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I was born at York on the first of March in the sixth year of the reign | |
of King Charles the First. From the time when I was quite a young child, | |
I had felt a great wish to spend my life at sea, and as I grew, so did | |
this taste grow more and more strong; till at last I broke loose from | |
my school and home, and found my way on foot to Hull, where I soon got a | |
place on board a ship. | |
When we had set sail but a few days, a squall of wind came on, and on | |
the fifth night we sprang a leak. All hands were sent to the pumps, but | |
we felt the ship groan in all her planks, and her beams quake from stem | |
to stern; so that it was soon quite clear there was no hope for her, and | |
that all we could do was to save our lives. | |
The first thing was to fire off guns, to show that we were in need of | |
help, and at length a ship, which lay not far from us, sent a boat to | |
our aid. But the sea was too rough for it to lie near our ship's side, | |
so we threw out a rope, which the men in the boat caught, and made fast, | |
and by this means we all got in. Still in so wild a sea it was in vain | |
to try to get on board the ship which had sent out the men, or to use | |
our oars in the boat, and all we could do was to let it drive to shore. | |
In the space of half an hour our own ship struck on a rock and went | |
down, and we saw her no more. We made but slow way to the land, which we | |
caught sight of now and then when the boat rose to the top of some high | |
wave, and there we saw men who ran in crowds, to and fro, all bent on | |
one thing, and that was to save us. | |
At last to our great joy we got on shore, where we had the luck to meet | |
with friends who gave us the means to get back to Hull; and if I had now | |
had the good sense to go home, it would have been well for me. | |
The man whose ship had gone down said with a grave look, "Young lad, you | |
ought to go to sea no more, it is not the kind, of life for you." "Why | |
Sir, will you go to sea no more then?" "That is not the same kind of | |
thing; I was bred to the sea, but you were not, and came on board my | |
ship just to find out what a life at sea was like, and you may guess | |
what you will come to if you do not go back to your home. God will not | |
bless you, and it may be that you have brought all this woe on us." | |
I spoke not a word more to him; which way he went I knew not, nor did | |
I care to know, for I was hurt at this rude speech. Shall I go home | |
thought I, or shall I go to sea? Shame kept me from home, and I could | |
not make up my mind what course of life to take. | |
As it has been my fate through life to choose for the worst, so I did | |
now. I had gold in my purse, and good clothes on my back, and to sea I | |
went once more. | |
But I had worse luck this time than the last, for when we were far out | |
at sea, some Turks in a small ship came on our track in full chase. We | |
set as much sail as our yards would bear, so as to get clear from them. | |
But in spite of this, we saw our foes gain on us, and we felt sure that | |
they would come up with our ship in a few hours' time. | |
At last they caught us, but we brought our guns to bear on them, which | |
made them shear off for a time, yet they kept up a fire at us as long as | |
they were in range. The next time the Turks came up, some of their men | |
got on board our ship, and set to work to cut the sails, and do us all | |
kinds of harm. So, as ten of our men lay dead, and most of the rest had | |
wounds, we gave in. | |
The chief of the Turks took me as his prize to a port which was held by | |
the Moors. He did not use me so ill as at first I thought he would have | |
done, but he set me to work with the rest of his slaves. This was a | |
change in my life which I did not think had been in store for me. How my | |
heart sank with grief at the thought of those whom I had left at home, | |
nay, to whom I had not had the grace so much as to say "Good bye" when I | |
went to sea, nor to give a hint of what I meant to do! | |
Yet all that I went through at this time was but a taste of the toils | |
and cares which it has since been my lot to bear. | |
I thought at first that the Turk might take me with him when next he | |
went to sea, and so I should find some way to get free; but the hope | |
did not last long, for at such times he left me on shore to see to his | |
crops. This kind of life I led for two years, and as the Turk knew and | |
saw more of me, he made me more and more free. He went out in his boat | |
once or twice a week to catch a kind of flat fish, and now and then he | |
took me and a boy with him, for we were quick at this kind of sport, and | |
he grew quite fond of me. | |
One day the Turk sent me in the boat to catch some fish, with no one | |
else but a man and a boy. While we were out so thick a fog came on that | |
though we were out not half a mile from the shore, we quite lost sight | |
of it for twelve hours; and when the sun rose the next day, our boat was | |
at least ten miles out at sea. The wind blew fresh, and we were all much | |
in want of food, but at last, with the help of our oars and sail, we got | |
back safe to land. | |
When the Turk heard how we had lost our way, he said that the next time | |
he went out, he would take a boat that would hold all we could want if | |
we were kept out at sea. So he had quite a state room built in the long | |
boat of his ship, as well as a room for us slaves. One day he sent me | |
to trim the boat, as he had two friends who would go in it to fish with | |
him. But when the time came they did not go, so he sent me with the man | |
and the boy--whose name was Xury--to catch some fish for the guests that | |
were to sup with him. | |
Now the thought struck me all at once that this would be a good chance | |
to set off with the boat, and get free. So in the first place, I took | |
all the food that I could lay my hands on, and I told the man that it | |
would be too bold of us to eat of the bread that had been put in the | |
boat for the Turk. He said he thought so too, and he brought down a | |
small sack of rice and some rusks. | |
While the man was on shore I put up some wine, a large lump of wax, a | |
saw, an axe, a spade, some rope, and all sorts of things that might be | |
of use to us. I knew where the Turk's case of wine was, and I put that | |
in the boat while the man was on shore. By one more trick I got all that | |
I had need of. I said to the boy, "the Turk's guns are in the boat, but | |
there is no shot. Do you think you could get some? You know where it is | |
kept, and we may want to shoot a fowl or two." So he brought a case and | |
a pouch which held all that we could want for the guns. These I put in | |
the boat, and then set sail out of the port to fish. | |
The wind blew, from the North, or North West, which was a bad wind for | |
me; for had it been South I could have made for the coast of Spain. But, | |
blow which way it might, my mind was made up to get off, and to leave | |
the rest to fate. I then let down my lines to fish, but I took care to | |
have bad sport; and when the fish bit, I would not pull them up, for | |
the Moor was not to see them. I said to him, "This will not do, we shall | |
catch no fish here, we ought to sail on a bit." Well, the Moor thought | |
there was no harm in this. He set the sails, and, as the helm was in my | |
hands, I ran the boat out a mile or more, and then brought her to, as if | |
I meant to fish. | |
Now, thought I, the time has come for me to get free! I gave the helm | |
to the boy, and then took the Moor round the waist, and threw him out of | |
the boat. | |
Down he went! but soon rose up, for he swam like a duck. He said he | |
would go all round the world with me, if I would but take him in. | |
I had some fear lest he should climb up the boat's side, and force his | |
way back; so I brought my gun to point at him, and said, "You can swim | |
to land with ease if you choose, make haste then to get there; but if | |
you come near the boat you shall have a shot through the head, for I | |
mean to be a free man from this hour." | |
He then swam for the shore, and no doubt got safe there, as the sea was | |
so calm. | |
At first I thought I would take the Moor with me, and let Xury swim to | |
land; but the Moor was not a man that I could trust. When he was gone I | |
said to Xury, "If you will swear to be true to me, you shall be a great | |
man in time; if not, I must throw you out of the boat too." | |
The poor boy gave me such a sweet smile as he swore to be true to me, | |
that I could not find it in my heart to doubt him. | |
While the man was still in view (for he was on his way to the land), we | |
stood out to sea with the boat, so that he and those that saw us from | |
the shore might think we had gone to the straits' mouth, for no one went | |
to the South coast, as a tribe of men dwelt there who were known to kill | |
and eat their foes. | |
We then bent our course to the East, so as to keep in with the shore; | |
and as we had a fair wind and a smooth sea, by the next day at noon, we | |
were not less than 150 miles out of the reach of the Turk. | |
I had still some fear lest I should be caught by the Moors, so I would | |
not go on shore in the day time. But when it grew dark we made our way | |
to the coast, and came to the mouth of a stream, from which we thought | |
we could swim to land, and then look round us. But as soon as it was | |
quite dark we heard strange sounds--barks, roars, grunts, and howls. The | |
poor lad said he could not go on shore till dawn. "Well," said I, "then | |
we must give it up, but it may be that in the day time we shall be seen | |
by men, who for all we know would do us more harm than wild beasts." | |
"Then we give them the shoot gun," said Xury with a laugh, "and make | |
them run away." I was glad to see so much mirth in the boy, and gave him | |
some bread and rice. | |
We lay still at night, but did not sleep long, for in a few hours' time | |
some huge beasts came down to the sea to bathe. The poor boy shook from | |
head to foot at the sight. One of these beasts came near our boat, and | |
though it was too dark to see him well, we heard him puff and blow, and | |
knew that he must be a large one by the noise he made. At last the brute | |
came as near to the boat as two oars' length, so I shot at him, and he | |
swam to the shore. | |
The roar and cries set up by beasts and birds at the noise of my gun | |
would seem to show that we had made a bad choice of a place to land | |
on; but be that as it would, to shore we had to go to find some fresh | |
spring, so that we might fill our casks. Xury said if I would let him | |
go with one of the jars, he would find out if the springs were fit to | |
drink; and, if they were sweet, he would bring the jar back full. "Why | |
should you go?" said I; "Why should not I go, and you stay in the boat?" | |
At this Xury said, "if wild mans come they eat me, you go way." I could | |
not but love the lad for this kind speech. "Well," said I, "we will both | |
go, and if the wild men come we must kill them, they shall not eat you | |
or me." | |
I gave Xury some rum from the Turk's case to cheer him up, and we went | |
on shore. The boy went off with his gun, full a mile from the spot where | |
we stood, and came back with a hare that he had shot, which we were | |
glad to cook and eat; but the good news which he brought was that he had | |
found a spring, and had seen no wild men. | |
I made a guess that the Cape de Verd Isles were not far off, for I saw | |
the top of the Great Peak, which I knew was near them. My one hope was | |
that if I kept near the coast, I should find some ship that would take | |
us on board; and then, and not till then, should I feel a free man. In | |
a word, I put the whole of my fate on this chance, that I must meet with | |
some ship, or die. | |
On the coast we saw some men who stood to look at us. They were black, | |
and wore no clothes. I would have gone on shore to them, but Xury--who | |
knew best--said, "Not you go! Not you go!" So I brought the boat as near | |
the land as I could, that I might talk to them, and they kept up with me | |
a long way. I saw that one of them had a lance in his hand. | |
I made signs that they should bring me some food, and they on their part | |
made signs for me to stop my boat. So I let down the top of my sail, and | |
lay by, while two of them ran off; and in less than half an hour they | |
came back with some dry meat and a sort of corn which is grown in this | |
part of the world. This we should have been glad to get, but knew not | |
how to do so; for we durst not go on shore to them, nor did they dare | |
to come to us. At last they took a safe way for us all, for they brought | |
the food to the shore, where they set it, down, and then went a long way | |
off while we took it in. We made signs to show our thanks, for we had | |
not a thing that we could spare to give them. | |
But as good luck would have it, we were at hand to take a great prize | |
for them; for two wild beasts, of the same kind as the first I spoke of, | |
came in, full chase from the hills down to the sea. | |
They swam as if they had come for sport. The men flew from them in fear, | |
all but the one who held the lance. One of these beasts came near our | |
boat; so I lay in wait for him with my gun; and as soon as the brute was | |
in range, I shot him through the head. Twice he sank down in the sea, | |
and twice he came up; and then just swam to the land, where he fell down | |
dead. The men were in as much fear at the sound of my gun, as they had | |
been at the sight of the beasts. But when I made signs for them to come | |
to the shore, they took heart, and came. | |
They at once made for their prize; and by the help of a rope, which they | |
slung round him, they brought him safe on the beach. | |
We now left our wild men, and went on and on, for twelve days more. The | |
land in front of us ran out four or five miles, like a bill; and we had | |
to keep some way from the coast, to make this point, so that we lost | |
sight of the shore. | |
I gave the helm to Xury and sat down to think what would be my best | |
course to take: when all at once I heard the lad cry out "A ship with a | |
sail! A ship with a sail!" He did not show much joy at the sight, for | |
he thought that this ship had been sent out to take him back: but I knew | |
well, from the look of her, that she was not one of the Turk's. | |
I made all the sail I could to come in the ship's way, and told Xury to | |
fire a gun, in the hope that if those on deck could not hear the sound, | |
they might see the smoke. This they did see, and then let down their | |
sails so that we might come up to them, and in three hours time we were | |
at the ship's side. The men spoke to us in French, but I could not make | |
out what they meant. At last a Scot on board said in my own tongue, "Who | |
are you? Whence do you come?" I told him in a few words how I had got | |
free from the Moors. | |
Then the man who had charge of the ship bade me come on board, and took | |
me in with Xury and all my goods. I told him that he might take all I | |
had, but he said "You shall have your goods back when we come to land, | |
for I have but done for you what you would have done for me, had I been | |
in the same plight." | |
He gave me a good round sum for my boat, and said that I should have the | |
same sum for Xury, if I would part with him. But I told him that as it | |
was by the boy's help that I had got free, I was loath to sell him. He | |
said it was just and right in me to feel thus, but at the same time, if | |
I could make up my mind to part with him, he should be set free in two | |
years' time. So, as the poor slave had a wish to go with him, I did not | |
say "no." I got to All Saints' Bay in three weeks, and was now a free | |
man. | |
I had made a good sum by all my store, and with this I went on land. But | |
I did not at all know what to do next. At length I met with a man whose | |
case was much the same as my own, and we both took some land to farm. | |
My stock, like his, was low, but we made our farms serve to keep us in | |
food, though not more than that. We both stood in need of help, and I | |
saw now that I had done wrong to part with my boy. | |
I did not at all like this kind of life. What! thought I, have I come | |
all this way to do that which I could have done as well at home with | |
my friends round me! And to add to my grief, the kind friend, who had | |
brought me here in his ship, now meant to leave these shores. | |
On my first start to sea when a boy, I had put a small sum in the hands | |
of an aunt, and this my friend said I should do well to spend on my | |
farm. So when he got home he sent some of it in cash, and laid out the | |
rest in cloth, stuffs, baize, and such like goods. My aunt had put a few | |
pounds in my friend's hands as a gift to him, to show her thanks for all | |
that he had done for me, and with this sum he was so kind as to buy me a | |
slave. In the mean time I had bought a slave, so now I had two, and all | |
went on well for the next year. | |
But soon my plans grew too large for my means. One day some men came to | |
ask me to take charge of a slave ship to be sent out by them. They said | |
they would give me a share in the slaves, and pay the cost of the stock. | |
This would have been a good thing for me if I had not had farms and | |
land; but it was wild and rash to think of it now, for I had made a | |
large sum, and ought to have gone on in the same way for three or four | |
years more. Well, I told these men that I would go with all my heart, if | |
they would look to my farm in the mean time, which they said they would | |
do. | |
So I made my will, and went on board this ship on the same day on which, | |
eight years since, I had left Hull. She had six guns, twelve men, and a | |
boy. We took with us saws, chains, toys, beads, bits of glass, and such | |
like ware, to suit the taste of those with whom we had to trade. | |
We were not more than twelve days from the Line, when a high wind took | |
us off we knew not where. All at once there was a cry of "Land!" and the | |
ship struck on a bank of sand, in which she sank so deep that we could | |
not get her off. At last we found that we must make up our minds to | |
leave her, and get to shore as well as we could. There had been a boat | |
at her stern, but we found it had been torn off by the force of the | |
waves. One small boat was still left on the ship's side, so we got in | |
it. | |
There we were all of us on the wild sea. The heart of each now grew | |
faint, our cheeks were pale, and our eyes were dim, for there was but | |
one hope, and that was to find some bay, and so get in the lee of the | |
land. We now gave up our whole souls to God. | |
The sea grew more and more rough, and its white foam would curl and | |
boil. At last the waves, in their wild sport, burst on the boat's side, | |
and we were all thrown out. | |
I could swim well, but the force of the waves made me lose my breath too | |
much to do so. At length one large wave took me to the shore, and left | |
me high and dry, though half dead with fear. I got on my feet and made | |
the best of my way for the land; but just then the curve of a huge wave | |
rose up as high as a hill, and this I had no strength to keep from, so | |
it took me back to the sea. I did my best to float on the top, and held | |
my breath to do so. The next wave was quite as high, and shut me up in | |
its bulk. I held my hands down tight to my side, and then my head shot | |
out at the top of the waves. This gave me heart and breath too, and soon | |
my feet felt the ground. | |
I stood quite still for a short time, to let the sea run back from me, | |
and then I set off with all my might to the shore, but yet the waves | |
caught me, and twice more did they take me back, and twice more land me | |
on the shore. I thought the last wave would have been the death of me, | |
for it drove me on a piece of rock, and with such force, as to leave me | |
in a kind of swoon, which, thank God, did not last long. At length, to | |
my great joy, I got up to the cliffs close to the shore, where I found | |
some grass, out of the reach of the sea. There, I sat down, safe on land | |
at last. | |
I could but cry out in the words of the Psalm, "They that go down to the | |
sea in ships, these men see the works of the Lord in the deep. For at | |
His word the storms rise, the winds blow, and lift up the waves; then | |
do they mount to the sky, and from thence go down to the deep. My soul | |
faints, I reel to and fro, and am at my wit's end: then the Lord brings | |
me out of all my fears." | |
I felt so wrapt in joy, that all I could do was to walk up and down the | |
coast, now lift up my hands, now fold them on my breast, and thank God | |
for all that He had done for me, when the rest of the men were lost. | |
All lost but I, and I was safe! I now cast my eyes round me, to find out | |
what kind of a place it was that I had been thus thrown in, like a bird | |
in a storm. Then all the glee I felt at first left me; for I was wet and | |
cold, and had no dry clothes to put on, no food to eat and not a friend | |
to help me. | |
There were wild beasts here, but I had no gun to shoot them with, or to | |
keep me from their jaws. I had but a knife and a pipe. It now grew dark; | |
and where was I to go for the night? I thought the top of some high tree | |
would be a good place to keep me out of harm's way; and that there I | |
might sit and think of death, for, as yet, I had no hopes of life. Well, | |
I went to my tree, and made a kind of nest to sleep in. Then I cut a | |
stick to keep off the beasts of prey, in case they should come, and fell | |
to sleep just as if the branch I lay on had been a bed of down. | |
When I woke up it was broad day; the sky too was clear and the sea calm. | |
But I saw from the top of the tree that in the night the ship had left | |
the bank of sand, and lay but a mile from me; while the boat was on the | |
beach, two miles on my right. I went some way down by the shore, to get | |
to the boat; but an arm of the sea, half a mile broad, kept me from | |
it. At noon, the tide went a long way out, so that I could get near the | |
ship; and here I found that if we had but made up our minds to stay on | |
board, we should all have been safe. | |
I shed tears at the thought, for I could not help it; yet, as there was | |
no use in that, it struck me that the best thing for me to do was to | |
swim to the ship. I soon threw off my clothes, took to the sea, and swam | |
up to the wreck. But how was I to get on deck? I had swam twice round | |
the ship, when a piece of rope, caught my eye, which hung down from her | |
side so low, that at first the waves hid it. By the help of this rope I | |
got on board. I found that there was a bulge in the ship, and that she | |
had sprung a leak. You may be sure that my first thought was to look | |
round for some food, and I soon made my way to the bin, where the bread | |
was kept, and ate some of it as I went to and fro, for there was no time | |
to lose. There was, too, some rum, of which I took a good draught, and | |
this gave me heart. What I stood most in need of, was a boat to take the | |
goods to shore. But it was vain to wish for that which could not be | |
had; and as there were some spare yards in the ship, two or three large | |
planks of wood, and a spare mast or two, I fell to work with these, to | |
make a raft. | |
I put four spars side by side, and laid short bits of plank on them, | |
cross ways, to make my raft strong. Though these planks would bear my | |
own weight, they were too slight to bear much of my freight. So I took a | |
saw which was on board, and cut a mast in three lengths, and these gave | |
great strength to the raft. I found some bread and rice, a Dutch cheese, | |
and some dry goat's flesh. There had been some wheat, but the rats had | |
got at it, and it was all gone. | |
My next task was to screen my goods from the spray of the sea; and it | |
did not take me long to do this, for there were three large chests on | |
board which held all, and these I put on the raft. When the high tide | |
came up it took off my coat and shirt, which I had left on the shore; | |
but there were some fresh clothes in the ship. | |
"See here is a prize!" said I, out loud, (though there were none to hear | |
me), "now I shall not starve." For I found four large guns. But how was | |
my raft to be got to land? I had no sail, no oars; and a gust of wind | |
would make all my store slide off. Yet there were three things which I | |
was glad of; a calm sea, a tide which set in to the shore, and a slight | |
breeze to blow me there. | |
I had the good luck to find some oars in a part of the ship, in which | |
I had made no search till now. With these I put to sea, and for half a | |
mile my raft went well; but soon I found it drove to one side. At length | |
I saw a creek, to which, with some toil, I took my raft; and now the | |
beach was so near, that I felt my oar touch the ground. | |
Here I had well nigh lost my freight, for the shore lay on a slope, so | |
that there was no place to land on, save where one end of the raft would | |
lie so high, and one end so low, that all my goods would fall off. To | |
wait till the tide came up was all that could be done. So when the sea | |
was a foot deep, I thrust the raft on a flat piece of ground, to moor | |
her there, and stuck my two oars in the sand, one on each side of the | |
raft. Thus I let her lie till the ebb of the tide, and when it went | |
down, she was left safe on land with all her freight. | |
I saw that there were birds on the isle, and I shot one of them. Mine | |
must have been the first gun that had been heard there since the world | |
was made; for at the sound of it, whole flocks of birds flew up, with | |
loud cries, from all parts of the wood. The shape of the beak of the one | |
I shot was like that of a hawk, but the claws were not so large. | |
I now went back to my raft to land my stores, and this took up the rest | |
of the day. What to do at night I knew not, nor where to find a safe | |
place to land my stores on. I did not like to lie down on the ground, | |
for fear of beasts of prey, as well as snakes, but there was no cause | |
for these fears, as I have since found. I put the chests and boards | |
round me as well as I could, and made a kind of hut for the night. | |
As there was still a great store of things left in the ship, which would | |
be of use to me, I thought that I ought to bring them to land at once; | |
for I knew that the first storm would break up the ship. So I went on | |
board, and took good care this time not to load my raft too much. | |
The first thing, I sought for was the tool chest; and in it were some | |
bags of nails, spikes, saws, knives, and such things: but best of all I | |
found a stone to grind my tools on. There were two or three flasks, | |
some large bags of shot, and a roll of lead; but this last I had not | |
the strength to hoist up to the ship's side, so as to get it on my raft. | |
There were some spare sails too which I brought to shore. | |
I had some fear lest my stores might be run off with by beasts of prey, | |
if not by men; but I found all safe and sound when I went back, and no | |
one had come there but a wild cat, which sat on one of the chests. When | |
I came up I held my gun at her, but as she did not know what a gun was, | |
this did not rouse her. She ate a piece of dry goat's flesh, and then | |
took her leave. | |
Now that I had two freights of goods at hand, I made a tent with the | |
ship's sails, to stow them in, and cut the poles for it from the wood. | |
I now took all the things out of the casks and chests, and put the casks | |
in piles round the tent, to give it strength; and when this was done, | |
I shut up the door with the boards, spread one of the beds (which I had | |
brought from the ship) on the ground, laid two guns close to my head, | |
and went to bed for the first time. I slept all night, for I was much in | |
need of rest. | |
The next day I was sad and sick at heart, for I felt how dull it was to | |
be thus cut off from all the rest of the world. I had no great wish for | |
work: but there was too much to be done for me to dwell long on my sad | |
lot. Each day as it came, I went off to the wreck to fetch more things; | |
and I brought back as much as the raft would hold. One day I had put too | |
great a load on the raft, which made it sink down on one side, so that | |
the goods were lost in the sea; but at this I did not fret, as the chief | |
part of the freight was some rope, which would not have been of much use | |
to me. | |
The twelve days that I had been in the isle were spent in this way, and | |
I had brought to land all that one pair of hands could lift; though if | |
the sea had been still calm, I might have brought the whole ship, piece | |
by piece. | |
The last time I swam to the wreck, the wind blew so hard, that I made up | |
my mind to go on board next time at low tide. I found some tea and some | |
gold coin; but as to the gold, it made me laugh to look at it. "O drug!" | |
said I, "Thou art of no use to me! I care not to save thee. Stay where | |
thou art, till the ship go down, then go thou with it!" | |
Still, I thought I might as well just take it; so I put it in a piece | |
of the sail, and threw it on deck that I might place it on the raft. | |
Bye-and-bye, the wind blew from the shore, so I had to swim back with | |
all speed; for I knew that at the turn of the tide, I should find it | |
hard work to get to land at all. But in spite of the high wind, I came | |
to my home all safe. At dawn of day I put my head out, and cast my eyes | |
on the sea. When lo! no ship was there! | |
This change in the face of things, and the loss of such a friend, quite | |
struck me down. Yet I was glad to think that I had brought to shore all | |
that could be of use to me. I had now to look out for some spot where I | |
could make my home. Half way up a hill there was a small plain, four or | |
five score feet long, and twice as broad; and as it had a full view of | |
the sea, I thought that it would be a good place for my house. | |
I first dug a trench round a space which took in twelve yards; and in | |
this I drove two rows of stakes, till they stood firm like piles, five | |
and a half feet from the ground. I made the stakes close and tight with | |
bits of rope; and put small sticks on the top of them in the shape of | |
spikes. This made so strong a fence that no man or beast could get in. | |
The door of my house was on the top, and I had to climb up to it by | |
steps, which I took in with me, so that no one else might come up by the | |
same way. Close to the back of the house stood a high rock, in which I | |
made a cave, and laid all the earth that I had dug out of it round my | |
house, to the height of a foot and a half. I had to go out once a day in | |
search of food. The first time, I saw some goats, but they were too shy | |
and swift of foot, to let me get near them. | |
At last I lay in wait for them close to their own haunts. If they saw | |
me in the vale, though they might be on high ground, they would run off, | |
wild with fear; but if they were in the vale, and I on high ground, they | |
took no heed of me. The first goat I shot had a kid by her side, and | |
when the old one fell, the kid stood near her, till I took her off on | |
my back, and then the young one ran by my side. I put down the goat, and | |
brought the kid home to tame it; but as it was too young to feed, I had | |
to kill it. | |
At first I thought that, for the lack of pen and ink, I should lose all | |
note of time; so I made a large post, in the shape of a cross, on which | |
I cut these words, "I came on these shores on the 8th day of June, in | |
the year 1659" On the side of this post I made a notch each day as it | |
came, and this I kept up till the last. | |
I have not yet said a word of my four pets, which were two cats, a dog, | |
and a bird. You may guess how fond I was of them, for they were all the | |
friends left to me. I brought the dog and two cats from the ship. The | |
dog would fetch things for me at all times, and by his bark, his whine, | |
his growl, and his tricks, he would all but talk to me; yet he could not | |
give me thought for thought. | |
If I could but have had some one near me to find fault with, or to find | |
fault with me, what a treat it would have been! Now that I had brought | |
ink from the ship, I wrote down a sketch of each day as it came; not so | |
much to leave to those who might read it, when I was dead and gone, as | |
to get rid of my own thoughts, and draw me from the fears which all day | |
long dwelt on my mind, till my head would ache with the weight of them. | |
I was a long way out of the course of ships: and oh, how dull it was to | |
be cast on this lone spot with no one to love, no one to make me laugh, | |
no one to make me weep, no one to make me think. It was dull to roam, | |
day by day, from the wood to the shore; and from the shore back to the | |
wood, and feed on my own thoughts all the while. | |
So much for the sad view of my case; but like most things it had a | |
bright side as well as a dark one. For here was I safe on land, while | |
all the rest of the ship's crew were lost. Well, thought I, God who | |
shapes our ways, and led me by the hand then, can save me from this | |
state now, or send some one to be with me; true, I am cast on a rough | |
and rude part of the globe, but there are no beasts of prey on it to | |
kill or hurt me. God has sent the ship so near to me, that I have got | |
from it all things to meet my wants for the rest of my days. Let life be | |
what it may, there is sure to be much to thank God for; and I soon gave | |
up all dull thoughts, and did not so much as look out for a sail. | |
My goods from the wreck had been in the cave for more than ten months; | |
and it was time now to put them right, as they took up all the space, | |
and left me no room to turn in: so I made my small cave a large one, and | |
dug it out a long way back in the sand rock. Then I brought the mouth of | |
it up to the fence, and so made a back way to my house. This done, I put | |
shelves on each side, to hold my goods, which made my cave look like a | |
shop full of stores. To make these shelves I cut down a tree, and with | |
the help of a saw, an axe, a plane, and some more tools, I made boards. | |
A chair, and a desk to write on, came next. I rose in good time, and set | |
to work till noon, then I ate my meal, then I went out with my gun, and | |
to work once more till the sun had set; and then to bed. It took me more | |
than a week to change the shape and size of my cave, but I had made it | |
far too large; for in course of time the earth fell in from the roof; | |
and had I been in it, when this took place, I should have lost my life. | |
I had now to set up posts in my cave, with planks on the top of them, so | |
as to make a roof of wood. | |
One day, when out with my gun, I shot a wild cat, the skin of which made | |
me a cap; and I found some birds of the dove tribe, which built their | |
nests in the holes of rocks. | |
I had to go to bed at dusk, till I made a lamp of goat's fat, which I | |
put in a clay dish; and this, with a piece of hemp for a wick, made a | |
good light. As I had found a use for the bag which had held the fowl's | |
food on board ship, I shook out from it the husks of corn. This was just | |
at the time when the great rains fell, and in the course of a month, | |
blades of rice, corn, and rye, sprang up. As time went by, and the grain | |
was ripe, I kept it, and took care to sow it each year; but I could not | |
boast of a crop of wheat, as will be shown bye-and-bye, for three years. | |
A thing now took place on the isle, which no one could have dreamt of, | |
and which struck me down with fear. It was this--the ground shook | |
with great force, which threw down earth from the rock with a loud | |
crash--once more there was a shock--and now the earth fell from the roof | |
of my cave. The sea did not look the same as it had done, for the shocks | |
were just as strong there as on land. The sway of the earth made me feel | |
sick; and there was a noise and a roar all around me. The same kind of | |
shock came a third time; and when it had gone off, I sat quite still on | |
the ground, for I knew not what to do. Then the clouds grew dark, the | |
wind rose, trees were torn up by the roots, the sea was a mass of foam | |
and froth, and a great part of the isle was laid waste with the storm. I | |
thought that the world had come to an end. In three hours' time all was | |
calm; but rain fell all that night, and a great part of the next day. | |
Now, though quite worn out, I had to move my goods which were in the | |
cave, to some safe place. | |
I knew that tools would be my first want, and that I should have to | |
grind mine on the stone, as they were blunt and worn with use. But as it | |
took both hands to hold the tool, I could not turn the stone; so I made | |
a wheel by which I could move it with my foot. This was no small task, | |
but I took great pains with it, and at length it was done. | |
The rain fell for some days and a cold chill came on me; in short I was | |
ill. I had pains in my head, and could get no sleep at night, and my | |
thoughts were wild and strange. At one time I shook with cold, and then | |
a hot fit came on, with faint sweats, which would last six hours at a | |
time. Ill as I was, I had to go out with my gun to get food. I shot a | |
goat, but it was a great toil to bring it home, and still more to cook | |
it. | |
I spent the next day in bed, and felt half dead from thirst, yet too | |
weak to stand up to get some drink. I lay and wept like a child. "Lord | |
look on me! Lord look on me!" would I cry for hours. | |
At last the fit left me, and I slept, and did not wake till dawn. I | |
dreamt that I lay on the ground, and saw a man come down from a great | |
black cloud in a flame of light. When he stood on the earth, it shook as | |
it had done a few days since; and all the world to me was full of fire. | |
He came up and said "As I see that all these things have not brought | |
thee to pray, now thou shalt die." Then I woke, and found it was a | |
dream. Weak and faint, I was in dread all day lest my fit should come | |
on. | |
Too ill to get out with my gun, I sat on the shore to think, and thus | |
ran my thoughts: "What is this sea which is all round me? and whence is | |
it? There can be no doubt that the hand that made it, made the air, the | |
earth, the sky. And who is that? It is God who hath made all things. | |
Well then, if God hath made all things, it must be He who guides them; | |
and if so, no one thing in the whole range of His works can take place, | |
and He not know it. Then God must know how sick and sad I am, and He | |
wills me to be here. O, why hath God done this to me!" | |
Then some voice would seem to say, "Dost thou ask why God hath done this | |
to thee? Ask why thou wert not shot by the Moors, who came on board the | |
ship, and took the lives of thy mates. Ask why thou wert not torn by the | |
beasts of prey on the coasts. Ask why thou didst not go down in the | |
deep sea with the rest of the crew, but didst come to this isle, and art | |
safe." | |
A sound sleep then fell on me, and when I woke it must have been three | |
o'clock the next day, by the rays of the sun: nay, it may have been more | |
than that; for I think that this must have been the day that I did not | |
mark on my post, as I have since found that there was one notch too few. | |
I now took from my store the Book of God's Word, which I had brought | |
from the wreck, not one page, of which I had yet read. My eyes fell on | |
five words, that would seem to have been put there for my good at this | |
time; so well did they cheer my faint hopes, and touch the true source | |
of my fears. They were these: "I will not leave thee." And they have | |
dwelt in my heart to this day. I laid down the book, to pray. My cry was | |
"O, Lord, help me to love and learn thy ways." | |
This was the first time in all my life that I had felt a sense that God | |
was near, and heard me. As for my dull life here, it was not worth a | |
thought; for now a new strength had come to me; and there was a change | |
in my griefs, as well as in my joys. | |
I had now been in the isle twelve months, and I thought it was time to | |
go all round it, in search of its woods, springs, and creeks. So I set | |
off, and brought back with me limes and grapes in their prime, large and | |
ripe. I had hung the grapes in the sun to dry, and in a few days' time | |
went to fetch them, that I might lay up a store. The vale, on the banks | |
of which they grew, was fresh and green, and a clear, bright stream ran | |
through it, which gave so great a charm to the spot, as to make me wish | |
to live there. | |
But there was no view of the sea from this vale, while from my house, no | |
ships could come on my side of the isle, and not be seen by me; yet the | |
cool, soft banks were so sweet and new to me that much of my time was | |
spent there. | |
In the first of the three years in which I had grown corn, I had sown | |
it too late; in the next, it was spoilt by the drought; but the third | |
years' crop had sprung up well. | |
I found that the hares would lie in it night and day, for which there | |
was no cure but to plant a thick hedge all round it; and this took me | |
more than three weeks to do. I shot the hares in the day time; and when | |
it grew dark, I made fast the dog's chain to the gate, and there he | |
stood to bark all night. | |
In a short time the corn grew strong, and at last ripe but, just as the | |
hares had hurt it in the blade, so now the birds ate it in the ear. At | |
the noise of my gun, whole flocks of them would fly up; and at this rate | |
I saw that there would be no corn left; so I made up my mind to keep a | |
look out night and day. I hid by the side of a hedge, and could see the | |
birds sit on the trees and watch, and then come down, one by one, at | |
first. Now each grain of wheat was, as it were, a small loaf of bread to | |
me. So the great thing was to get rid of these birds. My plan was this, | |
I shot three, and hung them up, like thieves, to scare all that came to | |
the corn; and from this time, as long as the dead ones hung there, not | |
a bird came near. When the corn was ripe, I made a scythe out of the | |
swords from the ship, and got in my crop. | |
Few of us think of the cost at which a loaf of bread is made. Of course, | |
there was no plough here to turn up the earth, and no spade to dig it | |
with, so I made one with wood; but this was soon worn out, and for want | |
of a rake, I made use of the bough of a tree. When I had got the corn | |
home, I had to thrash it, part the grain from the chaff, and store it | |
up. Then came the want of a mill to grind it, of sieves to clean it, and | |
of yeast to make bread of it. | |
Still, my bread was made, though I had no tools; and no one could say | |
that I did not earn it, by the sweat of my brow. When the rain kept me | |
in doors, it was good fun to teach my pet bird Poll to talk; but so mute | |
were all things round me, that the sound of my own voice made me start. | |
My chief wants now were jars, pots, cups, and plates, but I knew not how | |
I could make them. At last I went in search of some clay, and found some | |
a mile from my house; but it was quite a joke to see the queer shapes | |
and forms that I made out of it. For some of my pots and jars were too | |
weak to bear their own weight; and they would fall out here, and in | |
there, in all sorts of ways; while some, when they were put in the sun | |
to bake, would crack with the heat of its rays. You may guess what my | |
joy was when at last a pot was made which would stand the heat of the | |
fire, so that I could boil the meat for broth. | |
The next thing to be made was a sieve, to part the grain from the husks. | |
Goat's hair was of no use to me, as I could not weave or spin; so I made | |
a shift for two years with a thin kind of stuff, which I had brought | |
from the ship. But to grind the corn with the stones was the worst of | |
all, such hard work did I find it. To bake the bread I burnt some wood | |
down to an ash, which I threw on the hearth to heat it, and then set my | |
loaves on the hearth, and in this way my bread was made. | |
The next thing to turn my thoughts to was the ship's boat, which lay on | |
the high ridge of sand, where it had been thrust by the storm which had | |
cast me on these shores. But it lay with the keel to the sky, so I had | |
to dig the sand from it, and turn it up with the help of a pole. When I | |
had done this I found it was all in vain, for I had not the strength to | |
launch it. So all I could do now, was to make a boat of less size out | |
of a tree; and I found one that was just fit for it, which grew not far | |
from the shore, but I could no more stir this than I could the ship's | |
boat. What was to be done? I first dug the ground flat and smooth all | |
the way from the boat to the sea, so as to let it slide down; but this | |
plan did not turn out well, so I thought I would try a new way, which | |
was to make a trench, so as to bring the sea up to the boat, as the boat | |
could not be brought to the sea. But to do this, I must have dug down to | |
a great depth, which would take one man some years to do. And when too | |
late, I found it was not wise to work out a scheme, till I had first | |
thought of the cost and toil. | |
"Well," thought I, "I must give up the boat, and with it all my hopes | |
to leave the isle. But I have this to think of: I am lord of the whole | |
isle; in fact, a king. I have wood with which I might build a fleet, and | |
grapes, if not corn, to freight it with, though all my wealth is but a | |
few gold coins." For these I had no sort of use, and could have found it | |
in my heart to give them all for a peck of peas and some ink, which last | |
I stood much in need of. But it was best to dwell more on what I had, | |
than on what I had not. | |
I now must needs try once more to build a boat, but this time it was to | |
have a mast, for which the ship's sails would be of great use. I made a | |
deck at each end, to keep out the spray of the sea, a bin for my food, | |
and a rest for my gun, with a flap to screen it from the wet. More than | |
all, the boat was one of such a size that I could launch it. | |
My first cruise was up and down the creek, but soon I got bold, and made | |
the whole round of my isle. I took with me bread, cakes, and a pot full | |
of rice, some rum, half a goat, two great coats, one of which was to | |
lie on, and one to put on at night. I set sail in the sixth year of my | |
reign. On the East side of the isle, there was a large ridge of rocks, | |
which lay two miles from the shore; and a shoal of sand lay for half a | |
mile from the rocks to the beach. To get round to this point, I had to | |
sail a great way out to sea; and here I all but lost my life. | |
But I got back to my home at last. On my way there, quite worn out with | |
the toils of the boat, I lay down in the shade to rest my limbs, and | |
slept. But judge, if you can, what a start I gave, when a voice woke | |
me out of my sleep, and spoke my name three times! A voice in this wild | |
place! To call me by name, too! Then the voice said, "Where are you? | |
Where have you been? How came you here?" But now I saw it all; for at | |
the top of the hedge sat Poll, who did but say the words she had been | |
taught by me. | |
I now went in search of some goats, and laid snares for them, with rice | |
for a bait I had set the traps in the night, and found they had all | |
stood, though the bait was gone. So I thought of a new way to take them, | |
which was to make a pit and lay sticks and grass on it, so as to hide | |
it; and in this way I caught an old goat and some kids. But the old goat | |
was much too fierce for me, so I let him go. I brought all the young | |
ones home, and let them fast a long time, till at last they fed from my | |
hand, and were quite tame. I kept them in a kind of park, in which there | |
were trees to screen them from the sun. At first my park was three miles | |
round; but it struck me that, in so great a space, the kids would soon | |
get as wild as if they had the range of the whole vale, and that it | |
would be as well to give them less room; so I had to make a hedge which | |
took me three months to plant. My park held a flock of twelve goats, and | |
in two years more there were more than two score. | |
My dog sat at meals with me, and one cat on each side of me, on stools, | |
and we had Poll to talk to us. Now for a word or two as to the dress in | |
which I made a tour round the isle. I could but think how droll it would | |
look in the streets of the town in which I was born. I wore a high cap | |
of goat's skin, with a flap that hung, down, to keep the sun and rain | |
from my neck, a coat made from the skin of a goat too, the skirts of | |
which came down to my hips, and the same on my legs, with no shoes, but | |
flaps of the fur round my shins. I had a broad belt of the same round | |
my waist, which drew on with two thongs; and from it, on my right side, | |
hung a saw and an axe; and on my left side a pouch for the shot. My | |
beard had not been cut since I came here. But no more need be said of | |
my looks, for there were few to see me. A strange sight was now in store | |
for me, which was to change the whole course of my life in the isle. | |
One day at noon, while on a stroll down to a part of the shore that was | |
new to me, what should I see on the sand but the print of a man's foot! | |
I felt as if I was bound by a spell, and could not stir from, the spot. | |
Bye-and-bye, I stole a look round me, but no one was in sight, What | |
could this mean? I went three or four times to look at it. There it | |
was--the print of a man's foot; toes, heel, and all the parts of a foot. | |
How could it have come there? | |
My head swam with fear; and as I left the spot, I made two or three | |
steps, and then took a look round me; then two steps more, and did the | |
same thing. I took fright at the stump of an old tree, and ran to my | |
house, as if for my life. How could aught in the shape of a man come to | |
that shore, and I not know it? Where was the ship that brought him? Then | |
a vague dread took hold of my mind, that some man, or set of men, had | |
found me out; and it might be, that they meant to kill me, or rob me of | |
all I had. | |
How strange a thing is the life of man! One day we love that which the | |
next day we hate. One day we seek what the next day we shun. One day | |
we long for the thing which the next day we fear; and so we go on. Now, | |
from the time that I was cast on this isle, my great source of grief | |
was that I should be thus cut off from the rest of my race. Why, then, | |
should the thought that a man might be near give me all this pain? Nay, | |
why should the mere sight of the print of a man's foot, make me quake | |
with fear? It seems most strange; yet not more strange than true. | |
Once it struck me that it might be the print of my own foot, when first | |
the storm cast me on these shores. Could I have come this way from the | |
boat? Should it in truth turn out to be the print of my own foot, I | |
should be like a boy who tells of a ghost, and feels more fright at his | |
own tale, than those do whom he meant to scare. | |
Fear kept me in-doors for three days, till the want of food drove me | |
out. At last I was so bold as to go down to the coast to look once more | |
at the print of the foot, to see if it was the same shape as my own. I | |
found it was not so large by a great deal; so it was clear there were | |
men in the isle. Just at this time my good watch dog fell down dead at | |
my feet. He was old and worn out, and in him I lost my best guard and | |
friend. | |
One day as I went from the hill to the coast, a scene lay in front of me | |
which made me sick at heart. The spot was spread with the bones of men. | |
There was a round place dug in the earth, where a fire had been made, | |
and here some men had come to feast. Now that I had seen this sight, I | |
knew not how to act; I kept close to my home, and would scarce stir from | |
it, save to milk my flock of goats. | |
To feel safe was now more to me than to be well fed; and I did not care | |
to drive a nail, or chop a stick of wood, lest the sound of it should be | |
heard, much less would I fire a gun. As to my bread and meat, I had to | |
bake it at night when the smoke could not be seen. But I soon found the | |
way to burn wood with turf at the top of it, which made it like chark, | |
or dry coal; and this I could use by day, as it had no smoke. | |
I found in the wood where I went to get the sticks for my fire, a cave | |
so large that I could stand in it; but I made more haste to get out, | |
than in; for two large eyes, as bright as stars, shone out from it with | |
a fierce glare. I took a torch, and went to see what they could be, and | |
found that there was no cause for fear; for the eyes were those of an | |
old gray goat, which had gone there to die of old age. I gave him a | |
push, to try to get him out of the cave, but he could not rise from the | |
ground where he lay; so I left him there to die, as I could not save his | |
life. | |
I found the width of the cave was twelve feet; but part of it, near the | |
end, was so low that I had to creep on my hands and feet to go in. What | |
the length of it was I could not tell, for my light went out, and I had | |
to give up my search. The next day, I went to the cave with large lights | |
made of goat's fat; and when I got to the end, I found that the roof | |
rose to two score feet or more. | |
As my lights shone on the walls and roof of the cave, a sight burst on | |
my view, the charms of which no tongue could tell; for the walls shone | |
like stars. What was in the rock to cause this it was hard to say; they | |
might be gems, or bright stones, or gold. But let them be what they may, | |
this cave was a mine of wealth to me; for at such time as I felt dull | |
or sad, the bright scene would flash on my mind's eye, and fill it with | |
joy. | |
A score of years had gone by, with no new sight to rest my eyes on, till | |
this scene burst on them. I felt as if I should like to spend the rest | |
of my life here; and at its close, lie down to die in this cave, like | |
the old goat. | |
As I went home I was struck by the sight of some smoke, which came from | |
a fire no more than two miles off. From this time I lost all my peace | |
of mind. Day and night a dread would haunt me, that the men who had made | |
this fire would find me out. I went home and drew up my steps, but first | |
I made all things round me look wild and rude. To load my gun was the | |
next thing to do, and I thought it would be best to stay at home and | |
hide. | |
But this was not to be borne long. I had no spy to send out and all I | |
could do was to get to the top of the hill, and keep a good look out. At | |
last, through my glass, I could see a group of wild men join in a dance | |
round their fire. As soon a they had left, I took two guns, and slung a | |
sword on my side; then with all speed, I set off to the top of the hill, | |
once more to have a good view. | |
This time I made up my mind to go up to the men, but not with a view to | |
kill them, for I felt that it would be wrong to do so. With such a load | |
of arms, it took me two hours to reach the spot where the fire was; and | |
by the time I got there, the men had all gone; but I saw them in four | |
boats out at sea. | |
Down on the shore, there was a proof of what the work of these men had | |
been. The signs of their feast made me sick at heart, and I shut my | |
eyes. I durst not fire my gun when I went out for food on that side the | |
isle, lest there should be some of the men left, who might hear it, | |
and so find me out. This state of things went on for a year and three | |
months, and for all that time I saw no more men. | |
On the twelfth of May, a great storm of wind blew all day and night. As | |
it was dark, I sat in my house; and in the midst of the gale, I heard | |
a gun fire! My guess was that it must have been from some ship cast on | |
shore by the storm. So I set a light to some wood on top of the hill, | |
that those in the ship, if ship it should be, might know that some one | |
was there to aid them. I then heard two more guns fire. When it was | |
light, I went to the South side of the isle, and there lay the wreck of | |
a ship, cast on the rocks in the night by the storm. She was too far off | |
for me to see if there were men on board. | |
Words could not tell how much I did long to bring but one of the ship's | |
crew to the shore! So strong was my wish to save the life of those on | |
board, that I could have laid down my own life to do so. There are some | |
springs in the heart which, when hope stirs them, drive the soul on with | |
such a force, that to lose all chance of the thing one hopes for, would | |
seem to make one mad; and thus was it with me. | |
Now, I thought, was the time to use my boat; so I set to work at once to | |
fit it out. I took on board some rum (of which I still had a good deal | |
left), some dry grapes, a bag of rice, some goat's milk, and cheese, and | |
then put out to sea. A dread came on me at the thought of the risk I had | |
run on the same rocks; but my heart did not quite fail me, though I | |
knew that, as my boat was small, if a gale of wind should spring up, all | |
would be lost. Then I found that I must go back to the shore till the | |
tide should turn, and the ebb come on. | |
I made up my mind to go out the next day with the high tide, so I slept | |
that night in my boat. At dawn I set out to sea, and in less than two | |
hours I came up to the wreck. What a scene was there! The ship had | |
struck on two rocks. The stern was torn by the force of the waves, the | |
masts were swept off, ropes and chains lay strewn on the deck, and all | |
was wrapt in gloom. As I came up to the wreck, a dog swam to me with a | |
yelp and a whine. I took him on board my boat, and when I gave him some | |
bread he ate it like a wolf, and as to drink, he would have burst, if I | |
had let him take his fill of it. | |
I went to the cook's room, where I found two men, but they were both | |
dead. The tongue was mute, the ear was deaf, the eye was shut, and the | |
lip was stiff; still the sad tale was told, for each had his arm round | |
his friend's neck, and so they must have sat to wait for death. What a | |
change had come on the scene, once so wild with the lash of the waves | |
and the roar of the wind! All was calm now--death had done its work, | |
and all had felt its stroke, save the dog, and he was the one thing that | |
still had life. | |
I thought the ship must have come from Spain, and there was much gold | |
on board. I took some of the chests and put them in my boat, but did not | |
wait to see what they held, and with this spoil, and three casks of rum, | |
I came back. | |
I found all things at home just as I had left them, my goats, my cats, | |
and my bird. The scene in the cook's room was in my mind day and night, | |
and to cheer me up I drank some of the rum. I then set to work to bring | |
my freight from the shore, where I had left it. In the chests were two | |
great bags of gold, and some bars of the same, and near these lay three | |
small flasks and three bags of shot which were a great prize. | |
From this time, all went well with me for two years; but it was not to | |
last. One day, as I stood on the hill, I saw six boats on the shore! | |
What could this mean? | |
Where were the men who had brought them? And what had they come for? I | |
saw through my glass that there were a score and a half, at least, on | |
the east side of the isle. They had meat on the fire, round which I | |
could see them dance. They then took a man from one of the boats, who | |
was bound hand and foot; but when they came to loose his bonds, he set | |
off as fast as his feet would take him, and in a straight line to my | |
house. | |
To tell the truth, when I saw all the rest of the men run to catch him, | |
my hair stood on end with fright. In the creek, he swam like a fish, and | |
the plunge which he took brought him through it in a few strokes. All | |
the men now gave up the chase but two, and they swam through the creek, | |
but by no means so fast as the slave had done. Now, I thought, was the | |
time for me to help the poor man, and my heart told me it would be right | |
to do so. I ran down my steps with my two guns, and went with all speed | |
up the hill, and then down by a short cut to meet them. | |
I gave a sign to the poor slave to come to me, and at the same time went | |
up to meet the two men, who were in chase of him. I made a rush at the | |
first of these, to knock him down with the stock of my gun, and he fell. | |
I saw the one who was left, aim at me with his bow, so, to save my life, | |
I shot him dead. | |
The smoke and noise from my gun, gave the poor slave who had been bound, | |
such a shock, that he stood still on the spot, as if he had been in a | |
trance. I gave a loud shout for him to come to me, and I took care to | |
show him that I was a friend, and made all the signs I could think of to | |
coax him up to me. At length he came, knelt down to kiss the ground, and | |
then took hold of my foot, and set it on his head. All this meant that | |
he was my slave; and I bade him rise, and made much of him. | |
But there was more work to be done yet; for the man who had had the blow | |
from my gun was not dead. I made a sign for my slave (as I shall now | |
call him) to look at him. At this he spoke to me, and though I could | |
not make out what he said, yet it gave me a shock of joy; for it was the | |
first sound of a man's voice that I had heard, for all the years I had | |
been on the isle. | |
The man whom I had struck with the stock of my gun, sat up; and my | |
slave, who was in great fear of him, made signs for me to lend him my | |
sword, which hung in a belt at my side. With this he ran up to the man, | |
and with one stroke cut off his head. When he had done this, he brought | |
me back my sword with a laugh, and put it down in front of me. I did not | |
like to see the glee with which he did it, and I did not feel that my | |
own life was quite safe with such a man. | |
He, in his turn, could but lift up his large brown hands with awe, to | |
think that I had put his foe to death, while I stood so far from him. | |
But as to the sword, he and the rest of his tribe made use of swords of | |
wood, and this was why he knew so well how to wield mine. He made signs | |
to me to let him go and see the man who had been shot; and he gave him a | |
turn round, first on this side, then on that; and when he saw the wound | |
made in his breast by the shot, he stood quite, still once more, as if | |
he had lost his wits. I made signs for him to come back, for my fears | |
told me that the rest of the men might come in search of their friends. | |
I did not like to take my slave to my house, nor to my cave; so I threw | |
down some straw from the rice plant for him to sleep on, and gave him | |
some bread and a bunch of dry grapes to eat. He was a fine man, with | |
straight strong limbs, tall, and young. His hair was thick, like wool, | |
and black. His head was large and high; and he had bright black eyes. He | |
was of a dark brown hue; his face was round, and his nose small, but | |
not flat; he had a good mouth with thin lips, with which he could give a | |
soft smile; and his teeth were as white as snow. | |
I had been to milk my goats in the field close by, and when he saw me, | |
he ran to me, and lay down on the ground to show me his thanks. He then | |
put his head on the ground, and set my foot on his head, as he had done | |
at first. He took all the means he could think of, to let me know that | |
he would serve me all his life; and I gave a sign to show that I thought | |
well of him. The next thing was to think of some name to call him by. | |
I chose that of the sixth day of the week (Friday), as he came to me on | |
that day. I took care not to lose sight of him all that night, and when | |
the sun rose, I made signs for him to come to me, that I might give him | |
some clothes, for he wore none. We then went up to the top of the hill, | |
to look out for the men; but as we could not see them, or their boats, | |
it was clear that they had left the isle. | |
My slave has since told me that they had had a great fight with the | |
tribe that dwelt next to them; and that all those men whom each side | |
took in war were their own by right. My slave's foes had four who fell | |
to their share, of whom he was one. | |
I now set to work to make my man a cap of hare's skin, and gave him a | |
goat's skin to wear round his waist. It was a great source of pride to | |
him, to find that his clothes were as good as my own. | |
At night, I kept my guns, sword, and bow close to my side; but there was | |
no need for this, as my slave was, in sooth, most true to me. He did all | |
that he was set to do, with his whole heart in the work; and I knew that | |
he would lay down his life to save mine. What could a man do more than | |
that? And oh, the joy to have him here to cheer me in this lone isle! | |
I did my best to teach him, so like a child as he was, to do and feel | |
all that was right, I found him apt, and full of fun; and he took great | |
pains to learn all that I could tell him. Our lives ran on in a calm, | |
smooth way; and, but for the vile feasts which were held on the shores, | |
I felt no wish to leave the isle. | |
As my slave had by no means lost his zest for these meals, it struck me | |
that the best way to cure him, was to let him taste the flesh of beasts; | |
so I took him with me one day to the wood for some sport. I saw a | |
she-goat, in the shade, with her two kids. I caught Friday by the arm, | |
and made signs to him not to stir, and then shot one of the kids; but | |
the noise of the gun gave the poor man a great shock. He did not see the | |
kid, nor did he know that it was dead. He tore his dress off his breast | |
to feel if there was a wound there; then he knelt down to me, and took | |
hold of my knees to pray of me not to kill him. | |
To show poor Friday that his life was quite safe, I led him by the hand, | |
and told him to fetch the kid. By and by, I saw a hawk in a tree, so I | |
bade him look at the gun, the hawk, and the ground; and then I shot the | |
bird. But my poor slave gave still more signs of fear this time, than he | |
did at first: for he shook from head to foot. He must have thought that | |
some fiend of death dwelt in the gun, and I think that he would have | |
knelt down to it, as well as to me; but he would not so much as touch | |
the gun for some time, though he would speak to it when he thought I was | |
not near. Once he told me that what he said to it was to ask it not to | |
kill him. | |
I brought home the bird, and made broth of it. Friday was much struck | |
to see me eat salt with it, and made a wry face; but I, in my turn, took | |
some that had no salt with it, and I made a wry face at that. The next | |
day I gave him a piece of kid's flesh, which I had hung by a string in | |
front of the fire to roast. My plan was to put two poles, one on each | |
side of the fire, and a stick, on the top of them to hold the string. | |
When my slave came to taste the flesh, he took the best means to let me | |
know how good he thought it. | |
The next day I set him to beat out and sift some corn. I let him see me | |
make the bread, and he soon did all the work. I felt quite a love for | |
his true, warm heart, and he soon learnt to talk to me. One day I said, | |
"Do the men of your tribe win in fight?" He told me, with a smile, that | |
they did. "Well, then," said I, "How came they to let their foes take | |
you?" | |
"They run one, two, three, and make go in the boat that time." | |
"Well, and what do the men do with those they take?" | |
"Eat them all up." | |
This was not good news for me, but I went on, and said, "Where do they | |
take them?" | |
"Go to next place where they think." | |
"Do they come here?" | |
"Yes, yes, they come here, come else place too." | |
"Have you been here with them twice?" | |
"Yes, come there." | |
He meant the North West side of the isle, so to this spot I took him the | |
next day. He knew the place, and told me he was there once with a score | |
of men. To let me know this, he put a score of stones all of a row, and | |
made me count them. | |
"Are not the boats lost on your shore now and then?" He said that there | |
was no fear, and that no boats were lost. He told me that up a great way | |
by the moon--that is where the moon then came up--there dwelt a tribe | |
of white men like me, with beards. I felt sure that they must have come | |
from Spain, to work the gold mines. I put this to him: "Could I go from | |
this isle and join those men?" | |
"Yes, yes, you may go in two boats." | |
It was hard to see how one man could go in two boats, but what he meant | |
was, a boat twice as large as my own. | |
One day I said to my slave, "Do you know who made you?" | |
But he could not tell at all what these words meant. So I said, "Do you | |
know who made the sea, the ground we tread on, the hills, and woods?" He | |
said it was Beek, whose home was a great way off, and that he was so old | |
that the sea and the land were not so old as he. | |
"If this old man has made all things, why do not all things bow down to | |
him?" | |
My slave gave a grave look, and said, "All things say 'O' to him." | |
"Where do the men in your land go when they die?" | |
"All go to Beek." | |
I then held my hand up to the sky to point to it, and said, "God dwells | |
there. He made the world, and all things in it. The moon and the stars | |
are the work of his hand. God sends the wind and the rain on the earth, | |
and the streams that flow: He hides the face of the sky with clouds, | |
makes the grass to grow for the beasts of the field, and herbs for the | |
use of man. God's love knows no end. When we pray, He draws near to us | |
and hears us." | |
It was a real joy to my poor slave to hear me talk of these things. He | |
sat still for a long time, then gave a sigh, and told me that he would | |
say "O" to Beek no more, for he was but a short way off, and yet could | |
not hear, till men went up the hill to speak to him. | |
"Did you go up the hill to speak to him?" said I. | |
"No, Okes go up to Beek, not young mans." | |
"What do Okes say to him?" | |
"They say 'O.'" | |
Now that I brought my man Friday to know that Beek was not the true God, | |
such was the sense he had of my worth, that I had fears lest I should | |
stand in the place of Beek. I did my best to call forth his faith in | |
Christ, and make it strong and clear, till at last--thanks be to the | |
Lord--I brought him to the love of Him, with the whole grasp of his | |
soul. | |
To please my poor slave, I gave him a sketch of my whole life; I told | |
him where I was born, and where I spent my days when a child. He was | |
glad to hear tales of the land of my birth, and of the trade which we | |
keep up, in ships, with all parts of the known world. I gave him a knife | |
and a belt, which made him dance with joy. | |
One day as we stood on the top of the hill at the east side of the isle, | |
I saw him fix his eyes on the main land, and stand for a long time to, | |
gaze at it; then jump and sing, and call out to me. | |
"What do you see?" said I. | |
"Oh joy!" said he, with a fierce glee in his eyes, "Oh glad! There see | |
my land!" | |
Why did he strain his eyes to stare at this land, as if he had a wish | |
to be there? It put fears in my mind which made me feel far, less at | |
my ease with him. Thought I, if he should go back to his home, he will | |
think no more of what I have taught him, and done for him. He will be | |
sure to tell the rest of his tribe all my ways, and come back with, it | |
may be, scores of them, and kill me, and then dance round me, as they | |
did round the men, the last time they came on my isle. | |
But these were all false fears, though they found a place in my mind a | |
long while; and I was not so kind to him now as I had been. From this | |
time I made it a rule, day by day, to find out if there were grounds for | |
my fears or not. I said, "Do you not wish to be once more in your own | |
land?" | |
"Yes! I be much O glad to be at my own land." | |
"What would you do there? Would you turn wild, and be as you were?" | |
"No, no, I would tell them to be good, tell them eat bread, corn, milk, | |
no eat man more!" | |
"Why, they would kill you!" | |
"No, no, they no kill; they love learn." | |
He then told me that some white men, who had come on their shores in a | |
boat, had taught them a great deal. | |
"Then will you go back to your land with me?" | |
He said he could not swim so far, so I told him he should help me to | |
build a boat to go in. Then he said, "If you go, I go." | |
"I go? why they would eat me!" | |
"No, me make them much love you." | |
Then he told me as well as he could, how kind they had been to some | |
white men. I brought out the large boat to hear what he thought of it, | |
but he said it was too small. We then went to look at the old ship's | |
boat, which, as it had been in the sun for years, was not at all in a | |
sound state. The poor man made sure that it would do. But how were we to | |
know this? I told him we should build a boat as large as that, and that | |
he should go home in it. He spoke not a word, but was grave and sad. | |
"What ails you?" said I. | |
"Why, you grieve mad with your man?" | |
"What do you mean? I am not cross with you." | |
"No cross? no cross with me? Why send your man home to his own land, | |
then?" | |
"Did you not tell me you would like to go back?" | |
"Yes, yes, we both there; no wish self there, if you not there!" | |
"And what should I do there?" | |
"You do great deal much good! you teach wild men be good men; you tell | |
them know God, pray God, and lead new life." | |
We soon set to work to make a boat that would take us both. The first | |
thing was to look out for some large trees that grew near the shore, so | |
that we could launch our boat when it was made. My slave's plan was to | |
burn the wood to make it the right shape; but as mine was to hew it, | |
I set him to work with my tools; and in two months' time we had made a | |
good strong boat; but it took a long while to get her down to the shore. | |
Friday had the whole charge of her; and, large as she was, he made her | |
move with ease, and said, "he thought she go there well, though great | |
blow wind!" He did not know that I meant to make a mast and sail. I cut | |
down a young fir tree for the mast, and then I set to work at the sail. | |
It made me laugh to see my man stand and stare, when he came to watch me | |
sail the boat. But he soon gave a jump, a laugh, and a clap of the hands | |
when he saw the sail jibe and fall, first on this side, then on that. | |
The next thing to do was to stow our boat up in the creek, where we dug | |
a small dock; and when the tide was low, we made a dam, to keep out the | |
sea. The time of year had now come for us to set sail, so we got out all | |
our stores, to put them in the boat. | |
One day I sent Friday to the shore, to get a sort of herb that grew | |
there. I soon heard him cry out to me, "O grief! O bad! O bad! O out | |
there boats, one, two, three!" "Keep a stout heart," said I, to cheer | |
him. The poor man shook with fear; for he thought that the men who | |
brought him here, had now come back to kill him. | |
"Can you fight?" said I. | |
"Me shoot; but me saw three boats; one, two, three!" | |
"Have no fear; those that we do not kill, will be sure to take fright at | |
the sound of our guns. Now will you stand by me, and do just as you are | |
bid?" | |
"Me die when you bid die." | |
I gave him a good draught of rum; and when he had drunk this, he took up | |
an axe and two guns, each of which had a charge of swan shot. I took two | |
guns as well, and put large shot in them, and then hung my great sword | |
by my side. From the top of the bill, I saw with the help of my glass, | |
that the boats had each brought eight men, and one slave. They had come | |
on shore near the creek, where a grove of young trees grew close down to | |
the sea. | |
They had with them three slaves, bound hand and foot, and you who read | |
this, may guess what they were brought here for. I felt that I must try | |
and save them from so hard a fate, and that to do this, I should have | |
to put some of their foes to death. So we set forth on our way. I gave | |
Friday strict charge to keep close to me, and not to fire till I told | |
him to do so. | |
We went full a mile out of our way, that we might get round to the wood | |
to bide there. But we had not gone far, when my old qualms came back | |
to me, and I thought, "Is it for me to dip my hands in man's blood? Why | |
should I kill those who have done me no harm, and mean not to hurt me? | |
Nay, who do not so much as know that they are in the wrong, when they | |
hold these feasts. Are not their ways a sign that God has left them | |
(with the rest of their tribe) to their own dull hearts? God did not | |
call me to be a judge for Him. He who said, 'Thou shalt not kill,' said | |
it for me, as well as the rest of the world." | |
A throng of thoughts like these would rush on my mind, as if to warn me | |
to pause, till I felt sure that there was more to call me to the work | |
than I then knew of. I took my stand in the wood, to watch the men at | |
their feast, and then crept on, with Friday close at my heels. Thus we | |
went till we came to the skirts of the wood. Then I said to. Friday, "Go | |
up to the top of that tree, and bring me word if you can see the men." | |
He went, and quick as thought, came back to say that they were all round | |
the fire, and that the man who was bound on the sand would be the next | |
they would kill. But when he told me that it was a white man, one of my | |
own race, I felt the blood boil in my veins. Two of the gang had gone to | |
loose the white man from his bonds; so now was the time to fire. | |
At the sound of our guns, we saw all the men jump up from the ground | |
where they sat. It must have been the first gun the I had heard in their | |
lives. They knew not which way to look. I now threw down my piece, and | |
took up a small gun; Friday did the same; and I gave him the word to | |
fire! The men ran right and left, with yells and screams. | |
I now made a rush out of the wood, that they might see me, with my man | |
Friday at my heels, of course. We gave a loud shout, and ran up to the | |
white man as fast as we could. There he lay on the hot sand. I cut the | |
flag, or rush, by which he was bound, but he was too weak to stand or | |
speak, so I gave him some rum. He let me know by all the signs that he | |
could think of, how much he stood in my debt for all that I had done for | |
him. | |
I said, "We will talk of that bye and bye; but now we must do what we | |
can to save our lives." Friday, who was free to go where he chose, flew | |
here and there, and put all the men to the rout. They fled in full haste | |
to their boats, and were soon out at sea; and so we got rid of our foes | |
at last. | |
The man whom we had found on the sand told us that his name was Carl, | |
and that he came from Spain. But there was one more man to claim our | |
care; for the black men had left a small boat on the sands, and in this | |
I saw a poor wretch who lay half dead. He could not so much as look up, | |
so tight was he bound, neck and heels. When I cut the bonds from him he | |
gave a deep groan, for he thought that all this was but to lead him out | |
to die. | |
Friday then came up, and I bade him speak to the old man in his own | |
tongue, and tell him that he was free. This good news gave him strength, | |
and he sat up in the boat. But when Friday came to hear him talk, and | |
to look him in the face, it brought the tears to my eyes to see him kiss | |
and hug the poor old man, and dance round him with joy, then weep, wring | |
his hands, and beat his own face and head, and then laugh once more, | |
sing, and leap. For a long time he could not speak to me, so as to, let | |
me know what all this meant. But at length he told me that he was the | |
son of this poor old man, and that his name was Jaf. | |
It would be a hard task for me to tell of all the quaint, signs Friday | |
made to show his joy. He went in and out of the boat five or six times, | |
sat down by old Jaf, and held the poor old man's head close to his | |
breast to warm it; then he set to work to rub his arms and feet, which | |
were cold and stiff from the bonds. I told Friday to give him some rum | |
and bread; but he said, "None! Bad dog eat all up self." He then ran off | |
straight to the house, and took no heed of my calls, but went as swift | |
as a deer. | |
In an hour's time, he came back with a jug in his hand. The good soul | |
had gone all the way to the house, that Jaf might have a fresh draught | |
from my well; and with it he brought two cakes, one of which I bade him | |
take to Carl, who lay in the shade of a tree. His limbs were stiff and | |
cold, and he was too weak to say a word. | |
I set my man to rub his feet with rum, and while he did so, I saw Friday | |
turn his head round from time to time, to steal a look at the old man. | |
Then we brought Carl and Jaf home from the boat on our backs, as they | |
could not walk. The door of my house was at the top, and the poor sick | |
men could not climb the steps by which I got in, so we made for them a | |
tent of old sails. | |
I was now a king of these three men, as well as Lord of the isle; and | |
I felt proud to say, "They all owe their lives to their king, and would | |
lay them down for him if he bade them do so." But I did not think that | |
my reign was so soon to come to an end. The next thing for us to do was | |
to give Carl and Jaf some food, and to kill and roast a kid, to which we | |
all four sat down, and I did my best to cheer them. | |
Carl in a few days grew quite strong, and I set him to work to dig some | |
land for seed; for it was clear we should want more corn now that we had | |
two more mouths to fill. So we put in the ground all the stock of grain | |
I had, and thus we all four had as much work as we could do for some | |
time. When the crop grew, and was ripe, we found we had a good store of | |
grain. | |
We made a plan that Carl and Jaf should go back to the main land, to | |
try if they could get some of the white men who had been cast on shore | |
there, to come and live with us; so they got out the boat, and took | |
with them two guns and food for eight days. They were to come back in a | |
week's time, and I bade them hang out a sign when they came in sight, so | |
that we might know who they were. | |
One day, Friday ran up to me in great glee, and said, "They are back! | |
They are back!" A mile from shore, there was a boat with a sail, which | |
stood in for the land; but I knew it could not be the one which our two | |
friends had gone out in, for it was on the wrong side of the isle for | |
that. I saw too, through my glass, a ship out at sea. There were twelve | |
men in the boat, three of whom were bound in chains, and four had fire | |
arms. | |
Bye and bye, I saw one of the men raise his sword to those who were | |
in chains, and I felt sure that all was not right. Then I saw that the | |
three men who had been bound were set free; and when they had come on | |
shore they lay on the ground, in the shade of a tree. I was soon at | |
their side, for their looks, so sad and worn, brought to my mind the | |
first few hours I had spent in this wild spot, where all to me was wrapt | |
in gloom. | |
I went up to these men, and said: | |
"Who are you, Sirs?" | |
They gave a start at my voice and at my strange dress, and made a move | |
as if they would fly from me. I said, "Do not fear me, for it may be | |
that you have a friend at hand, though you do not think it." "He must be | |
sent from the sky then," said one of them with a grave look; and he took | |
off his hat to me at the same time. "All help is from thence, Sir," I | |
said; "but what can I do to aid you? You look as if you had some load of | |
grief on your breast. I saw one of the men lift his sword as if to kill | |
you." | |
The tears ran down the poor man's face, as he said, | |
"Is this a god, or is it but a man?" "Have no doubt on that score, Sir," | |
said I, "for a god would not have come with a dress like this. No, do | |
not fear--nor raise your hopes too high; for you see but a man, yet one | |
who will do all he can to help you. Your speech shows me that you come | |
from the same land as I do. I will do all I can to serve you. Tell me | |
your case." "Our case, Sir, is too long to you while they who would kill | |
us are so near. My name is Paul. To be short, Sir, my crew have thrust | |
me out of my ship, which you see out there, and have left me here to | |
die. It was as much as I could do to make them sheath their swords, | |
which you saw were drawn to slay me. They have set me down in this isle | |
with these two men, my friend here, and the ship's mate." | |
"Where have they gone?" said I. | |
"There, in the wood, close by. I fear they may have seen and heard us. | |
If they have, they will be sure to kill us all." | |
"Have they fire-arms?" | |
"They have four guns, one of which is in the boat." | |
"Well then, leave all to me!" | |
"There are two of the men," said he, "who are worse than the rest. All | |
but these I feel sure would go back to work the ship." | |
I thought it was best to speak out to Paul at once, and I said, "Now if | |
I save your life, there are two things which you must do." But he read | |
my thoughts, and said, "If you save my life, you shall do as you like | |
with me and my ship, and take her where you please." | |
I saw that the two men, in whose charge the boat had been left, had come | |
on shore; so the first thing I did was to send Friday to fetch from it | |
the oars, the sail, and the gun. And now the ship might be said to be in | |
our hands. When the time came for the men to go back to the ship, they | |
were in a great rage; for, as the boat had now no sail nor oars, they | |
knew not how to get out to their ship. | |
We heard them say that it was a strange sort of isle, for that sprites | |
had come to the boat, to take off the sails and oars. We could see them | |
run to and fro, with great rage; then go and sit in the boat to rest, | |
and then come on shore once more. When they drew near to us, Paul and | |
Friday would fain have had me fall on them at once. But my wish was to | |
spare them, and kill as few as I could. I told two of my men to creep | |
on their hands and feet close to the ground, so that they might not be | |
seen, and when they got up to the men, not to fire till I gave the word. | |
They had not stood thus long, when three of the crew came up to us. Till | |
now, we had but heard their voice, but when they came so near as to be | |
seen, Paul and Friday stood up and shot at them. Two of the men fell | |
dead, and they were the worst of the crew, and the third ran off. At the | |
sound of the guns I came up, but it was so dark that the men could not | |
tell if there were three of us or three score. | |
It fell out just as I could wish, for I heard the men ask, "To whom must | |
we yield, and where are they?" Friday told them that Paul was there with | |
the king of the isle, who had brought with him a crowd of men! At this | |
one of the crew said, "If Paul will spare our lives, we will yield." | |
"Then," said Friday, "you shall know the king's will." Then Paul said to | |
them, "You know my voice; if you lay down your arms the king will spare | |
your lives!" | |
They fell on their knees to beg the same of me. I took good care that | |
they did not see me, but I gave them my word that they should all live, | |
that I should take four of them to work the ship, and that the rest | |
would be bound hand and foot, for the good faith of the four. This was | |
to show them what a stern king I was. | |
Of course I soon set them free, and I put them in a way to take my place | |
on the isle. I told them of all my ways, taught them how to mind the | |
goats, how to work the farm, and make the bread. I gave them a house to | |
live in, fire arms, tools, and my two tame cats, in fact, all but Poll | |
and my gold. | |
As I sat on the top of the hill, Paul came up to me. He held out his | |
hand to point to the ship, and with much warmth took me to his arms, and | |
said, "My dear friend, there is your ship! For she is all yours, and so | |
are we, and all that is in her." | |
I cast my eyes to the ship, which rode half a mile off the shore, at the | |
mouth of the creek, and near the place where I had brought my rafts to | |
the land. Yes, there she stood, the ship that was to set me free, and to | |
take me where I might choose to go. She set her sails to the wind, and | |
her flags threw out their gay stripes in the breeze. Such a sight was | |
too much for me, and I fell down faint with joy. Paul then took out a | |
flask which he had brought for me, and gave me a dram, which I drank, | |
but for a good while I could not speak to him. | |
Friday and Paul then went on board the ship, and Paul took charge of her | |
once more. We did not start that night, but at noon the next day I left | |
the isle! | |
That lone isle, where I had spent so great a part of my life--not much | |
less than thrice ten long years. | |
When I came back to the dear land of my birth, all was strange and new | |
to me. I went to my old home at York, but none of my friends were there, | |
and to my great grief I saw, on the stone at their grave, the sad tale | |
of their death. | |
As they had thought, of course, that I was dead, they had not left me | |
their wealth and lands, so that I stood much in want of means, for it | |
was but a small sum that I had brought with me from the isle. But in | |
this time of need, I had the luck to find my good friend who once took | |
me up at sea. He was now grown too old for work, and had put his son | |
in the ship in his place. He did not know me at first, but I was soon | |
brought to his mind when I told him who I was. I found from him that the | |
land which I had bought on my way to the isle was now worth much. | |
As it was a long way off, I felt no wish to go and live there so I made | |
up my mind to sell it, and in the course of a few months, I got for it a | |
sum so large as to make me a rich man all at once. | |
Weeks, months, and years went by; I had a farm, a wife, and two sons, | |
and was by no means young; but still I could not get rid of a strong | |
wish which dwelt in my thoughts by day and my dreams by night, and that | |
was to set foot once more in my old isle. | |
I had now no need to work for food, or for means of life; all I had to | |
do was to teach my boys to be wise and good, to live at my ease, and | |
see my wealth grow day by day. Yet the wish to go back to my wild haunts | |
clung round me like a cloud, and I could in no way drive it from me, | |
so true is it that "what is bred in the bone will not come out of the | |
flesh." | |
At length I lost my wife, which was a great blow to me, and my home was | |
now so sad, that I made up my mind to launch out once more on the broad | |
sea, and go with my man Friday to that lone isle where dwelt all my | |
hopes. | |
I took with me as large a store of tools, clothes, and such like goods | |
as I had room for, and men of skill in all kinds of trades, to live in | |
the isle. When we set sail, we had a fair wind for some time, but one | |
night the mate, who was at the watch, told me he saw a flash of fire, | |
and heard a gun go off. At this we all ran on deck, from whence we saw a | |
great light, and as there was no land that way, we knew that it must be | |
some ship on fire at sea, which could not be far off, for we heard the | |
sound of the gun. | |
The wind was still fair, so we made our way for the point where we saw | |
the light, and in half an hour, it was but too plain that a large ship | |
was on fire in the midst of the broad sea. I gave the word to fire off | |
five guns, and we then lay by, to wait till break of day. But in the | |
dead of the night, the ship blew up in the air, the flames shot forth, | |
and what there was left of the ship sank. We hung out lights, and our | |
guns kept up a fire all night long, to let the crew know that there was | |
help at hand. | |
At eight o'clock the next day we found, by the aid of the glass, that | |
two of the ship's boats were out at sea, quite full of men. They had | |
seen us, and had done their best to make us see them, and in half an | |
hour we came up with them. | |
It would be a hard task for me to set forth in words the scene which | |
took place in my ship, when the poor French folk (for such they were) | |
came on board. As to grief and fear, these are soon told--sighs, tears, | |
and groans make up the sum of them--but such a cause of joy as this was, | |
in sooth, too much for them to bear, weak and all but dead as they were. | |
Some would send up shouts of joy that rent the sky; some would cry and | |
wring their hands as if in the depths of grief; some would dance, laugh, | |
and sing; not a few were dumb, sick, faint, in a swoon, or half mad; and | |
two or three were seen to give thanks to God. | |
In this strange group, there was a young French priest who did his best | |
to soothe those round him, and I saw him go up to some of the crew, | |
and say to them, "Why do you scream, and tear your hair, and wring your | |
hands, my men? Let your joy be free and full, give it full range and | |
scope, but leave off this trick of the hands, and lift them up in | |
praise; let your voice swell out, not in screams, but in hymns of thanks | |
to God, who has brought you out of so great a strait, for this will add | |
peace to your joy." | |
The next day, they were all in a right frame of mind, so I gave them | |
what stores I could spare, and put them on board a ship that we met with | |
on her way to France, all save five who, with the priest, had a wish to | |
join me. | |
But we had not set sail long, when we fell in with a ship that had been | |
blown out to sea by a storm, and had lost her masts; and, worse than | |
all, her crew had not had an ounce of meat or bread for ten days. I | |
gave them all some food, which they ate like wolves in the snow, but I | |
thought it best to check them, as I had fears that so much all at once | |
would cause the death of some of them. | |
There were a youth and a young girl in the ship who the mate said he | |
thought must be dead, but he had not had the heart to go near them, for | |
the food was all gone. I found that they were faint for the want of it, | |
and as it were in the jaws of death; but in a short time they both got | |
well, and as they had no wish to go back to their ship, I took them with | |
me. So now I had eight more on board my ship, than I had when I first | |
set out. | |
In three months from the time when I left home, I came in sight of my | |
isle, and I brought the ship safe up, by the side of the creek, which | |
was near my old house. | |
I went up to Friday, to ask if he knew where he was. He took a look | |
round him, and soon, with a clap of the hands, said "O yes! O there! O | |
yes! O there!" Bye and bye, he set up a dance with such wild glee, that | |
it was as much as I could do to keep him on deck. "Well, what think you, | |
Friday?" said I; "shall we find those whom we left still here?--Shall we | |
see poor old Jaf?" He stood quite mute for a while, but when I spoke | |
of old Jaf (whose son Friday was), the tears ran down his face, and the | |
poor soul was as sad as could be. "No, no," said he, "no more, no, no | |
more." | |
As we caught sight of some men at the top of the hill, I gave word to | |
fire three guns, to show that we were friends, and soon we saw smoke | |
rise from the side of the creek. I then went on shore in a boat, with | |
the priest and Friday, and hung out a white flag of peace. The first man | |
I cast my eyes on at the creek, was my old friend Carl, who, when I was | |
last on the isle, had been brought here in bonds. | |
I gave strict charge to the men in the boat not to go on shore, but | |
Friday could not be kept back, for with his quick eye he had caught | |
sight of old Jaf. It brought the tears to our eyes to see his joy when | |
he met the old man. He gave him a kiss, took him up in his arms, set | |
him down in the shade, then stood a short way off to look at him, as one | |
would look at a work of art, then felt him with his hand, and all this | |
time he was in full talk, and told him, one by one, all the strange | |
tales of what he had seen since they had last met. | |
As to my friend Carl, he came up to me, and with much warmth shook my | |
hands, and then took me to my old house, which he now gave up to me. I | |
could no more have found the place, than if I had not been there at all. | |
The rows of trees stood so thick and close, that the house could not be | |
got at, save by such blind ways as none but those who made them could | |
find out. "Why have you built all these forts?" said I. Carl told me | |
that he felt sure I should say there was much need of them, when I heard | |
how they had spent their time since they had come to the isle. | |
He brought twelve men to the spot where I stood, and said, "Sir, all | |
these men owe their lives to you." Then, one by one, they came up to me, | |
not as if they had been the mere crew of a ship, but like men of rank | |
who had come to kiss the hand of their king. | |
The first thing was to bear all that had been done in the isle since I | |
had left it. But I must first state that, when we were on the point to | |
set sail from the isle, a feud sprang up on board our ship, which we | |
could not put down, till we had laid two of the men in chains. The next | |
day, these two men stole each of them a gun and some small arms, and | |
took the ship's boat, and ran off with it to join the three bad men on | |
shore. | |
As soon as I found this out, I sent the long-boat on shore, with twelve | |
men and the mate, and off they went to seek the two who had left the | |
ship. But their search was in vain, nor could they find one of the rest, | |
for they had all fled to the woods when they saw the boat. We had now | |
lost five of the crew, but the three first were so much worse than the | |
last two, that in a few days they sent them out of doors, and would have | |
no more to do with them, nor would they for a long while give them food | |
to eat. | |
So the two poor men had to live as well as they could by hard work, and | |
they set up their tents on the north shore of the isle, to be out of the | |
way of the wild men, who were wont to land on the east side. Here they | |
built them two huts, one to lodge in, and one to lay up their stores | |
in; and the men from Spain gave them some corn for seed, as well as some | |
peas which I had left them. They soon learned to dig, and plant, and | |
hedge in their land, in the mode which I had set for them, and in short, | |
to lead good lives, so that I shall now call them the "two good men." | |
But when the three bad men saw, this, they were full of spite, and came | |
one day to tease and vex them. They told them that the isle was their | |
own, and that no one else had a right to build on it, if they did not | |
pay rent. The two good men thought at first that they were in jest, and | |
told them to come and sit down, and see what fine homes they had built, | |
and say what rent they would ask. | |
But one of the three said they should soon see that they were not in | |
jest, and took a torch in his hand, and put it to the roof of the but, | |
and would have set it on fire, had not one of the two good men trod the | |
fire out with his feet. The bad man was in such a rage at this, that he | |
ran at him with a pole he had in his hand, and this brought on a fight, | |
the end of which was that the three men had to stand off. But in a short | |
time they came back, and trod down the corn, and shot the goats and | |
young kids, which the poor men had got to bring up tame for their store. | |
One day when the two men were out, they came to their home, and said, | |
"Ha! there's the nest, but the birds are flown." They then set to work | |
to pull down both the huts, and left not a stick, nor scarce a sign on | |
the ground to show where the tents had stood. They tore up, too, all the | |
goods and stock that they could find, and when they had done this, they | |
told it all to the men of Spain, and said, "You, sirs, shall have the | |
same sauce, if you do not mend your ways." | |
They then fell to blows and hard words, but Carl had them bound in | |
cords, and took their arms from them. The men of Spain then said they | |
would do them no harm, and if they would live at peace they would help | |
them, and that they should live with them as they had done till that | |
time, but they could not give them back their arms for three or four | |
months. | |
One night Carl--whom I shall call "the chief," as he took the lead of | |
all the rest--felt a great weight on his mind, and could get no sleep, | |
though he was quite well in health. He lay still for some time, but as | |
he, did not feel at case, he got up, and took a look out. But as it was | |
too dark to see far, and he heard no noise, he went back to his bed. | |
Still it was all one, he could not sleep; and though he knew not why, | |
his thoughts would give him no rest. | |
He then woke up one of his friends, and told him how it had been with | |
him. "Say you so?" said he "What if there should be some bad plot at | |
work near us!" They then set off to the top of the hill, where I was | |
wont to go, and from thence they saw the light of a fire, quite a short | |
way from them, and heard the sounds of men, not of one or two, but of a | |
great crowd. We need not doubt that the chief and the man with him now | |
ran back at once, to tell all the rest what they had seen; and when they | |
heard the news, they could not be kept close where they were, but must | |
all run out to see how things stood. | |
At last they thought that the best thing to do would be, while it was | |
dark, to send old Jaf out as a spy, to learn who they were, and what | |
they meant to do. When the old man had been gone an hour or two, he | |
brought word back that he had been in the midst of the foes, though they | |
had not seen him, and that they were in two sets or tribes who were at | |
war, and had come there to fight. And so it was, for in a short time | |
they heard the noise of the fight, which went on for two hours, and at | |
the end, with three loud shouts or screams, they left the isle in their | |
boats. Thus my friends were set free from all their fears, and saw no | |
more of their wild foes for some time. | |
One day a whim took the three bad men that they would go to the main | |
land, from whence the wild men came, and try if they could not seize | |
some of them, and bring them home as slaves, so as to make them do the | |
hard part of their work for them. The chief gave them all the arms and | |
stores that they could want, and a large boat to go in, but when they | |
bade them "God speed," no one thought that they would find their way | |
back to the isle. But lo! in three weeks and a day, they did in truth | |
come back. One of the two good men was the first to catch sight of them, | |
and tell the news to his friends. | |
The men said that they had found the land in two days, and that the wild | |
men gave them roots and fish to eat, and were so kind as to bring down | |
eight slaves to take back with them, three of whom were men and five | |
were girls. So they gave their good hosts an axe, an old key, and a | |
knife, and brought off the slaves in their boat to the isle. As the | |
chief and his friends did not care to wed the young girls, the five men | |
who had been the crew of Paul's ship drew lots for choice, so that each | |
had a wife, and the three men slaves were set to work for the two good | |
men, though there was not much for them to do. | |
But one of them ran off to the woods, and they could not hear of him | |
more. They had good cause to think that he found his way home, as in | |
three or four weeks some wild men came to the isle, and when they | |
had had their feast and dance, they went off in two days' time. So my | |
friends might well fear that if this slave got safe home, he would be | |
sure to tell the wild men that they were in the isle, and in what part | |
of it they might be found. And so it came to pass, for in less than two | |
months, six boats of wild men, with eight or ten men in each boat, came | |
to the north side of the isle, where they had not been known to come up | |
to that time. | |
The foe had brought their boats to land, not more than a mile from the | |
tent of the two good men, and it was there that the slave who had run | |
off had been kept. These men had the good luck to see the boats when | |
they were a long way off, so that it took them quite an hour from that | |
time to reach the shore. | |
My friends now had to think how that hour was to be spent. The first | |
thing they did was to bind the two slaves that were left, and to take | |
their wives, and as much of their stores as they could, to some dark | |
place in the woods. They then sent a third slave to the chief and his | |
men, to tell them the news, and to ask for help. | |
They had not gone far in the woods, when they saw, to their great grief | |
and rage, that their huts were in flames, and that the wild men ran to | |
and fro, like beasts in search of prey. But still our men went on, and | |
did not halt, till they came to a thick part of the wood, where the | |
large trunk of an old tree stood, and in this tree they both took their | |
post. But they had not been there long, when two of the wild men ran | |
that way, and they saw three more, and then five more, who all ran the | |
same way, as if they knew where they were. | |
Our two poor men made up their minds to let the first two pass, and then | |
take the three and the five in line, as they came up, but to fire at one | |
at a time, as the first shot might chance to hit all three. | |
So the man who was to fire put three or four balls in his gun, and from | |
a hole in the tree, took a sure aim, and stood still till the three wild | |
men came so near that he could not miss them. They soon saw that one of | |
these three was the slave that had fled from them, as they both knew him | |
well, and they made up their minds that they would kill him, though they | |
should both fire. | |
At the first shot two of the wild men fell dead, and the third had a | |
graze on his arm, and though not much hurt, sat down on the ground with | |
loud screams and yells. When the five men who came next, heard the sound | |
of the gun and the slave's cries, they stood still at first, as if they | |
were struck dumb with fright. So our two men both shot off their guns in | |
the midst of them, and then ran up and bound them safe with cords. | |
They then went to the thick part of the wood, where they had put their | |
wives and slaves, to see if all were safe there, and to their joy they | |
found that though the wild men had been quite near them, they had not | |
found them out. While they were here, the chief and his men came up, and | |
told them that the rest had gone to take care of my old house and grove, | |
in case the troop of wild men should spread so far that way. | |
They then went back to the burnt huts, and when they came in sight of | |
the shore, they found that their foes had all gone out to sea. So they | |
set to work to build up their huts, and as all the men in the isle lent | |
them their aid, they were soon in a way to thrive once more. For five or | |
six months they saw no more of the wild men. But one day a large fleet | |
of more than a score of boats came in sight, full of men who had bows, | |
darts, clubs, swords, and such like arms of war, and our friends were | |
all in great fear. | |
As they came at dusk, and at the East side of the isle, our men had the | |
whole night to think of what they should do. And as they knew that the | |
most safe way was to hide and lie in wait, they first of all took down | |
the huts which were built for the two good men, and drove their goats to | |
the cave, for they thought the wild men would go straight there as soon | |
as it was day, and play the old game. | |
The next day they took up their post with all their force at the wood, | |
near the home of the two men, to wait for the foe. They gave no guns to | |
the slaves, but each of them had a long staff with a spike at the end of | |
it, and by his side an axe. There were two of the wives who could not be | |
kept back, but would go out and fight with bows and darts. | |
The wild men came on with a bold and fierce mien, not in a line, but | |
all in crowds here and there, to the point were our men lay in wait for | |
them. When they were so near as to be in range of the guns, our men shot | |
at them right and left with five or six balls in each charge. As the foe | |
came up in close crowds, they fell dead on all sides, and most of those | |
that they did not kill were much hurt, so that great fear and dread came | |
on them all. | |
Our men then fell on them from three points with the butt end of their | |
guns, swords, and staves, and did their work so well that the wild men | |
set up a loud shriek, and flew for their lives to the woods and hills, | |
with all the speed that fear and swift feet could help them to do. As | |
our men did not care to chase them, they got to the shore where they had | |
come to land and where the boats lay. | |
But their rout was not yet at an end, for it blew a great storm that day | |
from the sea, so that they could not put off. And as the storm went on | |
all that night, when the tide came up, the surge of the sea drove most | |
of their boats so high on the shore, that they could not be got off save | |
with great toil, and the force of the waves on the beach broke some of | |
them to bits. | |
At break of day, our men went forth to find them, and when they saw the | |
state of things, they got some dry wood from a dead tree, and set their | |
boats on fire. When the foe saw this, they ran all through the isle with | |
loud cries, as if they were mad, so that our men did not know at first | |
what to do with them, for they trod all the corn down with their feet, | |
and tore up the vines just as the grapes were ripe, and did a great deal | |
of harm. | |
At last they brought old Jaf to them, to tell them how kind they would | |
be to them, that they would save their lives, and give them part of the | |
isle to live in, if they would keep in their own bounds, and that they | |
should have corn to plant, and should make it grow for their bread. They | |
were but too glad to have such good terms of peace, and they soon learnt | |
to make all kinds of work with canes, wood, and sticks, such as chairs, | |
stools, and beds, and this they did with great skill when they were once | |
taught. | |
From this time till I came back to the isle my friends saw no more wild | |
men. I now told the chief that I had not come to take off his men, but | |
to bring more, and to give them all such things as they would want to | |
guard their homes from foes, and cheer up their hearts. | |
The next day I made a grand feast for them all, and the ship's cook and | |
mate came on shore to dress it. We brought out our rounds of salt beef | |
and pork, a bowl of punch, some beer, and French wines; and Carl gave | |
the cooks five whole kids to roast, three of which were sent to the crew | |
on board ship, that they, on their part, might feast on fresh meat from | |
shore. | |
I gave each of the men a shirt, a coat, a hat, and a pair of shoes, and | |
I need not say how glad they were to meet with gifts so new to them. | |
Then I brought out the tools, of which each man had a spade, a rake, an | |
axe, a crow, a saw, a knife and such like things as well as arms, and | |
all that they could want for the use of them. | |
As I saw there was a kind will on all sides, I now took on shore the | |
youth and the maid whom we had brought from the ship that we met on her | |
way to France. The girl had been well brought up, and all the crew had | |
a good word for her. As they both had a wish to be left on the isle, | |
I gave them each a plot of ground, on which they had tents and barns | |
built. | |
I had brought out with me five men to live here, one of whom could turn | |
his hand to all sorts of things, so I gave him the name of "Jack of all | |
Trades." | |
One day the French priest came to ask if I would leave my man Friday | |
here, for through him, he said, he could talk to the black men in their | |
own tongue, and teach them the things of God. "Need I add," said he, | |
"that it was for this cause that I came here?" I felt that I could not | |
part with my man Friday for the whole world, so I told the priest that | |
if I could have made up my mind to leave him here, I was quite sure that | |
Friday would not part from me. | |
When I had seen that all things were in a good state on the isle, I set | |
to work to put my ship to rights, to go home once more. One day, as I | |
was on my way to it, the youth whom I had brought from the ship that | |
was burnt, came up to me, and said, "Sir, you have brought a priest with | |
you, and while you are here, we want him to wed two of us." | |
I made a guess that one of these must be the maid that I had brought | |
to the isle, and that it was the wish of the young man to make her his | |
wife. I spoke to him with some warmth in my tone, and bade him turn it | |
well in his mind first, as the girl was not in the same rank of life as | |
he had been brought up in. But he said, with a smile, that I had made a | |
wrong guess, for it was "Jack of all Trades" that he had come to plead | |
for. It gave me great joy to hear this, as the maid was as good a girl | |
as could be, and I thought well of Jack; so on that day I gave her to | |
him. They were to have a large piece of ground to grow their crops on, | |
with a house to live in, and sheds for their goats. | |
The isle was now set out in this way: all the west end was left waste, | |
so that if the wild men should land on it, they might come and go, and | |
hurt no one. My old house I gave to the chief, with all its woods, which | |
now spread out as far as the creek, and the south end was for the white | |
men and their wives. | |
It struck me that there was one gift which I had not thought of, and | |
that was the book of God's Word, which I knew would give to those who | |
could feel the words in it, fresh strength for their work, and grace to | |
bear the ills of life. | |
Now that I had been in the isle quite a month, I once more set sail on | |
the fifth day of May; and all my friends told me that they should stay | |
there till I came to fetch them. | |
When we had been out three days, though the sea was smooth and calm, we | |
saw that it was quite black on the land side; and as we knew not what to | |
make of it, I sent the chief mate up the main mast to find out with his | |
glass what it could be. He said it was a fleet of scores and scores of | |
small boats, full of wild men who came fast at us with fierce looks. | |
As soon as we got near them, I gave word to furl all sails and stop the | |
ship, and as there was nought to fear from them but fire, to get the | |
boats out and man them both well, and so wait for them to come up. | |
In this way we lay by for them, and in a short time they came up with | |
us; but as I thought they would try to row round and so close us in, I | |
told the men in the boats not to let them come too near. This, though we | |
did not mean it, brought us to a fight with them, and they shot a cloud | |
of darts at our boats. We did not fire at them, yet in half an hour they | |
went back out to sea, and then came straight to us, till we were so near | |
that they could hear us speak. | |
I bade my men keep close, so as to be safe from their darts if they | |
should shoot, and get out the guns. I then sent Friday on deck, to call | |
out to them in their own tongue and ask what they meant. It may be that | |
they did not know what he said, but as soon as he spoke to them I heard | |
him cry out that they would shoot. This was too true, for they let fly | |
a thick cloud of darts, and to my great grief poor Friday fell dead, for | |
there was no one else in their sight. He was shot with three darts, and | |
three more fell quite near him, so good was their aim. | |
I was so mad with rage at the loss of my dear Friday, that I bade the | |
men load five guns with small shot, and four with large, and we gave | |
them such a fierce fire that in all their lives they could not have seen | |
one like it. Then a rare scene met our eyes: dread and fear came on them | |
all, for their boats, which were small, were split and sunk--three or | |
four by one shot. The men who were not dead had to swim, and those who | |
had wounds were left to sink, for all the rest got off as fast as they | |
could. Our boat took up one poor man who had to swim for his life, when | |
the rest had fled for the space of half an hour. In three hours' time, | |
we could not see more than three or four of their boats, and as a breeze | |
sprang up we set sail. | |
At first the man whom we took on board would not eat or speak, and we | |
all had fears lest he should pine to death. But when we had taught him | |
to say a few words, he told us that his friends--the wild men-had come | |
out with their kin to have a great fight, and that all they meant was | |
to make us look at the grand sight. So it was for this that poor Friday | |
fell! He who had been as good and true to me as man could be! And now in | |
deep grief I must take my leave of him. | |
We went on with a fair wind to All Saints' Bay, and here I found a sloop | |
that I had brought with me from home, that I might send men and stores | |
for the use of my friends in the isle. I taught the mate how to find the | |
place, and when he came back, I found that he had done so with ease. | |
One of our crew had a great wish to go with the sloop, and live on the | |
isle, if the chief would give him land to plant. So I told him he should | |
go by all means, and gave him the wild man for his slave. I found, too, | |
that a man who had come with his wife and child and three slaves, to | |
hide from the king of Spain, would like to go, if he could have some | |
land there, though he had but a small stock to take with him; so I put | |
them all on board the sloop, and saw them safe out of the bay, on their | |
way to the isle. With them I sent three milch cows, five calves, a horse | |
and a colt, all of which, as I heard, went safe and sound. | |
I have now no more to say of my isle, as I had left it for the last | |
time, but my life in lands no less far from home was not yet at an end. | |
From the Bay of All Saints we went straight to the Cape of Good Hope. | |
Here I made up my mind to part from the ship in which I had come from | |
the Isle, and with two of the crew to stay on land, and leave the rest | |
to go on their way. I soon made friends with some men from France, as | |
well as from my own land, and two Jews, who had come out to the Cape to | |
trade. | |
As I found that some goods which I had brought with me from home were | |
worth a great deal, I made a large sum by the sale of them. When we had | |
been at the Cape of Good Hope for nine months, we thought that the best | |
thing we could do would be to hire a ship, and sail to the Spice Isles, | |
to buy cloves, so we got a ship, and men to work her, and set out. When | |
we had bought and sold our goods in the course of trade, we came back, | |
and then set out once more; so that, in short, as we went from port to | |
port, to and fro, I spent, from first to last, six years in this part of | |
the world. | |
At length we thought we would go and seek new scenes where we could get | |
fresh gains. And a strange set of men we at last fell in with, as you | |
who read this tale will say when you look at the print in front of this | |
page. | |
When we had put on shore, we made friends with a man who got us a large | |
house, built with canes, and a small kind of hut of the same near it. | |
It had a high fence of canes round it to keep out thieves, of whom, it | |
seems, there are not a few in that land. The name of the town was Ching, | |
and we found that the fair or mart which was kept there would not be | |
held for three or four months. So we sent our ship back to the Cape, as | |
we meant to stay in this part of the world for some time, and go from | |
place to place to see what sort of a land it was, and then come back to | |
the fair at Ching. | |
We first went to a town which it was well worth our while to see, and | |
which must have been, as near as I can guess, quite in the heart of this | |
land. It was built with straight streets which ran in cross lines. | |
But I must own, when I came home to the place of my birth, I was much | |
struck to hear my friends say such fine things of the wealth and trade | |
of these parts of the world, for I saw and knew that the men were a mere | |
herd or crowd of mean slaves. What is their trade to ours, or to that of | |
France and Spain? What are their ports, with a few junks and barks, to | |
our grand fleets? One of our large ships of war would sink all their | |
ships, one line of French troops would beat all their horse, and the | |
same may be said of their ports, which would not stand for one month | |
such a siege as we could bring to bear on them. | |
In three weeks more we came to their chief town. When we had laid in a | |
large stock of tea, shawls, fans, raw silks, and such like goods, we set | |
out for the north. As we knew we should run all kinds of risks on our | |
way, we took with us a strong force to act as a guard, and to keep us | |
from the wild hordes who rove from place to place all through the land. | |
Some of our men were Scots, who had come out to trade here, and had | |
great wealth, and I was glad to join them, as it was by no means the | |
first time that they had been here. | |
We took five guides with us, and we all put our coin in one purse, to | |
buy food on the way, and to pay the men who took charge of us. One of us | |
we chose out for our chief, to take the lead in case we should have to | |
fight for our lives; and when the time came, we had no small need of | |
him. On the sides of all the roads, we saw men who made pots, cups, | |
pans, and such like ware, out of a kind of earth, which is, in fact, the | |
chief trade in this part of the world. | |
One thing, the guide said he would show me, that was not to be seen in | |
all the world else (and this, in good sooth, I could not sneer at, as | |
I had done at most of the things I had seen here), and this was a house | |
that was built of a kind of ware, such as most plates and cups are made | |
of. "How big is it?" said I, "can we take it on the back of a horse?" | |
"On a horse!" said the guide, "why, two score of men live in it." He | |
then took us to it, and I found that it was in truth a large house, | |
built with lath and the best ware that can be made out of earth. The | |
sun shone hot on the walls, which were quite white, hard, and smooth as | |
glass, with forms on them in blue paint. On the walls of the rooms were | |
small square tiles of the best ware, with red, blue, and green paint of | |
all shades and hues, in rare forms, done in good taste; and as they use | |
the same kind of earth to join the tiles with, you could not see where | |
the tiles met. The floors of the rooms were made of the same ware, and | |
as strong as those we have at home; and the same may be said of the | |
roofs, but they were of a dark shade. If we had had more time to spare, | |
I should have been glad to have seen more of this house, for there were | |
the ponds for the fish, the walks, the yards, and courts, which were | |
all made in the same way. This odd sight kept me from my friends for two | |
hours, and when I had come up to them, I had to pay a fine to our chief, | |
as they had to wait so long. | |
In two days more we came to the Great Wall, which was made as a fort | |
to keep the whole land safe,--and a great work it is. It goes in a long | |
track for miles and miles, where the rocks are so high and steep that | |
no foe could climb them; or, if they did, no wall could stop them. The | |
Great Wall is as thick as it is high, and it turns and winds in all | |
sorts of ways. | |
We now saw, for the first time, some troops of the hordes I spoke of, | |
who rove from place to place, to rob and kill all whom they meet with. | |
They know no real mode of war, or skill in fight. Each has a poor lean | |
horse, which is not fit to do good work. Our chief gave some of us leave | |
to go out and hunt as they call it, and what was it but to hunt sheep! | |
These sheep are wild and swift of foot, but they will not run far, and | |
you are sure of sport when you start in the chase. They go in flocks of | |
a score, or two, and like true sheep, keep close when they fly. In this | |
sort of chase it was our hap to meet with some two score of the wild | |
hordes, but what sort of prey they had come to hunt I know not. As soon | |
as they saw us, one of them blew some loud notes on a kind of horn, with | |
a sound that was quite new to me. We all thought this was to call their | |
friends round them, and so it was, for in a short time a fresh troop of | |
the same size came to join them; and they were all, as far as we could | |
judge, a mile off. One of the Scots was with us, and as soon as he heard | |
the horn, he told us that we must lose no time, but draw up in line, and | |
charge them at once. We told him we would, if he would take the lead. | |
They stood still, and cast a wild gaze at us, like a mere crowd, drawn | |
up in no line; but as soon as they saw us come at them, they let fly | |
their darts, which did not hit us, for though their aim was true, they | |
fell short of us. We now came to a halt to fire at them, and then went | |
at full speed to fall on them sword in hand, for so the bold Scot that | |
led us, told us to do. | |
As soon as we came up to them, they fled right and left. The sole stand | |
made was by three of them, who had a kind of short sword in their hands, | |
and bows on their backs, and who did all they could to call all the rest | |
back to them. The brave Scot rode close up to them, and with his gun | |
threw one off his horse, shot the next, and the third ran off, and this | |
was the end of our fight. All the bad lreuck we met with, was that the | |
sheep that we had in chase got off. We had not a man hurt, but as for | |
the foe, five of them were dead, and not a few had wounds, while the | |
rest fled at the mere noise of our guns. | |
Thus we went on our way from town to town, and now and then met some | |
of these wild hordes, whom we had to fight and I need not add that each | |
time we had the best of the fray. At last we made our way to the chief | |
town of the North Seas at the end of a year, five months and three days, | |
from the time when we left Ching. When I had been there six weeks, and | |
had bought some more goods; I took ship and set sail for the land of my | |
birth, which I had left, this time, for ten years, nine months and three | |
days. | |
And now I must bring this tale of my life to a close, while at the age | |
of three score years and twelve, I feel that the day is at hand, when | |
I shall go forth on that sea of peace and love, which has no waves or | |
shores but those of bliss that knows no end. |