 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recorded by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California, winter 2006. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Chapter 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 a little suspended when I had a serious discourse with the Spaniard, and when I understood that there were 16 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 that they were a Spanish ship bound from the Rio de la Plata to the Havana, and 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, that 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 counsels always ended in tears and despair. I asked him how he thought they would receive a proposal for 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. 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, and 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 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 the 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, 16 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 one might be a temptation to them to disagree, or not to think themselves delivered, otherwise then 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 next 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 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 in that affair, to oversee and direct their work. I showed them with what indefatigable work 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, 35 feet long, and from two inches to four inches thick. What prodigious labor it took up anyone can imagine. At the same time, I contrived to increase my size of tamed 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 dam, we saved the kids and added them to our flock. But above all, the season continued, 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 the 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 wickerware, 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 defense 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 to 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 canoes which they might be said to have come in or were rather brought in when they came as prisoners to be devoured by the savages. I gave each of them a musket with 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 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 gait on the day before the moon was at full by my account in the month of October, but as for an exact reckoning of days after I 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 yet know whether they were friends or enemies. In the next place, I went in to fetch my prospective class to see what I could make of them, and, having taken the ladder out, I climbed up to the top of the hill, as I used to do when I was apprehensive of anything, and to take my view, the planar, 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, that had I not been made cautious by this secret admonition, come it from whence it will, I had been undone inevitably 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 an ant for the convenience of landing. However, as they did not come quite far enough, they did not see the little inlet where I formally landed my rafts, but ran their boat on shore upon the beach at about 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, and all eleven men, whereof 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, English men eat prisoner as well as savage men. 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'm 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 other three men had liberty to go 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 round 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 in 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 may 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 place they were in, they had carelessly stayed until 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, had load 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 launch her, 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 held about the country again and I heard one of them say allowed to the other, calling them off from the boat. Why, let her alone Jack, can't you still 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 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 emotions 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 I ordered Friday also whom I had made an excellent marksman with his gun to load himself the arms. I took myself two filing pieces and I gave him three muskets. My figure indeed was very fierce. I had a formidable goat skin coat on with a great cap I have mentioned, a naked sword by my side, 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 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 ye 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 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 angel be in no fear sir about that said I to you to relieve you he would have come better clothed and armed after another manner then 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 and ammunition tell us freely can we serve you what is your case our case sir said he was 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 and the other a passenger where we expected to perish believing the place to be uninhabited and no not yet sir said I do you know where they are gone why 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 venture upon your deliverance are you willing to make two conditions with me he anticipated my proposals by telling me that both he and his ship if recovered should be wholly directed and commanded by me in 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 so long as he lived well then said I I'll give you the 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 they 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 ships company 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 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 musket I had given him in his hand and a pistol in his belt and his two comrades with him 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 piece they had so well aimed their shot at the men they knew that one of them was killed 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 musket 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 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 an assurance 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 the time the captain parted from the rest came back from 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 history which he heard with 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 seem to have been preserved there on purpose to save his life the tears ran down his face and he could not speak any 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 20 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 a castle and my residence but that I had a seat in the country as most princes have wither 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 six and twenty hands still 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 we know attacking them with so small a number as we were I mused 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 ships crew wondering what was become of their comrades and of the boat would certainly come on shore and 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 upon 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 of 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 hole 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 much in my thoughts that we should 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 End of Chapter 17 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recorded by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California Winter 2006 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Chapter 18 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 hole 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 row 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 rode 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 as for the Boson who it seems was chief officer among them and all the rest as outrageous as any of the ship's crew and were 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 was 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 says 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 vigorously set 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 or 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 we're very grateful that they had such good usage as to have provisions and light left them for Friday gave them candles 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 penioned 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 the captain 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 I would 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 on 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 arms which indeed we heard and the echoes made the woods ring but it was all one those in the cave 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 long boat staved accordingly they immediately launched their boat again and sent 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 he should still lose the ship which he was in high hopes he should have recovered but he was quickly as much frightened the other way they had not been long put off with the boat 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 go on shore and go up into the country to look for their fellows this is a great disappointment for us for now we were at a loss what to do as our seizing those seven men on shore had 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 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 upon 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 to us so that we might have fired at them or that they would have gone farther and they're off that we might come abroad but when they would 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 go 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 even 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 like 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 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 westward towards the place where the savages came on shore when Friday was rescued and so soon as they came to a little rising round at about half a mile distant I bid them hello out as loud as they could and wait till they had found the seamen heard them that as soon as ever they heard the seamen answer them they should return it again take around 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 hallowed 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 harbor 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 captains 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 knocked down and then called out to him in 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 and therefore was easily persuaded not only to yield but to join very sincerely with us in the meantime Friday and the captains mate so well managed their business with the rest that they drew with 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 would not reach back to the boat before it was dark 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 got into 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 hallowed again and called their two comrades by their names a great many times but no answer after some time we could see them run about ringing 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 feign 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 could possibly before they offered to fire they had not been long in that posture when the Bosun who was the principal ringleader of the mutiny and 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 as 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 he was given time for it at the noise of the fire I immediately advanced with my whole army which was now eight men that is myself Generalissimo 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 parley 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 he 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 aye aye for God's sake Tom Smith throw down your arms and yield or you are all dead men this moment who must we yield to where are they here they are here's our captain and fifty men with him have been hunting you these two hours the bosons 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 said 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 threw for it seems this 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 meant me for they all called me governor who laid their arms and begged their lives and I sent the man that had parleyed with them and two more who bound them all and then my great army of 50 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 leisure to parley 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 them to 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 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 and 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 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 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 50 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 pinioned to the cave where the others lay this was committed to Friday and the two men who came on shore with 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 that 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 he 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 but 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 this ship we would have the governor's engagement for their pardon anyone may guess how readily such 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 he believed they would be faithful however that we might be very secure I told him he should go back 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 assistants and that the governor would keep the other two and the three that were sent prisoners to my castle that is 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 an earnest however they had no way left but to accept it and 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 third the other two that I had kept till now in my bower penioned 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 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 stopped the breach of one and manned them he made his passenger captain of one with four of the men and himself his mate and five more went in the other boat to 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 that they had brought off the men in the boat but that it was a long time before they had found them in the like holding them in a chat on the side when the captain and the mate entering first with their arms immediately knocked down the second mate and the 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 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 the 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 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 Governor 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 her to the place in 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 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 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 out a bottle from his pocket and gave me a drum 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 only 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 the deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed when we had talked a while 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 upon this he called aloud to the boat and bade his men bring the things ashore 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 Madeira 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 sometimes 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 been worn but very little in a word he clothed me from head to foot it was a very kind and agreeable present as anyone may imagine to one in 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 malifactors 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 that if he desired it 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 said the captain with all my heart well says I I will send for them 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 they would say I caused them to go to the cave and bring up the five men as they were to the bower and keep them there till I came after some time I came there 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 willingness behavior to the captain and how they had run away with the ship and were preparing to commit further robberies but that Providence had ensnared 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 by 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 I could not carry them to England other than as prisoners and 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 them 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 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 scene I had offered them so much favor I would be as good as my word and that if he did not fit to consent to it I would set them at liberty as I found them upon this they appeared very thankful and I accordingly set them at liberty and bade them retire into the woods to the place whence 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 meantime 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 that 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 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 of 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 of the 17 Spaniards that were to be expected for whom I had 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 hit 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 five muskets three falling 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 to 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 made them to be sure to sow and increase them End of Chapter 18