentenced
to absence from Himself, it was on account of sinning against that light
which, as the Scripture says, was a law to themselves, and by such rules as their
consciences would acknowledge to be just, though the foundation was not
discovered to us; and secondly, that still as we all are the clay in the hand
of the potter, no vessel could say to him, "Why hast thou formed me
thus?"
But
to return to my new companion. I was greatly delighted with him, and made it
my business to teach him everything that was proper to make him useful,
handy, and helpful; but especially to make him speak, and understand me when
I spoke; and he was the aptest scholar that ever
was; and particularly was so merry, so constantly diligent, and so pleased
when he could but understand me, or make me understand him, that it was very
pleasant for me to talk to him. Now my life began to be so easy that I began
to say to myself that could I but have been safe from more savages, I cared
not if I was never to remove from the place where I lived.
CHAPTER
XV - FRIDAY'S EDUCATION
AFTER
I had been two or three days returned to my castle, I thought that, in order
to bring Friday off from his horrid way of feeding, and from the relish of a
cannibal's stomach, I ought to let him taste other flesh; so I took him out
with me one morning to the woods. I went, indeed, intending to kill a kid out
of my own flock; and bring it home and dress it; but as I was going I saw a
she-goat lying down in the shade, and two young kids sitting by her. I catched hold of Friday. "Hold," said I,
"stand still;" and made signs to him not to stir: immediately I
presented my piece, shot, and killed one of the kids. The poor creature, who
had at a distance, indeed, seen me kill the savage, his enemy, but did not
know, nor could imagine how it was done, was sensibly surprised, trembled,
and shook, and looked so amazed that I thought he would have sunk down. He
did not see the kid I shot at, or perceive I had killed it, but ripped up his
waistcoat to feel whether he was not wounded; and, as I found presently,
thought I was resolved to kill him: for he came and kneeled down to me, and
embracing my knees, said a great many things I did not understand; but I
could easily see the meaning was to pray me not to kill him.
I
soon found a way to convince him that I would do him no harm; and taking him
up by the hand, laughed at him, and pointing to the kid which I had killed,
beckoned to him to run and fetch it, which he did: and while he was
wondering, and looking to see how the creature was killed, I loaded my gun
again. By-and-by I saw a great fowl, like a hawk, sitting upon a tree within
shot; so, to let Friday understand a little what I would do, I called him to
me again, pointed at the fowl, which was indeed a parrot, though I thought it
had been a hawk; I say, pointing to the parrot, and to my gun, and to the
ground under the parrot, to let him see I would make it fall, I made him
understand that I would shoot and kill that bird; accordingly, I fired, and
bade him look, and immediately he saw the parrot fall. He stood like one
frightened again, notwithstanding all I had said to him; and I found he was
the more amazed, because he did not see me put anything into the gun, but
thought that there must be some wonderful fund of death and destruction in
that thing, able to kill man, beast, bird, or anything near or far off; and
the astonishment this created in him was such as could not wear off for a
long time; and I believe, if I would have let him, he would have worshipped
me and my gun. As for the gun itself, he would not so much as touch it for
several days after; but he would speak to it and talk to it, as if it had
answered him, when he was by himself; which, as I afterwards learned of him,
was to desire it not to kill him. Well, after his astonishment was a little
over at this, I pointed to him to run and fetch the bird I had shot, which he
did, but stayed some time; for the parrot, not being quite dead, had
fluttered away a good distance from the place where she fell: however, he
found her, took her up, and brought her to me; and as I had perceived his
ignorance about the gun before, I took this advantage to charge the gun
again, and not to let him see me do it, that I might be ready for any other
mark that might present; but nothing more offered at that time: so I brought
home the kid, and the same evening I took the skin off, and cut it out as
well as I could; and having a pot fit for that purpose, I boiled or stewed
some of the flesh, and made some very good broth. After I had begun to eat
some I gave some to my man, who seemed very glad of it, and liked it very
well; but that which was strangest to him was to see me eat salt with it. He
made a sign to me that the salt was not good to eat; and putting a little
into his own mouth, he seemed to nauseate it, and would spit and sputter at
it, washing his mouth with fresh water after it: on the other hand, I took
some meat into my mouth without salt, and I pretended to spit and sputter for
want of salt, as much as he had done at the salt; but it would not do; he
would never care for salt with meat or in his broth; at least, not for a
great while, and then but a very little.
Having
thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, I was resolved to feast him the next
day by roasting a piece of the kid: this I did by hanging it before the fire
on a string, as I had seen many people do in England, setting two poles up,
one on each side of the fire, and one across the top, and tying the string to
the cross stick, letting the meat turn continually. This Friday admired very
much; but when he came to taste the flesh, he took so many ways to tell me
how well he liked it, that I could not but understand him: and at last he
told me, as well as he could, he would never eat man's flesh any more, which
I was very glad to hear.
The
next day I set him to work beating some corn out, and sifting it in the
manner I used to do, as I observed before; and he soon understood how to do
it as well as I, especially after he had seen what the meaning of it was, and
that it was to make bread of; for after that I let him see me make my bread,
and bake it too; and in a little time Friday was able to do all the work for
me as well as I could do it myself.
I
began now to consider, that having two mouths to feed instead of one, I must provide
more ground for my harvest, and plant a larger quantity of corn than I used
to do; so I marked out a larger piece of land, and began the fence in the
same manner as before, in which Friday worked not only very willingly and
very hard, but did it very cheerfully: and I told him what it was for; that
it was for corn to make more bread, because he was now with me, and that I
might have enough for him and myself too. He appeared very sensible of that
part, and let me know that he thought I had much more labour
upon me on his account than I had for myself; and that he would work the
harder for me if I would tell him what to do.
This
was the pleasantest year of all the life I led in this place. Friday began to
talk pretty well, and understand the names of almost everything I had
occasion to call for, and of every place I had to send him to, and talked a
great deal to me; so that, in short, I began now to have some use for my
tongue again, which, indeed, I had very little occasion for before. Besides
the pleasure of talking to him, I had a singular satisfaction in the fellow
himself: his simple, unfeigned honesty appeared to me more and more every
day, and I began really to love the creature; and on his side I believe he
loved me more than it was possible for him ever to love anything before.
I
had a mind once to try if he had any inclination for his own country again;
and having taught him English so well that he could answer me almost any
question, I asked him whether the nation that he belonged to never conquered
in battle? At which he smiled, and said - "Yes,
yes, we always fight the better;" that is, he meant always get the
better in fight; and so we began the following discourse:-
MASTER.
- You always fight the better; how came you to be
taken prisoner, then, Friday?
FRIDAY.
- My nation beat much for all that.
MASTER.
- How beat? If your nation beat them, how came you
to be taken?
FRIDAY.
- They more many than my nation, in the place where me was; they take one,
two, three, and me: my nation over-beat them in the yonder place, where me no
was; there my nation take one, two, great thousand.
MASTER.
- But why did not your side recover you from the hands of your enemies, then?
FRIDAY.
- They run, one, two, three, and me, and make go in the canoe; my nation have no canoe that time.
MASTER.
- Well, Friday, and what does your nation do with the men they take? Do they
carry them away and eat them, as these did?
FRIDAY.
- Yes, my nation eat mans too; eat all up.
MASTER.
- Where do they carry them?
FRIDAY.
- Go to other place, where they think.
MASTER.
- Do they come hither?
FRIDAY.
- Yes, yes, they come hither; come other else place.
MASTER.
- Have you been here with them?
FRIDAY.
- Yes, I have been here (points to the NW. side of the island, which, it
seems, was their side).
By
this I understood that my man Friday had formerly been among the savages who
used to come on shore on the farther part of the island, on the same
man-eating occasions he was now brought for; and some time
after, when I took the courage to carry him to that side, being the same I
formerly mentioned, he presently knew the place, and told me he was there
once, when they ate up twenty men, two women, and one child; he could not
tell twenty in English, but he numbered them by laying so many stones in a
row, and pointing to me to tell them over.
I
have told this passage, because it introduces what follows: that after this
discourse I had with him, I asked him how far it was from our island to the
shore, and whether the canoes were not often lost. He told me there was no
danger, no canoes ever lost: but that after a little way out to sea, there
was a current and wind, always one way in the morning, the other in the
afternoon. This I understood to be no more than the sets of the tide, as
going out or coming in; but I afterwards understood it was occasioned by the
great draft and reflux of the mighty river Orinoco, in the mouth or gulf of
which river, as I found afterwards, our island lay; and that this land, which
I perceived to be W. and NW., was the great island Trinidad, on the north
point of the mouth of the river. I asked Friday a thousand questions about
the country, the inhabitants, the sea, the coast, and what nations were near;
he told me all he knew with the greatest openness imaginable. I asked him the
names of the several nations of his sort of people, but could get no other
name than Caribs; from whence I easily understood that these were the Caribbees, which our maps place on the part of America
which reaches from the mouth of the river Orinoco to Guiana,
and onwards to St. Martha. He told me that up a great way beyond the moon,
that was beyond the setting of the moon, which must be west from their
country, there dwelt white bearded men, like me, and pointed to my great
whiskers, which I mentioned before; and that they had killed much mans, that
was his word: by all which I understood he meant the Spaniards, whose
cruelties in America had been spread over the whole country, and were
remembered by all the nations from father to son.
I
inquired if he could tell me how I might go from this island, and get among
those white men. He told me, "Yes, yes, you may go in two canoe." I could not understand what he meant, or make
him describe to me what he meant by two canoe, till at last, with great
difficulty, I found he meant it must be in a large boat, as big as two
canoes. This part of Friday's discourse I began to relish very well; and from
this time I entertained some hopes that, one time or other, I might find an
opportunity to make my escape from this place, and that this poor savage
might be a means to help me.
During
the long time that Friday had now been with me, and that he began to speak to
me, and understand me, I was not wanting to lay a
foundation of religious knowledge in his mind; particularly I asked him one
time, who made him. The creature did not understand me at all, but thought I
had asked who was his father - but I took it up by
another handle, and asked him who made the sea, the ground we walked on, and
the hills and woods. He told me, "It was one Benamuckee, that lived
beyond all;" he could describe nothing of this great person, but that he
was very old, "much older," he said, "than the sea or land,
than the moon or the stars." I asked him then, if this old person had
made all things, why did not all things worship him? He looked very grave,
and, with a perfect look of innocence, said, "All things say O to him." I asked him if the people who die in his
country went away anywhere? He said, "Yes; they all went to Benamuckee." Then I asked him whether those they eat
up went thither too. He said, "Yes."
From
these things, I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the true God; I
told him that the great Maker of all things lived up there, pointing up
towards heaven; that He governed the world by the same power and providence
by which He made it; that He was omnipotent, and could do everything for us,
give everything to us, take everything from us; and thus, by degrees, I
opened his eyes. He listened with great attention, and received with pleasure
the notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us; and of the manner of
making our prayers to God, and His being able to hear us, even in heaven. He
told me one day, that if our God could hear us, up beyond the sun, he must
needs be a greater God than their Benamuckee, who
lived but a little way off, and yet could not hear till they went up to the
great mountains where he dwelt to speak to them. I asked him if ever he went
thither to speak to him. He said, "No; they never went that were young
men; none went thither but the old men," whom he called their Oowokakee; that is, as I made him explain to me, their
religious, or clergy; and that they went to say O (so he called saying
prayers), and then came back and told them what Benamuckee
said. By this I observed, that there is priestcraft
even among the most blinded, ignorant pagans in the world; and the policy of
making a secret of religion, in order to preserve the veneration of the
people to the clergy, not only to be found in the Roman, but, perhaps, among
all religions in the world, even among the most brutish and barbarous
savages.
I
endeavoured to clear up this fraud to my man
Friday; and told him that the pretence of their old
men going up to the mountains to say O to their god
Benamuckee was a cheat; and their bringing word
from thence what he said was much more so; that if they met with any answer,
or spake with any one there, it must be with an
evil spirit; and then I entered into a long discourse with him about the
devil, the origin of him, his rebellion against God, his enmity to man, the
reason of it, his setting himself up in the dark parts of the world to be
worshipped instead of God, and as God, and the many stratagems he made use of
to delude mankind to their ruin; how he had a
secret access to our passions and to our affections, and to adapt his snares
to our inclinations, so as to cause us even to be our own tempters, and run
upon our destruction by our own choice.
I
found it was not so easy to imprint right notions in his mind about the devil
as it was about the being of a God. Nature assisted all my arguments to
evidence to him even the necessity of a great First Cause, an overruling,
governing Power, a secret directing Providence, and of the equity and justice
of paying homage to Him that made us, and the like; but there appeared
nothing of this kind in the notion of an evil spirit, of his origin, his
being, his nature, and above all, of his inclination to do evil, and to draw
us in to do so too; and the poor creature puzzled me once in such a manner,
by a question merely natural and innocent, that I scarce knew what to say to
him. I had been talking a great deal to him of the power of God, His
omnipotence, His aversion to sin, His being a consuming fire to the workers of
iniquity; how, as He had made us all, He could destroy us and all the world in a moment; and he listened with great
seriousness to me all the while. After this I had been telling him how the
devil was God's enemy in the hearts of men, and used all his malice and skill
to defeat the good designs of Providence, and to ruin the kingdom of Christ
in the world, and the like. "Well," says Friday, "but you say
God is so strong, so great; is He not much strong, much might
as the devil?" "Yes, yes," says I,
"Friday; God is stronger than the devil - God is above the devil, and
therefore we pray to God to tread him down under our feet, and enable us to
resist his temptations and quench his fiery darts." "But,"
says he again, "if God much stronger, much might as the wicked devil,
why God no kill the devil, so make him no more do wicked?" I was
strangely surprised at this question; and, after all, though I was now an old
man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill qualified for a casuist or a
solver of difficulties; and at first I could not tell what to say; so I
pretended not to hear him, and asked him what he said; but he was too earnest
for an answer to forget his question, so that he repeated it in the very same
broken words as above. By this time I had recovered myself a little, and I said, "God will at last punish him
severely; he is reserved for the judgment, and is to be cast into the
bottomless pit, to dwell with everlasting fire." This did not satisfy
Friday; but he returns upon me, repeating my words, "'RESERVE AT LAST!'
me no understand - but why not kill the devil now; not kill
great ago?" "You may as well ask me," said I, "why God
does not kill you or me, when we do wicked things
here that offend Him - we are preserved to repent and be pardoned." He
mused some time on this. "Well, well," says he, mighty
affectionately, "that well - so you, I, devil, all wicked, all preserve,
repent, God pardon all." Here I was run down again by him to the last
degree; and it was a testimony to me, how the mere notions of nature, though
they will guide reasonable creatures to the knowledge of a God, and of a
worship or homage due to the supreme being of God, as the consequence of our
nature, yet nothing but divine revelation can form the knowledge of Jesus
Christ, and of redemption purchased for us; of a Mediator of the new
covenant, and of an Intercessor at the footstool of God's throne; I say,
nothing but a revelation from Heaven can form these in the soul; and that,
therefore, the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, I mean the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, promised for the guide
and sanctifier of His people, are the absolutely necessary instructors of the
souls of men in the saving knowledge of God and the means of salvation.
I
therefore diverted the present discourse between me and my man, rising up
hastily, as upon some sudden occasion of going out; then sending him for
something a good way off, I seriously prayed to God that He would enable me
to instruct savingly this poor savage; assisting,
by His Spirit, the heart of the poor ignorant creature to receive the light
of the knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling him to Himself, and would
guide me so to speak to him from the Word of God that his conscience might be
convinced, his eyes opened, and his soul saved. When he came again to me, I
entered into a long discourse with him upon the subject of the redemption of
man by the Saviour of the world, and of the
doctrine of the gospel preached from Heaven, viz. of repentance towards God,
and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus. I then explained to him as well as I
could why our blessed Redeemer took not on Him the nature of angels but the
seed of Abraham; and how, for that reason, the fallen angels had no share in
the redemption; that He came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
and the like.
I
had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge in all the methods I took for
this poor creature's instruction, and must acknowledge, what I believe all
that act upon the same principle will find, that in laying things open to
him, I really informed and instructed myself in many things that either I did
not know or had not fully considered before, but which occurred naturally to
my mind upon searching into them, for the information of this poor savage;
and I had more affection in my inquiry after things upon this occasion than
ever I felt before: so that, whether this poor wild wretch was better for me
or no, I had great reason to be thankful that ever he came to me; my grief
sat lighter, upon me; my habitation grew comfortable to me beyond measure:
and when I reflected that in this solitary life which I have been confined
to, I had not only been moved to look up to heaven myself, and to seek the
Hand that had brought me here, but was now to be made an instrument, under
Providence, to save the life, and, for aught I knew, the soul of a poor
savage, and bring him to the true knowledge of religion and of the Christian
doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, in whom is life eternal; I say,
when I reflected upon all these things, a secret joy ran through every part
of My soul, and I frequently rejoiced that ever I was brought to this place,
which I had so often thought the most dreadful of all afflictions that could
possibly have befallen me.
I
continued in this thankful frame all the remainder of my time; and the
conversation which employed the hours between Friday and me was such as made
the three years which we lived there together perfectly and completely happy,
if any such thing as complete happiness can be formed in a sublunary state.
This savage was now a good Christian, a much better than I; though I have
reason to hope, and bless God for it, that we were equally penitent, and
comforted, restored penitents. We had here the Word of God to read, and no
farther off from His Spirit to instruct than if we had been in England. I
always applied myself, in reading the Scripture, to let him know, as well as
I could, the meaning of what I read; and he again, by his serious inquiries
and questionings, made me, as I said before, a much better scholar in the
Scripture knowledge than I should ever have been by my own mere private
reading. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing here also, from
experience in this retired part of my life, viz. how infinite and
inexpressible a blessing it is that the knowledge of God, and of the doctrine
of salvation by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in the Word of God, so
easy to be received and understood, that, as the bare reading the Scripture
made me capable of understanding enough of my duty to carry me directly on to
the great work of sincere repentance for my sins, and laying hold of a Saviour for life and salvation, to a stated reformation
in practice, and obedience to all God's commands, and this without any
teacher or instructor, I mean human; so the same plain instruction
sufficiently served to the enlightening this savage creature, and bringing
him to be such a Christian as I have known few equal to him in my life.
As
to all the disputes, wrangling, strife, and contention which have happened in
the world about religion, whether niceties in doctrines or schemes of church
government, they were all perfectly useless to us, and, for aught I can yet
see, they have been so to the rest of the world. We had the sure guide to
heaven, viz. the Word of God; and we had, blessed be God, comfortable views
of the Spirit of God teaching and instructing by His word, leading us into
all truth, and making us both willing and obedient to the instruction of His
word. And I cannot see the least use that the greatest knowledge of the
disputed points of religion, which have made such confusion in the world,
would have been to us, if we could have obtained it. But I must go on with
the historical part of things, and take every part in its order.
After
Friday and I became more intimately acquainted, and that he could understand
almost all I said to him, and speak pretty fluently, though in broken
English, to me, I acquainted him with my own history, or at least so much of
it as related to my coming to this place: how I had lived there, and how
long; I let him into the mystery, for such it was to him, of gunpowder and
bullet, and taught him how to shoot. I gave him a knife, which he was
wonderfully delighted with; and I made him a belt, with a frog hanging to it,
such as in England we wear hangers in; and in the frog, instead of a hanger,
I gave him a hatchet, which was not only as good a weapon in some cases, but
much more useful upon other occasions.
I
described to him the country of Europe, particularly England, which I came
from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, how we behaved to one another, and
how we traded in ships to all parts of the world. I gave him an account of
the wreck which I had been on board of, and showed him, as near as I could,
the place where she lay; but she was all beaten in pieces before, and gone. I
showed him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we escaped, and which I
could not stir with my whole strength then; but was now fallen almost all to
pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood, musing a great while, and said
nothing. I asked him what it was he studied upon. At last says he, "Me
see such boat like come to place at my nation." I did not understand him
a good while; but at last, when I had examined further into it, I understood
by him that a boat, such as that had been, came on shore upon the country
where he lived: that is, as he explained it, was driven thither by stress of
weather. I presently imagined that some European ship must have been cast
away upon their coast, and the boat might get loose and drive ashore; but was
so dull that I never once thought of men making their escape from a wreck
thither, much less whence they might come: so I only inquired after a
description of the boat.
Friday
described the boat to me well enough; but brought me better to understand him
when he added with some warmth, "We save the white mans from
drown." Then I presently asked if there were any white mans, as he
called them, in the boat. "Yes," he said; "the boat full of
white mans." I asked him how many. He told upon his fingers seventeen. I
asked him then what became of them. He told me, "They live, they dwell
at my nation."
This
put new thoughts into my head; for I presently imagined that these might be
the men belonging to the ship that was cast away in the sight of my island,
as I now called it; and who, after the ship was struck on the rock, and they
saw her inevitably lost, had saved themselves in their boat, and were landed
upon that wild shore among the savages. Upon this I inquired of him more
critically what was become of them. He assured me they lived still there;
that they had been there about four years; that the savages left them alone,
and gave them victuals to live on. I asked him how it came to pass they did
not kill them and eat them. He said, "No, they make brother with
them;" that is, as I understood him, a truce; and then he added,
"They no eat mans but when make the war fight;" that is to say,
they never eat any men but such as come to fight with them and are taken in
battle.
It
was after this some considerable time, that being upon the top of the hill at
the east side of the island, from whence, as I have said, I had, in a clear
day, discovered the main or continent of America, Friday, the weather being
very serene, looks very earnestly towards the mainland, and, in a kind of
surprise, falls a jumping and dancing, and calls out to me, for I was at some
distance from him. I asked him what was the matter.
"Oh, joy!" says he; "Oh, glad! there
see my country, there my nation!" I observed an extraordinary sense of
pleasure appeared in his face, and his eyes sparkled, and his countenance
discovered a strange eagerness, as if he had a mind to be in his own country
again. This observation of mine put a great many thoughts into me, which made
me at first not so easy about my new man Friday as I was before; and I made
no doubt but that, if Friday could get back to his own nation again, he would
not only forget all his religion but all his obligation to me, and would be
forward enough to give his countrymen an account of me, and come back,
perhaps with a hundred or two of them, and make a feast upon me, at which he
might be as merry as he used to be with those of his enemies when they were
taken in war. But I wronged the poor honest creature very much, for which I
was very sorry afterwards. However, as my jealousy increased, and held some
weeks, I was a little more circumspect, and not so familiar and kind to him
as before: in which I was certainly wrong too; the honest, grateful creature
having no thought about it but what consisted with the best principles, both
as a religious Christian and as a grateful friend, as appeared afterwards to
my full satisfaction.
While
my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure I was every day pumping him to see
if he would discover any of the new thoughts which I suspected were in him;
but I found everything he said was so honest and so innocent, that I could
find nothing to nourish my suspicion; and in spite of all my uneasiness, he
made me at last entirely his own again; nor did he in the least perceive that
I was uneasy, and therefore I could not suspect him of deceit.
One
day, walking up the same hill, but the weather being hazy at sea, so that we
could not see the continent, I called to him, and said, "Friday, do not
you wish yourself in your own country, your own nation?"
"Yes," he said, "I be much O glad to
be at my own nation." "What would you do there?" said I.
"Would you turn wild again, eat men's flesh again, and be a savage as
you were before?" He looked full of concern, and shaking his head, said,
"No, no, Friday tell them to live good; tell them to pray God; tell them
to eat corn-bread, cattle flesh, milk; no eat man again." "Why,
then," said I to him, "they will kill you." He looked grave at
that, and then said, "No, no, they no kill me, they willing love
learn." He meant by this, they would be willing to learn. He added, they learned much of the bearded mans that came in the
boat. Then I asked him if he would go back to them. He smiled at that, and
told me that he could not swim so far. I told him I would make a canoe for
him. He told me he would go if I would go with him. "I go!" says I;
"why, they will eat me if I come there." "No, no," says
he, "me make they no eat you; me make they much love you." He
meant, he would tell them how I had killed his enemies, and saved his life,
and so he would make them love me. Then he told me, as well as he could, how
kind they were to seventeen white men, or bearded men, as he called them who
came on shore there in distress.
From
this time, I confess, I had a mind to venture over, and see if I could
possibly join with those bearded men, who I made no doubt were Spaniards and
Portuguese; not doubting but, if I could, we might find some method to escape
from thence, being upon the continent, and a good company together, better
than I could from an island forty miles off the shore, alone and without
help. So, after some days, I took Friday to work again by way of discourse,
and told him I would give him a boat to go back to his own nation; and,
accordingly, I carried him to my frigate, which lay on the other side of the
island, and having cleared it of water (for I always kept it sunk in water),
I brought it out, showed it him, and we both went into it. I found he was a
most dexterous fellow at managing it, and would make it go almost as swift
again as I could. So when he was in, I said to him, "Well, now, Friday,
shall we go to your nation?" He looked very dull at my saying so; which
it seems was because he thought the boat was too small to go so far. I then
told him I had a bigger; so the next day I went to the place where the first
boat lay which I had made, but which I could not get into the water. He said
that was big enough; but then, as I had taken no care of it,
and it had lain two or three and twenty years there, the sun had so split and
dried it, that it was rotten. Friday told me such a boat would do very well,
and would carry "much enough vittle, drink,
bread;" this was his way of talking.
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