Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe - Chapter 17 – Visit of Mutineers

None

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Recorded by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California,
Winter two thousand and six. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe,

(00:31):
Chapter seventeen, Visit of Mutineers. In a little time, however,
no more to news appearing. The fear of their coming
wore off, and I began to take my former thoughts
of a voyage to the main into consideration, being likewise

(00:53):
assured by Friday's father that I might depend upon good
usage from their nation on his account if I would go.
But my thoughts were little suspended when I had a
serious discourse with the Spaniard, and when I understood that
there were sixteen more of his countrymen and Portuguese, who,

(01:16):
having been cast away and made their escape to that side,
lived there at peace indeed with the savages, but were
very sore put to it for necessaries and indeed for life.
I asked him all the particulars of their voyage, and
found that they were a Spanish ship bound from the

(01:40):
Rio de la Plata to the Havana and being directed
to leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides and silver,
and to bring back what European goods they could meet
with there. That they had five Portuguese seamen on board,
whom they took out of another wreck, That five of

(02:02):
their own men were drowned when first the ship was lost,
and that these escaped through infinite dangers and hazards, and
arrived almost starved on the Cannibal coast, where they expected
to have been devoured every moment. He told me they
had some arms with them, but they were perfectly useless,

(02:25):
for that they had neither powder nor ball, the washing
of the sea having spoiled all their powder but a little,
which they used at their first landing to provide themselves
with some food. I asked him what he thought would
become of them there, and if they had formed any

(02:45):
design of making their escape. He said they had many
consultations about it, but that having neither vessel, nor tools
to build one, nor provisions of any kind, their councils
always ended in tears and despair. I asked him how
he thought they would receive a proposal from me which

(03:08):
might tend towards an escape, and whether if they were
all here, it might not be done, I told him,
with freedom, I feared mostly their treachery and ill usage
of me if I put my life in their hands.
Gratitude was no inherent virtue in the nature of man,

(03:31):
Nor did men always square their dealings by the obligations
they had received, so much as they did by the
advantages they expected. I told him it would be very
hard that I should be made the instrument of their deliverance,
and that they should afterwards make me their prisoner in

(03:51):
New Spain, and where an Englishman was certain to be
made a sacrifice, what necessity or what accident soever brought
him thither, And that I had rather be delivered up
to the savages and be devoured alive, than fall into
the merciless clause of the priests and be carried into

(04:13):
the inquisition. I added that otherwise I was persuaded, if
they were all here, we might, with so many hands
build a bark large enough to carry us all away,
either to the Brazils southward or to the islands or
Spanish coast northward. But that if in requital they should,

(04:37):
when I had put weapons into their hands, carry me
by force among their own people, I might be ill
used for my kindness to them, and make my case
worse than it was before. He answered, with a great
deal of candor and ingenuousness, that their condition was so miserable,

(05:01):
and that they were so sensible of it, that he
believed they would abhor the thought of using any man
unkindly that should contribute to their deliverance, and that if
I pleased, he would go to them with the old
man and discourse with them about it, and return again
and bring me their answer. That he would make conditions

(05:23):
with them upon their solemn oath, that they should be
absolutely under my direction as their commander and captain, and
they should swear upon the Holy Sacraments and Gospel to
be true to me, and go to such Christian country
as I should agree to and know other, and to

(05:44):
be directed wholly and absolutely by my orders till they
were landed safely in such country as I intended, and
that he would bring a contract from them under their
hands for that purpose. Then he told me he would
first swear to me himself that he would never stir

(06:06):
from me as long as he lived, till I gave
him orders, and that he would take my side to
the last drop of his blood if there should happen
the least breach of faith among his countrymen. He told
me they were all of them very civil, honest men,
and they were under the greatest distress imaginable, having neither weapons,

(06:31):
nor clothes, nor any food, but at the mercy and
discretion of the savages, out of all hopes of ever
returning to their own country, and that he was sure
if I would undertake their relief, they would live and
die by me. Upon these assurances, are resolved to venture

(06:54):
to relieve them, if possible, and to send thee old
savage and this Spaniard over to them to treat. But
when we had got all things in readiness to go,
the Spaniard himself started an objection which had so much
prudence in it on one hand, in so much sincerity

(07:17):
on the other hand, that I could not but be
very well satisfied in it, and by his advice, put
off the deliverance of his comrades for at least half
a year. The case was thus. He had been with
us now about a month, during which time I had
let him see in what manner I had provided, with

(07:39):
the assistance of providence for my support, and he saw
evidently what stock of corn and rice I had laid up, which,
though it was more than sufficient for myself, yet it
was not sufficient without good husbandry for my family. Now
it was increased to four but much less would it

(08:02):
be sufficient if his countrymen, who were, as he said,
sixteen still alive, should come over. And least of all,
would it be sufficient to vitual our vessel if we
should build one for a voyage to any of the
Christian colonies of America. So he told me he thought
it would be more advisable to let him and the

(08:24):
other two dig and cultivate some more land, as much
as I could spare seed to sow, and that we
should wait another harvest, that we might have a supply
of corn for his countrymen when they should come for want.
Might be a temptation to them to disagree, or not

(08:44):
to think themselves delivered otherwise than out of one difficulty
into another. You know, says he the children of Israel,
though they rejoiced at first for their being delivered out
of Egypt, yet rebel even against God himself that delivered them,
when they came to want bread in the wilderness. His

(09:09):
caution was so seasonable and his advice so good that
I could not but be very well pleased with his proposal,
as well as I was satisfied with his fidelity. So
we fell to digging, all four of us, as well
as the wooden tools we were furnished with permitted, and

(09:30):
in about a month's time, by the end of which
it was seed time, we had got as much land
cured and trimmed up as we sowed two and twenty
bushels of barleon and sixteen jars of rice, which was
in short all the seed we had to spare. Indeed,

(09:51):
we left ourselves barely sufficient for our own food for
the next six months that we had to expect our crop,
that is to say, reckoning from the time we set
our seat aside for sowing, for it is not to
be supposed it is six months in the ground in
that country. Having now society enough in our numbers being

(10:15):
sufficient to put us out of fear of the savages
if they had come, unless their number had been very great,
we went freely all over the island whenever we found occasion,
And as we had had our escape or deliverance upon
our thoughts, it was impossible at least for me to

(10:38):
have the means of it out of mind. For this purpose,
I marked out several trees which I thought fit for
our work, and I set Friday and his father to
cut them down. And then I caused the Spaniard, to
whom I imparted my thoughts in that affair, to oversee
and direct their work. I showed them with what indefatigable

(11:01):
work I had hewed a large tree into single planks,
and I caused them to do the like till they
made about a dozen large planks of good oak, near
two feet broad, thirty five feet long, and from two
inches to four inches thick. What prodigious labor it took

(11:22):
up anyone can imagine. At the same time, I contrived
to increase my little flock of tame goats as much
as I could, And for this purpose I made Friday
and the Spaniard go out one day, and myself with
Friday the next day, where we took our turns, and
by this means we got about twenty young kids to

(11:44):
breed up with the rest. For whenever we shot the dam,
we saved the kids and added them to our flock.
But above all, the season for curing the grapes coming
on I caused such a prodigious quantity to be hung
up in the sun that I believe had we been
at Alacant, where the raisins of the sun are cured,

(12:08):
we could have filled sixty or eighty barrels, and these
with our bread, formed a great part of our food.
Very good living too, I assure you, for they are
exceedingly nourishing. It was now harvest and our crop in

(12:30):
good order. It was not the most plentiful increase I
had seen in the island, but however it was enough
to answer our end. For from twenty two bushels of
barley we brought in and thrashed out above two hundred
and twenty bushels, and the like in proportion of the rice,

(12:54):
which was store enough for our food to the next harvest.
Though all this sixteen Spaniards had been on shore with me,
or if we had been ready for our voyage, it
would very plentifully have victualled our ship to have carried
us to any part of the world, that is to say,
any part of America. When we had thus housed and

(13:19):
secured our magazine of corn, we fell to work to
make more wickerware than his great baskets in which we
kept it. And the Spaniard was very handy and dexterous
at this part, and often blamed me that I did
not make some things for defense of this kind of work,

(13:39):
but I saw no need of it, and now having
a full supply of food for all the guests I expected,
I gave the Spaniard leave to go over to the
main to see what he could do with those he
had left behind him. There. I gave him a strict
charge not to bring any man who would not at

(14:00):
first swear in the presence of himself and the Old Savage,
that he would in no way injure fight with or
attack the person he should find in the island who
was so kind as to send to them in order
to their deliverance, but that they would stand by him

(14:21):
and defend him against all such attempts, and wherever they
went would be entirely under and subjected to his command,
And that this should be put in writing and signed
in their hands. How they were to have done this,
when I knew that they had neither pan nor ink

(14:43):
was a question which we never asked. Under these instructions,
the Spaniard and the Old Savage, the father of Friday,
went away in one of the canoes, which they might
be said to have come in, or were rather brought in.
When they came as prisoners to be devoured by the savages,

(15:06):
I gave each of them a musket with firelock on it,
and about eight charges of powder and ball, charging them
to be very good husbands of both, and not to
use either of them but upon urgent occasions. This was
a cheerful work, being the first measures used by me

(15:27):
in view of my deliverance for now twenty seven years
and some days. I gave them provisions of bread and
dried grapes, sufficient for themselves for many days, and sufficient
for all the Spaniards for about eight days time, and
wishing them a good voyage. I saw them go, agreeing

(15:50):
with them about a signal they should hang out at
their return, by which I should know them again. When
they came back at a distance before they came on shore,
they went away with a fair gait. On the day
before the moon was at full by my account in
the month of October. But as for an exact reckoning

(16:10):
of days after I once lost it, I could never
recover it again, nor had I kept even the number
of years so punctually as to be sure I was right. Though,
as it proved when I afterwards examined my account, I
found I had kept a true reckoning of years. It

(16:32):
was no less than eight days I had waited for
them when a strange and unforeseen accident intervened, of which
the like has not perhaps been heard of in history.
I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning when
my man Friday came running into me and called aloud, Master, Master,

(16:54):
they are come, they are come. I jumped up, and,
regardless of danger, I went as soon as I could
get my clothes on through my little grove, which by
the way, was by this time grown to be of
very thick wood. I say, regardless of danger, I went
without my arms, which was not my custom to do.

(17:16):
But I was surprised when turning my eyes to the sea,
I presently saw a boat at about a league and
a half distance standing in for the shore, with a
shoulder of mutton sail, as they call it, and the
wind blowing pretty fair to bring them in. Also, I
observed presently that they did not come from that side

(17:40):
which the shore lay on, but from the southernmost end
of the island. Upon this I called Friday Inn and
bade him lie close, for these were not the people
we looked for, and that we might not yet know
whether they were friends or enemies. In the next place,

(18:01):
I went in to fetch my prospective class to see
what I could make of them, And having taken the
ladder out, I climbed up to the top of the hill,
as I used to do when I was apprehensive of anything,
and to take my view the plainer without being discovered.
I had scarce set my foot upon the hill when

(18:22):
my eye plainly discovered a ship lying at anchor, at
about two leagues and a half distance from me south southeast,
but not above a league and a half from the shore.
By my observation, it appeared plainly to be an English ship,
and the boat appeared to be an English longboat. I

(18:46):
cannot express the confusion I was in, though the joy
of seeing a ship, and one that I had reason
to believe was manned by my own countrymen and consequently friends,
was such as I cannot describe. But yet I had
some secret doubts hung about me I cannot tell from

(19:07):
whence they came bidding me keep upon my guard in
the first place. It occurred to me to consider what
business and English ship could have in that part of
the world, since it was not the way too, or
from any part of the world where the English had
any traffic, and I knew there had been no storms

(19:29):
to drive them in there in distress, and that if
they were really English, it was most probable that they
were here upon no good design, and that I had
better continue as I was than fall into the hands
of thieves and murderers. Let no man despise the secret

(19:50):
hints and notices of danger which sometimes are given him,
when he may think there is no possibility of its
being real, that such hints and notice are given us.
I believe few that have made any observation of things
can deny that they are certain discoveries of an invisible world,

(20:12):
and a converse of spirits we cannot doubt. And if
the tendency of them seems to be to warn us
of danger, why should we not suppose they are from
some friendly agent, whether supreme or inferior, and subordinate is
not the question, and that they are given for our good?

(20:34):
The present question abundantly confirms me in the justice of
this reasoning, For had I not been made cautious by
this secret admonition come from whence it will I had
been undone inevitably, and in a far worse condition than before,
As you will see presently, I had not kept myself

(20:55):
long in this posture till I saw the boat draw
near the shore, as if they looked for a creek
to thrust a net for the convenience of landing. However,
as they did not come quite far enough, they did
not see the little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts,
but ran their boat on shore upon the beach at

(21:17):
about half a mile from me, which was very happy
for me, for otherwise they would have landed just at
my door, as I may say, and would soon have
beaten me out of my castle, and perhaps have plundered
me of all I had. When they were on shore,
I was fully satisfied they were Englishmen, at least most

(21:38):
of them. One or two I thought were Dutch, but
it did not prove so there were in all eleven men,
whereof three of them I found were unarmed, and as
I thought bound. And when the first four or five
of them were jumped on shore, they took those three

(22:01):
out of the boat as prisoners, one of the three
I could perceive using the most passionate gestures of entreaty, affliction,
and despair, even to a kind of extravagance. The other
two I could perceive lifted up their hands sometimes and
appeared concerned, indeed, but not to such a degree as

(22:23):
the first. I was perfectly confounded at the sight, and
knew not what the meaning of it should be. Friday
called out to me in English as well as he could. Oh, Master,
you see English mans eat prisoner as well as savage man's. Why, Friday,
says I. Do you think they are going to eat them? Then? Yes,

(22:45):
says Friday, they will eat them. No, no, says I Friday,
I am afraid they will murder them, indeed, but you
may be sure they will not eat them. All this
while I had no thought of what the matter was,
but stood trembling with the horror of the sight, expecting

(23:06):
every moment when the three prisoners should be killed. Nay,
once I saw one of the villains lift up his
arm with a great cutlass as the seamen call it,
or sword to strike one of the poor men, and
I expected to see him fall, every moment at which
all the blood in my body seemed to run chill

(23:27):
in my veins. I wished heartily now for the spaniard
and the savage that had gone with him, or that
I had any way to have come undiscovered within shot
of them, that I might have secured the three men,
for I saw no fire arms they had among them.
But it fell out to my mind another way. After

(23:50):
I had observed the outrageous usage of the three men
by the insolent seamen, I observed the fellows run scattering
about the island, as if they wanted to see the country.
I observed that the other three men had liberty to
go where they pleased, But they sat down, all three
upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like men in despair.

(24:15):
This put me in mind of the first time when
I came on shore and began to look about me,
how I gave myself over for lost, how wildly I
looked round me, what dreadful apprehensions I had, and how
I lodged in the tree all night for fear of
being devoured by wild beasts, as I knew nothing that

(24:38):
night of the supply I was to receive by the
providential driving of the ship nearer the land, by the
storms and tide by which I have since been so
long nourished and supported. So these three poor, desolate men
knew nothing how certain of deliverance and supply they were,
how near it was to them, and how effectually in

(25:00):
they were in a condition of safety, at the same
time that they thought themselves lost, in their case desperate.
So little do we see before us in the world,
and so much reason have we to depend cheerfully upon
the great maker of the world, that he does not
leave his creatures so absolutely destitute, but that in the

(25:23):
worst circumstances they have always something to be thankful for,
and sometimes our nearer deliverance than they may imagine. Nay,
are even brought to their deliverance by the means by
which they seemed to be brought to their destruction. It

(25:43):
was just at high water when these people came on shore,
and while they rambled about to see what kind of
place they were in, they had carelessly stayed until the
tide was spent and the water was ebbed considerably away,
leaving their aground. They had left two men in the boat, who,

(26:04):
as I found afterwards, having drunk a little too much brandy,
fell asleep. However, one of them, waking a little sooner
than the other, and finding the boat too fast a
ground for him to stir it, helloaed out for the
rest who were straggling about, upon which they all soon
came to the boat. But it was past all their

(26:27):
strength to launch her, the boat being very heavy in
the shore on that side being a soft, oozy sand,
almost like a quicksand in this condition, like true seamen,
who are perhaps the least of all mankind given to forethought,
they gave it over and away they strolled about the

(26:48):
country again, and I heard one of them say aloud
to the other, calling them off from the boat, Why
let her alone, Jack, can't you she'll float next tide,
by which I was fully confirmed in the main inquiry
of what countrymen they were. All this while I kept
myself very close, not once daring to stir out of

(27:10):
my castle any farther than to my place of observation
near the top of the hill, and very glad I
was to think how well it was fortified. I knew
it was no less than ten hours before the boat
could float again, and by that time it would be dark,
and I might be at more liberty to see their
emotions and to hear their discourse if they had any.

(27:34):
In the meantime, I fitted myself up for a battle
as before, though with more caution, knowing I had to
do with another kind of enemy than I had at first.
I ordered Friday, also whom I had made an excellent marksman,
with his gun, to load himself the arms. I took

(27:55):
myself two falling pieces, and I gave him three muskets.
Figure indeed was very fierce. I had a formidable goat
skin coat on with a great cat I have mentioned,
a naked sword by my side, two pistols in my belt,
and a gun upon each shoulder. It was my design,

(28:17):
as I said above, not to have made any attempt
till it was dark. But about two o'clock, being the
heat of the day, I found that they were all gone,
straggling into the woods, and as I thought laid down
to sleep, the three poor distressed men, too anxious for
their condition to get any sleep, had, however, sat down

(28:41):
under the shelter of a great tree at about a
quarter of a mile from me, And as I thought,
out of sight of any of the rest, upon this,
I resolved to discover myself to them, and learned something
of their condition. Immediately, I marched as above my man
Friday at a good distance behind me, as formidable for

(29:04):
his arms as I, but not making quite so staring
a specterlike figure as I did. I came as near
them undiscovered as I could, and then before any of
them saw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish,
what are ye, gentlemen? They started up at the noise,

(29:25):
but were ten times more confounded when they saw me
and the uncouth figure that I made. They made no
answer at all, but I thought I perceived them just
going to fly from me. When I spoke to them
in English, gentlemen, said I do not be surprised at me.
Perhaps you may have a friend near when you did
not expect it. He must be sent directly from heaven.

(29:48):
Then said one of them, very gravely to me, and
pulling off his hat at the same time, to me.
For our condition is past the help of man. All
help is from heaven, sir, said I. But can you
put a stranger in the way to help you? For
you seem to be in some great distress. I saw

(30:10):
you when you landed, and when you seemed to make
application to the brutes that came with you. I saw
one of them lift up his sword to kill you.
The poor man, with tears running down his face and trembling,
looked like one astonished. Returned, Am I talking to God
or man? Is it a real man or angel? Be

(30:34):
in no fear, sir about that, said I. If God
had sent an angel to you to relieve you, he
would have come better clothed and armed, after another manner
than you see me. Pray, lay aside your fears. I
am a man, an Englishman, and disposed to assist you.

(30:56):
You see I have one servant, only we have arms
and ammunition. Tell us freely? Can we serve you? What
is your case? Our case? Sir said? He is too
long to tell you, while our murderers are so near us.
But in short, sir, I was commander of that ship.
My men have mutinied against me. They have been hardly

(31:18):
prevailed on not to murder me, and at last have
set me on shore in this desolate place with these
two men with me, one my mate and the other
a passenger, where we expected to perish, believing the place
to be uninhabited, and know not yet what to think
of it. Where are these brutes your enemies? Said, I

(31:41):
do you know where they are gone? Why? There they lie, sir,
said he, pointing to a thicket of trees. My heart
trembles for fear they have seen us and heard you speak.
If they have, they will certainly murder us all. Have
they any firearms? Said I? He answered they had only

(32:03):
two pieces, one of which they left in the boat.
Well then said, I leave the rest to me. I
see they are all asleep. It is an easy thing
to kill them all, but shall we rather take them prisoners?
He told me there were two desperate villains among them

(32:25):
that it was scarce safe to show any mercy to.
But if they were secured, he believed all the rest
would return to their duty. I asked him which they were.
He told me he could not at that distance distinguish them,
but he would obey my orders in anything I would direct. Well, says, I.

(32:47):
Let us retreat out of their view or hearing, lest
they awake, and we will resolve further. So they willingly
went back with me till the woods covered us from them.
Look you, sir, said I, if I venture upon your deliverance,
are you willing to make two conditions with me? He

(33:08):
anticipated my proposals. By telling me that both he and
his ship, if recovered, should be wholly directed and commanded
by me in everything, and if the ship was not recovered,
he would live and die with me in what part
of the world soever I would send him. And the
two other men said the same. Well, says I, My

(33:31):
conditions are but two. First, that while you stay in
this island with me, you will not pretend to any
authority here. And if I put arms in your hands,
you will, upon all occasions give them up to me,
and do no prejudice to me or mine upon this island,

(33:54):
and in the meantime be governed by my orders. Secondly,
that if the ship is or may be recovered, it
will carry me and my man to England passage free.
He gave me all the assurances that the invention or
faith of man could devise, that he would comply with

(34:14):
these most reasonable demands, and besides would owe his life
to me and acknowledge it upon all occasions, so long
as he lived. Well, then said I, here are three
muskets for you with powder and ball. Tell me next
what you think is proper to be done. He showed
all the testimonies of his gratitude that he was able,

(34:37):
but offered to be wholly guided by me. I told him,
I thought it was very hard venturing anything, but the
best method I could think of was to fire on
them at once as they lay, and if any were
not killed at the first folly and offered to submit,
we might say then, and so put it wholly upon

(34:59):
God's p providence to direct the shot. He said very
modestly that he was loath to kill them if he
could help it, but that those two were incorrigible villains
and had been the authors of all the mutiny in
the ship, and if they escaped, we should be undone still,

(35:19):
for they would go on board and bring the whole
ship's company and destroy us all. Well, then, says I,
necessity legitimates my advice, for it is the only way
to save our lives. However, seeing him still cautious of
shedding blood, I told him they should go themselves and

(35:41):
manage as they found convenient. In the middle of this
we heard some of them awake, and soon after we
saw two of them on their feet. I asked him
if either of them were the heads of the mutiny.
He said no. Well, then said I, you may let
them escape and providence seems to have awakened them on

(36:03):
purpose to save themselves. Now says I. If the rest
escape you, it is your fault. Animated with this, he
took the musket I had given him in his hand,
and a pistol in his belt, and his two comrades
with him, with each a piece in his hand. The

(36:23):
two men who were with him, going first, made some noise,
at which one of the seamen, who was awake, turned about, and,
seeing them coming, cried out to the rest. But was
too late then. For the moment he cried out, they fired,
I mean the two men, the captain wisely reserving his
own piece. They had so well aimed their shot at

(36:46):
the men they knew that one of them was killed
on the spot, and the other very much wounded, but
not being dead. He started up on his feet and
called eagerly for help to the other. But the captain,
stepping to him, told him it was too late to
cry for help. He should call upon God to forgive

(37:07):
his villainy, and with that word knocked him down with
the stock of his musket, so that he never spoke more.
There were three more in the company, and one of
them was slightly wounded by this time I was come,
And when they saw their danger and that it was
vain to resist, they begged for mercy. The captain told

(37:30):
them he would spare their lives if they would give
him an assurance of their abhorrence of the treachery they
had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful
to him in recovering the ship and afterwards in carrying
her back to Jamaica, from whence they came. They gave
him all the protestations of their sincerity that could be desired,

(37:51):
and he was willing to believe them and spare their lives,
which I was not against, only that I obliged him
to keep them bound hand and foot while they were
on the island. While this was doing, I sent Friday,
with the captain's mate to the boat, with orders to
secure her and bring away the oars and sails, which

(38:12):
they did, and by and by three straggling men that
were happily for them parted from the rest. Came back
from hearing the guns fired, and seeing the captain, who
was before their prisoner, now their conqueror, they submitted to
be bound also, And so our victory was complete. It

(38:35):
now remained that the Captain and I should inquire into
one another's circumstances. I began first and told him my
whole history, which he heard with an attention even to amazement,
and particularly at the wonderful manner of my being furnished
with provisions and ammunition, And indeed, as my story is

(38:59):
a whole collection of wonders, it affected him deeply. But
when he reflected from thence upon himself and how I
seemed to have been preserved there on purpose to save
his life, the tears ran down his face, and he
could not speak a word more. After this communication was

(39:21):
at an end, I carried him and his two men
into my apartment, leading them in just where I came out,
that is, at the top of the house, where I
refreshed them with such provisions as I had, and showed
them all the contrivances I had made during my long
long inhabiting that place. All I showed them, all I

(39:45):
said to them was perfectly amazing. But above all the
Captain admired my fortification and how perfectly I had concealed
my retreat with a grove of trees, which having been
now planted nearly twenty years, and the trees growing much
faster than in England, was become a little wood, so
thick that it was impassable in any part of it.

(40:08):
But at that one side, where I had reserved my
little winding passage into it. I told him this was
my castle and my residence, but that I had a
seat in the country, as most princes have, whither I
could retreat upon occasion, and I would show him that
too another time. But at present our business was to

(40:32):
consider how to recover the ship. He agreed with me
as to that, but told me he was perfectly at
a loss what measures to take, for that there were
six and twenty hands still on board, who, having entered
into a cursed conspiracy by which they had all forfeited

(40:54):
their lives to the law, would be hardened in it
now by desperation, and would carry it on, knowing that
if they were subdued, they would be brought to the
gallows as soon as they came to England or to
any of the English colonies, and that therefore there would
be no attacking them with so small a number as

(41:15):
we were. I mused for some time on what he
had said, and found it was a very rational conclusion,
and that therefore something was to be resolved on speedily,
as well, to draw the men on board into some
snare for their surprise, as to prevent their landing upon

(41:36):
us and destroying us. Upon this, it presently occurred to
me that in a little while the ship's crew, wondering
what was become of their comrades and of the boat,
would certainly come on shore and their other boat to
look for them, and that then perhaps they might come
armed and be too strong for us. This he allowed

(41:59):
to be rational. Upon this, I told him the first
thing we had to do was to stave the boat
which lay upon the beach, so that they might not
carry her off, and taking everything out of her, leave
her so far useless as not to be fit to swim. Accordingly,
we went on board, took the arms which were left

(42:21):
on board out of her, and whatever else we found there,
which was a bottle of brandy and another of rum,
a few biscuit cakes, a horn of powder, and a
great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas. The
sugar was five or six pounds, all which was very
welcome to me, especially the brandy and sugar, of which

(42:42):
I had had none left for many years. When we
had carried all these things on shore. The oars, masted, sail,
and rudder of the boat were carried away before we
knocked a great hole in her bottom. That if they
had come strong enough to master us us, yet they
could not carry off the boat. Indeed, it was not

(43:05):
much in my thoughts that we should be able to
recover the ship. But my view was that if they
went away without the boat, I did not much question
to make her again fit to carry as to the
Leeward Islands, and call upon our friends the Spaniards in
my way, for I had them still in my thoughts.

(43:32):
End of Chapter seventeen,