The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-07-25

s .ssIs - sts 2 ~ n -
50 BIunser 3 ii RsBinson cfnsos.
nrrpIci1, TTEs oil WHITING a EOVgI, AND KEEP
NO THE DETAILS coNsIsrEST. ,sa.
The Lend aturday fievieso, ia recent
n M &c barest truism 10 say that wonder.
ft,l attention 10 minute detail causes much
Of ttbe, interest that Is always felt in, q book
Whichiis perhaps, read earlier and femem1
bared longer than any other. Eyerybod has
beel, interested in the account OF the mani
fold contriyances by which Crusoe made
himself so. comfortable, In his island Duf,
arvellonsly ingenious as they are, the oe.
tails OF the story sometimes Clash Curl55
ously enough, Deioe even makes An. error
N describine the means which, CEus0e .had
ut first for describing the incidents OF bis
saIitary lie: just .after recording the eree-
tion of the, post on which the days were re-
corded by, notches, Robinson Crusoe says
that he has hitherto omitted TO mention
come things which, in; his several voyages.
he brought from the wreck-as, .. in par
ticI,lar. pens, ink, and paper yet in the
next paragraph he audaciously makes the
following statement :,,"L now found i
wanted many things, Notwithstanding all
that 1 had amassed together, and OF these
that Of ink was one, as also spade, plok-
axe, and shovel, to dig or d remove the
earth" He is guilty Of an equally fatai
slip in speaking Of the killing OF the goat,
which has interested almost every boy
who could read. and would indeed have
been very important incident to q real
cast-away, as showing how. food was TO.
be obtained. In the part OF the book which
precedes the journal, Robinson Crusoe &C.
scribes very infinitely. the. manner IN WMch
he stalked and shot the goat, and how the
kid staid by the body, and adds: e"When l
carried the old one with me upon my
shoulders the kid followed nae quite to my
enclosure; upon which laid down Inc Dam
and took the kid in my arms and carried IL
over. my, paie.''a Here everything IS very
precise; but, alas in the journal, where
all the dates are given, it appears tnat the
goat was killed on October 81, when RoDln-
SON Crusoe had been month on the island.
and that the pale OF posts and cables, OF,
which 80 much is said in the book, was not
begun until January in the next year. 1t
is also curious that this fence or pale sur
rounding that enclosure, which, with Its
tent and adjacent cave, has seemed 70 SO
many bows kind o; earthly paradise, is
described. in the, journal as; having been
begun on the day Just mentioned, ana
finished on April IA, in sad contra
dictionf to the statement which Crusoe
makes in preceding passage, where, after
complaining in the words already quoted
that he had no spade or pickaxe, he says ::
"This want Of tools made every work did
60 on heavily, and it was near whole year
before I had finished my little pale or sur
rounded habitation," going on to describe
the time and labor which were required 1or
cutting, carrying home, and driving IN tue
niles OF stakes. A still more curious slip
occurs when he speaks OF taking hsh, Tor
he says that he had long line OF rope-yarn,
but no hooks and yet, In the same SEN
tence, he states that he frequently caught
fish enough, without in the least indicating
how he did it. Deioe probably meant to
describe some contrivance, but could not
think of anything at the moment, ana
forgot to supply the deficiency. Another
mistake is made when the solitary
hero is telling OF his return nome
after his journey to u part OF tne
island remote from that on which he had
made his dwelling.place. He says that
when he came homo he {. contemplated with
great pleasure" the fruitfulness OF the val
lev he had Just visited and "the pleasant
ness of the situation" coming to the con-
clusien that he had fixed his abode in the
worst part OF the country; SO he adds, natu-
rally enough: upon the WHOLE. 1 began to
consider removing my babltatIon, ana 10
look out for place equally as safe as where
now was, situate, il possible, in that plea
SAINT, fruitful part of the island. The thought
ran long in my head, and 1 was exceed
inely fond OF it for some time" lie goes
on to say, however, that he determined 10
remain in his abode on account OF It's being
py the seaside. so that il any sailors should
be, like himself cast away on the coast,
he might see them. AL this il, Of course,
lust like a,true record, but it is, unfortu-
tunately, inconsistent, with the statement
made by him little later in the narrative,
where, after saying he was}surprised to hnd
that he had taken up his lot on the worst
side of the island, and that food was more
plentiful on the other, he continues: 81
confess this side OF the country was much
pleasanter than mine, but yet had not the
least inclination to remove; for as was
fixed in my habitation, it became natural to
me,' the charms of home now taking the
place of the hope Of seeing other human
creatures. Another mistake occurs where
he is madeto speak OF the religious thoughts
which came over him; and this is the more
remarkable because Defoe had obviously
given. great attention to this part OF
the book. Robinson Crusoe, 1t may
be remembered, when i'll from the
ague, has a dream which frlghtens
him much, and in telling OF his feelings
on awakening no says: 81 bad, alas, no
divine .knowledge; what bad received by
the good instruction Of my father was then
worn out by an uninterrupted series Dor
eight years. OF seafaring wickedness, and L
was all that the most hardened, unthlnklns,
wicked creature among our common sailors
can be supposed to be; not having the least
sense either of the fear OF God in danger, or
OF tbapkfuIness to God in deliverances." !
1t is strange that. Defoe, when writing
this impressive passage, should have for
gotten that he made Crusoe say, after de-
scribing tine manner in which he was i1rst
washed on shore, that directly he found
himself safe he began to look up and thank
Providence that his life was saved. -.
! The SAGACITY OF eANTs.-Professor Lei
DIV, in a recent article, states that in order
to ascertain whether q house he. had just
entered was las he suspected) seriously IN.
tested with red ants, he placed piece OF
sweet cake in every room. At noon every
piece was found covered with ants. A cup
OF turpentine-oil being provided, each piece
was picked up with forceps and the ants
IN oIya a..