August 22, 2025 • 47 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eighteen. The ship recovered while we were thus preparing
our designs, and had first by main strength, heaved the
boat upon the beach so high that the tide would
not float her off at high water mark, and besides
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had broke a hole in her bottom too big to
be quickly stopped, and were set down musing what we
should do. We heard the ship fire a gun and
make a waft with her ensign as a signal for
the boat to come on board, but no boat stirred,
and they fired several times, making other signals for the boat.
(00:46):
At last, when all their signals and firing proved fruitless
and they found the boat did not stir, we saw them,
by the help of my glasses, hoist another boat out
and rowed towards the shore, and we found as they
approached that there were no less than ten men in her,
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and that they had firearms with them. As the ship
lay almost two leagues from the shore, we had a
full view of them as they came, and a plain
sight even of their faces, because the tide, having set
them a little to the east of the other boat,
they rowed up under shore to come to the same
(01:30):
place where the other had landed, and where the boat lay.
By this means, I say, we had a full view
of them, and the captain knew the persons and characters
of all the men in the boat, of whom he
said there were three very honest fellows, who he was
sure were led into this conspiracy by the rest being
(01:51):
overpowered and frightened. But that as for the boatswain, who
it seems was chief officer among them, and all their
they were as outrageous as any of the ship's crew,
and were no doubt made desperate in their new enterprise,
and terribly apprehensive he was that they would be too
(02:12):
powerful for us. I smiled at him and told him
that men in our circumstances were past the operation of fear, that,
seeing almost every condition that could be was better than
that which we were supposed to be in, we ought
to expect that the consequence, whether death or life, would
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be sure to be a deliverance. I asked him what
he thought of the circumstances of my life, and whether
a deliverance was not worth venturing for. And where sir said,
I is your belief of my being preserved here on
purpose to save your life, which elevated you a little
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while ago, for my part, said I, there seems to
be but one thing amiss in all the prospect of it.
What is that? Says he? Why? Said I? It is that,
as you say, there are three or four honest fellows
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among them which should be spared. Had they been all
of the wicked part of the crew, I should have
thought God's providence had singled them out to deliver them
into your hands. For depend upon it. Every man that
comes ashore is our own, and shall die or live
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as they behave to us. As I spoke this with
a raised voice and cheerful countenence, I found it greatly
encouraged him. So we vigorously set to our business. We had,
upon the first appearance of the boats coming from the ship,
considered of separating our prisoners, and we had indeed secured
(04:00):
them effectually, two of them, of whom the captain was
less assured than ordinary. I sent with Friday and one
of the three delivered men to my cave, where they
were remote enough and out of danger of being heard
or discovered, or of finding their way out of the woods.
(04:21):
If they could have delivered themselves here. They left them bound,
but gave them provisions and promised them, if they continued
there quietly, to give them their liberty in a day
or two, but that if they attempted their escape, they
should be put to death without mercy. They promised faithfully
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to bear their confinement with patience, and were very grateful
that they had such good usage as to have provisions
and light left them for Friday, gave them candles such
as we made ourselves for their comfort, and they did
not know but that he stood sentinel over them at
the entrance. The other prisoners had better usage. Two of
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them were kept pinioned, indeed, because the captain was not
able to trust them. But the other two were taken
into my service upon the captain's recommendation, and upon their
solemnly engaging to live and die with us. So with
them and the three honest men, we were seven men
well armed, and I made no doubt we should be
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able to deal well enough with the ten that were coming,
considering that the captain had said there were three or
four honest men among them. Also, as soon as they
got to the place where their other boat lay, they
ran their boat into the beach and came all on shore,
hauling the boat up after them, which I was glad
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to see, for I was afraid they would rather have
left the boat at an anchor some distance from the shore,
with some hands in her to guard her, so we
should not be able to seize the boat. Being on shore.
The first thing they did they ran all to their
other boat, and it was easy to see they were
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under a great surprise to find her stripped as above
of all that was in her, and a great hole
in her bottom. After they had mused a while upon this,
they set up two or three great shouts, helloing with
all their might to try if they could make their
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companions here, but all was to no purpose. Then they
came all close in a ring and fired a volley
of their arms, which indeed we heard, and the echoes
made the woods ring, But it was all one. Those
in the cave we were sure could not hear, and
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those in our keeping, though they heard it well enough,
yet Durst give no answer to them. They were so
astonished at the surprise of this, that, as they told
us afterwards, they resolved to go all on board again
to their ship and let them know that the men
were all murdered, and the longboat staved Accordingly, They immediately
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launched their boat again and got all of them on board.
The captain was terribly amazed and even confounded at this,
believing they would go on board the ship again and
set sail, giving their comrades over for lost, and so
he should still lose the ship, which he was in
high hopes he should have recovered. But he was quickly
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as much frightened the other way. They had not been
long put off with the boat when we perceived them
all coming on shore again, but with this new measure
in their conduct, which it seems they consulted together upon,
that is, to leave three men in the boat, and
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the rest go on shore and go up into the
country to look for their fellows. This was a great
disappointment for us, for now we were at a loss
what to do, as our seizing those seven men on
shore would be no advantage to us if we let
the boat escape, because they would row away to the ship,
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and then the rest of them would be sure to
weigh and set sail, and so our recovering the ship
would be lost. However, we had no remedy but to
wait and see what the issue of things might present.
The seven men came on shore, and the three who
remained in the boat, put her off to a good
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distance from the shore, and came to an anchor to
wait for them, so that it was impossible for us
to come at them in the boat. Those that came
on shore kept close together, marching towards the top of
the little hill upon which my habitation lay, and we
could see them plainly, though they could not perceive us.
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We should have been very glad if they would have
come nearer to us, so that we might have fired
at them, or that they would have gone farther off
that we might come abroad. But when they were come
to the brow of the hill, where they could see
a great way into the valleys and woods which lay
towards the northeast part, and where the island lay lowest,
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they shouted and halloed till they were weary and not caring,
it seems, to venture far from the shore, nor far
from one another. They sat down together under a tree
to consider it, had they thought fit to go to
sleep there, as the other part of them had done.
They had done the job for us, But they were
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too full of apprehensions of danger to venture to go
to sleep, even though they could not tell what the
danger was they had to fear. The captain made a
very just proposal to me upon this consultation of theirs,
that is, that perhaps they would all fire a volley
again to endeavor to make their fellows here, and that
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we should all sally upon them just at the juncture
when their pieces were all discharged, and they would certainly yield,
and we should have them without bloodshed. I liked this proposal,
provided it was done while we were near enough to
come up to them before they could load their pieces again.
But this event did not happen, and we lay still
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a long time, very irresolute what course to take. At length,
I told them there would be nothing done, in my opinion,
till night, and then if they did not return to
the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get
between them and the shore, and so might use some
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stratagem with them in the boat to get them on shore.
We waited a great while, though very impatient, for their removing,
and were very uneasy when, after long consultation, we saw
them all start up and march down towards the sea.
It seems they had such dreadful apprehensions of the danger
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of the place that they resolved to go on board
the ship again, give their companions over for lost, and
so go on with their intended voyage with the ship.
As soon as I perceived them go towards the shore,
I imagined it to be as it really was, that
they had given over their search and were going back again.
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And the captain, as soon as I told him my thoughts,
was ready to sink at the apprehensions of it. But
I presently thought of a stratagem to fetch them back again,
and which answered my end to a tittle. I ordered
Friday and the captain's mate to go over the little
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creek westward towards the place where the savages came on
shore when Friday was rescued, And so soon as they
came to a little rising round at about half a
mile distant, I bid them hello out as loud as
they could, and wait till they had found the seamen
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heard them that as soon as ever they heard the
seamen answer them, they should return it again, and then,
keeping out of sight, take around, always answering when the
others helloaed, to draw them as far into the island
and among the woods as possible, and then wheel about
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again to me. By such ways as I directed them.
They were just going into the boat when Friday and
the mate helloed, and they presently heard them, and, answering,
ran along the shore westward towards the voice they heard.
When they were stopped by the creek, where the water
being up, they could not get over, and called for
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the boat to come up and set them over, as
indeed I expected. When they had set themselves over, I
observed that the boat being gone a good way into
the creek, and as it were in a harbor within
the land, they took one of the three men out
of her to go along with them, and left only
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two in the boat, having fastened her to the stump
of a little tree on the shore. This was what
I wished for, and immediately leaving Friday and the captain's
make to their business, I took the rest with me, and,
crossing the creek out of their sight, we surprised the
two men before they were aware, one of them lying
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on the shore and the other being in the boat.
The fellow on shore was between sleeping and waking and
going to guard up the captain, who was foremost, ran
in upon him and knocked him down, and then called
out to him in the boat to yield or he
was a dead man. They needed very few arguments to
persuade a single man to yield when he saw five
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men upon him and his comrade knocked down. Besides, this was,
it seems, one of the three who were not so
hearty in the mutiny as the rest, and therefore was
easily persuaded not only to yield, but afterwards to join
very sincerely with us. In the meantime, Friday and the
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captain's mate so well managed their business with the rest
that they drew with them by halloing and answering from
one hill to another, and from one wood to another,
till they not only heartily tired them, but left them
where they were very sure they would not reach back
to the boat before it was dark, And indeed they
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were heartily tired themselves also by the time they came
back to us. We had nothing now to do but
to watch for them in the dark and to fall
upon them so as to make sure work with them.
It was several hours after Friday came back to me
before they came back to their boat, and we could
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hear the foremost of them long before they came quite up,
calling to those behind to come along, and could also
hear them answer and complain how lame and tired they were,
and not able to come any faster, which was very
welcome news to us. At length they came up to
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the boat, but it is impossible to express their confusion.
When they found the boat fast aground in the creek,
the tide ebbed out, and their two men gone. We
could hear them call one to another in a most
lamentable manner, telling one another they were got into an
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enchanted island, that either there were inhabitants in it, and
they should all be murdered, or else there were devils
and spirits in it, and they should all be carried
away and devoured. They helloed again, and called their two
comrades by their names a great many times, but no answer.
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After some time we could see them by the little light.
There was run about, wringing their hands like men in despair.
And sometimes they would go and sit down in the
boat to rest themselves, then come ashore again and walk
about again, and so the same thing over again. My
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men would fain have had me give them leave to
fall upon them at once in the dark, but I
was willing to take them at some advantage so as
to spare them and kill as few of them as
I could, And especially I was unwilling to hazard the
killing of any of our men. Knowing the others were
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very well armed, I resolved to wait to see if
they did not separate, and therefore to make sure of them.
I drew my ambuscade nearer and ordered Friday and the
captain to creep upon their hands and feet as close
to the ground as they could that they might not
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be discovered, and get as near them as they could
possibly before they offered to fire. They had not been
long in that posture when the boatswain, who was the
principal ringleader of the mutiny and had now shown himself
the most dejected and dispirited of all the rest, came
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walking towards them with two more of the crew. The
captain was so eager as having this principal rogue so
much in his power, that he could hardly have patience
to let him come so near as to be sure
of him, for they only heard his tongue before. But
when they came nearer, the Captain and Friday, starting up
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on their feet, let fly at them. The boasam was
killed upon the spot. The next man was shot in
the body and fell just by him, though he did
not die till an hour or two after, and the
third ran for it. At the noise of the fire.
I immediately advanced with my whole army, which was now
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eight men, that is myself, General Lissimo Friday, my lieutenant general,
the captain and his two men, and the three prisoners
of war whom we had trusted with arms. We came
upon them, indeed in the dark, so that they could
not see our number, and I made the man they
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had left in the boat, who was now one of us,
to call them by name, to try if I could
bring them to a parley, and so perhaps might reduce
them to terms which fell out just as we desired.
For indeed, it was easy to think, as their condition
then was, they would be very willing to capitulate. So
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he calls out as loud as he could to one
of them, Tom Smith. Tom Smith. Tom Smith answered immediately,
is that Robinson? For it seems he knew the voice.
The other answered aye. Aye. For God's sake, Tom Smith,
throw down your arms and yield, or you are all
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dead men this moment. Who must we yield? To where
are they, says Smith? Again, here they are, says he.
Here's our captain and fifty men with him have been
hunting you these two hours. The boatsuns killed, Will Fry
is wounded, and I am a prisoner. And if you
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do not yield, you are all lost. Will they give
us quarter, then, says Tom Smith, and we will yield.
I'll go and ask if you promise to yield, said Robinson.
So he asked the captain, and the captain himself then
calls out, you Smith, you know my voice. If you
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lay down your arms immediately and submit, you shall have
your lives all but Will Atkins. Upon this, Will Atkins
cried out, for God's sake, Captain, give me quarter. What
have I done? They have all been as bad as I, which,
by the way, was not true, For it seems this
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Will Atkins was the first man that laid hold of
the captain when they first mutinied, and used him barbarously
in tying his hands and giving him injurious language. However,
the captain told him he must lay down his arms
at discretion and trust to the governor's mercy, by which
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he meant me, for they all called me governor in
a word, they all laid down their arms and begged
their lives. And I sent the man that had parleyed
with them, and two more, who bound them all. And
then my great army of fifty men, which with those
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three were in all but eight, came up and seized
upon them and upon their boat. Only that I kept
myself and one more out of sight for reasons of state.
Our next work was to repair the boat and think
of seizing the ship. And as for the captain, now
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he had leisure to parley with them, he expostulated with
them upon the villainy of their practices with him, and
upon the further wickedness of their design, and how certainly
it must bring them to misery and distress in the end,
and perhaps to the gallows. They all appeared very penitent
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and begged hard for their lives. As for that, he
told them they were not his prisoners, but the commanders
of the island. That they thought they had set him
on shore in a baron uninhabited island, but it had
pleased God so to direct them that it was inhabited,
and that the governor was an Englishman, and that he
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might hang them all there if he pleased but as
he had given them all quarter, he supposed he would
send them to England to be dealt with there as
justice required, except Atkins, whom he was commanded by the
governor to advise to prepare for death, for that he
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would be hanged in the morning. Though this was all
but a fiction of his own, yet it had its
desired effect. Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the
captain to intercede with the governor for his life, and
all the rest begged of him for God's sake, that
they might not be sent to England. It now occurred
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to me that the time of our deliverance was come,
and that it would be a most easy thing to
bring these fellows in to be hearty and getting possession
of the ship. So I retired in the dark from them,
that they might not see what kind of governor they had,
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and called the captain to me. When I called at
a good distance, one of the men was ordered to
speak again and say to the captain, the commander calls
for you, And presently the captain replied, tell his excellency,
I am just coming. This more perfectly amazed them, and
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they all believed that the command was just by with
his fifty men. Upon the captain coming to me, I
told him my project for seizing the ship, which he
liked wonderfully well, and resolved to put it in execution
the next morning. But in order to execute it with
more art and to be secure of success, I told
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him we must divide the prisoners, and that he should
go and take Atkins and two more of the worst
of them, and send them pinioned to the cave where
the others lay. This was committed to Friday and the
two men who came on shore with the captain. They
conveyed them to the cave as to a prison, and
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it was indeed a dismal place, especially to men in
their condition. The others I ordered to my bower, as
I called it, of which I have given a full description,
And as it was fenced in and they pinioned, the
place was secure enough. Considering they were upon their behavior
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to these in the morning, I sent the captain, who
was to enter into a parley with them, in a word,
to try them and tell me whether he thought they
might be trusted or not, to go on board and
surprise the ship. He talked to them of the injury
done him, of the condition they were brought to, and
that though the governor had given them quarter for their
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lives as to the present action, yet that if they
were sent to England they would all be hanged in chains,
but that if they would join in so just an
attempt as to recover this ship, we would have the
Governor's engagement for their pardon. Anyone may guess how readily
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such proposal would be accepted by men in their condition.
They fell down on their knees to the captain and promised,
with the deepest imprecations that they would be faithful to
him to the last drop, and that they should owe
their lives to him, and would go with him all
over the world. That they would own him as a
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father to them as long as they lived. Well, says
the captain, I must go and tell the governor what
you say, and see what I can do to bring
him to consent to it. So he brought me an
account of the temper he found them in, and that
he verily believed they would be faithful. However, that we
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might be very secure. I told him he should go
back and choose out those five and tell them that
they might see. He did not want men that he
would take out those five to be his assistants, and
that the governor would keep the other two and the
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three that were sent prisoners to my castle, that is,
my cave as hostages for the fidelity of those five,
and that if they proved unfaithful in the execution, the
five hostages should be hanged in chains alive on the shore.
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This looked severe and convinced them that the governor was
in earnest. However, they had no way left but to
accept it, and it was now the business of the prisoners,
as much as of the captain, to persuade the other
five to do their duty. Our strength was now thus
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ordered for the expedition. First the Captain, his mate and passenger.
Second the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom,
having their character from the Captain, I had given their
liberty and trusted them with arms. Third, the other two
that I had kept till now in my bower, pinioned,
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but on the Captain's motion, had now released. Fourth, these
five released at last, so that there were twelve in
all besides five we kept prisoners in the cave for hostages.
I asked the captain if he was willing to venture
with these hands on board the ship. But as for
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me and my man Friday, I did not think it
was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind,
and it was employment enough for us to keep them
asunder and supply them with victuals. As to the five
in the cave, I resolved to keep them fast, but
Friday went in twice a day to them to supply
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them with necessaries, and I made the other two carry
provisions to a certain distance where Friday was to take them.
When I showed myself to the two hostages, it was
with the captain who told them I was the person
the governor had ordered to look after them, and that
it was the Governor's pleasure they should not stir anywhere,
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but by my direction that if they did, they would
be fetched into the castle and be laid in irons.
So that as we never suffered them to see me
as governor, I now appeared as another person, and spoke
of the Governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like
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upon all occasions. The captain now had no difficulty before
him but to furnish his two boats, stopped the breach
of one and manned them. He made his passenger captain
of one with four of the men, and himself his
mate and five more went in the other. And they
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contrived their business very well, for they came up to
the ship about midnight. As soon as they came within
call of the ship, he made Robinson hail them and
tell them that they had brought off the men in
the boat, but that it was a long time before
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they had found them in the like, holding them in
a chat till they came to the ship's side, when
the captain and the mate, entering first with their arms,
immediately knocked down the second mate and the carpenter with
the butt end of their muskets. Being very faithfully seconded
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by their men, they secured all the rest that were
upon the main and quarter decks, and began to fasten
the hatches to keep them down that were below, when
the other boat and their men, entering at the fore chains,
secured the forecastle of the ship and the scuttle, which
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went down into the cook room, making three men they
found there prisoners. When this was done and all safe
upon deck, the captain ordered the mate with three men
to break into the round house where the new rebel
captain lay, who, having taken the alarm had got up,
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and with two men and a boy, had got firearms
in their hands, and when the mate with the crow
split open the door, the new captain and his men
fired boldly among them and wounded the mate with a
musket ball, which broke his arm, and wounded two more
of the men, but killed nobody. The mate, calling for help, rushed, however,
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into the round house, wounded as he was, and with
his pistol, shot the new captain through the head, the
bullet entering at his mouth and came out again behind
one of his ears, so that he never spoke a
word more, upon which the rest yielded, and the ship
was taken effectually without any more lives lost. As soon
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as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven
guns to be fired, which was the signal agreed upon
with me to give me notice of his success, which
you may be sure I was very glad to hear,
having sat watching upon the shore for it till near
two o'clock in the morning. Having thus heard the signal,
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plainly I laid me down, and it, having been a
day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound
till I was surprised with the noise of a gun,
and presently starting up, I heard a man call me
by the name of Governor, Governor, and presently I knew
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the captain's voice. When climbing up to the top of
the hill, there he stood, and pointing to the ship,
he embraced me in his arms. My dear friend and deliverer,
says he, there's your ship, for she is all yours,
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and so are we, and all that belonged to her.
I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she
rode within little more than half a mile of the shore.
For they had weighed her anchor as soon as they
were masters of her, and the weather being fair, had
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brought her to an anchor just against the mouth of
the little creek, and the tide being up, the captain
had brought the pinnace in near the place where I
had first landed my rafts, and so landed just at
my door. I was at first ready to sink down
with surprise, for I saw my deliverance, indeed visibly put
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into my hands, all things easy, and a large ship
just ready to carry me away, whither I pleased to go.
At first, for some time I was not able to
answer him one word, But as he had taken me
in his arms. I held fast by him, or I
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should have fallen to the ground. He perceived the surprise
and immediately pulled out a bottle from his pocket and
gave me a dram of cordial which he had brought
on purpose for me. After I had drunk it, I
sat down upon the ground, and though it brought me
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to myself, yet it was a good while before I
could speak a word to him. All this time the
poor man was in as great an ecstasy as as I,
only not under any surprise as I was. And he
said a thousand kind and tender things to me, to
(35:09):
compose and bring me to myself. But such was the
flood of joy in my breast that it put all
my spirits into confusion. At last it broke out into tears,
and in a little while after I recovered my speech,
(35:32):
I then took my turn and embraced him as my deliverer,
and we rejoiced together. I told him I looked upon
him as a man sent by Heaven to deliver me,
and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain
(35:54):
of wonders. That such things as these were the testimony
we had of a secret hand of Providence governing the world,
and an evidence that the eye of an infinite power
could search into the remotest corner of the world and
(36:14):
send help to the miserable whenever he pleased. I forgot
not to lift up my heart in thankfulness to Heaven.
And what heart could forbear to bless him who had
not only in a miraculous manner, provided for me in
such a wilderness and in such a desolate condition, but
(36:39):
from whom every deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed.
When we had talked awhile, the captain told me he
had brought me some little refreshment, such as the ship afforded,
and such as the wretches that had been so long
(36:59):
his master had not plundered him of. Upon this he
called aloud to the boat, and bade his men bring
the things ashore that were for the governor. And indeed
it was a present, as if I had been one
that was not to be carried away with them, but
(37:19):
as if I had been to dwell upon the island. Still.
First he had brought me a case of bottles full
of excellent cordial waters, six large bottles of Madeira wine.
The bottles held two quarts each, two pounds of excellent
good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the ship's beef, and
(37:44):
six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas and
about a hundredweight of biscuit. He also brought me a
box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full
of lemon, and two bottles of lime juice, and abundance
(38:04):
of other things. But besides these, and what was a
thousand times more useful to me, he brought me six
new clean shirts, six very good neckcloths, two pair of gloves,
(38:25):
one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings,
with a very good suit of clothes of his own,
which had been worn but very little. In a word,
he clothed me from head to foot. It was a
very kind and agreeable present, as anyone may imagine to
(38:50):
one in my circumstances. But never was anything in the
world of that kind so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy as
it was to me to wear such clothes. At first,
after these ceremonies were passed, and after all his good
(39:12):
things were brought into my little department, we began to
consult what was to be done with the prisoners. We had,
for it was worth considering whether we might venture to
take them with us or no, especially two of them
whom he knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the
(39:33):
last degree. And the Captain said he knew they were
such rogues, that there was no obliging them, and if
he did carry them away, it must be in irons
as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the
first English colony he could come to. And I found
(39:54):
that the captain himself was very anxious about it. Upon
this I told him that if he desired it, I
would undertake to bring the two men he spoke of,
to make it their own request that he should leave
them upon the island. I should be very glad of that,
said the captain, with all my heart. Well, says I,
(40:19):
I will send for them and talk with them for you.
So I caused Friday and the two hostages, for they
were now discharged their comrades, having performed their promise, I say,
I caused them to go to the cave and bring
up the five men pinioned as they were, to the bower,
(40:40):
and keep them there till I came. After some time
I came thither dressed in my new habit, and now
I was called governor again. Being all met and the
captain with me, I caused the men to be brought
before me, and I told them I had got a
(41:01):
full account of their villainous behavior to the captain, and
how they had run away with the ship and were
preparing to commit further robberies, but that providence had ensnared
them in their own ways, and that they were fallen
into the pit which they had dug for others. I
(41:22):
let them know that by my direction, the ship had
been seized, that she lay now in the road, and
they might see by and by that their new captain
had received the reward of his villainy, and that they
would see him hanging at the yard arm that as
(41:45):
to them, I wanted to know what they had to say,
why I should not execute them as pirates taken by
the fact as by my commission they could not doubt,
but I had authority so to do. One of them answered,
in the name of the rest, that they had nothing
to say but this, that when they were taken, the
(42:07):
captain promised them their lives, and they humbly implored my mercy.
But I told them I knew not what mercy to
show them, for as for myself, I had resolved to
quit the island with all my men, and had taken
passage with the captain to go to England. And as
(42:28):
for the captain, he could not carry them to England
other than as prisoners in irons to be tried for
mutiny and running away with the ship, the consequence of
which they must needs know would be the gallows. So
that I could not tell them what was best for them,
(42:50):
unless they had a mind to take their fate in
the island if they desired that. As I had liberty
to leave the island, I had some inclination to give
them their lives if they thought they could shift on shore.
They seemed very thankful for it, and said they would
(43:11):
much rather venture to stay there than be carried to
England to be hanged. So I left it on that issue. However,
the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as
if he durst not leave them there. Upon this I
(43:34):
seemed a little angry with the captain, and told him
that they were my prisoners, not his, and that, saying
I had offered them so much favor, I would be
as good as my word, and that if he did
not think fit to consent to it, I would set
them at liberty as I found them, and if he
(43:55):
did not like it, he might take them again if
he could catch them. Upon this they appeared very thankful,
and I accordingly set them at liberty and bade them
retire into the woods to the place whence they came,
and I would lead them some firearms, some ammunition, and
(44:16):
some directions how they should live very well if they
thought fit. Upon this, I prepared to go on board
the ship, but told the captain I would stay that
night to prepare my things, and desired him to go
on board in the meantime and keep all right in
the ship, and send the boat on shore next day
(44:38):
for me, ordering him, at all events to cause the
new captain who was killed, to be hanged at the
yard arm that these men might see him. When the
captain was gone, I sent for the men up to
me to my apartment, and entered seriously into discourse with
them on their circumstances. I told them I thought that
(45:01):
they had made a right choice, that if the captain
had carried them away, they would certainly be hanged. I
showed them the new captain hanging at the yard arm
of the ship, and told them they had nothing less
to expect. When they had all declared their willingness to stay,
I told them I would let them into the story
(45:24):
of my living there and put them into the way
of making it easy to them. Accordingly, I gave them
the whole history of the place and of my coming
to it, showed them my fortifications, the way I made
my bread, planted my corn, cured my grapes, and in
(45:44):
a word, all that was necessary to make them easy.
I told them the story of the seventeen Spaniards that
were to be expected, for whom I had left a letter,
and made them promise to treat them in common with themselves.
Here it may be noted that the captain, who had
ink on board, was greatly surprised that I never hit
(46:07):
upon a way of making ink of charcoal and water,
or of something else, as I had done things much
more difficult. I left them my firearms, that is, five muskets,
three falling pieces, and three swords. I had above a
barrel and a half a powder left for after the
(46:30):
first year or two, I used but little and wasted none.
I gave them a description of the way I managed
the goats, and directions to milk and to fatten them,
and to make both butter and cheese. In a word,
I gave them every part of my own story, and
(46:54):
told them I should prevail with the captain, to leave
them two barrels of gunpowder more and some garden seeds,
which I told them I would have been very glad of. Also,
I gave them the bag of peas which the captain
had brought me to eat, and bade them to be
(47:15):
sure to sow and increase them. End of Chapter eighteen.
Chapter eighteen. The ship recovered while we were thus preparing
our designs, and had first by main strength, heaved the
boat upon the beach so high that the tide would
not float her off at high water mark, and besides
(00:21):
had broke a hole in her bottom too big to
be quickly stopped, and were set down musing what we
should do. We heard the ship fire a gun and
make a waft with her ensign as a signal for
the boat to come on board, but no boat stirred,
and they fired several times, making other signals for the boat.
(00:46):
At last, when all their signals and firing proved fruitless
and they found the boat did not stir, we saw them,
by the help of my glasses, hoist another boat out
and rowed towards the shore, and we found as they
approached that there were no less than ten men in her,
(01:08):
and that they had firearms with them. As the ship
lay almost two leagues from the shore, we had a
full view of them as they came, and a plain
sight even of their faces, because the tide, having set
them a little to the east of the other boat,
they rowed up under shore to come to the same
(01:30):
place where the other had landed, and where the boat lay.
By this means, I say, we had a full view
of them, and the captain knew the persons and characters
of all the men in the boat, of whom he
said there were three very honest fellows, who he was
sure were led into this conspiracy by the rest being
(01:51):
overpowered and frightened. But that as for the boatswain, who
it seems was chief officer among them, and all their
they were as outrageous as any of the ship's crew,
and were no doubt made desperate in their new enterprise,
and terribly apprehensive he was that they would be too
(02:12):
powerful for us. I smiled at him and told him
that men in our circumstances were past the operation of fear, that,
seeing almost every condition that could be was better than
that which we were supposed to be in, we ought
to expect that the consequence, whether death or life, would
(02:34):
be sure to be a deliverance. I asked him what
he thought of the circumstances of my life, and whether
a deliverance was not worth venturing for. And where sir said,
I is your belief of my being preserved here on
purpose to save your life, which elevated you a little
(02:57):
while ago, for my part, said I, there seems to
be but one thing amiss in all the prospect of it.
What is that? Says he? Why? Said I? It is that,
as you say, there are three or four honest fellows
(03:18):
among them which should be spared. Had they been all
of the wicked part of the crew, I should have
thought God's providence had singled them out to deliver them
into your hands. For depend upon it. Every man that
comes ashore is our own, and shall die or live
(03:38):
as they behave to us. As I spoke this with
a raised voice and cheerful countenence, I found it greatly
encouraged him. So we vigorously set to our business. We had,
upon the first appearance of the boats coming from the ship,
considered of separating our prisoners, and we had indeed secured
(04:00):
them effectually, two of them, of whom the captain was
less assured than ordinary. I sent with Friday and one
of the three delivered men to my cave, where they
were remote enough and out of danger of being heard
or discovered, or of finding their way out of the woods.
(04:21):
If they could have delivered themselves here. They left them bound,
but gave them provisions and promised them, if they continued
there quietly, to give them their liberty in a day
or two, but that if they attempted their escape, they
should be put to death without mercy. They promised faithfully
(04:42):
to bear their confinement with patience, and were very grateful
that they had such good usage as to have provisions
and light left them for Friday, gave them candles such
as we made ourselves for their comfort, and they did
not know but that he stood sentinel over them at
the entrance. The other prisoners had better usage. Two of
(05:06):
them were kept pinioned, indeed, because the captain was not
able to trust them. But the other two were taken
into my service upon the captain's recommendation, and upon their
solemnly engaging to live and die with us. So with
them and the three honest men, we were seven men
well armed, and I made no doubt we should be
(05:29):
able to deal well enough with the ten that were coming,
considering that the captain had said there were three or
four honest men among them. Also, as soon as they
got to the place where their other boat lay, they
ran their boat into the beach and came all on shore,
hauling the boat up after them, which I was glad
(05:50):
to see, for I was afraid they would rather have
left the boat at an anchor some distance from the shore,
with some hands in her to guard her, so we
should not be able to seize the boat. Being on shore.
The first thing they did they ran all to their
other boat, and it was easy to see they were
(06:11):
under a great surprise to find her stripped as above
of all that was in her, and a great hole
in her bottom. After they had mused a while upon this,
they set up two or three great shouts, helloing with
all their might to try if they could make their
(06:31):
companions here, but all was to no purpose. Then they
came all close in a ring and fired a volley
of their arms, which indeed we heard, and the echoes
made the woods ring, But it was all one. Those
in the cave we were sure could not hear, and
(06:52):
those in our keeping, though they heard it well enough,
yet Durst give no answer to them. They were so
astonished at the surprise of this, that, as they told
us afterwards, they resolved to go all on board again
to their ship and let them know that the men
were all murdered, and the longboat staved Accordingly, They immediately
(07:16):
launched their boat again and got all of them on board.
The captain was terribly amazed and even confounded at this,
believing they would go on board the ship again and
set sail, giving their comrades over for lost, and so
he should still lose the ship, which he was in
high hopes he should have recovered. But he was quickly
(07:39):
as much frightened the other way. They had not been
long put off with the boat when we perceived them
all coming on shore again, but with this new measure
in their conduct, which it seems they consulted together upon,
that is, to leave three men in the boat, and
(07:59):
the rest go on shore and go up into the
country to look for their fellows. This was a great
disappointment for us, for now we were at a loss
what to do, as our seizing those seven men on
shore would be no advantage to us if we let
the boat escape, because they would row away to the ship,
(08:20):
and then the rest of them would be sure to
weigh and set sail, and so our recovering the ship
would be lost. However, we had no remedy but to
wait and see what the issue of things might present.
The seven men came on shore, and the three who
remained in the boat, put her off to a good
(08:43):
distance from the shore, and came to an anchor to
wait for them, so that it was impossible for us
to come at them in the boat. Those that came
on shore kept close together, marching towards the top of
the little hill upon which my habitation lay, and we
could see them plainly, though they could not perceive us.
(09:06):
We should have been very glad if they would have
come nearer to us, so that we might have fired
at them, or that they would have gone farther off
that we might come abroad. But when they were come
to the brow of the hill, where they could see
a great way into the valleys and woods which lay
towards the northeast part, and where the island lay lowest,
(09:29):
they shouted and halloed till they were weary and not caring,
it seems, to venture far from the shore, nor far
from one another. They sat down together under a tree
to consider it, had they thought fit to go to
sleep there, as the other part of them had done.
They had done the job for us, But they were
(09:52):
too full of apprehensions of danger to venture to go
to sleep, even though they could not tell what the
danger was they had to fear. The captain made a
very just proposal to me upon this consultation of theirs,
that is, that perhaps they would all fire a volley
again to endeavor to make their fellows here, and that
(10:15):
we should all sally upon them just at the juncture
when their pieces were all discharged, and they would certainly yield,
and we should have them without bloodshed. I liked this proposal,
provided it was done while we were near enough to
come up to them before they could load their pieces again.
But this event did not happen, and we lay still
(10:37):
a long time, very irresolute what course to take. At length,
I told them there would be nothing done, in my opinion,
till night, and then if they did not return to
the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get
between them and the shore, and so might use some
(10:59):
stratagem with them in the boat to get them on shore.
We waited a great while, though very impatient, for their removing,
and were very uneasy when, after long consultation, we saw
them all start up and march down towards the sea.
It seems they had such dreadful apprehensions of the danger
(11:21):
of the place that they resolved to go on board
the ship again, give their companions over for lost, and
so go on with their intended voyage with the ship.
As soon as I perceived them go towards the shore,
I imagined it to be as it really was, that
they had given over their search and were going back again.
(11:46):
And the captain, as soon as I told him my thoughts,
was ready to sink at the apprehensions of it. But
I presently thought of a stratagem to fetch them back again,
and which answered my end to a tittle. I ordered
Friday and the captain's mate to go over the little
(12:06):
creek westward towards the place where the savages came on
shore when Friday was rescued, And so soon as they
came to a little rising round at about half a
mile distant, I bid them hello out as loud as
they could, and wait till they had found the seamen
(12:28):
heard them that as soon as ever they heard the
seamen answer them, they should return it again, and then,
keeping out of sight, take around, always answering when the
others helloaed, to draw them as far into the island
and among the woods as possible, and then wheel about
(12:48):
again to me. By such ways as I directed them.
They were just going into the boat when Friday and
the mate helloed, and they presently heard them, and, answering,
ran along the shore westward towards the voice they heard.
When they were stopped by the creek, where the water
being up, they could not get over, and called for
(13:11):
the boat to come up and set them over, as
indeed I expected. When they had set themselves over, I
observed that the boat being gone a good way into
the creek, and as it were in a harbor within
the land, they took one of the three men out
of her to go along with them, and left only
(13:32):
two in the boat, having fastened her to the stump
of a little tree on the shore. This was what
I wished for, and immediately leaving Friday and the captain's
make to their business, I took the rest with me, and,
crossing the creek out of their sight, we surprised the
two men before they were aware, one of them lying
(13:53):
on the shore and the other being in the boat.
The fellow on shore was between sleeping and waking and
going to guard up the captain, who was foremost, ran
in upon him and knocked him down, and then called
out to him in the boat to yield or he
was a dead man. They needed very few arguments to
persuade a single man to yield when he saw five
(14:16):
men upon him and his comrade knocked down. Besides, this was,
it seems, one of the three who were not so
hearty in the mutiny as the rest, and therefore was
easily persuaded not only to yield, but afterwards to join
very sincerely with us. In the meantime, Friday and the
(14:38):
captain's mate so well managed their business with the rest
that they drew with them by halloing and answering from
one hill to another, and from one wood to another,
till they not only heartily tired them, but left them
where they were very sure they would not reach back
to the boat before it was dark, And indeed they
(15:01):
were heartily tired themselves also by the time they came
back to us. We had nothing now to do but
to watch for them in the dark and to fall
upon them so as to make sure work with them.
It was several hours after Friday came back to me
before they came back to their boat, and we could
(15:23):
hear the foremost of them long before they came quite up,
calling to those behind to come along, and could also
hear them answer and complain how lame and tired they were,
and not able to come any faster, which was very
welcome news to us. At length they came up to
(15:43):
the boat, but it is impossible to express their confusion.
When they found the boat fast aground in the creek,
the tide ebbed out, and their two men gone. We
could hear them call one to another in a most
lamentable manner, telling one another they were got into an
(16:04):
enchanted island, that either there were inhabitants in it, and
they should all be murdered, or else there were devils
and spirits in it, and they should all be carried
away and devoured. They helloed again, and called their two
comrades by their names a great many times, but no answer.
(16:26):
After some time we could see them by the little light.
There was run about, wringing their hands like men in despair.
And sometimes they would go and sit down in the
boat to rest themselves, then come ashore again and walk
about again, and so the same thing over again. My
(16:46):
men would fain have had me give them leave to
fall upon them at once in the dark, but I
was willing to take them at some advantage so as
to spare them and kill as few of them as
I could, And especially I was unwilling to hazard the
killing of any of our men. Knowing the others were
(17:07):
very well armed, I resolved to wait to see if
they did not separate, and therefore to make sure of them.
I drew my ambuscade nearer and ordered Friday and the
captain to creep upon their hands and feet as close
to the ground as they could that they might not
(17:28):
be discovered, and get as near them as they could
possibly before they offered to fire. They had not been
long in that posture when the boatswain, who was the
principal ringleader of the mutiny and had now shown himself
the most dejected and dispirited of all the rest, came
(17:50):
walking towards them with two more of the crew. The
captain was so eager as having this principal rogue so
much in his power, that he could hardly have patience
to let him come so near as to be sure
of him, for they only heard his tongue before. But
when they came nearer, the Captain and Friday, starting up
(18:12):
on their feet, let fly at them. The boasam was
killed upon the spot. The next man was shot in
the body and fell just by him, though he did
not die till an hour or two after, and the
third ran for it. At the noise of the fire.
I immediately advanced with my whole army, which was now
(18:33):
eight men, that is myself, General Lissimo Friday, my lieutenant general,
the captain and his two men, and the three prisoners
of war whom we had trusted with arms. We came
upon them, indeed in the dark, so that they could
not see our number, and I made the man they
(18:56):
had left in the boat, who was now one of us,
to call them by name, to try if I could
bring them to a parley, and so perhaps might reduce
them to terms which fell out just as we desired.
For indeed, it was easy to think, as their condition
then was, they would be very willing to capitulate. So
(19:21):
he calls out as loud as he could to one
of them, Tom Smith. Tom Smith. Tom Smith answered immediately,
is that Robinson? For it seems he knew the voice.
The other answered aye. Aye. For God's sake, Tom Smith,
throw down your arms and yield, or you are all
(19:43):
dead men this moment. Who must we yield? To where
are they, says Smith? Again, here they are, says he.
Here's our captain and fifty men with him have been
hunting you these two hours. The boatsuns killed, Will Fry
is wounded, and I am a prisoner. And if you
(20:06):
do not yield, you are all lost. Will they give
us quarter, then, says Tom Smith, and we will yield.
I'll go and ask if you promise to yield, said Robinson.
So he asked the captain, and the captain himself then
calls out, you Smith, you know my voice. If you
(20:29):
lay down your arms immediately and submit, you shall have
your lives all but Will Atkins. Upon this, Will Atkins
cried out, for God's sake, Captain, give me quarter. What
have I done? They have all been as bad as I, which,
by the way, was not true, For it seems this
(20:50):
Will Atkins was the first man that laid hold of
the captain when they first mutinied, and used him barbarously
in tying his hands and giving him injurious language. However,
the captain told him he must lay down his arms
at discretion and trust to the governor's mercy, by which
(21:10):
he meant me, for they all called me governor in
a word, they all laid down their arms and begged
their lives. And I sent the man that had parleyed
with them, and two more, who bound them all. And
then my great army of fifty men, which with those
(21:30):
three were in all but eight, came up and seized
upon them and upon their boat. Only that I kept
myself and one more out of sight for reasons of state.
Our next work was to repair the boat and think
of seizing the ship. And as for the captain, now
(21:51):
he had leisure to parley with them, he expostulated with
them upon the villainy of their practices with him, and
upon the further wickedness of their design, and how certainly
it must bring them to misery and distress in the end,
and perhaps to the gallows. They all appeared very penitent
(22:12):
and begged hard for their lives. As for that, he
told them they were not his prisoners, but the commanders
of the island. That they thought they had set him
on shore in a baron uninhabited island, but it had
pleased God so to direct them that it was inhabited,
and that the governor was an Englishman, and that he
(22:34):
might hang them all there if he pleased but as
he had given them all quarter, he supposed he would
send them to England to be dealt with there as
justice required, except Atkins, whom he was commanded by the
governor to advise to prepare for death, for that he
(22:54):
would be hanged in the morning. Though this was all
but a fiction of his own, yet it had its
desired effect. Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the
captain to intercede with the governor for his life, and
all the rest begged of him for God's sake, that
they might not be sent to England. It now occurred
(23:16):
to me that the time of our deliverance was come,
and that it would be a most easy thing to
bring these fellows in to be hearty and getting possession
of the ship. So I retired in the dark from them,
that they might not see what kind of governor they had,
(23:36):
and called the captain to me. When I called at
a good distance, one of the men was ordered to
speak again and say to the captain, the commander calls
for you, And presently the captain replied, tell his excellency,
I am just coming. This more perfectly amazed them, and
(23:58):
they all believed that the command was just by with
his fifty men. Upon the captain coming to me, I
told him my project for seizing the ship, which he
liked wonderfully well, and resolved to put it in execution
the next morning. But in order to execute it with
more art and to be secure of success, I told
(24:21):
him we must divide the prisoners, and that he should
go and take Atkins and two more of the worst
of them, and send them pinioned to the cave where
the others lay. This was committed to Friday and the
two men who came on shore with the captain. They
conveyed them to the cave as to a prison, and
(24:44):
it was indeed a dismal place, especially to men in
their condition. The others I ordered to my bower, as
I called it, of which I have given a full description,
And as it was fenced in and they pinioned, the
place was secure enough. Considering they were upon their behavior
(25:06):
to these in the morning, I sent the captain, who
was to enter into a parley with them, in a word,
to try them and tell me whether he thought they
might be trusted or not, to go on board and
surprise the ship. He talked to them of the injury
done him, of the condition they were brought to, and
that though the governor had given them quarter for their
(25:28):
lives as to the present action, yet that if they
were sent to England they would all be hanged in chains,
but that if they would join in so just an
attempt as to recover this ship, we would have the
Governor's engagement for their pardon. Anyone may guess how readily
(25:51):
such proposal would be accepted by men in their condition.
They fell down on their knees to the captain and promised,
with the deepest imprecations that they would be faithful to
him to the last drop, and that they should owe
their lives to him, and would go with him all
over the world. That they would own him as a
(26:13):
father to them as long as they lived. Well, says
the captain, I must go and tell the governor what
you say, and see what I can do to bring
him to consent to it. So he brought me an
account of the temper he found them in, and that
he verily believed they would be faithful. However, that we
(26:35):
might be very secure. I told him he should go
back and choose out those five and tell them that
they might see. He did not want men that he
would take out those five to be his assistants, and
that the governor would keep the other two and the
(26:56):
three that were sent prisoners to my castle, that is,
my cave as hostages for the fidelity of those five,
and that if they proved unfaithful in the execution, the
five hostages should be hanged in chains alive on the shore.
(27:17):
This looked severe and convinced them that the governor was
in earnest. However, they had no way left but to
accept it, and it was now the business of the prisoners,
as much as of the captain, to persuade the other
five to do their duty. Our strength was now thus
(27:41):
ordered for the expedition. First the Captain, his mate and passenger.
Second the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom,
having their character from the Captain, I had given their
liberty and trusted them with arms. Third, the other two
that I had kept till now in my bower, pinioned,
(28:03):
but on the Captain's motion, had now released. Fourth, these
five released at last, so that there were twelve in
all besides five we kept prisoners in the cave for hostages.
I asked the captain if he was willing to venture
with these hands on board the ship. But as for
(28:25):
me and my man Friday, I did not think it
was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind,
and it was employment enough for us to keep them
asunder and supply them with victuals. As to the five
in the cave, I resolved to keep them fast, but
Friday went in twice a day to them to supply
(28:46):
them with necessaries, and I made the other two carry
provisions to a certain distance where Friday was to take them.
When I showed myself to the two hostages, it was
with the captain who told them I was the person
the governor had ordered to look after them, and that
it was the Governor's pleasure they should not stir anywhere,
(29:09):
but by my direction that if they did, they would
be fetched into the castle and be laid in irons.
So that as we never suffered them to see me
as governor, I now appeared as another person, and spoke
of the Governor, the garrison, the castle, and the like
(29:30):
upon all occasions. The captain now had no difficulty before
him but to furnish his two boats, stopped the breach
of one and manned them. He made his passenger captain
of one with four of the men, and himself his
mate and five more went in the other. And they
(29:53):
contrived their business very well, for they came up to
the ship about midnight. As soon as they came within
call of the ship, he made Robinson hail them and
tell them that they had brought off the men in
the boat, but that it was a long time before
(30:15):
they had found them in the like, holding them in
a chat till they came to the ship's side, when
the captain and the mate, entering first with their arms,
immediately knocked down the second mate and the carpenter with
the butt end of their muskets. Being very faithfully seconded
(30:36):
by their men, they secured all the rest that were
upon the main and quarter decks, and began to fasten
the hatches to keep them down that were below, when
the other boat and their men, entering at the fore chains,
secured the forecastle of the ship and the scuttle, which
(30:56):
went down into the cook room, making three men they
found there prisoners. When this was done and all safe
upon deck, the captain ordered the mate with three men
to break into the round house where the new rebel
captain lay, who, having taken the alarm had got up,
(31:18):
and with two men and a boy, had got firearms
in their hands, and when the mate with the crow
split open the door, the new captain and his men
fired boldly among them and wounded the mate with a
musket ball, which broke his arm, and wounded two more
of the men, but killed nobody. The mate, calling for help, rushed, however,
(31:41):
into the round house, wounded as he was, and with
his pistol, shot the new captain through the head, the
bullet entering at his mouth and came out again behind
one of his ears, so that he never spoke a
word more, upon which the rest yielded, and the ship
was taken effectually without any more lives lost. As soon
(32:07):
as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven
guns to be fired, which was the signal agreed upon
with me to give me notice of his success, which
you may be sure I was very glad to hear,
having sat watching upon the shore for it till near
two o'clock in the morning. Having thus heard the signal,
(32:29):
plainly I laid me down, and it, having been a
day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound
till I was surprised with the noise of a gun,
and presently starting up, I heard a man call me
by the name of Governor, Governor, and presently I knew
(32:52):
the captain's voice. When climbing up to the top of
the hill, there he stood, and pointing to the ship,
he embraced me in his arms. My dear friend and deliverer,
says he, there's your ship, for she is all yours,
(33:14):
and so are we, and all that belonged to her.
I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she
rode within little more than half a mile of the shore.
For they had weighed her anchor as soon as they
were masters of her, and the weather being fair, had
(33:36):
brought her to an anchor just against the mouth of
the little creek, and the tide being up, the captain
had brought the pinnace in near the place where I
had first landed my rafts, and so landed just at
my door. I was at first ready to sink down
with surprise, for I saw my deliverance, indeed visibly put
(34:03):
into my hands, all things easy, and a large ship
just ready to carry me away, whither I pleased to go.
At first, for some time I was not able to
answer him one word, But as he had taken me
in his arms. I held fast by him, or I
(34:26):
should have fallen to the ground. He perceived the surprise
and immediately pulled out a bottle from his pocket and
gave me a dram of cordial which he had brought
on purpose for me. After I had drunk it, I
sat down upon the ground, and though it brought me
(34:46):
to myself, yet it was a good while before I
could speak a word to him. All this time the
poor man was in as great an ecstasy as as I,
only not under any surprise as I was. And he
said a thousand kind and tender things to me, to
(35:09):
compose and bring me to myself. But such was the
flood of joy in my breast that it put all
my spirits into confusion. At last it broke out into tears,
and in a little while after I recovered my speech,
(35:32):
I then took my turn and embraced him as my deliverer,
and we rejoiced together. I told him I looked upon
him as a man sent by Heaven to deliver me,
and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain
(35:54):
of wonders. That such things as these were the testimony
we had of a secret hand of Providence governing the world,
and an evidence that the eye of an infinite power
could search into the remotest corner of the world and
(36:14):
send help to the miserable whenever he pleased. I forgot
not to lift up my heart in thankfulness to Heaven.
And what heart could forbear to bless him who had
not only in a miraculous manner, provided for me in
such a wilderness and in such a desolate condition, but
(36:39):
from whom every deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed.
When we had talked awhile, the captain told me he
had brought me some little refreshment, such as the ship afforded,
and such as the wretches that had been so long
(36:59):
his master had not plundered him of. Upon this he
called aloud to the boat, and bade his men bring
the things ashore that were for the governor. And indeed
it was a present, as if I had been one
that was not to be carried away with them, but
(37:19):
as if I had been to dwell upon the island. Still.
First he had brought me a case of bottles full
of excellent cordial waters, six large bottles of Madeira wine.
The bottles held two quarts each, two pounds of excellent
good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the ship's beef, and
(37:44):
six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas and
about a hundredweight of biscuit. He also brought me a
box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full
of lemon, and two bottles of lime juice, and abundance
(38:04):
of other things. But besides these, and what was a
thousand times more useful to me, he brought me six
new clean shirts, six very good neckcloths, two pair of gloves,
(38:25):
one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings,
with a very good suit of clothes of his own,
which had been worn but very little. In a word,
he clothed me from head to foot. It was a
very kind and agreeable present, as anyone may imagine to
(38:50):
one in my circumstances. But never was anything in the
world of that kind so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy as
it was to me to wear such clothes. At first,
after these ceremonies were passed, and after all his good
(39:12):
things were brought into my little department, we began to
consult what was to be done with the prisoners. We had,
for it was worth considering whether we might venture to
take them with us or no, especially two of them
whom he knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the
(39:33):
last degree. And the Captain said he knew they were
such rogues, that there was no obliging them, and if
he did carry them away, it must be in irons
as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the
first English colony he could come to. And I found
(39:54):
that the captain himself was very anxious about it. Upon
this I told him that if he desired it, I
would undertake to bring the two men he spoke of,
to make it their own request that he should leave
them upon the island. I should be very glad of that,
said the captain, with all my heart. Well, says I,
(40:19):
I will send for them and talk with them for you.
So I caused Friday and the two hostages, for they
were now discharged their comrades, having performed their promise, I say,
I caused them to go to the cave and bring
up the five men pinioned as they were, to the bower,
(40:40):
and keep them there till I came. After some time
I came thither dressed in my new habit, and now
I was called governor again. Being all met and the
captain with me, I caused the men to be brought
before me, and I told them I had got a
(41:01):
full account of their villainous behavior to the captain, and
how they had run away with the ship and were
preparing to commit further robberies, but that providence had ensnared
them in their own ways, and that they were fallen
into the pit which they had dug for others. I
(41:22):
let them know that by my direction, the ship had
been seized, that she lay now in the road, and
they might see by and by that their new captain
had received the reward of his villainy, and that they
would see him hanging at the yard arm that as
(41:45):
to them, I wanted to know what they had to say,
why I should not execute them as pirates taken by
the fact as by my commission they could not doubt,
but I had authority so to do. One of them answered,
in the name of the rest, that they had nothing
to say but this, that when they were taken, the
(42:07):
captain promised them their lives, and they humbly implored my mercy.
But I told them I knew not what mercy to
show them, for as for myself, I had resolved to
quit the island with all my men, and had taken
passage with the captain to go to England. And as
(42:28):
for the captain, he could not carry them to England
other than as prisoners in irons to be tried for
mutiny and running away with the ship, the consequence of
which they must needs know would be the gallows. So
that I could not tell them what was best for them,
(42:50):
unless they had a mind to take their fate in
the island if they desired that. As I had liberty
to leave the island, I had some inclination to give
them their lives if they thought they could shift on shore.
They seemed very thankful for it, and said they would
(43:11):
much rather venture to stay there than be carried to
England to be hanged. So I left it on that issue. However,
the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as
if he durst not leave them there. Upon this I
(43:34):
seemed a little angry with the captain, and told him
that they were my prisoners, not his, and that, saying
I had offered them so much favor, I would be
as good as my word, and that if he did
not think fit to consent to it, I would set
them at liberty as I found them, and if he
(43:55):
did not like it, he might take them again if
he could catch them. Upon this they appeared very thankful,
and I accordingly set them at liberty and bade them
retire into the woods to the place whence they came,
and I would lead them some firearms, some ammunition, and
(44:16):
some directions how they should live very well if they
thought fit. Upon this, I prepared to go on board
the ship, but told the captain I would stay that
night to prepare my things, and desired him to go
on board in the meantime and keep all right in
the ship, and send the boat on shore next day
(44:38):
for me, ordering him, at all events to cause the
new captain who was killed, to be hanged at the
yard arm that these men might see him. When the
captain was gone, I sent for the men up to
me to my apartment, and entered seriously into discourse with
them on their circumstances. I told them I thought that
(45:01):
they had made a right choice, that if the captain
had carried them away, they would certainly be hanged. I
showed them the new captain hanging at the yard arm
of the ship, and told them they had nothing less
to expect. When they had all declared their willingness to stay,
I told them I would let them into the story
(45:24):
of my living there and put them into the way
of making it easy to them. Accordingly, I gave them
the whole history of the place and of my coming
to it, showed them my fortifications, the way I made
my bread, planted my corn, cured my grapes, and in
(45:44):
a word, all that was necessary to make them easy.
I told them the story of the seventeen Spaniards that
were to be expected, for whom I had left a letter,
and made them promise to treat them in common with themselves.
Here it may be noted that the captain, who had
ink on board, was greatly surprised that I never hit
(46:07):
upon a way of making ink of charcoal and water,
or of something else, as I had done things much
more difficult. I left them my firearms, that is, five muskets,
three falling pieces, and three swords. I had above a
barrel and a half a powder left for after the
(46:30):
first year or two, I used but little and wasted none.
I gave them a description of the way I managed
the goats, and directions to milk and to fatten them,
and to make both butter and cheese. In a word,
I gave them every part of my own story, and
(46:54):
told them I should prevail with the captain, to leave
them two barrels of gunpowder more and some garden seeds,
which I told them I would have been very glad of. Also,
I gave them the bag of peas which the captain
had brought me to eat, and bade them to be
(47:15):
sure to sow and increase them. End of Chapter eighteen.
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