describe or conceive the consternation of men in such circumstances; we
knew nothing where we were, or upon what land it was we were driven,
whether an island or the main, whether inhabited or not inhabited; and
as the rage of the wind was still great, though rather less than at
first, we could not so much as hope to have the ship hold many minutes
without breaking in pieces, unless the winds by a kind of miracle should
turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking one upon another, and
expecting death every moment, and every man acting accordingly, as
preparing for another world, for there was little or nothing more for us
to do in this; that which was our present comfort, and all the comfort
we had, was, that, contrary to our expectation, the ship did not break
yet, and that the master said the wind began to abate.
Now though we thought that the wind did a little abate, yet the ship
having thus struck upon the sand, and sticking too fast for us to expect
her getting off, we were in a dreadful condition indeed, and had nothing
to do but to think of saving our lives as well as we could. We had a
boat at our stern, just before the storm; but she was first staved by
dashing against the ship’s rudder, and in the next place she broke away,
and either sunk or was driven off to sea; so there was no hope from her.
We had another boat on board, but how to get her off into the sea was a
doubtful thing; however, there was no room to debate, for we fancied the
ship would break in pieces every minute, and some told us she was
actually broken already.
In this distress, the mate of our vessel lays hold of the boat, and with
the help of the rest of the men they got her slung over the ship’s side,
and getting all into her, let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven
in number, to God’s mercy and the wild sea; for though the storm was
abated considerably, yet the sea went dreadful high upon the shore, and
might well be called _den wild zee_, as the Dutch call the sea in
a storm.
And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly, that
the sea went so high, that the boat could not live, and that we should
be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none, nor, if we had,
could we have done any thing with it; so we worked at the oar towards
the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we
all knew, that when the boat came nearer the shore, she would be dashed
into a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we committed
our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind driving us
towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own hands,
pulling as well as we could towards land.
What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether steep or shoal, we
knew not; the only hope that could rationally give us the least shadow
of expectation, was, if we might happen into some bay or gulf, or the
mouth of some river, where, by great chance, we might have run our boat
in, or got under the lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth water. But
there was nothing of this appeared; but as we made nearer and nearer the
shore, the land looked more frightful than the sea.
After we had rowed, or rather driven about a league and a half, as we
reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,
and plainly had us expect the _coup-de-grace_. In a word, it took us
with such a fury, that it overset the boat at once; and separating us as
well from the boat, as from one another, gave us not time hardly to say
O God! for we were all swallowed up in a moment.
Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sunk
into the water; for though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver
myself from the waves so as to draw breath, till that wave having driven
me, or rather carried me a vast way on towards the shore, and having
spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry, but half
dead with the water I took in. I had so much presence of mind as well as
breath left, that, seeing myself nearer the main land than I expected, I
got upon my feet, and endeavoured to make on towards the land as fast as
I could, before another wave should return, and take me up again. But I
soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for I saw the sea come after
me as high as a great hill, and as furious as an enemy which I had no
means or strength to contend with; my business was to hold my breath,
and raise myself upon the water, if I could; and so by swimming to
preserve my breathing, and pilot myself towards the shore, if possible;
my greatest concern now being, that the sea, as it would carry me a
great way towards the shore when it came on, might not carry me back
again with it when it gave back towards the sea.
The wave that came upon me again, buried me at once twenty or thirty
foot deep in its own body; and I could feel myself carried with a mighty
force and swiftness towards the shore a very great way; but I held my
breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my might. I
was ready to burst with holding my breath, when, as I felt myself rising
up, so, to my immediate relief, I found my head and hands shoot out
above the surface of the water; and though it was not two seconds of
time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved me greatly, gave me
breath and new courage. I was covered again with water a good while, but
not so long but I held it out; and finding the water had spent itself,
and began to return, I struck forward against the return of the waves,
and felt ground again with my feet. I stood still a few moments to
recover breath, and till the water went from me, and then took to my
heels, and ran with what strength I had farther towards the shore. But
neither would this deliver me from the fury of the sea, which came
pouring in after me again; and twice more I was lifted up by the waves
and carried forwards as before, the shore being very flat.
The last time of these two had well near been fatal to me; for the sea
having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me
against a piece of a rock, and that with such force, as it left me
senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my own deliverance; for the blow
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my
body; and had it returned again immediately, I must have been strangled
in the water; but I recovered a little before the return of the waves,
and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I resolved to hold
fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible, till
the wave went back. Now as the waves were not so high as at first,
being near land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and then fetched
another run, which brought me so near the shore, that the next wave,
though it went over me, yet did not so swallow me up as to carry me
away; and the next run I took I got to the main land, where, to my great
comfort, I clambered up the clifts of the shore, and sat me down upon
the grass, free from danger, and quite out of the reach of the water.
I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank God
that my life was saved in a case wherein there was some minutes before
scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express to the
life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are, when it is so
saved, as I may say, out of the very grave; and I do not wonder now at
that custom, viz. that when a malefactor, who has the halter about his
neck, is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and has a reprieve
brought to him: I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon with
it, to let him blood that very moment they tell him of it, that the
surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart, and
overwhelm him:
For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.
I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands and my whole being, as
I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance, making a
thousand gestures and motions which I cannot describe; reflecting upon
all my comrades that were drowned, and that there should not be one soul
saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw them afterwards, or any
sign of them, except three of their hats, one cap, and two shoes that
were not fellows.
I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when the breach and troth of the
sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far off, and
considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore!
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition,
I began to look round me, to see what kind of place I was in, and what
was next to be done; and I soon found my comforts abate, and that in a
word I had a dreadful deliverance; for I was wet, had no clothes to
shift me, nor any thing either to eat or drink to comfort me; neither
did I see any prospect before me, but that of perishing with hunger, or
being devoured by wild beasts; and that which was particularly
afflicting to me, was, that I had no weapon either to hunt and kill any
creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other
creature that might desire to kill me for theirs; in a word, I had
nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco pipe, and a little tobacco in a
box; this was all my provision, and this threw me into terrible agonies
of mind, that for a while I ran about like a madman. Night coming upon
me, I began with a heavy heart to consider what would be my lot if there
were any ravenous beasts in that country, seeing at night they always
come abroad for their prey.
All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that time, was, to get up
into a thick bushy tree like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, and
where I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what death
I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked about a
furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh water to drink,
which I did, to my great joy; and having drank, and put a little tobacco
in my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up into
it, endeavoured to place myself so, as that if I should sleep I might
not fall; and having cut me a short stick, like a truncheon, for my
defence, I took up my lodging, and having been excessively fatigued, I
fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have
done in my condition, and found myself the most refreshed with it that I
think I ever was on such an occasion.
When I waked it was broad day, the weather clear, and the storm abated,
so that the sea did not rage and swell as before; but that which
surprised me most was, that the ship was lifted off in the night from
the sand where she lay, by the swelling of the tide, and was driven up
almost as far as the rock which I first mentioned, where I had been so
bruised by the dashing me against it; this being within about a mile
from the shore where I was, and the ship seeming to stand upright still,
I wished myself on board, that, at least, I might save some necessary
things for my use.
When I came down from my apartment in the tree, I looked about me again,
and the first thing I found was the boat, which lay as the wind and the
sea had tossed her up upon the land, about two miles on my right hand. I
walked as far as I could upon the shore to have got to her, but found a
neck or inlet of water between me and the boat, which was about half a
mile broad; so I came back for the present, being more intent upon
getting at the ship, where I hoped to find something for my present
subsistence.
A little after noon I found the sea very calm, and the tide ebbed so far
out, that I could come within a quarter of a mile of the ship; and here
I found a fresh renewing of my grief: for I saw evidently, that if we
had kept on board, we had been all safe, that is to say, we had all got
safe on shore, and I had not been so miserable as to be left entirely
destitute of all comfort and company, as I now was. This forced tears
from my eyes again; but as there was little relief in that, I resolved,
if possible, to get to the ship; so I pulled off my clothes, for the
weather was hot to extremity, and took the water; but when I came to the
ship, my difficulty was still greater to know how to get on board; for
as she lay aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing within
my reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and the second time I
spied a small piece of a rope, which I wondered I did not see at first,
hang down by the fore-chains so low as that with great difficulty I got
hold of it, and by the help of that rope got up into the forecastle of
the ship. Here I found that the ship was bulged, and had a great deal of
water in her hold, but that she lay so on the side of a bank of hard
sand, or rather earth, and her stern lay lifted up upon the bank, and
her head low almost to the water: by this means all her quarter was
free, and all that was in that part was dry; for you may be sure my
first work was to search and to see what was spoiled and what was free;
and first I found that all the ship’s provisions were dry and untouched
by the water; and being very well disposed to eat, I went to the
bread-room and filled my pockets with bisket, and ate it as I went about
other things, for I had no time to lose. I also found some rum in the
great cabin, of which I took a large drain, and which I had indeed need
enough of to spirit me for what was before me. Now I wanted nothing but
a boat to furnish myself with many things which I foresaw would be very
necessary to me.
It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not to be had; and
this extremity roused my application. We had several spare yards, and
two or three large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in the
ship; I resolved to fall to work with these, and flung as many of them
overboard as I could manage of their weight, tying every one with a
rope, that they might not drive away. When this was done I went down the
ship’s side, and pulling them to me, I tied four of them fast together
at both ends as well as I could, in the form of a raft, and laying two
or three short pieces of plank upon them crossways, I found I could walk
upon it very well, but that it was not able to bear any great weight,
the pieces being too light; so I went to work, and with the carpenter’s
saw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, and added them to my raft,
with a great deal of labour and pains; but hope of furnishing myself
with necessaries encouraged me to go beyond what I should have been able
to have done upon another occasion.
My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight; my next
care was what to load it with, and how to preserve what I laid upon it
from the surf of the sea; but I was not long considering this: I first
laid all the planks or boards upon it that I could get, and having
considered well what I most wanted, I first got three of the seamen’s
chests, which I had broken open and emptied, and lowered them down upon
my raft. The first of these I filled with provisions, viz. bread, rice,
three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat’s flesh, which we lived
much upon, and a little remainder of European corn which had been laid
by for some fowls which we brought to sea with us, but the fowls were
killed. There had been some barley and wheat together, but, to my great
disappointment, I found afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it
all. As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles belonging to our
skipper, in which were some cordial waters, and in all above five or six
gallons of rack: these I stowed by themselves, there being no need to
put them into the chest, nor no room for them. While I was doing this, I
found the tide began to flow, though very calm, and I had the
mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on
shore upon the sand, swim away; as for my breeches, which were only
linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings:
however, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of which I found
enough, but took no more than I wanted for present use, for I had other
things which my eye was more upon; as, first, tools to work with on
shore; and it was after long searching that I found out the carpenter’s
chest, which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and much more
valuable than a ship-loading of gold would have been at that time: I got
it down to my raft, even whole as it was, without losing time to look
into it, for I knew in general what it contained.
My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very good
fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols: these I secured
first, with some powder horns, and a small bag of shot, and two old
rusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in the ship,
but knew not where our gunner had stowed them; but with much search I
found them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken water; those
two I got to my raft, with the arms. And now I thought myself pretty
well freighted, and began to think how I should get to shore with them,
having neither sail, oar, or rudder, and the least capful of wind would
have overset all my navigation.
I had three encouragements: 1. A smooth, calm sea; 2. The tide rising
and setting in to the shore; 3. What little wind there was blew me
towards the land: and thus, having found two or three broken oars
belonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest, I
found two saws, an axe, and a hammer; and with this cargo I put to sea:
for a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well, only that I found it
drive a little distant from the place where I had landed before, by
which I perceived that there was some indraft of the water, and
consequently I hoped to find some creek or river there, which I might
make use of as a port to get to land with my cargo.
As I imagined, so it was: there appeared before me a little opening of
the land, and I found a strong current of the tide set into it, so I
guided my raft as well as I could to keep in the middle of the stream;
but here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if I
had, I think verily would have broke my heart; for knowing nothing of
the coast, my raft run aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not
being aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo
had slipped off towards that end that was afloat, and so fallen into the
water. I did my utmost, by setting my back against the chests, to keep
them in their places, but could not thrust off the raft with all my
strength; neither durst I stir from the posture I was in, but holding up
the chests with all my might, stood in that manner near half an hour, in
which time the rising of the water brought me a little more upon a
level; and a little after, the water still rising, my raft floated
again, and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel; and
then driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of a
little river, with land on both sides, and a strong current or tide
running up. I looked on both sides for a proper place to get to shore;
for I was not willing to be driven too high up the river, hoping in time
to see some ship at sea, and therefore resolved to place myself as near
the coast as I could.
At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, to
which, with great pain and difficulty, I guided my raft, and at last got
so near, as that, reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust her
directly in; but here I had like to have dipped all my cargo in the sea
again; for that shore lying pretty steep, that is to say sloping, there
was no place to land, but where one end of the float, if it run on
shore, would lie so high, and the other sink lower as before, that it
would endanger my cargo again: all that I could do, was to wait till the
tide was at the highest, keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor to
hold the side of it fast to the shore, near a flat piece of ground,
which I expected the water would flow over; and so it did. As soon as I
found water enough, for my raft drew about a foot of water, I thrust her
on upon that flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored her by
sticking my two broken oars into the ground; one on one side near one
end, and one on the other side near the other end; and thus I lay till
the water ebbed away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore.
My next work was to view the country, and seek a proper place for my
habitation, and where to stow my goods, to secure them from whatever
might happen. Where I was I yet knew not; whether on the continent or on
an island, whether inhabited or not inhabited, whether in danger of wild
beasts or not. There was a hill not above a mile from me, which rose up
very steep and high, and which seemed to overtop some other hills which,
lay as in a ridge from it northward: I took out one of the
fowling-pieces, and one of the pistols, and an horn of powder, and thus
armed I travelled for discovery up to the top of that hill, where, after
I had with great labour and difficulty got to the top, I saw my fates to
my great affliction, viz. that I was in an island environed every way
with the sea, no land to be seen, except some rocks which lay a great
way off, and two small islands less than this, which lay about three
leagues to the west.
I found also that the island I was in was barren, and, as I saw good
reason to believe, uninhabited, except by wild beasts, of whom, however,
I saw none; yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not their kinds;
neither when I killed them could I tell what was fit for food, and what
not. At my coming back I shot at a great bird, which I saw sitting upon
a tree on the side of a great wood—I believe it was the first gun that
had been fired there since the creation of the world. I had no sooner
fired, but from all parts of the wood there arose an innumerable number
of fowls of many sorts, making a confused screaming, and crying every
one according to his usual note; but not one of them of any kind that I
knew. As for the creature I killed, I took it to be a kind of a hawk,
its colour and beak resembling it, but had no talons or claws more than
common; its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing.
Contented with this discovery, I came back to my raft, and fell to work
to bring my cargo on shore, which took me up the rest of that day; and
what to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest;
for I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some wild
beast might devour me; though, as I afterwards found, there was really
no need for those fears.
However, as well as I could, I barricadoed myself round with the chests
and boards that I had brought on shore, and made a kind of a hut for
that night’s lodging. As for food, I yet saw not which way to supply
myself, except that I had seen two or three creatures like hares run
out of the wood where I shot the fowl.
I now began to consider, that I might yet get a great many things out of
the ship, which would be useful to me, and particularly some of the
rigging and sails, and such other things as might come to land, and I
resolved to make another voyage on board the vessel, if possible; and as
I knew that the first storm that blew must necessarily break her all in
pieces, I resolved to set all other things apart, till I got every thing
out of the ship that I could get. Then I called a council, that is to
say, in my thoughts, whether I should take back the raft; but this
appeared impracticable; so I resolved to go as before, when the tide was
down, and I did so, only that I stripped before I went from my hut,
having nothing on but a checked shirt and a pair of linen trowsers, and
a pair of pumps on my feet.
I got on board the ship, as before, and prepared a second raft; and
having had experience of the first, I neither made this so unwieldy, nor
loaded it so hard, but yet I brought away several things very useful to
me; as first, in the carpenter’s stores I found two or three bags full
of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets,
and, above all, that most useful thing called a grindstone; all these I
secured, together with several things belonging to the gunner,
particularly two or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket-bullets,
seven muskets, and another fowling-piece, with some small quantity of
powder more; a large bag full of small shot, and a great roll of sheet
lead; but this last was so heavy I could not hoist it up to get it over
the ship’s side.
Besides these things, I took all the men’s clothes that I could find,
and a spare fore-topsail, hammock, and some bedding; and with this I
loaded my second raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to my very
great comfort.