August 9, 2025 • 37 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter five, Builds a House. The Journal, September thirtieth, sixteen
fifty nine. I poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked during
a dreadful storm, and the offing came on shore on
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this dismal, unfortunate island, which I call the Island of despair.
All the rest of the ship's company being drowned, and
myself almost dead, all the rest of the day I
spent in inflicting myself at the dismal circumstances I was
brought to. That is, I had neither food, house, clothes, weapon,
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nor place to fly to, and in despair of any relief,
saw nothing but death before me, either that I should
be devoured by wild beasts, murdered by savagees, or starved
to death for want of food. At the approach of night,
I slept in a tree for fear of wild creatures,
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but slept soundly, though it rained all night October first.
In the morning I saw, to my great surprise the
ship had floated with the high tide and was driven
on shore again, much nearer than island, which, as it was,
some comfort on one hand for seeing her set upright
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and not broken to pieces. I hoped if the wind abated,
I might get on board and get some food and
necessaries out of her for my relief. So on the
other hand, it renewed my grief at the loss of
my comrades, who I imagined if we had stayed on board,
might have saved the ship, or at least that they
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would not have been all drowned as they were, And
that had the men been saved, we might perhaps have
built us a boat out of the ruins of the ship,
to have carried us to some other part of the world.
I spent great part of this day in perplexing myself
on these things, but at length, seeing the ship almost dry,
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I went upon the sand as near as I could,
and then swam on board. This day also it continued raining,
though with no wind at all, from the first of
October to the twenty fourth. All of these days entirely
spent in my several voyages to get all I could
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out of the ship, which I brought on shore every
tide of flood upon rafts. Much rain also in the days,
though with some intervals of fair weather, but it seems
this was the rainy season. October twentieth I overset my
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raft and all the goods I had got upon it.
But being in shoal water, and the things being chiefly heavy,
I recovered many of them when the tide was out
October twenty fifth. It rained all night and all day,
with some gusts of wind, during which time the ship
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broke in pieces, the wind blowing a little harder than before,
and was no more to be seen except the wreck
of her, and that only at low water. I spent
this day in covering and securing the goods which I
had saved, that the rain might not spoil them. October
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twenty sixth I walked about the shore almost all day
to find out a place to fix my habitation, greatly
concerned to secure myself from any attack in the night,
either from wild beasts or men. Towards night I fixed
upon a proper place under a rock, and marked out
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a semicircle for my encampment, which I resolved to strengthen
with a work wall or fortification made of double piles,
lined within with cables and without with turf. From the
twenty sixth to the thirtieth I worked very hard in
carrying all my goods to my new habitation, though some
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part of the time, it rained exceedingly hard. The thirty first,
in the morning, I went out into the island with
my gun to seek for some food and discover the country.
When I killed a she goat and her kid followed
me home, which I afterwards killed also because it would
not feed. November first, I set up my tent under
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a rock and lay there for the first night, making
it as large as I could good with stakes driven
in to swing my hammock. Upon November second, I set
up all my chests and boards and the pieces of
timber which made my rafts, and with them formed a
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fence round me a little within the place I had
marked out for my fortification. November third, I went out
with my gun and killed two fowls like ducks, which
were very good food, and in the afternoon went to
work to make me a table. November fourth, this morning
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I began to order my times of work, of going
out with my gun, time of sleep, and time of diversion.
That is, every morning I walked out with my gun
for two or three hours if it did not rain,
then employed myself to work till about eleven o'clock, then
eat what I had to live on, and from twelve two,
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I lay down to sleep, the weather being excessively hot,
and then in the evening to work again. The working
part of this day and of the next were wholly
employed in making my table, for I was yet but
a very sorry workman, though time and necessity made me
a complete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe they
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would do anyone else. November fifth, this day, went abroad
with my gun and my dog and killed a wild cat,
her skin pretty soft, but her flesh good for nothing.
Every creature that I killed I took of the skins
and preserved them. Coming back to the seashore, I saw
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many sorts of sea fowls, which I did not understand,
but was surprised and almost frightened with two or three seals, which,
while I was gazing at, not well knowing what they were,
got into the sea and escaped me for that time.
November sixth, after my morning walk, I went to work
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with my table again and finished it, though not by
my liking, nor was it long before I learned to
mend it. November seventh, Now it began to be settled
fair weather. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, and part
of the twelfth and the eleventh was Sunday. I took
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wholly up to make me a chair, and with much
ado brought it to a tolerable shape, but never to
please me, and even in the making I pulled it
in pieces several times. Note I soon neglected my keeping
Sundays for omitting my mark for them on my post.
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I forgot which was which. November thirteenth. This day it rained,
which refreshed me exceedingly and cooled the earth. But it
was accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning, which frightened me dreadfully,
for fear of my powder. As soon as it was over,
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I resolved to separate my stock of powder into as
many little parcels as possible, that it might not be
in danger. November fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth. These three days
I spent in making little square chests or boxes, which
might hold about a pound or two pounds at most
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of powder, and so putting the powder in. I stowed
it in places as secure and remote from one another
as possible. On one of these three days I killed
a large bird that was good to eat, but I
knew not what to call it. November seventeenth, This day
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I began to dig behind my tent into the rock
to make room for my further conveniency. Note three things
I wanted exceedingly for this work, that is, a pickaxe,
a shovel, and a wheelbarrow or basket. So I desisted
from my work and began to consider how to supply
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that onet and make me some tools. As for the
pick axe, I made use of the iron crows, which
were proper enough, though heavy. But the next thing was
a shovel or spade. This was so absolutely necessary that
indeed I could do nothing effectually without it. But what
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kind of one to make I knew not November eighteenth,
the next day, in searching the woods, I found a
tree of that wood or like it, which in the
Brazils they call the iron tree for its exceeding hardness.
Of this, with great labor, and almost spoiling my axe,
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I cut a piece and brought it home, too, with
difficulty enough, for it was exceedingly heavy. The excessive hardness
of the wood, and my having no other way, made
me a long while upon this machine, for I worked
it effectually by little and little, into the form of
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a shovel or spade, the handle exactly shaped like ours
in England, only that the board part, having no iron
shod upon it at the bottom, it would not last
me for so long. However, it served well enough for
the uses which I had occasion to put it to.
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But never was a shovel I believe, made after that fashion,
or so long in making I was still deficient, for
I wanted a basket or a wheelbarrow. A basket I
could not make by any means, having no such things
as twigs that would bend to make wickerwear, at least
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none yet found. And as to a wheelbarrow, I fancied
I could make all but the wheel, but that I
had no notion of, neither did I know how to
go about it. Besides, I had no possible way to
make the iron gudgeons for the spindle or axis of
the wheel to run in, so I gave it over.
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And so for carrying away the earth which I dug
out of the cave, I made me a thing like
a hod which the laborers carry mortar in when they
served the brick layers. This is not so difficult to
me as the making of the shovel. And yet this
and the shovel, and the attempt which I made in
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vain to make a wheelbarrow took me took me up
no less than four days, I mean, always accepting my
morning walk with my gun, which I seldom failed and
very seldom failed, also bringing home something fit to eat.
November twenty third, my other work having now stood still
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because of my making these tools. When they were finished,
I went on and working every day as my strength
and time allowed. I spent eighteen days entirely in widening
and deepening my cave that it might hold my goods commodiously.
Note During all this time I worked to make this
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room or cave spacious enough to accommodate me as a
warehouse or magazine, a kitchen, a dining room, and a
cellar as for my lodging. I kept to the tent,
except that sometimes in the wet season of the year,
it rained so hard that I could not keep myself dry,
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which caused me afterwards to cover all my place within
my pail with long poles in the form of rafters
leaning against the rock, and load them with flags and
large leaves of trees like a thatch. December tenth I
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began now to think my cave or vault finished, when
on a sudden it seems I had made it too large.
A great quantity of earth fell down from the top
on one side, so much that, in short itf frightened me,
and not without reason too, for if I had been
under it, I had never wanted a grave digger. I
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had now a great deal of work to do over again,
for I had the loosed earth all to carry out,
and which was of more importance, I had the ceiling
to prop up so that I might be sure no
more would come down. December eleventh. This day I went
to work with it accordingly, and got two shores or
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posts pitched upright to the top, with two pieces of
boards across over each post. This I finished the next day,
and setting more posts up with boards. In about a
week more. I had the roof secured, and the posts
standing in rows served me for partitions to part off
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the house December seventeenth. From this day to the twentieth
I placed shelves and knocked up nails on the posts
to hang everything up that could be hung up, And
now I began to be in some order within doors.
December twentieth. Now I carried everything into the cave and
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began to furnish my house and set up some pieces
of boards like a dresser to order my victuals upon.
But boards began to be very scarce with me. Also,
I made me another table. December twenty fourth, much rain
all day and all night, no stirring out. December twenty fifth,
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rain all day. December twenty sixth no rain, and the
earth much cooler than before, and pleasanter. December twenty seventh
killed a young goat and lamed another, so that I
caught it and led it home in a string. And
when I had it at home, I bound and splintered
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up its leg, which was broken not te bene. I
took such care of it that it lived, and the
leg grew well and as strong as ever. But by
my nursing it so long it grew tame and fed
upon the little green at my door, and would not
go away. This was the first time that I entertained
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a thought of breeding up some tame creatures that I
might have food when my powder and shot was all spent.
December twenty eighth, twenty ninth, thirtieth, and thirty first, great
heats and no breeze, so that there was no stirring
abroad except in the evening for food. This time I
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spent in putting all my things in order within doors.
January first, very hot still, but I went abroad early
and late with my gun, and lay still in the
middle of the day this evening. Going farther into the
valleys which lay towards the center of the island, I
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found there were plenty of goats, though exceedingly shy and
hard to come at. However, I resolved to try if
I could not bring my dog to hunt them down.
January second. Accordingly, the next day I went out with
my dog and set him upon the goats. But I
was mistaken, for they all faced about upon the dog,
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and he knew his danger too well, for he would
not come near them. January third, I began my fence
or wall, which, being still jealous of my being attacked
by somebody, I resolved to make very thick and strong.
No te bene this wall. Being described before, I purposely
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admit what was said in the journal, it is sufficient
to observe that I was no less time than from
the second of January to the fourteenth of April working
finishing and perfecting this wall. Though it was no more
than about twenty four yards in length, being a half
circle from one place in the rock to another place
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about eight yards from it, the door of the cave
being in the center behind it. All this time I
worked very hard, the rains hindering me many days, nay
sometimes weeks together, but I thought I should never be
perfectly secure till this wall was finished. And it is
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scarce credible what inexpressible labor everything was done with, especially
the bringing of piles out of the woods and driving
them into the ground, for I made them much bigger
than I needed to have done. When this wall was
finished and the outside double fenced with a turf wall
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raised up close to it, I perceived myself that if
any people were to come on shore there, they would
not perceive anything like a habitation. And it was very
well I did so, as may be observed hereafter upon
a very remarkable occasion. During this time, I made my
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rounds in the woods for game every day when the
rain permitted me, and made frequent discoveries in these walks
of something or other to my advantage. Particularly, I found
a kind of wild pigeons which build not as wood
pigeons in a tree, but rather as house pigeons in
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the holes of the rocks, and taking some young ones
I endeavored to bring them up, came and did so.
But when they grew older they flew away, which perhaps
was at first for one of feeding them, for I
had nothing to give them. However, I frequently found their
nests and got their young ones, which were very good meat.
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And now in the managing of my household affairs, I
found myself wanting in many things which I thought at
first it was impossible for me to make, as indeed
with some of them it was. For instance, I could
never make a cask to be whooped. I had a
small runlet or two, as I observed before, but I
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could not ever arrive at the capacity of making one
by them, though I spent many weeks about it. I
could never put in the heads or join the staves
so true to one another as to make them hold water.
So I gave that also over In the next place,
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I was at a great loss for candles, so that
as soon as ever it was dark, which was generally
by seven o'clock, I was obliged to go to bed.
I remembered the lump of beeswax with which I made
candles in my African adventure. But I had none of that. Now.
The only remedy I had was that when I killed
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a goat, I saved the tallow, which, with a little
dish made of clay, which I baked up in the sun,
and to which I added a wick of some oakum,
I made me a lamp. And this gave me light,
though not a clear, steady light like a candle. In
the middle of all my labors, it happened that rummaging
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my things, I found a little bag, which, as I
hinted before, had been filled with corn for the feeding
of poultry, not for this voyage, but before, as I suppose,
when the ship came from Lisbon, the little remainder of
corn that had been in the bag was all devoured
by the rats, and I saw nothing in the bag
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but husts and dust, And, being willing to have the
bag for some other use, I think it was to
put my powder in. When I divided it for fear
of the lightning, or some such use, I shook the
husts of corn out of it. On one side of
my fortification under the rock. It was a little before
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the great rains just now mentioned that I threw this
stuff away, taking no notice, and not so much as
remembering that I had thrown anything there, When about a
month after or thereabouts, I saw some few stalks of
something green shooting out of the ground, which I fancied
might be some plant I had not seen. But I
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was surprised and perfectly astonished when after a little longer
time I saw about ten or twelve years come out
which were perfect green barley, of the same kind as
our European nay as our English barley. It is impossible
to express the astonishment and confusion of my thoughts on
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this occasion. I had hitherto acted upon no religious foundation
at all. Indeed, I had very few notions of religion
in my head, nor had entertained any sense of anything
that had befallen me otherwise than as chance, or as
we lightly say, what pleases God, without so much as
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inquiring into the end of providence in these things, or
his order in governing events for the world. But after
I saw barley growing there in a climate which I
knew was not proper for corn, and especially that I
knew not how it came there, it startled me strangely,
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and I began to suggest that God had miraculously caused
his grain to grow without any help of seed sown,
and that it was so directed purely for my sustenance
on that wild, miserable place. This touched my heart a
little and brought tears out of my eyes, and I
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began to bless myself that such a prodigy of nature
should happen upon my account. And this was the more
strange to me, because I saw near it, still, all
along by the side of the rock, some other straggling stalks,
which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I
knew because I had seen it grow in Africa when
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I was ashore there. Only thought these the pure productions
of providence for my support, but not doubting that there
was more in the place, I went all over that
part of the island where I had been before, peering
in every corner and under every rock, to see for
more of it, but I could not find any. At
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last it occurred to my thoughts that I shook a
bag of chickens meat out in that place, And then
the wonder began to cease, and I must confess my
religious thankfulness to God's providence began to abate too. Upon
the discovering that all this was nothing but what was common.
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Though I ought to have been as thankful for so
strange and unforeseen a providence as if it had been miraculous.
For it was really the work of providence to me
that should order, or a point, that ten or twelve
grains of corn should remain unspoiled when the rats had
destroyed all the rest, as if it had been dropped
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from heaven. As also that I should throw it out
in that particular place, where it, being in the shade
of a high rock, it sprang up immediately, whereas if
I had thrown it anywhere else at that time it
had been burnt up and destroyed. I carefully saved the
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ears of this corn, you may be sure, in their season,
which was about the end of June, and laying up
every corn, I resolved to sow them all again, hoping
in time to have some quantity sufficient to supply me
with bread. But it was not till the fourth year
that I could allow myself the least grain of this
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corn to eat, and even then, but sparingly, as I
shall say afterwards, in its order, for I lost all
that I sowed the first season by not observing the
proper time, for I sowed it just before the dry season,
so that it never came up at all, at least
not as it would have done. Of which in its place,
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besides this barley there were as above twenty or thirty
stalks of rice, which I preserve with the same care
and for the same use, or to the same purpose,
to make me bread or rather food, for I found
ways to cook it without baking, though I did that
also after some time. But to return to my journal,
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I worked excessive hard these three or four months to
get my wall done, and the fourteenth of April I
closed it up, contriving to go into it not by
a door, but over the wall by a ladder, that
there might be no sign on the outside of my habitation.
April sixteenth, I finished my life ladder. So I went
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up the ladder to the top, and then pulled it
up after me and let it down. In the inside.
This was a complete enclosure to me, for within I
had room enough, and nothing could come at me from
without unless it could first mount my wall. The very
next day, after this wall was finished, I had almost
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all my labor overthrown at once, and myself killed the
case was this. As I was busy in the inside
behind my tent, just at the entrance into my cave,
I was terribly frighted with the most dreadful, surprising thing. Indeed,
for all of a sudden I found the earth come
crumbling down from the roof of my cave, and from
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the edge of the hill over my head. In two
of the posts I had set up in the cave
cracked in a frightful manner. I was heartily scared, but
thought nothing of it, of what was really the cause,
only thinking that the top of my cave had fallen in,
as some of it had done before, and for fear
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I should be buried in it, I ran forward to
my ladder, and, not thinking myself safe there, neither I
got over my wall, for fear of the pieces of
the hill which I expected might roll down upon me.
I had no sooner step to ground than I plainly saw.
It was a terrible earthquake, for the ground I stood
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on shook three times at about eight minutes distance, with
three such shocks as would have overturned the strongest building
that could be supposed to have stood on the earth,
and a great piece of the top of a rock,
which stood about half a mile from me, next to
the sea, fell down with such a terrible noise as
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I never heard in all my life. I perceived also
the very sea was put into violent motion by it,
and I believed the shocks were stronger under the water
than on the island. I was so much amazed with
the thing itself, having never felt the like, nor discoursed
with anyone that had that. I was like one dead
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or stupefied, and the motion of the earth made my
stomach sick, like one that was tossed at sea. But
the noise of the falling of the rock awakened me
as it were, and rousing me from the stupefied condition
I was in filled me with horror, and I thought
of nothing then but the hill falling upon my tent
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and all my household goods, and bearing all at once.
And this sunk my very soul within me A second time.
After the third chap was over, and I felt no
more for some time, I began to take courage, and
yet I had not hard enough to go over my
wall again, for fear of being buried alive, but sat
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still upon the ground, greatly cast down and disconsolate, not
knowing what to do. All this while I had not
the least serious religious thought. Nothing but the common Lord
have mercy upon me, And when it was over, that
went away too. While I sat thus, I found the
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air overcast and grow cloudy, and as if it would rain.
Soon after that, the wind arose by little and little,
so that in less than half an hour it blew
a most dreadful hurricane. The sea was all of a
sudden covered over with foam and froth. The shore was
covered with the breach of the water, the trees were
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torn up by the roots, and a terrible storm it was.
This held about three hours and then began to abate,
and in two hours more it was quite calm and
began to rain very hard. All this while I sat
upon the ground, very much terrified and dejected. When on
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a sudden it came into my thoughts that these winds
and rain being the consequences of the earthquake. The earthquake
itself was spent and over, and I might venture into
my cave again. With this thought, my spirits began to revive,
and the rain also helping to persuade me. I went
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in and sat down in my tent, but The rain
was so violent that my tent was ready to be
beaten down with it, and I was forced to go
into my cave, though very much afraid and uneasy for
fear it would fall in my head. This violent rain
forced me to a new work, that is, to cut
a hole through my new fortification like a sink, to
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let the water go out, which would else have flooded
my cave. After I had been in my cave for
some time and found still no more shocks of the
earthquake follow I began to be more composed and now
to support my spirits, which indeed wanted it very much,
I went to my little store and took a small
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sup of rum, which however I did then and always
very sparingly, knowing I could have no more. When that
was gone. It continued raining all that night in great
part of the day, so that I could not stir abroad.
But my mind, being more composed, I began to think
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of what I had best do, concluding that if the
island was subject to these earthquakes, there would be no
living for me in the cave. But I must consider
of building a little hut in an open space, which
I might surround with a wall, as I had done before,
and so make myself secure from wild beasts or men.
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For I concluded if I stayed where I was, I
should certainly, one time or other, be buried alive. With
these thoughts, I resolved to remove my tent from the
place where it stood, which was just under the hanging
precipice of the hill, and which if it should be
shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent. And I
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spent the next two days, being the nineteenth and twentieth
of April, in contriving where and how to remove my habitation.
The fear of being swallowed up alive made me that
I never slept in quiet, and yet the apprehension of
lying abroad without any fence was almost equal to it.
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But still, when I looked about and saw how everything
was put in order, how pleasantly concealed I was, and
how safe from danger, it made me very loath to remove.
In the meantime, occurred to me that it would require
a vast deal of time for me to do this,
and that I must be contented to venture where I
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was till I had formed a camp for myself and
had secured it so as to remove to it. So
with this resolution I composed myself for a time and
resolved that I would go to work with all speed
to build me a wall with piles and cables, et cetera,
in a circle as before, and set my tent up
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in it when it was finished, but that I would
venture to stay where I was till it was finished
and fit to remove. This was the twenty first April
twenty second. The next morning I began to consider of
means to put this resolve into execution. But I was
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at a great loss about my tools. I had three
large axes and abundance of hatchets where we carried the
hatchets for traffic with the Indians. But with much chopping
and cutting knotty hard wood, they were all full of
notches and dull. And though I had a grindstone, I
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could not turn it and grind my tools too. This
cost me as much thought as a statesman would have
bestowed upon a grand point of politics, or a judge
upon the life and death of a man. At length,
I contrived a wheel with a string to turn it
with my foot, that I might have both my hands
(35:38):
at liberty. Note I had never seen any such thing
in England, or at least not to take notice how
it was done, though since I have observed it is
very common there. Besides that my grindstone was very heavy
and large. This machine cost me a full weeks work
(36:00):
to bring it to perfection. April twenty eighth and twenty ninth.
These two whole days I took up in grinding my tools,
my machine for turning my grindstone, performing very well. April thirtieth,
having perceived my bread had been low a great while now,
(36:23):
I took a survey of it and reduced myself to
one biscuit cake a day, which made my heart very heavy.
May first in the morning, looking towards the seaside, the
tide being low, I saw something lye on the shore,
(36:43):
bigger than ordinary, and it looked like a cask. When
I came to it, I found a small barrel and
two or three pieces of the wreck of the ship,
which were driven on shore by the late hurricane. And
looking towards the wreck itself, I thought it seemed to
(37:04):
lie higher out of the water than it used to.
I examined the barrel which was driven on shore, and
soon found that it was a barrel of gunpowder, but
it had taken water, and the powder was caked as
hard as a stone. However, I rolled it farther on
shore for the present, and went on upon the sands
(37:28):
as near as I could, to the wreck of the ship,
to look for more. End of Chapter five.
Chapter five, Builds a House. The Journal, September thirtieth, sixteen
fifty nine. I poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked during
a dreadful storm, and the offing came on shore on
(00:20):
this dismal, unfortunate island, which I call the Island of despair.
All the rest of the ship's company being drowned, and
myself almost dead, all the rest of the day I
spent in inflicting myself at the dismal circumstances I was
brought to. That is, I had neither food, house, clothes, weapon,
(00:47):
nor place to fly to, and in despair of any relief,
saw nothing but death before me, either that I should
be devoured by wild beasts, murdered by savagees, or starved
to death for want of food. At the approach of night,
I slept in a tree for fear of wild creatures,
(01:10):
but slept soundly, though it rained all night October first.
In the morning I saw, to my great surprise the
ship had floated with the high tide and was driven
on shore again, much nearer than island, which, as it was,
some comfort on one hand for seeing her set upright
(01:33):
and not broken to pieces. I hoped if the wind abated,
I might get on board and get some food and
necessaries out of her for my relief. So on the
other hand, it renewed my grief at the loss of
my comrades, who I imagined if we had stayed on board,
might have saved the ship, or at least that they
(01:55):
would not have been all drowned as they were, And
that had the men been saved, we might perhaps have
built us a boat out of the ruins of the ship,
to have carried us to some other part of the world.
I spent great part of this day in perplexing myself
on these things, but at length, seeing the ship almost dry,
(02:19):
I went upon the sand as near as I could,
and then swam on board. This day also it continued raining,
though with no wind at all, from the first of
October to the twenty fourth. All of these days entirely
spent in my several voyages to get all I could
(02:42):
out of the ship, which I brought on shore every
tide of flood upon rafts. Much rain also in the days,
though with some intervals of fair weather, but it seems
this was the rainy season. October twentieth I overset my
(03:02):
raft and all the goods I had got upon it.
But being in shoal water, and the things being chiefly heavy,
I recovered many of them when the tide was out
October twenty fifth. It rained all night and all day,
with some gusts of wind, during which time the ship
(03:24):
broke in pieces, the wind blowing a little harder than before,
and was no more to be seen except the wreck
of her, and that only at low water. I spent
this day in covering and securing the goods which I
had saved, that the rain might not spoil them. October
(03:45):
twenty sixth I walked about the shore almost all day
to find out a place to fix my habitation, greatly
concerned to secure myself from any attack in the night,
either from wild beasts or men. Towards night I fixed
upon a proper place under a rock, and marked out
(04:06):
a semicircle for my encampment, which I resolved to strengthen
with a work wall or fortification made of double piles,
lined within with cables and without with turf. From the
twenty sixth to the thirtieth I worked very hard in
carrying all my goods to my new habitation, though some
(04:28):
part of the time, it rained exceedingly hard. The thirty first,
in the morning, I went out into the island with
my gun to seek for some food and discover the country.
When I killed a she goat and her kid followed
me home, which I afterwards killed also because it would
not feed. November first, I set up my tent under
(04:55):
a rock and lay there for the first night, making
it as large as I could good with stakes driven
in to swing my hammock. Upon November second, I set
up all my chests and boards and the pieces of
timber which made my rafts, and with them formed a
(05:16):
fence round me a little within the place I had
marked out for my fortification. November third, I went out
with my gun and killed two fowls like ducks, which
were very good food, and in the afternoon went to
work to make me a table. November fourth, this morning
(05:39):
I began to order my times of work, of going
out with my gun, time of sleep, and time of diversion.
That is, every morning I walked out with my gun
for two or three hours if it did not rain,
then employed myself to work till about eleven o'clock, then
eat what I had to live on, and from twelve two,
(06:01):
I lay down to sleep, the weather being excessively hot,
and then in the evening to work again. The working
part of this day and of the next were wholly
employed in making my table, for I was yet but
a very sorry workman, though time and necessity made me
a complete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe they
(06:22):
would do anyone else. November fifth, this day, went abroad
with my gun and my dog and killed a wild cat,
her skin pretty soft, but her flesh good for nothing.
Every creature that I killed I took of the skins
and preserved them. Coming back to the seashore, I saw
(06:46):
many sorts of sea fowls, which I did not understand,
but was surprised and almost frightened with two or three seals, which,
while I was gazing at, not well knowing what they were,
got into the sea and escaped me for that time.
November sixth, after my morning walk, I went to work
(07:07):
with my table again and finished it, though not by
my liking, nor was it long before I learned to
mend it. November seventh, Now it began to be settled
fair weather. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, and part
of the twelfth and the eleventh was Sunday. I took
(07:28):
wholly up to make me a chair, and with much
ado brought it to a tolerable shape, but never to
please me, and even in the making I pulled it
in pieces several times. Note I soon neglected my keeping
Sundays for omitting my mark for them on my post.
(07:49):
I forgot which was which. November thirteenth. This day it rained,
which refreshed me exceedingly and cooled the earth. But it
was accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning, which frightened me dreadfully,
for fear of my powder. As soon as it was over,
(08:09):
I resolved to separate my stock of powder into as
many little parcels as possible, that it might not be
in danger. November fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth. These three days
I spent in making little square chests or boxes, which
might hold about a pound or two pounds at most
(08:29):
of powder, and so putting the powder in. I stowed
it in places as secure and remote from one another
as possible. On one of these three days I killed
a large bird that was good to eat, but I
knew not what to call it. November seventeenth, This day
(08:53):
I began to dig behind my tent into the rock
to make room for my further conveniency. Note three things
I wanted exceedingly for this work, that is, a pickaxe,
a shovel, and a wheelbarrow or basket. So I desisted
from my work and began to consider how to supply
(09:15):
that onet and make me some tools. As for the
pick axe, I made use of the iron crows, which
were proper enough, though heavy. But the next thing was
a shovel or spade. This was so absolutely necessary that
indeed I could do nothing effectually without it. But what
(09:36):
kind of one to make I knew not November eighteenth,
the next day, in searching the woods, I found a
tree of that wood or like it, which in the
Brazils they call the iron tree for its exceeding hardness.
Of this, with great labor, and almost spoiling my axe,
(09:58):
I cut a piece and brought it home, too, with
difficulty enough, for it was exceedingly heavy. The excessive hardness
of the wood, and my having no other way, made
me a long while upon this machine, for I worked
it effectually by little and little, into the form of
(10:18):
a shovel or spade, the handle exactly shaped like ours
in England, only that the board part, having no iron
shod upon it at the bottom, it would not last
me for so long. However, it served well enough for
the uses which I had occasion to put it to.
(10:38):
But never was a shovel I believe, made after that fashion,
or so long in making I was still deficient, for
I wanted a basket or a wheelbarrow. A basket I
could not make by any means, having no such things
as twigs that would bend to make wickerwear, at least
(10:59):
none yet found. And as to a wheelbarrow, I fancied
I could make all but the wheel, but that I
had no notion of, neither did I know how to
go about it. Besides, I had no possible way to
make the iron gudgeons for the spindle or axis of
the wheel to run in, so I gave it over.
(11:22):
And so for carrying away the earth which I dug
out of the cave, I made me a thing like
a hod which the laborers carry mortar in when they
served the brick layers. This is not so difficult to
me as the making of the shovel. And yet this
and the shovel, and the attempt which I made in
(11:42):
vain to make a wheelbarrow took me took me up
no less than four days, I mean, always accepting my
morning walk with my gun, which I seldom failed and
very seldom failed, also bringing home something fit to eat.
November twenty third, my other work having now stood still
(12:05):
because of my making these tools. When they were finished,
I went on and working every day as my strength
and time allowed. I spent eighteen days entirely in widening
and deepening my cave that it might hold my goods commodiously.
Note During all this time I worked to make this
(12:26):
room or cave spacious enough to accommodate me as a
warehouse or magazine, a kitchen, a dining room, and a
cellar as for my lodging. I kept to the tent,
except that sometimes in the wet season of the year,
it rained so hard that I could not keep myself dry,
(12:46):
which caused me afterwards to cover all my place within
my pail with long poles in the form of rafters
leaning against the rock, and load them with flags and
large leaves of trees like a thatch. December tenth I
(13:06):
began now to think my cave or vault finished, when
on a sudden it seems I had made it too large.
A great quantity of earth fell down from the top
on one side, so much that, in short itf frightened me,
and not without reason too, for if I had been
under it, I had never wanted a grave digger. I
(13:30):
had now a great deal of work to do over again,
for I had the loosed earth all to carry out,
and which was of more importance, I had the ceiling
to prop up so that I might be sure no
more would come down. December eleventh. This day I went
to work with it accordingly, and got two shores or
(13:52):
posts pitched upright to the top, with two pieces of
boards across over each post. This I finished the next day,
and setting more posts up with boards. In about a
week more. I had the roof secured, and the posts
standing in rows served me for partitions to part off
(14:14):
the house December seventeenth. From this day to the twentieth
I placed shelves and knocked up nails on the posts
to hang everything up that could be hung up, And
now I began to be in some order within doors.
December twentieth. Now I carried everything into the cave and
(14:38):
began to furnish my house and set up some pieces
of boards like a dresser to order my victuals upon.
But boards began to be very scarce with me. Also,
I made me another table. December twenty fourth, much rain
all day and all night, no stirring out. December twenty fifth,
(15:03):
rain all day. December twenty sixth no rain, and the
earth much cooler than before, and pleasanter. December twenty seventh
killed a young goat and lamed another, so that I
caught it and led it home in a string. And
when I had it at home, I bound and splintered
(15:25):
up its leg, which was broken not te bene. I
took such care of it that it lived, and the
leg grew well and as strong as ever. But by
my nursing it so long it grew tame and fed
upon the little green at my door, and would not
go away. This was the first time that I entertained
(15:48):
a thought of breeding up some tame creatures that I
might have food when my powder and shot was all spent.
December twenty eighth, twenty ninth, thirtieth, and thirty first, great
heats and no breeze, so that there was no stirring
abroad except in the evening for food. This time I
(16:11):
spent in putting all my things in order within doors.
January first, very hot still, but I went abroad early
and late with my gun, and lay still in the
middle of the day this evening. Going farther into the
valleys which lay towards the center of the island, I
(16:34):
found there were plenty of goats, though exceedingly shy and
hard to come at. However, I resolved to try if
I could not bring my dog to hunt them down.
January second. Accordingly, the next day I went out with
my dog and set him upon the goats. But I
was mistaken, for they all faced about upon the dog,
(16:55):
and he knew his danger too well, for he would
not come near them. January third, I began my fence
or wall, which, being still jealous of my being attacked
by somebody, I resolved to make very thick and strong.
No te bene this wall. Being described before, I purposely
(17:20):
admit what was said in the journal, it is sufficient
to observe that I was no less time than from
the second of January to the fourteenth of April working
finishing and perfecting this wall. Though it was no more
than about twenty four yards in length, being a half
circle from one place in the rock to another place
(17:41):
about eight yards from it, the door of the cave
being in the center behind it. All this time I
worked very hard, the rains hindering me many days, nay
sometimes weeks together, but I thought I should never be
perfectly secure till this wall was finished. And it is
(18:01):
scarce credible what inexpressible labor everything was done with, especially
the bringing of piles out of the woods and driving
them into the ground, for I made them much bigger
than I needed to have done. When this wall was
finished and the outside double fenced with a turf wall
(18:23):
raised up close to it, I perceived myself that if
any people were to come on shore there, they would
not perceive anything like a habitation. And it was very
well I did so, as may be observed hereafter upon
a very remarkable occasion. During this time, I made my
(18:44):
rounds in the woods for game every day when the
rain permitted me, and made frequent discoveries in these walks
of something or other to my advantage. Particularly, I found
a kind of wild pigeons which build not as wood
pigeons in a tree, but rather as house pigeons in
(19:07):
the holes of the rocks, and taking some young ones
I endeavored to bring them up, came and did so.
But when they grew older they flew away, which perhaps
was at first for one of feeding them, for I
had nothing to give them. However, I frequently found their
nests and got their young ones, which were very good meat.
(19:30):
And now in the managing of my household affairs, I
found myself wanting in many things which I thought at
first it was impossible for me to make, as indeed
with some of them it was. For instance, I could
never make a cask to be whooped. I had a
small runlet or two, as I observed before, but I
(19:54):
could not ever arrive at the capacity of making one
by them, though I spent many weeks about it. I
could never put in the heads or join the staves
so true to one another as to make them hold water.
So I gave that also over In the next place,
(20:15):
I was at a great loss for candles, so that
as soon as ever it was dark, which was generally
by seven o'clock, I was obliged to go to bed.
I remembered the lump of beeswax with which I made
candles in my African adventure. But I had none of that. Now.
The only remedy I had was that when I killed
(20:37):
a goat, I saved the tallow, which, with a little
dish made of clay, which I baked up in the sun,
and to which I added a wick of some oakum,
I made me a lamp. And this gave me light,
though not a clear, steady light like a candle. In
the middle of all my labors, it happened that rummaging
(20:59):
my things, I found a little bag, which, as I
hinted before, had been filled with corn for the feeding
of poultry, not for this voyage, but before, as I suppose,
when the ship came from Lisbon, the little remainder of
corn that had been in the bag was all devoured
by the rats, and I saw nothing in the bag
(21:21):
but husts and dust, And, being willing to have the
bag for some other use, I think it was to
put my powder in. When I divided it for fear
of the lightning, or some such use, I shook the
husts of corn out of it. On one side of
my fortification under the rock. It was a little before
(21:43):
the great rains just now mentioned that I threw this
stuff away, taking no notice, and not so much as
remembering that I had thrown anything there, When about a
month after or thereabouts, I saw some few stalks of
something green shooting out of the ground, which I fancied
might be some plant I had not seen. But I
(22:07):
was surprised and perfectly astonished when after a little longer
time I saw about ten or twelve years come out
which were perfect green barley, of the same kind as
our European nay as our English barley. It is impossible
to express the astonishment and confusion of my thoughts on
(22:30):
this occasion. I had hitherto acted upon no religious foundation
at all. Indeed, I had very few notions of religion
in my head, nor had entertained any sense of anything
that had befallen me otherwise than as chance, or as
we lightly say, what pleases God, without so much as
(22:51):
inquiring into the end of providence in these things, or
his order in governing events for the world. But after
I saw barley growing there in a climate which I
knew was not proper for corn, and especially that I
knew not how it came there, it startled me strangely,
(23:14):
and I began to suggest that God had miraculously caused
his grain to grow without any help of seed sown,
and that it was so directed purely for my sustenance
on that wild, miserable place. This touched my heart a
little and brought tears out of my eyes, and I
(23:34):
began to bless myself that such a prodigy of nature
should happen upon my account. And this was the more
strange to me, because I saw near it, still, all
along by the side of the rock, some other straggling stalks,
which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I
knew because I had seen it grow in Africa when
(23:56):
I was ashore there. Only thought these the pure productions
of providence for my support, but not doubting that there
was more in the place, I went all over that
part of the island where I had been before, peering
in every corner and under every rock, to see for
more of it, but I could not find any. At
(24:19):
last it occurred to my thoughts that I shook a
bag of chickens meat out in that place, And then
the wonder began to cease, and I must confess my
religious thankfulness to God's providence began to abate too. Upon
the discovering that all this was nothing but what was common.
(24:39):
Though I ought to have been as thankful for so
strange and unforeseen a providence as if it had been miraculous.
For it was really the work of providence to me
that should order, or a point, that ten or twelve
grains of corn should remain unspoiled when the rats had
destroyed all the rest, as if it had been dropped
(25:03):
from heaven. As also that I should throw it out
in that particular place, where it, being in the shade
of a high rock, it sprang up immediately, whereas if
I had thrown it anywhere else at that time it
had been burnt up and destroyed. I carefully saved the
(25:25):
ears of this corn, you may be sure, in their season,
which was about the end of June, and laying up
every corn, I resolved to sow them all again, hoping
in time to have some quantity sufficient to supply me
with bread. But it was not till the fourth year
that I could allow myself the least grain of this
(25:46):
corn to eat, and even then, but sparingly, as I
shall say afterwards, in its order, for I lost all
that I sowed the first season by not observing the
proper time, for I sowed it just before the dry season,
so that it never came up at all, at least
not as it would have done. Of which in its place,
(26:10):
besides this barley there were as above twenty or thirty
stalks of rice, which I preserve with the same care
and for the same use, or to the same purpose,
to make me bread or rather food, for I found
ways to cook it without baking, though I did that
also after some time. But to return to my journal,
(26:37):
I worked excessive hard these three or four months to
get my wall done, and the fourteenth of April I
closed it up, contriving to go into it not by
a door, but over the wall by a ladder, that
there might be no sign on the outside of my habitation.
April sixteenth, I finished my life ladder. So I went
(27:01):
up the ladder to the top, and then pulled it
up after me and let it down. In the inside.
This was a complete enclosure to me, for within I
had room enough, and nothing could come at me from
without unless it could first mount my wall. The very
next day, after this wall was finished, I had almost
(27:23):
all my labor overthrown at once, and myself killed the
case was this. As I was busy in the inside
behind my tent, just at the entrance into my cave,
I was terribly frighted with the most dreadful, surprising thing. Indeed,
for all of a sudden I found the earth come
crumbling down from the roof of my cave, and from
(27:45):
the edge of the hill over my head. In two
of the posts I had set up in the cave
cracked in a frightful manner. I was heartily scared, but
thought nothing of it, of what was really the cause,
only thinking that the top of my cave had fallen in,
as some of it had done before, and for fear
(28:06):
I should be buried in it, I ran forward to
my ladder, and, not thinking myself safe there, neither I
got over my wall, for fear of the pieces of
the hill which I expected might roll down upon me.
I had no sooner step to ground than I plainly saw.
It was a terrible earthquake, for the ground I stood
(28:27):
on shook three times at about eight minutes distance, with
three such shocks as would have overturned the strongest building
that could be supposed to have stood on the earth,
and a great piece of the top of a rock,
which stood about half a mile from me, next to
the sea, fell down with such a terrible noise as
(28:48):
I never heard in all my life. I perceived also
the very sea was put into violent motion by it,
and I believed the shocks were stronger under the water
than on the island. I was so much amazed with
the thing itself, having never felt the like, nor discoursed
with anyone that had that. I was like one dead
(29:12):
or stupefied, and the motion of the earth made my
stomach sick, like one that was tossed at sea. But
the noise of the falling of the rock awakened me
as it were, and rousing me from the stupefied condition
I was in filled me with horror, and I thought
of nothing then but the hill falling upon my tent
(29:35):
and all my household goods, and bearing all at once.
And this sunk my very soul within me A second time.
After the third chap was over, and I felt no
more for some time, I began to take courage, and
yet I had not hard enough to go over my
wall again, for fear of being buried alive, but sat
(30:01):
still upon the ground, greatly cast down and disconsolate, not
knowing what to do. All this while I had not
the least serious religious thought. Nothing but the common Lord
have mercy upon me, And when it was over, that
went away too. While I sat thus, I found the
(30:25):
air overcast and grow cloudy, and as if it would rain.
Soon after that, the wind arose by little and little,
so that in less than half an hour it blew
a most dreadful hurricane. The sea was all of a
sudden covered over with foam and froth. The shore was
covered with the breach of the water, the trees were
(30:47):
torn up by the roots, and a terrible storm it was.
This held about three hours and then began to abate,
and in two hours more it was quite calm and
began to rain very hard. All this while I sat
upon the ground, very much terrified and dejected. When on
(31:08):
a sudden it came into my thoughts that these winds
and rain being the consequences of the earthquake. The earthquake
itself was spent and over, and I might venture into
my cave again. With this thought, my spirits began to revive,
and the rain also helping to persuade me. I went
(31:30):
in and sat down in my tent, but The rain
was so violent that my tent was ready to be
beaten down with it, and I was forced to go
into my cave, though very much afraid and uneasy for
fear it would fall in my head. This violent rain
forced me to a new work, that is, to cut
a hole through my new fortification like a sink, to
(31:54):
let the water go out, which would else have flooded
my cave. After I had been in my cave for
some time and found still no more shocks of the
earthquake follow I began to be more composed and now
to support my spirits, which indeed wanted it very much,
I went to my little store and took a small
(32:17):
sup of rum, which however I did then and always
very sparingly, knowing I could have no more. When that
was gone. It continued raining all that night in great
part of the day, so that I could not stir abroad.
But my mind, being more composed, I began to think
(32:38):
of what I had best do, concluding that if the
island was subject to these earthquakes, there would be no
living for me in the cave. But I must consider
of building a little hut in an open space, which
I might surround with a wall, as I had done before,
and so make myself secure from wild beasts or men.
(33:00):
For I concluded if I stayed where I was, I
should certainly, one time or other, be buried alive. With
these thoughts, I resolved to remove my tent from the
place where it stood, which was just under the hanging
precipice of the hill, and which if it should be
shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent. And I
(33:23):
spent the next two days, being the nineteenth and twentieth
of April, in contriving where and how to remove my habitation.
The fear of being swallowed up alive made me that
I never slept in quiet, and yet the apprehension of
lying abroad without any fence was almost equal to it.
(33:45):
But still, when I looked about and saw how everything
was put in order, how pleasantly concealed I was, and
how safe from danger, it made me very loath to remove.
In the meantime, occurred to me that it would require
a vast deal of time for me to do this,
and that I must be contented to venture where I
(34:08):
was till I had formed a camp for myself and
had secured it so as to remove to it. So
with this resolution I composed myself for a time and
resolved that I would go to work with all speed
to build me a wall with piles and cables, et cetera,
in a circle as before, and set my tent up
(34:29):
in it when it was finished, but that I would
venture to stay where I was till it was finished
and fit to remove. This was the twenty first April
twenty second. The next morning I began to consider of
means to put this resolve into execution. But I was
(34:52):
at a great loss about my tools. I had three
large axes and abundance of hatchets where we carried the
hatchets for traffic with the Indians. But with much chopping
and cutting knotty hard wood, they were all full of
notches and dull. And though I had a grindstone, I
(35:15):
could not turn it and grind my tools too. This
cost me as much thought as a statesman would have
bestowed upon a grand point of politics, or a judge
upon the life and death of a man. At length,
I contrived a wheel with a string to turn it
with my foot, that I might have both my hands
(35:38):
at liberty. Note I had never seen any such thing
in England, or at least not to take notice how
it was done, though since I have observed it is
very common there. Besides that my grindstone was very heavy
and large. This machine cost me a full weeks work
(36:00):
to bring it to perfection. April twenty eighth and twenty ninth.
These two whole days I took up in grinding my tools,
my machine for turning my grindstone, performing very well. April thirtieth,
having perceived my bread had been low a great while now,
(36:23):
I took a survey of it and reduced myself to
one biscuit cake a day, which made my heart very heavy.
May first in the morning, looking towards the seaside, the
tide being low, I saw something lye on the shore,
(36:43):
bigger than ordinary, and it looked like a cask. When
I came to it, I found a small barrel and
two or three pieces of the wreck of the ship,
which were driven on shore by the late hurricane. And
looking towards the wreck itself, I thought it seemed to
(37:04):
lie higher out of the water than it used to.
I examined the barrel which was driven on shore, and
soon found that it was a barrel of gunpowder, but
it had taken water, and the powder was caked as
hard as a stone. However, I rolled it farther on
shore for the present, and went on upon the sands
(37:28):
as near as I could, to the wreck of the ship,
to look for more. End of Chapter five.
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