 17 Visit of Mutineers In a little time, however, no more canoes appearing, the fear of their coming wore off, and I began to take my former thoughts of a voyage to the main into consideration, being likewise assured by Friday's father that I might depend upon good usage from their nation, on his account, if I would go. But my thoughts were little suspended when I had a serious discourse with the Spaniard, and when I understood that there were sixteen more of his countrymen and Portuguese, who having been cast away and made their escape to that side, lived there at peace, indeed, with the savages, but were very sore put to it for necessaries, and indeed for life. I asked him all the particulars of their voyage, and found they were a Spanish ship, bound from the Rio de la Plata to the Havana, being directed to leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides and silver, and to bring back what European goods they could meet with there. That they had five Portuguese seamen on board, whom they took out of another wreck, did five of their own men were drowned when first the ship was lost, and that these escaped through infinite dangers and hazards, and arrived almost starved on the cannibal coast, where they expected to have been devoured every moment. He told me they had some arms with them, but they were perfectly useless, for that they had neither powder nor ball, the washing of the sea having spoiled all their powder but a little, which they used at their first landing to provide themselves with some food. I asked him what he thought would become of them there, and if they had formed any design of making their escape. He said they had many consultations about it, but that having neither vessel nor tools to build one, nor provisions of any kind, their councils always ended in tears and despair. I asked him how he thought they would receive a proposal from me, which might tend towards an escape, and whether, if they were all here, it might not be done. I told him with freedom I feared mostly their treachery and ill usage of me, if I put my life in their hands, for that gratitude was no inherent virtue in the nature of man, nor did men always square their dealings by the obligations they had received so much as they did by the advantages they expected. I told him it would be very hard that I should be made the instrument of their deliverance, and that they should afterwards make me their prisoner in New Spain, where an Englishman was certain to be made a sacrifice. What necessity or what accident so ever brought him thither? And that I had rather be delivered up to the savages, and be devoured alive, than to fall into the merciless claws of the priests, and be carried into the inquisition. I added that, otherwise, I was persuaded, if they were all here, we might, with so many hands, build a bark large enough to carry us all away, either to the Brazils southward, or to the islands or Spanish coast northward. But that if, in requital, they should, when I had put weapons into their hands, carry me by force among their own people, I might be ill-used for my kindness to them, and make my case worse than it was before. He answered, with a great deal of candor and ingenuousness, that their condition was so miserable, and that they were so sensible of it, that he believed they would abhor the thought of using any man unkindly, that should contribute to their deliverance. And that, if I pleased, he would go to them with the old man, and discourse with them about it, and return again and bring me their answer. That he would make conditions with them upon their solemn oath, that they should be absolutely under my direction as their commander and captain, and they should swear upon the holy sacraments and gospel to be true to me, and go to such Christian country as I should agree to, and no other, and to be directed wholly and absolutely by my orders till they were landed safely in such country as I intended, and that he would bring a contract from them under their hands for that purpose. Then he told me he would first swear to me himself that he would never stir from me as long as he lived till I gave him orders, and that he would take my side to the last drop of his blood, if there should happen the least breach of faith among his countrymen. He told me they were all of them very civil, honest men, and they were under the greatest distress imaginable, having neither weapons nor clothes nor any food, but at the mercy and discretion of the savages, out of all hopes of ever returning to their own country, and that he was sure, if I would undertake their relief, they would live and die by me. Upon these assurances I resolved to venture to relieve them, if possible, and to send the old savage and this Spaniard over to them to treat. But when we had got all things in readiness to go, the Spaniard himself started an objection, which had so much prudence in it on one hand, and so much sincerity on the other hand, that I could not but be very well satisfied in it, and, by his advice, put off the deliverance of his comrades for at least half a year. The case was thus. He had been with us now about a month, during which time I had let him see in what manner I had provided, with the assistance of providence for my support, and he saw evidently what stock of corn and rice I had laid up, which, though it was more than sufficient for myself, yet it was not sufficient without good husbandry for my family, now it was increased to four, but much less would it be sufficient if his countrymen, who were, as he said, sixteen still alive, should come over, and least of all would it be sufficient to victual our vessel, if we should build one, for a voyage to any of the Christian colonies of America. So he told me he thought it would be more advisable to let him and the other two dig and cultivate some more land, as much as I could spare seed to sow, and that we should wait another harvest, that we might have a supply of corn for his countrymen when they should come, for want might be a temptation to them to disagree or not to think themselves delivered, otherwise than out of one difficulty into another. You know, says he, the children of Israel, though they rejoiced at first for their being delivered out of Egypt, yet rebelled even against God himself that delivered them, when they came to want bread in the wilderness. His caution was so seasonable and his advice so good, that I could not but be very well pleased with his proposal, as well as I was satisfied with his fidelity. So we fell to digging all four of us, as well as the wooden tools we were furnished with, permitted, and in about a month's time, by the end of which it was seed time, we had got as much land cured and trimmed up as we sowed two and twenty bushels of barley on, and sixteen jars of rice, which was, in short, all the seed we had to spare. Indeed, we left ourselves barely sufficient for our own food for the six months that we had to expect our crop. That is to say, reckoning from the time we set our seed aside for sowing, for it is not to be supposed it is six months in the ground in that country. Having now society enough, and our numbers being sufficient to put us out of fear of the savages, if they had come, unless their number had been very great, we went freely all over the island, whenever we found occasion, and as we had our escape or deliverance upon our thoughts, it was impossible, at least for me, to have the means of it out of mine. For this purpose I marked out several trees which I thought fit for our work, and I set Friday and his father to cut them down, and then I caused the Spaniard, to whom I imparted my thoughts on that affair, to oversee and direct their work. I showed them with what indefatigable pains I had hewed a large tree into single planks, and I caused them to do the like, till they made about a dozen large planks of good oak, near two feet broad, thirty-five feet long, and from two inches to four inches thick. What prodigious labour it took up, any one may imagine. At the same time I contrived to increase my little flock of tame goats as much as I could, and for this purpose I made Friday and the Spaniard go out one day, and myself with Friday the next day, for we took our turns, and by this means we got about twenty young kids to breed up with the rest, for whenever we shot the damn we saved the kids, and added them to our flock. But above all, the season for curing the grapes coming on, I caused such a prodigious quantity to be hung up in the sun, that I believe, had we been at Alicante, where the raisins of the sun are cured, we could have filled sixty or eighty barrels, and these, with our bread, formed a great part of our food. Very good living too, I assure you, for they are exceedingly nourishing. It was now harvest, and our crop in good order. It was not the most plentiful increase I had seen in the island, but, however, it was enough to answer our end. For, from twenty-two bushels of barley we brought in, and thrashed out above two hundred and twenty bushels, and the like in proportion of the rice, which was store enough for our food to the next harvest, though all sixteen Spaniards had been on shore with me. Or, if we had been ready for a voyage, it would very plentifully have victualed our ship to have carried us to any part of the world, that is to say, any part of America. When we had thus housed and secured our magazine of corn, we fell to work to make more wicker ware, that is, great baskets in which we kept it, and the Spaniard was very handy and dexterous at this part, and often blamed me that I did not make some things for defence of this kind of work, but I saw no need of it. And now, having a full supply of food for all the guests I expected, I gave the Spaniard leave to go over to the Main, to see what he could do with those he had left behind him there. I gave him a strict charge not to bring any man who would not first swear in the presence of himself and the old savage, that he would in no way injure, fight with, or attack the person he should find in the island, who was so kind as to send for them in order to their deliverance. But that they would stand by him and defend him against all such attempts, and wherever they went, would be entirely under and subjected to his command, and that this should be put in writing and signed in their hands. How they were to have done this, when I knew they had neither pen nor ink, was a question which we never asked. Under these instructions the Spaniard and the old savage, the father of Friday, went away in one of the knoves which they might be said to have come in, or rather were brought in, when they came as prisoners to be devoured by the savages. I gave each of them a musket with a fire-lock on it, and about eight charges of powder and ball, charging them to be very good husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent occasions. This was a cheerful work, being the first measures used by me in view of my deliverance for now twenty-seven years and some days. I gave them provisions of bread and of dried grapes, sufficient for themselves for many days, and sufficient for all the Spaniards, for about eight days' time, and wishing them a good voyage I saw them go, agreeing with them about a signal they should hang out at their return, by which I should know them again when they came back, at a distance, before they came on shore. They went away with a fair gale on the day that the moon was at full, by my account, in the month of October, but as for an exact reckoning of days, after I had once lost it I could never recover it again, nor had I kept even the number of years so punctually as to be sure I was right, though, as it proved when I afterwards examined my account, I found I had kept a true reckoning of years. It was no less than eight days I had waited for them, when a strange and unforeseen accident intervened, of which the like has not perhaps been heard of in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning, when my man Friday came running into me, and called aloud, Master! Master! They are come! They are come! I jumped up, and regardless of danger I went, as soon as I could get my clothes on, through my little grove, which by the way was by this time grown to be a very thick wood, I say, regardless of danger I went without my arms, which was not my custom to do, but I was surprised when, turning my eyes to the sea, I presently saw a boat at about a league and a half distance, standing in for the shore, with a shoulder of mutton sail, as they call it, and the wind blowing pretty fair to bring them in. Also I observed presently that they did not come from that side which the shore lay on, but from the southernmost end of the island. Upon this I called Friday in, and bade him lie close, for these were not the people we looked for, and that we might not know yet whether they were friends or enemies. In the next place I went in to fetch my perspective glass to see what I could make of them, and having taken the ladder out, I climbed to the top of the hill, as I used to do when I was apprehensive of anything, and to take my view of the plainer without being discovered. I had scarce set my foot upon the hill when my eye plainly discovered a ship lying at anchor, at about two leagues and a half distance from me, south-southeast, but not above a league and a half from the shore. By my observation it appeared plainly to be an English ship, and the boat appeared to be an English longboat. I cannot express the confusion I was in, though the joy of seeing a ship, and one that I had reason to believe was manned by my own countrymen and consequently friends, was such as I cannot describe, but yet I had some secret doubts hung about me, I cannot tell from whence they came, bidding me keep upon my guard. In the first place it occurred to me to consider what business an English ship could have in that part of the world, since it was not the way to or from any part of the world where the English had any traffic, and I knew there had been no storms to drive them in there, in distress, and that if they were really English it was most probable that they were here upon no good design, and that I had better continue as I was than fall into the hands of thieves and murderers. Let no man despise the secret hints and notices of danger which sometimes are given him when he may think there is no possibility of its being real. That such hints and notices are given us, I believe, few that have made any observation of things can deny, that they are certain discoveries of an invisible world, and a converse of spirits we cannot doubt, and if the tendency of them seems to be to warn us of danger, why should we not suppose they are from some friendly agent, whether supreme or inferior and subordinate is not the question, and that they are given for our good? The present question abundantly confirms me in the justice of this reasoning, for had I not been made cautious by this secret admonition, commit from whence it will, I had been done inevitably and in a far worse condition than before, as you will see presently. I had not kept myself long in this posture till I saw the boat draw near the shore, as if they looked for a creek to thrust in at, for the convenience of landing. However, as they did not come quite far enough they did not see the little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts, but ran their boat on shore upon the beach, at about a half a mile from me, which was very happy for me, for otherwise they would have landed just at my door, as I may say, and would soon have beaten me out of my castle, and perhaps have plundered me of all I had. When they were on shore I was fully satisfied they were Englishmen, at least most of them. One or two I thought were Dutch, but it did not prove so. There were in all eleven men, where of three of them I found were unarmed, and as I thought, bound, and when the first four or five of them were jumped on shore, they took those three out of the boat as prisoners. One of the three I could perceive using the most passionate gestures of entreaty, affliction, and despair, even to a kind of extravagance. The other two I could perceive, lifted up their hands sometimes, and appeared concerned indeed, but not to such a degree as the first. I was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not what the meaning of it should be. Friday called out to me in English, as well as he could, Oh, master, you see Englishmen's eat prisoner as well as savage men's! Why, Friday, says I, do you think they are going to eat them, then? Yes, says Friday. They will eat them. No, no, says I. Friday I am afraid they will murder them indeed, but you may be sure they will not eat them. All this while I had no thought of what the matter really was, but stood trembling with the horror of the sight, expecting every moment when the three prisoners should be killed. Nay, once I saw one of the villains lift up his arm with a great cutlass, as the seamen call it, or sword, to strike one of the poor men, and I expected to see him fall every moment, at which all the blood in my body seemed to run chill in my veins. I wished heartily now for the Spaniard, and the savage that had gone with him, or that I had any way to have come undiscovered within shot of them, that I might have secured the three men, for I saw no firearms they had among them, but it fell out to my mind another way. After I had observed the outrageous usage of the three men by the insolent seamen, I observed the fellows run scattering about the island, as if they wanted to see the country. I observed that the three other men had liberty to go also where they pleased, but they sat down all three upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like men in despair. This put me in mind of the first time when I came on shore, and began to look about me, how I gave myself over for lost, how wildly I looked around me, what dreadful apprehensions I had, and how I lodged in the tree all night for fear of being devoured by wild beasts. As I knew nothing that night of the supply I was to receive by the providential driving of the ship, nearer the land by the storms and tide, by which I have since been so long nourished and supported, so these three poor desolate men knew nothing how certain of deliverance and supply they were, how near it was to them, and how effectually and really they were in a condition of safety, at the same time that they thought themselves lost and their case desperate. So little do we see before us in the world, and so much reason have we to depend cheerfully upon the great maker of the world, that he does not leave his creatures so absolutely destitute, but that in the worst circumstances they have always something to be thankful for, and sometimes are nearer deliverance than they imagine, nay, are even brought to their deliverance by the means by which they seem to be brought to their destruction. It was just at high water when these people came on shore, and while they rambled about to see what kind of a place they were in, they had carelessly stayed till the tide was spent, and the water was ebbed considerably away, leaving their boat aground. They had left two men in the boat, who as I found afterwards, having drunk a little too much brandy, fell asleep. However, one of them waking a little sooner than the other and finding the boat too fast aground for him to stir it, hallowed out for the rest, who were straggling about, upon which they all soon came to the boat, but it was past all their strength to launcher, the boat being very heavy, and the shore on that side being a soft, oozy sand, almost like a quick sand. In this condition, like true seamen, who are perhaps the least of all mankind given to forethought, they gave it over, and away they strolled about the country again, and I heard one of them say aloud to another, calling them off from the boat, Why, let her alone, Jack, can't you? She'll float next tide, by which I was fully confirmed in the main inquiry of what countrymen they were. All this while I kept myself very close, not once daring to stir out of my castle any farther than to my place of observation near the top of the hill, and very glad I was to think how well it was fortified. I knew it was no less than ten hours before the boat could float again, and by that time it would be dark, and I might be at more liberty to see their motions and to hear their discourse if they had any. In the meantime I fitted myself up for a battle as before, though with more caution knowing I had to do with another kind of enemy than I had at first. I ordered Friday also, whom I had made an excellent marksman with his gun, to load himself with arms. I took myself two fouling pieces, and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, was very fierce. I had my formidable goatskin coat on, with the great cap I have mentioned, two pistols in my belt, and a gun upon each shoulder. It was my design, as I said above, not to have made any attempt till it was dark. But about two o'clock, being the heat of the day, I found that they were all gone straggling into the woods, and, as I thought, laid down to sleep. The three poor distressed men, too anxious for their condition to get any sleep, had, however, sat down under the shelter of a great tree at about a quarter of a mile from me, and, as I thought, out of sight of any of the rest. Upon this I resolved to discover myself to them, and learn something of their condition. Immediately I marched as above, my man Friday at a good distance behind me, as formidable for his arms as I, but not making quite so staring a specter-like figure as I did. I came as near them undiscovered as I could, and then, before any of them saw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish. What are you, gentlemen? They started up at the noise, but were ten times more confounded when they saw me, and the uncouth figure that I made. They made no answer at all, but I thought I perceived them just going to fly from me, when I spoke to them in English. Gentlemen, said I, do not be surprised at me. Perhaps you may have a friend near when you did not expect it. He must be sent directly from heaven, then, said one of them very gravely to me, and pulling off his hat at the same time to me, for our condition is past the help of man. All help is from heaven, sir, said I, but can you put a stranger in the way to help you? For you seem to be in some great distress. I saw you when you landed, and when you seemed to make application to the brutes that came with you, I saw one of them lift up his sword to kill you. The poor man, with tears running down his face and trembling, looked like one astonished, returned, Am I talking to God or man? Is it a real man or an angel? Be it no fear about that, sir, said I, if God had sent an angel to relieve you, he would have come better clothed and armed after another manor than you see me. Pray lay aside your fears. I am a man, an Englishman, and disposed to assist you. You see, I have one servant only. We have arms in ammunition. Tell us freely. Can we serve you? What is your case? Our case, sir, said he, is too long to tell you while our murderers are so near us. But in short, sir, I was commander of that ship. My men have mutinyed against me. They have been hardly prevailed on not to murder me, and at last have set me on shore in this desolate place with these two men with me, one my mate, the other a passenger, where we expected to perish, believing the place to be uninhabited, and know not yet what to think of it. Where are these brutes, your enemies? said I. Do you know where they are gone? There they lie, sir, said he, pointing to a thicket of trees. My heart trembles for fear they have seen us and heard you speak. If they have, they will certainly murder us all. Have they any firearms? said I. He answered, They had only two pieces, one of which they left in the boat. Well, then, said I, leave the rest to me. I see they are all asleep. It is an easy thing to kill them all. But shall we rather take them prisoners? He told me there were two desperate villains among them that it was scarce safe to show any mercy to. But if they were secured, he believed all the rest would return to their duty. I asked him which they were. He told me he could not at that distance distinguish them, but he would obey my orders in anything I would direct. Well, says I, let us retreat out of their view or hearing lest they awake, and we will resolve further. So they willingly went back with me till the woods covered us from them. Look you, sir, said I, if I venture upon your deliverance, are you willing to make two conditions with me? He anticipated my proposals by telling me that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be wholly directed and commanded by me and everything, and if the ship was not recovered, he would live and die with me in what part of the world so ever I would send him, and the two other men said the same. Well, says I, my conditions are but two. First, that while you stay in this island with me, you will not pretend to any authority here, and if I put arms in your hands, you will, upon all occasions, give them up to me, and do no prejudice to me or mine upon this island, and in the meantime be governed by my orders. Secondly, that if the ship is or may be recovered, you will carry me and my man to England passage-free. He gave me all the assurances that the invention or faith of man could devise, that he would comply with these most reasonable demands, and besides would owe his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occasions as long as he lived. Well, then, said I, here are three muskets for you, with powder and ball. Tell me next what you think is proper to be done. He showed all the testimonies of his gratitude that he was able, but offered to be wholly guided by me. I told him I thought it was very hard venturing anything, but the best method I could think of was to fire on them at once as they lay, and if any were not killed at the first volley, and offered to submit, we might save them, and so put it wholly upon God's providence to direct the shot. He said, very modestly, that he was loath to kill them if he could help it, but that those two were incorrigible villains, and had been the authors of all the mutiny in the ship, and if they escaped, we should be undone still, for they would go on board and bring the whole ship's company, and destroy us all. Well, then, says I, necessity legitimates my advice, for it is the only way to save our lives. However, seeing him still cautious of shedding blood, I told him they should go themselves and manage as they found convenient. In the middle of this discourse we heard some of them awake, and soon after we saw two of them on their feet. I asked him if either of them were the heads of the mutiny. He said, no. Well, then, said I, you may let them escape, and providence seems to have awakened them on purpose to save themselves. Now, says I, if the rest escape you, it is your fault. Animated with this he took the musketeye given him in his hand, and a pistol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with each a piece in his hand. The two men who were with him going first made some noise, at which one of the seamen who was awake turned about, and seeing them coming cried out to the rest, but was too late then, for the moment he cried out they fired. I mean the two men, the captain wisely reserving his own peace. They had so well aimed their shot at the men they knew, that one of them was killed on the spot, and the other very much wounded, but not being dead he started up on his feet, and called eagerly for help to the other. But the captain stepping to him, told him it was too late to cry for help, he should call upon God to forgive his villainy, and with that word knocked him down with the stock of his musketeye, so that he never spoke more. There were three more in the company, and one of them was slightly wounded. By this time I was come, and when they saw their danger, and that it was in vain to resist, they begged for mercy. The captain told them he would spare their lives if they would give him an assurance of their abhorrence of the treachery they had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful to him in recovering the ship, and afterwards in carrying her back to Jamaica from whence they came. They gave him all the protestations of their sincerity that could be desired, and he was willing to believe them and spare their lives, which I was not against, only that I obliged him to keep them bound hand and foot while they were on the island. While this was doing I sent Friday with the captain's mate to the boat with orders to secure her, and bring away the oars and sails, which they did, and by and by three straggling men that were happily for them, parted from the rest, came back upon hearing the guns fired, and seeing the captain who was before their prisoner, now their conqueror, they submitted to be bound also, and so our victory was complete. It now remained that the captain and I should inquire into one another's circumstances. I began first, and told him my whole story, which he heard with an attention even to amazement, and particularly at the wonderful manner of my being furnished with provisions and ammunition, and indeed, as my story is a whole collection of wonders, it affected him deeply. But when he reflected from thence upon himself, and how I seemed to have been preserved there on purpose to save his life, the tears ran down his face, and he could not speak a word more. After this communication was at an end, I carried him and his two men into my apartment, leading them in just where I came out, that is, at the top of the house, where I refreshed them with such provisions as I had, and showed them all the contrivances I had made during my long, long inhabiting that place. All I showed them, all I said to them, was perfectly amazing. But above all, the captain admired my fortification, and how perfectly I had concealed my retreat with a grove of trees, which having been now planted nearly twenty years, and the trees growing much faster than in England, was become a little wood, so thick that it was impassable in any part of it but at that one side where I had reserved my little winding passage into it. I told him this was my castle and my residence, but that I had a seat in the country, as most princes have, whither I could retreat upon occasion, and I would show him that too another time. But at present our business was to consider how to recover the ship. He agreed with me as to that, but told me he was perfectly at a loss what measures to take, for that there were still six and twenty hands on board, who, having entered into a cursed conspiracy by which they had all forfeited their lives to the law, would be hardened in it now by desperation, and would carry it on, knowing that if they were subdued they would be brought to the gallows as soon as they came to England, or to any of the English colonies, and that therefore there would be no attacking them with so small a number as we were. I amused for some time on what he had said, and found it was a very rational conclusion, and that therefore something was to be resolved on speedily, as well to draw the men on board into some snare for their surprise, as to prevent their landing upon us and destroying us. Upon this it presently occurred to me that in a little while the ship's crew, wondering what was become of their comrades and of the boat, would certainly come on shore in their other boat to look for them, and that then perhaps they might come armed and be too strong for us. This he allowed to be rational. On this I told him the first thing we had to do was to stave the boat which lay upon the beach, so that they might not carry her off, and taking everything out of her, leave her so far useless as not to be fit to swim. Accordingly we went on board, took the arms which were left on board out of her, and whatever else we found there, which was a bottle of brandy, and another of rum, a few biscuit cakes, a horn of powder, and a great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas, the sugar was five or six pounds, all of which was very welcome to me, especially the brandy and sugar, of which I had had none left for many years. When we had carried all these things on shore, the oars, mast, sail, and rudder of the boat were carried away before, we knocked a great hold in her bottom, that if they had come strong enough to master us, yet they could not carry off the boat. Indeed, it was not so much in my thoughts that we could be able to recover the ship, but my view was that if they went away without the boat, I did not much question to make her again fit to carry as to the leeward islands, and call upon our friends the Spaniards in my way, for I had them still in my thoughts. CHAPTER XVIII. THE SHIP RECOVERED While we were thus preparing our designs, and had first, by main strength, heaved the boat upon the beach, so high that the tide would not float her off at high water-mark, and besides had broke a hold in her bottom too big to be quickly stopped, and were set down musing what we should do, we heard the ship fire a gun, and make a waft with her ensign as a signal for the boat to come on board, but no boat stirred, and they fired several times, making other signals for the boat. At last, when all their signals and firing proved fruitless, and they found the boat did not stir, we saw them, by the help of my glasses, hoist another boat out and rowed towards the shore, and we found as they approached that there were no less than ten men in her, and that they had firearms with them. As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore we had a full view of them as they came, and a plain sight even of their faces, because the tide having set them a little to the east of the other boat, they rowed up under shore to come to the same place where the other had landed, and where the boat lay. By this means I say we had a full view of them, and the captain knew the persons and characters of all the men in the boat, of whom he said there were three very honest fellows, who, he was sure, were led into this conspiracy by the rest, being overpowered and frightened. But that is for the Boson, who it seems was the chief officer among them, and all the rest they were as outrageous as any of the ship's crew, and for no doubt made desperate in their new enterprise, and terribly apprehensive he was that they would be too powerful for us. I smiled at him, and told him that men in our circumstances were past the operation of fear, that seeing almost every condition that could be was better than that which we were supposed to be in. We ought to expect that the consequence, whether death or life, would be sure to be a deliverance. I asked him what he thought of the circumstances of my life, and whether a deliverance were not worth venturing for. And where, sir, said I, is your belief of my being preserved here on purpose to save your life, which elevated you a little while ago? For my part, said I, there seems to be but one thing amiss in all the prospect of it. What is that? say he. Why, said I, it is that as you say there are three or four honest fellows among them which should be spared, had they been all of the wicked part of the crew I should have thought God's providence had singled them out to deliver them into your hands. For depend upon it. Every man that comes ashore is our own, and shall die or live as they behave to us. As I spoke this with a raised voice and cheerful countenance, I found it greatly encouraged him, so we set vigorously to our business. We had, upon the first appearance of the boats coming from the ship, considered of separating our prisoners, and we had indeed secured them effectually. Two of them, of whom the captain was less assured than ordinary, I sent with Friday, and one of the three delivered men to my cave, where they were remote enough and out of danger of being heard or discovered, were of finding their way out of the woods if they could have delivered themselves. Here they left them bound, but gave them provisions, and promised them, if they continued there quietly, to give them their liberty in a day or two, but that if they attempted their escape they should be put to death without mercy. They promised faithfully to bear their confinement with patience, and were very thankful that they had such good usage as to have provisions and light left them, for Friday gave them candles, such as we made ourselves, for their comfort, and they did not know but that he stood sentinel over them at the entrance. The other prisoners had better usage. Two of them were kept pinioned, indeed, because the captain was not able to trust them, but the other two were taken into my service, upon the captain's recommendation, and upon their solemnly engaging to live and die with us. So with them and the three honest men we were seven men, well-armed, and I made no doubt we should be able to deal well enough with the ten that were coming, considering that the captain had said there were three or four honest men among them also. As soon as they got to the place where their other boat lay, they ran their boat into the beach, and came all on shore, hauling the boat up after them, which I was glad to see, for I was afraid they would rather have left the boat at an anchor some distance from the shore, with some hands in her to guard her, and so we should not be able to seize the boat. Being on shore, the first thing they did, they ran all to their other boat, and it was easy to see they were under a great surprise to find her stripped, as above, of all that was in her, and a great hole in her bottom. After they had mused a while upon this, they set up two or three great shouts, hallowing with all their might, to try if they could make their companions here. But all was to no purpose. Then they came all close in a ring, and fired a volley of their small arms, which indeed we heard, and the echoes made the wood's ring. But it was all one. Those in the cave we were sure could not hear, and those in our keeping, though they heard it well enough, yet durst give no answer to them. They were so astonished at the surprise of this, that, as they told us afterwards, they resolved to go all on board again to their ship, and let them know that the men were all murdered, and the longboat staved. Accordingly, they immediately launched their boat again, and got all of them on board. The captain was terribly amazed, and even confounded at this, believing they would go on board the ship again, and set sail, giving their comrades over for lost, and so we should still lose the ship, which he was in hopes we should have recovered. But he was quickly as much frightened the other way. They had not been long put off with the boat when we perceived them all coming on shore again, but with this new measure in their conduct, which it seems they consulted together upon. That is, to leave three men in the boat, and the rest to go on shore, and go up into the country to look for their fellows. This was a great disappointment to us, for now we were at a loss what to do, as our seizing those seven men on shore would be no advantage to us if we let the boat escape, because they would row away to the ship, and then the rest of them would be sure to weigh and set sail, and so our recovering the ship would be lost. However we had no remedy but to wait and see what the issue of things might present. The seven men came on shore, and the three who remained in the boat put her off to a good distance from the shore, and came to an anchor to wait for them, so that it was impossible for us to come at them in the boat. Those that came on shore kept close together, marching towards the top of the little hill under which my habitation lay, and we could see them plainly, though they could not perceive us. We should have been very glad if they would have come nearer us, so that we might have fired at them, or that they would have gone farther off that we might come abroad. But when they were come to the brow of the hill where they could see a great way into the valleys and woods, which lay towards the northeast part, and where the island lay lowest, they shouted and hallowed till they were weary, and not caring, it seems, to venture far from the shore, nor far from one another, they sat down together under a tree to consider it. Had they thought fit to have gone to sleep there, as the other part of them had done, they had done the job for us. But they were too full of apprehensions of danger to venture to go to sleep, though they could not tell what the danger was they had to fear. The captain made a very just proposal to me upon this consultation of theirs. That is, that perhaps they would all fire a volley again to endeavor to make their fellows here, and that we should all sally upon them just at the juncture when their pieces were all discharged, and they would certainly yield, and we should have them without bloodshed. I liked this proposal, provided it was done while we were near enough to come up to them before they could load their pieces again. But this event did not happen, and we lay still a long time, very irresolute what course to take. At length I told them there would be nothing done in my opinion till night, and then, if they did not return to the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get between them and the shore, and so might use some stratagem with them in the boat to get them on shore. We waited a great while, though very impatient for their removing, and were very uneasy when, after long consultation, we saw them all start up and march down towards the sea. It seems they had such dreadful apprehensions of the danger of the place that they resolved to go on board the ship again, give their companions over for lost, and so go on with their intended voyage with the ship. As soon as I had perceived them go towards the shore, I imagined it to be as it really was that they had given over their search, and were going back again, and the captain, as soon as I told him my thoughts, was ready to sink at the apprehensions of it. But I presently thought of a stratagem to fetch them back again, and which answered my end to a tittle. I ordered Friday and the captain's mate to go over the little creek westward, towards the place where the savages came on shore, when Friday was rescued, and so soon as they came to a little rising ground, at about half a mile distant, I bid them, halloo out, as loud as they could, and wait till they found the seamen heard them. That as soon as ever they heard the seamen answer them, they should return it again, and then, keeping out of sight, take a round, always answering when the others hallowed, to draw them as far into the island and among the woods as possible, and then wheel about again to me by such ways as I directed them. They were just going into the boat when Friday and the mate hallooed, and they presently heard them, and answering, ran along the shore westward, towards the voice they heard, when they were stopped by the creek, where the water being up, they could not get over, and called for the boat to come up and set them over, as indeed I expected. When they had set themselves over, I observed that the boat being gone a good way into the creek, and as it were, in a harbour within the land, they took one of the three men out of her to go along with them, and left only two in the boat, having fastened her to the stump of a little tree on the shore. This was what I wished for, and immediately leaving Friday and the captain's mate to their business, I took the rest with me, and crossing the creek out of their sight, we surprised the two men before they were aware, one of them lying on the shore, and the other being in the boat. The fellow on shore was between sleeping and waking, and going to start up. The captain, who was foremost, ran in upon him and knocked him down, and then called out to him and the boat to yield, or he was a dead man. They needed very few arguments to persuade a single man to yield, when he saw five men upon him, and his comrade knocked down. Besides, this was, it seems, one of the three who were not so hardy in the mutiny as the rest of the crew, and therefore was easily persuaded not only to yield, but afterwards to join very sincerely with us. In the meantime, Friday and the captain's mate so well managed their business with the rest that they drew them, by hallowing and answering, from one hill to another, and from one wood to another, till they not only heartily tired them, but left them where they were, very sure they could not reach back to the boat before it was dark, and indeed, they were heartily tired themselves also by the time they came back to us. We had nothing now to do but to watch for them in the dark, and to fall upon them so as to make sure work with them. It was several hours after Friday came back to me before they came back to their boat, and we could hear the foremost of them, long before they came quite up, calling to those behind to come along, and could also hear them answer, and complain how lame and tired they were, and not able to come any faster, which was very welcome news to us. At length they came up to the boat, but it is impossible to express their confusion when they found the boat fast aground in the creek, the tide ebbed out, and their two men gone. We could hear them call one to another in a most lamentable manner, telling one another they were gotten to an enchanted island that either there were inhabitants in it, and they should all be murdered, or else there were devils and spirits in it, and they should all be carried away and devoured. They helled again, and called their two comrades by their names a great many times, but no answer. After some time we could see them, by the little light there was, gone about, wringing their hands like men in despair, and sometimes they would go and sit down in the boat to rest themselves, then come ashore again, and walk about again, and so the same thing over again. My men would fain have had me give them leave to fall upon them at once in the dark, but I was willing to take them at some advantage, so as to spare them, and kill as few of them as I could, and especially I was unwilling to hazard the killing of any of our men, knowing the others were very well armed. I resolved to wait, to see if they did not separate, and therefore to make sure of them I drew my ambuscade nearer, and ordered Friday and the Captain to creep upon their hands and feet as close to the ground as they could, that they might not be discovered, and get as near them as they possibly could before they offered to fire. They had not been long in that posture when the Bosun, who was the principal ringleader of the mutiny, had had now shown himself the most dejected and dispirited of all the rest, came walking towards them with two more of the crew. The Captain was so eager at having this principal rogue so much in his power, that he could hardly have patience to let him come so near as to be sure of him, for they only heard his tongue before. But when they came nearer, the Captain and Friday, starting up on their feet, let fly at them. The Bosun was killed upon the spot. The next man was shot in the body and fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour or two after, and the third ran for it. At the noise of the fire I immediately advanced with my whole army, which was now eight men, with myself, General Lissimo, Friday, my Lieutenant General, the Captain and his two men, and the three prisoners of war whom we had trusted with arms. We came upon them indeed in the dark, so that they could not see our number, and I made the man they had left in the boat, who was now one of us, to call them by name, to try if I could bring them to a parlay, and so perhaps might reduce them to terms, which fell out just as we desired. For indeed it was easy to think, as their condition then was, they would be very willing to capitulate. So he calls out as loud as they could to one of them. Tom Smith! Tom Smith! Tom Smith answered immediately. Is that Robinson? For it seems he knew the voice. The other answered, I, I forgot, say, Tom Smith, throw down your arms and yield, or you are all dead men this moment. Who must we yield to? Where are they? said Smith again. Here they are, says he. Here's our captain, and fifty men with him, had been hunting you these two hours. The boson is killed, will fry as wounded, and I am a prisoner, and if you do not yield, you are all lost. Will they give us quarter, then? says Tom Smith, and we will yield. I'll go and ask if you promise to yield, says Robinson, so he asked the captain, and the captain himself then calls out. You, Smith, you know my voice. If you lay down your arms immediately and submit, you shall have your lives, all but Will Atkins. Upon this Will Atkins cried out, For God's sake, captain, give me quarter! What have I done? They have all been as bad as I!" Which by the way was not true, for it seems as Will Atkins was the first man that laid hold of the captain when they first mutinied, and used him barbarously in tying his hands and giving him injurious language. However the captain told him he must lay down his arms at discretion, and trust to the governor's mercy, by which he met me, for they all call me governor. In a word they all laid down their arms and begged their lives, and I sent the men that had parlayed with them, and two more who bound them all, and then my great army of fifty men, which, with those three, were in all, but eight, came up and seized upon them, and upon their boat, only that I kept myself and one more out of sight for reasons of state. Our next work was to repair the boat, and think of seizing the ship, and as for the captain, now he had leisureed to parlay with them, he expostulated with them upon the villainy of their practices with him, and upon the further wickedness of their design, and how certainly it must bring to them misery and distress in the end, and perhaps to the gallows. They all appeared very penitent and begged hard for their lives. As for that, he told them that they were not his prisoners, but the commanders of the island, that they thought they had set him on shore in a barren, uninhabited island, but it had pleased God so to direct them that it was inhabited, and that the governor was an Englishman, that he might hang them all there, if he pleased, but as he had given them all quarter, he supposed he would send them to England, to be dealt with there as justice required, except Atkins, whom he was commanded by the governor to advise to prepare for death, for that he would be hanged in the morning. Though this was all but a fiction of his own, yet it had its desired effect. Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the captain to intercede with the governor for his life, and all the rest begged of him, for God's sake, that they might not be sent to England. It now occurred to me that the time of our deliverance was come, and that it would be a most easy thing to bring these fellows in to be hearty and getting possession of the ship. So I retired in the dark from them, that they might not see what kind of a governor they had, and called the captain to me. When I called at a good distance, one of the men was ordered to speak again, and say to the captain, Captain, the commander calls for you, and presently the captain replied, Tell his Excellency, I am just coming. This more perfectly amazed them, and they all believed that the commander was just by, with his fifty men. Upon the captain coming to me, I told him my project for seizing the ship, which he liked wonderfully well, and resolved to put it in execution the next morning. But in order to execute it with more art, and to be secure of success, I told him we must divide the prisoners, and that he should go and take Atkins, and two more of the worst of them, and send them pinion to the cave where the others lay. This was committed to Friday, and the two men who came on shore were the captain. They conveyed them to the cave as to a prison, and it was indeed a dismal place, especially to men in their condition. The others I ordered to my bower, as I called it, of which I have given a full description, and as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, the place was secure enough, considering they were upon their behavior. To these in the morning I sent the captain, who was to enter into a parley with them, in a word, to try them, and tell me whether they thought they might be trusted or not, to go on board and surprise the ship. He talked to them of the injury done him, of the condition they were brought to, and that though the governor had given them quarter for their lives as to the present action, yet that if they were sent to England they would all be hanged in chains, but that if they would join in so just an attempt as to recover the ship, he would have the governor's engagement for their pardon. Anyone may guess how readily such a proposal would be accepted by men in their condition. They fell down on their knees to the captain, and promised, with the deepest implications, that they would be faithful to him to the last drop, and that they should owe their lives to him, and would go with him all over the world, that they would own him as a father to them as long as they lived. Well, says the captain, I must go and tell the governor what you say, and see what I can do to bring him to consent to it. So he brought me an account of the temper he found them in, and that he verily believed they would be faithful. However, that we might be very secure. I told him he should go back again and choose out those five, and tell them that they might see he did not want men, that he would take out those five to be his assistance, and that the governor would keep the other two, and the three that were sent prisoners to the castle, my cave, as hostages for the fidelity of those five, and that if they proved unfaithful in the execution the five hostages should be hanged in chains alive on the shore. This looked severe, and convinced them that the governor was in earnest. However, they had no way left but to accept it, and it was now the business of the prisoners, as much as of the captain, to persuade the other five to do their duty. Our strength was now thus ordered for the expedition. First, the captain, his mate and passenger. Second, the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom, having their character from the captain, I had given their liberty, and trusted them with arms. Third, the other two that I had kept till now in my bower, pinioned, but on the captain's motion had now released. Fourth, these five released at last, so that there were twelve in all, besides five we kept prisoners in the cave for hostages. I asked the captain if he was willing to venture with these hands on board the ship, but as for me and my man Friday I did not think it was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind, and it was employment enough for us to keep them asunder and supply them with victuals. As to the five in the cave I resolved to keep them fast, but Friday went in twice a day to them, to supply them with necessaries, and I made the other two carry provisions to a certain distance where Friday was to take them. When I showed myself to the two hostages it was with the captain, who told them I was the person the governor had ordered to look after them, and that it was the governor's pleasure they should not stir anywhere but by my direction. That if they did they would be fetched into the castle and be laid in irons, so that as we never suffered them to see me as governor I now appeared as another person, and spoke of the governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like upon all occasions. The captain now had no difficulty before him, but to furnish his two boats, stop the breach of one, and mend them. He made his passenger captain of one, with four of the men, and himself his mate and five more went in the other, and they contrived their business very well, for they came up to the ship about midnight. As soon as they came within call of the ship he made Robinson hail them, and tell them they had brought off the men in the boat, but that it was a long time before they had found them, and the like, holding them in a chat till they came to the ship's side, when the captain and the mate entering first with their arms, immediately knocked down the second mate and carpenter with the butt end of their muskets, being very faithfully seconded by their men. They secured all the rest that were upon the main and quarter decks, and began to fasten the hatches, to keep them down that were below, when the other boat and their men, entering at the four chains, secured the forecastle of the ship, and the scuttle which went down into the cook room, making three men they found there, prisoners. When this was done, and all safe upon deck, the captain ordered the mate with three men to break into the roundhouse, where the new rebel captain lay, who, having taken the alarm, had got up, and with two men and a boy had got firearms in their hands, and when the mate with the crow split open the door, the new captain and his men fired boldly among them, and wounded the mate with a musket-ball which broke his arm, and wounded two more of the men, but killed nobody. The mate, calling for help, rushed, however, into the roundhouse, wounded as he was, and with his pistol shot the new captain through the head, the bullet entering at his mouth, and came out again behind one of his ears, so that he never spoke a word more, upon which the rest yielded, and the ship was taken effectually without any more lives lost. As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal agreed upon with me to give me notice of his success, which, you may be sure, I was very glad to hear, having sat watching upon the shore for it, till near two o'clock in the morning. Having thus heard the signal plainly, I laid me down, and it having been a day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound, till I was surprised with the noise of a gun, and presently starting up, I heard a man call me by the name of Govner, Govner, and presently I knew the captain's voice, when, climbing up to the top of the hill, there he stood, and pointing to the ship he embraced me in his arms. My dear friend and deliverer, says he, there's your ship, for she is all yours, and so are we, and all that belong to her. I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she rode, within little more than half a mile of the shore, for they had weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters of her, and the weather being fair had brought her to an anchor just against the mouth of the little creek, and the tide being up the captain had brought the penicin near the place where I had first landed my rafts, and so landed just at my door. I was at first ready to sink down with the surprise, for I saw my deliverance, indeed, visibly put into my hands, all things easy, and a large ship just ready to carry me away wither I pleased to go. At first, for some time, I was not able to answer him one word, but as he had taken me in his arms I held fast by him, or I should have fallen to the ground. He perceived the surprise, and immediately pulled a bottle out of his pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial which he had brought on purpose for me. After I had drunk it, I sat down upon the ground, and though it brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before I could speak a word to him. All this time the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, maybe not under any surprise as I was, and he said a thousand kind and tender things to me, to compose and bring me to myself. But such was the flood of joy in my breast, that it put all my spirits into confusion. At last it broke out into tears, and in a little while after I recovered my speech, I then took my turn and embraced him as my deliverer, and we rejoiced together. I told him I looked upon him as a man sent by heaven to deliver me, and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain of wonders, that such things as these were the testimonies we had of a secret hand of Providence governing the world, and an evidence that the eye of an infinite power could search into the remotest corner of the world, and send help to the miserable whenever he pleased. I forgot not to lift up my heart in thankfulness to heaven, and what heart could forbear to bless him, who had not only in a miraculous manner provided for me in such a wilderness, and in such a desolate condition, but from whom every deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed. When we had talked awhile, the captain told me he had brought me some little refreshment, such as the ship afforded, and such as the wretches that had been so long his masters had not plundered him of. Beyond this he called aloud to the boat, and bade his men bring the things ashore that were for the governor. And indeed it was a present as if I had been one that was not to be carried away with them, but as if I had been to dwell upon the island still. First, he had brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial waters, six large bottles of Madera wine, the bottles held two quarts each, two pounds of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, and about a hundred weight of biscuit. He also brought me a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of lemons, and two bottles of lime juice, and abundance of other things. But besides these, and what was a thousand times more useful to me, he brought me six new clean shirts, six very good neck cloths, two pair of gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings, with a very good suit of clothes of his own, which had not been worn but very little. In a word, he clothed me from head to foot. It was a very kind and agreeable present, as any one may imagine, to one of my circumstances, but never was anything in the world of that kind so unpleasant, awkward and uneasy, as it was to me to wear such clothes at first. After these ceremonies were passed, and after all his good things were brought into my little apartment, we began to consult what was to be done with the prisoners we had, for it was worth considering whether we might venture to take them with us or no, especially two of them, whom he knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the last degree. And the captain said he knew they were such rogues that there was no obliging them, and if he did carry them away it must be in irons, as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the first English colony he could come to. And I found that the captain himself was very anxious about it. Upon this I told him, if he desired it, I would undertake to bring the two men he spoke of to make it their own request that he should leave them upon the island. I should be very glad of that, says the captain, with all my heart. Well, says I, I will send for them up and talk with them for you. So I caused Friday and the two hostages, for they were now discharged, their comrades having performed their promise, I say I caused them to go to the cave and bring up the five men, pinging to as they were, to the bower, and keep them there till I came. After some time I came thither dressed in my new habit, and now I was called Governor again. Being all met, and the captain with me, I caused the men to be brought before me, and I told them I had got a full account of their villainous behavior to the captain, and how they had run away with the ship, and were preparing to commit further robberies, but that Providence hadn't snared them in their own ways, and that they were fallen into the pit which they had dug for others. I let them know that by my direction the ship had been seized, that she lay now in the road, and they might see by and by that their new captain had received the reward of his villainy, and that they would see him hanging at the yard-arm, that, as to them, I wanted to know what they had to say why I should not execute them as pirates taken in the fact, as by my commission they could not doubt but I had authority so to do. One of them answered in the name of the rest that they had nothing to say but this, that when they were taken the captain promised them their lives, and they humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew not what mercy to show them, for as for myself I had resolved to quit the island with all my men, and had taken passage with the captain to go to England, and as for the captain he could not carry them to England other than his prisoners in irons, to be tried for mutiny and running away with the ship, the consequence of which, they must needs know, would be the gallows, so that I could not tell what was best for them unless they had a mind to take their fate in the island. If they desired that, as I had liberty to leave the island, I had some inclination to give them their lives if they thought they could shift on shore. They seemed very thankful for it, and said they would much rather venture to stay there than to be carried to England to be hanged. So I left it on that issue. However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he durst not leave them there. Upon this I seemed a little angry with the captain, and told him that they were my prisoners, not his, and that seeing I had offered them so much favour, I would be as good as my word, and that if he did not think fit to consent to it I would set them at liberty as I found them, and if he did not like it he might take them again if he could catch them. Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at liberty, and bade them retire into the woods, to the place once they came, and I would leave them some firearms, some ammunition, and some directions how they should live very well if they thought fit. Upon this I prepared to go on board the ship, but told the captain I would stay that night to prepare my things, and desired him to go on board in the mean time, and keep all right in the ship, and send the boat on shore next day for me, ordering him at all events to cause the new captain, who was killed, to be hanged at the yard arm that these men might see him. When the captain was gone I sent for the men up to me to my apartment, and entered seriously into discourse with them on their circumstances. I told them I thought they had made a right choice, that if the captain had carried them away they would certainly be hanged. I showed them the new captain hanging at the yard arm of the ship, and told them they had nothing less to expect. When they had all declared their willingness to stay I then told them I would let them into the story of my living there, and put them into the way of making it easy to them. Accordingly I gave them the whole history of the place, and my coming to it, showed them my fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my grapes, and in a word all that was necessary to make them easy. I told them the story also of the seventeen Spaniards that were to be expected, for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat them in common with themselves. Here it may be noted that the captain, who had ink on board, was greatly surprised that I never hid upon a way of making ink of charcoal and water, or of something else as I had done things much more difficult. I left them my firearms, that is, five muskets, three fouling-pieces, and three swords. I had above a barrel and a half of powder left, for after the first year or two I used but little, and wasted none. I gave them a description of the way I managed the goats, and directions to milk and fatten them, and to make both butter and cheese. In a word I gave them every part of my own story, and told them I should prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder more, and some garden seeds, which I told them I would have been very glad of. Also I gave them the bag of peas which the captain had brought me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and increase them. CHAPTER XIX Having done all this I left them the next day, and went on board the ship. We prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that night. The next morning early two of the five men came swimming to the ship's side, and making the most lamentable complaint of the other three, begged to be taken into the ship for God's sake, for they should be murdered, and begged the captain to take them on board, though he hanged them immediately. Upon this the captain pretended to have no power without me, but after some difficulty, and after their solemn promises of amendment, they were taken on board, and were, some time after, only whipped and pickled, after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows. Some time after this the boat was ordered on shore, the tide being up, with the things promised to the men, to which the captain, at my intercession, caused their chests and clothes to be added, which they took, and were very thankful for. I also encouraged them, by telling them that if it lay in my power to send any vessel to take them in, I would not forget them. When I took leave of this island I carried on board, for relics, the great goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and one of my parents. Also I forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by me so long useless that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could hardly pass for silver till that it had been a little rubbed and handled, as also the money I found in the wreck of the Spanish ship. And thus I left the island, the 19th of December, as I found by the ship's account, in the year 1686, after I had been upon it eight and twenty years, two months, and nineteen days, being delivered from this second captivity the same day of the month that I first made my escape in the longboat from among the moors of Salih. In this vessel, after a long voyage, I arrived in England the eleventh of June, in the year 1687, having been thirty-five years absent. When I came to England I was as perfect a stranger to all the world as if I had never been known there. My benefactor and faithful steward, whom I had left my money in trust with, was alive, but it had great misfortunes in the world, was become a widow the second time, and very low in the world. I made her very easy as to what she owed me, assuring her I would give her no trouble. But on the contrary, in gratitude for her former care and faithfulness to me, I relieved her as my little stock would afford, which at that time would, indeed, allow me to do but little for her. But I assured her I would never forget her former kindness to me. Nor did I forget her when I had sufficient to help her, as shall be observed in its proper place. I went down afterwards into Yorkshire, but my father was dead, and my mother and all the family extinct, except that I found two sisters, and two of the children of one of my brothers. And as I had been long ago given over for dead, there had been no provision made for me, so that, in a word, I found nothing to relieve or assist me, and that the little money I had would not do much for me as to settling in the world. I met with one piece of gratitude, indeed, which I did not expect, and this was, that the master of the ship, whom I had so happily delivered, and by the same means saved the ship in cargo, having given a very handsome account to the owners of the manner how I had saved the lives of the men and the ship, they invited me to meet them, and some other merchants concerned, and altogether made me a very handsome compliment upon the subject, and a present of almost two hundred pounds sterling. But after making several reflections upon the circumstances of my life, and how little way this would go toward settling me in the world, I resolved to go to Lisbon, and see if I might not come at some information of the state of my plantation in the Brazils, and of what was become of my partner, who, I had reason to suppose, had some years past given me over for dead. With this view I took shipping for Lisbon, where I arrived in April following, my man Friday accompanying me very honestly in all these ramblings, and proving a most faithful servant upon all occasions. When I came to Lisbon I found out, by inquiry, and to my particular satisfaction, my old friend, the captain of the ship who first took me up at sea off the shore of Africa. He was now grown old, and had left off going to sea, having put his son, who was far from a young man, into his ship, and who still used the Brazil trade. The old man did not know me, and indeed I hardly knew him. But I soon brought him to my remembrance, and as soon brought myself to his remembrance when I told him who I was. After some passionate expressions of the old acquaintance between us, I inquired you may be sure, after my plantation, and my partner. The old man told me he had not been in the Brazils for about nine years, but that he could assure me that when he came away my partner was living, but the trustees whom I had joined with him to take cognizance of my part were both dead. That, however, he believed I would have a very good account of the improvement of the plantation. For that, upon the general belief of my being cast away and drowned, my trustees had given in the account of the produce of my part of the plantation to the procurator Fiscal, who had appropriated it, in case I never came to claim it, one-third to the King and two-thirds to the monastery of St. Augustine, to be expended for the benefit of the poor. And for the conversion of the Indians to the Catholic faith. But that if I appeared, or any one for me, to claim the inheritance, it would be restored, only that the improvement or annual production, being distributed to charitable uses, could not be restored. But he assured me that the steward of the King's revenue from lands, and the providore, or steward of the monastery, had taken great care all along that the incumbent, that is to say my partner, gave every year a faithful account of the produce, of which they had duly received my moiety. I asked him if he knew to what height of improvement he had brought the plantation, and whether he thought it might be worth looking after, or whether, or my going thither, I should meet with any obstruction to my possessing my just right in the moiety. He told me he could not tell exactly to what degree the plantation was improved, but this he knew, that my partner was grown exceeding rich upon the enjoying of his part of it, and that to the best of his remembrance he had heard that the King's third of my part, which was, it seems, granted away to some other monastery or religious house, amounted to above two hundred Moidorius a year. That as to my being restored to a quiet possession of it, there was no question to be made of that, my partner being alive to witness my title, and my name being also enrolled in the register of the country. So he told me that the survivors of my two trustees were very fair, honest people, and very wealthy, and he believed I would not only have their assistance for putting me in possession, but would find a very considerable sum of money in their hands for my account, being the produce of the farm, while their fathers held the trust, and before it was given up as above, which, as he remembered, was for about twelve years. I showed myself a little concerned and uneasy at this account, and inquired of the old captain how it came to pass, that the trustees should thus dispose of my effects, when he knew that I had made my will, and had made him, the Portuguese captain, my universal heir, etc. He told me that was true, but that as there was no proof of my being dead, he could not act as executor until some certain account should come of my death, and besides he was not willing to inter-metal with a thing so remote, that it was true he had registered my will, and put in his claim, and could he have given any account of my being dead or alive, he would have acted by procuration, and taken possession of the ingenuo, so they call the sugar-house, and have given his son, who was now at the Brazils, orders to do it. But, says the old man, I have one piece of news to tell you, which perhaps may not be so acceptable to you as the rest. And that is, believing you were lost, and all the world believing so also, your partner and trustees did offer to account with me, in your name, for the first six or eight years' profits which I received. There being at that time great disbursements for increasing the works, building an ingenuo, and buying slaves, it did not amount to near so much as afterwards it produced. However, says the old man, I shall give you a true account of what I have received in all, and how I have disposed of it. After a few days' further conference with this ancient friend, he brought me an account of the first six years' income of my plantation, signed by my partner and the merchant trustees, being always delivered in goods, that is, tobacco in roll, and sugar in chests, besides rum, molasses, et cetera, which is the consequence of a sugar work, and I found by this account that every year the income considerably increased. But as above, the disbursements being large, the sum at first was small. However, the old man let me see that he was debtor to me four hundred and seventy moidoris of gold, besides sixty chests of sugar and fifteen double rolls of tobacco, which were lost in his ship. He having been shipwrecked coming home to Lisbon about eleven years after my having the place. The good man then began to complain about his misfortunes and how he had been obliged to make use of my money to recover his losses and buy him a share in a new ship. However, my old friend, says he, you shall not want a supply in your necessity, and as soon as my son returns, you shall be fully satisfied. On this he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me one hundred and sixty Portugal moidoris in gold, and giving the writings of his title to the ship, which his son was gone to the Brazils in, of which he was quarter part owner, and his son another, he puts them both into my hands for security of the rest. I was too much moved with the honesty and kindness of the poor man to be able to bear this, and remembering what he had done for me, how he had taken me up at sea, and how generously he had used me on all occasions, and particularly how sincere a friend he was now to me. I could hardly refrain weeping at what he had said to me. Therefore I asked him if his circumstances admitted him to spare so much money at that time, and if it would not straighten him. He told me he could not say, but it might straighten him a little. But however it was my money, and I might want it more than he. Everything the good man said was full of affection, and I could hardly refrain from tears while he spoke. In short I took one hundred of the moidoris, and called for a pen and ink to give him a receipt for them. Then I returned him the rest, and told him if ever I had possession of the plantation I would return the other to him also, as indeed I afterwards did. And that as to the bill of sale of his part in his son's ship, I would not take it by any means, but that if I wanted the money I found he was honest enough to pay me, and if I did not, but came to receive what he gave me reason to expect, I would never have a penny more from him. When this was passed the old man asked me if he should put me into a method to make my claim to my plantation. I told him my thought to go over to it myself. He said I might do so, if I pleased, but that if I did not, there were ways enough to secure my right, and he immediately to appropriate the profits to my use. And as there were ships in the river of Lisbon just ready to go away to Brazil, he made me enter my name in a public register, with his affidavit, affirming upon oath that I was alive, and that I was the same person who took up the land for the planting the said plantation at first. This being regularly attested by a notary, and a procuration affixed, he directed me to send it, with a letter of his writing, to a merchant of his acquaintance at the place, and then proposed my staying with him till an account came of the return. Never was anything more honourable than the proceedings upon this procuration, for in less than seven months I received a large packet from the survivors of my trustees, the merchants, for whose account I went to see, in which were the following particular letters and papers enclosed. First there was the account current of the produce of my farm or plantation, from the year when their fathers had balanced with my old Portugal captain, being for six years. The balance appeared to be one thousand one hundred and seventy-four moidorias in my favour. Secondly there was the account of four years more, while they kept the effects in their hands, before the government claimed the administration, as being the effects of a person not to be found, which they called civil death, and the balance of this, the value of the plantation increasing, amounted to nineteen thousand four hundred and forty-six crusados, being about three thousand two hundred and forty moidorias. Thirdly, there was the prior of St. Augustine's account, who had received the profits for above fourteen years, but not being able to account for what was disposed of by the hospital, very honestly declared he had eight hundred and seventy-two moidorias not distributed, which he acknowledged to my account, as to the king's part, that refunded nothing. There was a letter of my partners congratulating me very affectionately upon my being alive, giving me an account how the estate was improved, and what it produced a year, with the particulars of the number of squares, or acres, that it contained, how planted, how many slaves there were upon it, and making two and twenty crosses for blessings, told me he had said so many ave marias to thank the blessed virgin that I was alive, inviting me very passionately to come over and take possession of my own, and in the meantime to give him orders to whom he should deliver my effects if I did not come myself, concluding with a hearty tender of his friendship and that of his family, and sent me as a present seven fine leopard skins which he had, it seems, received from Africa, by some other ship than he had sent thither, and which it seems had made a better voyage than I. He sent me also five chests of excellent sweet-meats, and a hundred pieces of gold uncoined, not quite so large as moidorias. By the same fleet my two merchant trustees shipped me one thousand two hundred chests of sugar, eight hundred rolls of tobacco, and the rest of the whole account in gold. I might well say now, indeed, that the latter end of Job was better than the beginning. It is impossible to express the flutterings of my very heart when I found all my wealth about me, for as the Brazil ships come all in fleets, the same ships which brought my letters brought my goods, and the effects were safe in the river before the letters came to my hand. In a word I turned pale and grew sick, and had not the old man run and fetched me a cordial, I believed the sudden surprise of joy had overset nature, and I had died upon the spot. Nay, after that I continued very ill, and was so some hours, till a physician being sent for, and something of the real cause of my illness being known, he ordered me to be let blood, after which I had relief and grew well, but I verily believe if I had not been eased by event given in that manner to the spirits I should have died. I was now master all on a sudden of about five thousand pounds sterling in money, and had an estate, as I might well call it, in the Brazils, of above a thousand pounds a year, as sure as an estate of lands in England, and in a word I was in a condition which I scarce knew how to understand, or how to compose myself for the enjoyment of it. The first thing I did was to recompense my original benefactor, my good old captain, who had been first charitable to me in my distress, kind to me in my beginning, and honest to me at the end. I showed him all that was sent to me, I told him that, next to the providence of heaven which disposed all things, it was owing to him, and that it now lay on me to reward him, which I would do a hundred fold. So I first returned to him the hundred moidoris I had received of him, then I sent for a notary, and caused him to draw up a general release or discharge from the four hundred and seventy moidoris, which he had acknowledged he owed me, in the fullest and firmest manor possible, after which I caused a procuration to be drawn empowering him to be the receiver of the annual profits of my plantation, and appointing my partner to account with him and make the returns by the usual fleets to him in my name, and by a clause in the end made a grant of one hundred moidoris a year to him during his life, out of the effects, and fifty moidoris a year to his son after him, for his life, and thus I requited my old man. I had now to consider, which way to steer my course next, and what to do with the estate that Providence had thus put into my hands, and indeed I had more care upon my head now than I had in my state of life in the island where I wanted nothing but what I had, and had nothing but what I wanted, whereas I had now a great charge upon me and my business was how to secure it. I had not a cave now to hide my money in, or a place where it might lie without lock or key till it grew moldy and tarnished before anybody would meddle with it. On the contrary, I knew not where to put it, or whom to trust with it. My old patron, the captain, indeed, was honest, and that was the only refuge I had. In the next place my interest in the Brazils seemed to some of me thither, but now I could not tell how to think of going thither till I had settled my affairs, and left my effects in some safe hands behind me. At first I thought of my old friend the widow, who I knew was honest, and would be just to me, but then she was in years, and but poor, and for odd I knew might be in debt, so that in a word I had no way but to go back to England myself and take my effects with me. It was some months, however, before I resolved upon this, and therefore as I had rewarded the old captain fully, and to his satisfaction, who had been my former benefactor, so I began to think of the poor widow, whose husband had been my first benefactor, and she, while it was in her power, my faithful steward and instructor. So the first thing I did I got a merchant in Lisbon to write to his correspondent in London, not only to pay a bill, but to go find her out, and carry her, in money, a hundred pounds from me, and to talk with her, and comfort her in her poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, have a further supply. At the same time I sent my two sisters in the country a hundred pounds each, they being, though not in want, yet not in very good circumstances, one having been married and left a widow, and the other having a husband not so kind to her as he should be. But among all my relations or acquaintances I could not yet pitch upon one to whom I durst commit the gross of my stock, that I might go away to the Brazils, and leave things safe behind me, and this greatly perplexed me. I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils and have settled myself there, for I was, as it were, naturalized to the place, but I had some little scruple in my mind about religion which insensibly drew me back. However it was not religion that kept me from going there for the present, and as I had made no scruple of being openly of the religion of the country all the while I was among them, so neither did I yet, only that, now and then, having of late thought more of it than formally, when I began to think of living and dying among them, I began to regret having professed myself a papest, and thought it might not be the best religion to die with. But as I have said, this was not the main thing that kept me from going to the Brazils, but that really I did not know with whom to leave my effects behind me, so I resolved at last to go to England, where if I arrived I concluded that I should make some acquaintance, or find some relations that would be faithful to me, and accordingly I prepared to go to England with all my wealth. In order to prepare things for my going home, I first, the Brazil fleet being just going away, resolved to give answers suitable to the just and faithful account of things I had from thence. And first, to the prior of St. Augustine, I wrote a letter full of thanks for his just dealings, and the offer of the eight hundred and seventy-two moidoris which were undisposed of, which I desired might be given, five hundred to the monastery, and three hundred and seventy-two to the poor, as the prior should direct, desiring the good Padre's prayers for me, and the like. I wrote next a letter of thanks to my two trustees, with all the acknowledgment that so much justice and honesty called for, as for sending them any present, they were far above having any occasion of it. Lastly, I wrote to my partner, acknowledging his industry in the improving of the plantation, and his integrity in increasing the stock of the works, giving him instructions for his future government of my part, according to the powers I had left with my old patron, to whom I desired him to send whatever became due to me, till he should hear from me more particularly, assuring him that it was my intention not only to come to him, but to settle myself there for the remainder of my life. To this I added a very hensome present of some Italian silks for his wife and two daughters, for such the Captain's son informed me he had, with two pieces of fine English brog-cloth, the best I could get in Lisbon, five pieces of black bays, and some flander's lace of a good value. Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and turned all my effects into good bills of exchange, my next difficulty was which way to go to England. I had been accustomed enough to the sea, and yet I had a strange aversion to go to England by the sea at that time, and yet I could give no reason for it. Yet the difficulty increased upon me so much, that though I had once shipped my baggage in order to go, yet I altered my mind, and that not once, but two or three times. It is true I had been very unfortunate by sea, and this might be one of the reasons, but let no man slight the strong impulses of his own thoughts and cases of such moment. Two of the ships which I had singled out to go in, I mean more particularly singled out than any other, having put my things on board one of them, and in the other having agreed with the captain, I say two of these ships miscarried. One was taken by the Algerines, and the other was lost on the start, near Torbay, and all the people drowned except three, so that in either of those vessels I had been made miserable. Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I communicated everything, pressed me earnestly not to go by sea, but either to go by land to the groin, and cross over the Bay of Biscay to Rochelle, from whence it was but an easy and safe journey by land to Paris, and so to Calais and Dover, or to go up to Madrid, and so all the way by land through France. In a word, I was so prepossessed against my going by sea at all, except from Calais to Dover, that I resolved to travel all the way by land, which, as I was not in haste, and did not value the charge, was by much the pleasanter way. And to make it more so, my old captain brought an English gentleman, the son of a merchant in Lisbon, who was willing to travel with me, after which we picked up two more English merchants also, and two young Portuguese gentlemen, the last going to Paris only, so then and all there were six of us in five servants, the two merchants and the two Portuguese contending themselves with one servant between two, to save the charge. And as for me, I got an English sailor to travel with me as a servant besides my man Friday, who was too much a stranger to be capable of supplying the place of a servant on the road. In this manner I set out from Lisbon, and our company being very well-mounted and armed, we made a little troop, whereof they did me the honour to call me Captain, as well because I was the oldest man as because I had two servants, and indeed was the origin of the whole journey. As I have troubled you with none of my sea journals, so I shall trouble you now with none of my land journals, but some adventures that happen to us in this tedious and difficult journey I must not omit. When we came to Madrid, we, being all of us strangers to Spain, were willing to stay some time to see the court of Spain and what was worth observing. But it being the latter part of the summer, we hastened away and set out from Madrid about the middle of October, but when we came to the edge of Navarre, we were alarmed, at several towns on the way, with an account that so much snow was falling on the French side of the mountains that several travellers were obliged to come back to Pampaluna after having attempted at an extreme hazard to pass on. When we came to Pampaluna itself we found it so indeed, and to me, that had been always used to a hot climate and to countries where I could scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insufferable, nor indeed was it more painful than surprising to come but ten days before out of old Castile, where the weather was not only warm but very hot, and immediately to feel a wind from the Perinian mountains so very keen, so severely cold, as to be intolerable and to endanger benumbing and perishing of our fingers and toes. Poor Friday was really frightened when he saw the mountains all covered with snow, and felt cold weather which he had never seen or felt before in his life. To mend the matter, when we came to Pampaluna it continued snowing with so much violence and so long that the people said winter was come before its time, and the roads which were difficult before were now quite impassable. For in a word the snow lay in some places too thick for us to travel, and being not hard frozen, as is the case in the northern countries, there was no going without being in danger of being buried alive every step. We stayed no less than twenty days at Pampaluna when, seeing the winter coming on, and no likelihood of its being better, for it was the severest winter all over Europe that had been known in the memory of man, I propose that we should go away to Fontarabia, and there take shipping for Bordeaux, which was a very little voyage. But while I was considering this there came in four French gentlemen, who, having been stopped on the French side of the passes, as we were on the Spanish, had found out a guide, who, traversing the country near the head of Languedoc, had brought them over the mountains by such ways that they were not much incommodated with the snow. For where they met with snow in any quantity they said it was frozen hard enough to bear them and their horses. We sent for this guide, who told us he would undertake to carry us the same way, with no hazard from the snow, provided we were armed sufficiently to protect ourselves from wild beasts. For, he said, in these great snows it was frequent for some wolves to show themselves at the foot of the mountains, being made ravenous for want of food, the ground being covered with snow. We told him we were well enough prepared for such creatures as they were, if he would ensure us from a kind of two-legged wolves, which we were told we were in most danger from, especially on the French side of the mountains. He satisfied us that there was no danger of that kind in the way that we were to go, so we readily agreed to follow him, as did also twelve other gentlemen with their servants, some French, some Spanish, who, as I said, had attempted to go and were obliged to come back again. Accordingly we set out from Pampaluna with our guide on the fifteenth of November, and indeed I was surprised when, instead of going forward, he came directly back with us on the same road that we came from Madrid, about twenty miles. When, having passed two rivers, and come into the plain country, we found ourselves in a warm climate again, where the country was pleasant and no snow to be seen. But on a sudden, turning to his left, he approached the mountains another way, and though it is true the hills and precipices looked dreadful, yet he made so many tours, such meanders, and led us by such winding ways that we insensibly passed the height of the mountains without being much encumbered with the snow. And all on a sudden he showed us the pleasant and fruitful provinces of Languedoc and Gascony, all green and flourishing, though at a great distance, and we had some rough way to pass still. We were a little uneasy, however, when we found it snowed one whole day and a night so fast that we could not travel. But he bid us be easy, we should soon be passed at all. We found indeed that we began to descend every day, and to come more north than before, and so, depending upon our guide, we went on. It was about two hours before night, when, our guide being something before us, and not just in sight, outrushed three monstrous wolves, and after them a bear, from a hollow way adjoining to a thick wood. Two of the wolves made at the guide, and had he been far before us he would have been devoured before we could have helped him. One of them fastened upon his horse, and the other attacked the man with such violence that he had not time or presence of mind enough to draw his pistol, but hallowed and cried out to us most lustily. My man Friday being next to me, I bait him ride up and see what was the matter. As soon as Friday came in sight of the man, he hallowed out as loud as the other, home-master, home-master! But like a bold fellow, rode directly up to the poor man, and with his pistol shot the wolf in the head that attacked him. It was happy for the poor man that it was my man Friday, for having been used to such creatures in his country, he had no fear upon him, but went close up to him and shot him, whereas any other of us would have fired at a farther distance, and have perhaps either missed the wolf or endangered shooting the man. But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man than I, and indeed it alarmed all our company when, with the noise of Friday's pistol, we heard on both sides the most dismal howling of wolves, and the noise, redoubled by the echo of the mountains, appeared to us as if there had been a prodigious number of them. And perhaps there was not such a few as that we had no cause of apprehension. However, as Friday had killed this wolf, the other that had fastened upon the horse, left him immediately and fled, without doing him any damage, having happily fastened upon his head, where the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his teeth. But the man was most hurt, for the raging creature had bit him twice, once in the arm, and the other time a little above his knee, and though he had made some defense he was just tumbling down by the disorder of his horse when Friday came up and shot the wolf. It is easy to suppose that the noise of Friday's pistol we all mended our pace and rode up as fast as the way, which was very difficult, would give us leave to see what was the matter. As soon as we came clear of the trees, which blinded us before, we saw clearly what had been the case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide, though we did not presently discern what kind of creature it was he had killed. End of chapter 19