liberty, and having committed no crime, has to go to the turnkey at
Newgate, and desire him to lock him up among the prisoners there, and
starve him. Had I taken a small vessel from England, and gone directly
to the island; had I loaded her, as I did the other vessel, with all the
necessaries for the plantation, and for my people; took a patent from
the government here, to have secured my property, in subjection only to
that of England, which, to be sure, I might have obtained; had I carried
over cannon and ammunition, servants, and people to plant, and, taking
possession of the place, fortified and strengthened it in the name of
England, and increased it with people, as I might easily have done; had
I then settled myself there, and sent the ship back, loaded with good
rice, as I might also have done in six months time, and ordered my
friends to have fitted her out again for our supply; had I done this,
and staid there myself, I had, at least, acted like a man of common
sense; but I was possessed with a wandering spirit, scorned all
advantages, pleased myself with being the patron of these people I had
placed there, and doing for them in a kind of haughty majestic way, like
an old patriarchal monarch; providing for them, as if I had been father
of the whole family, as well as of the plantation: but I never so much
as pretended to plant in the name of any government or nation, or to
acknowledge any prince, or to call my people subjects to any one nation
more than another; nay, I never so much as gave the place a name; but
left it as I found it, belonging to no man; and the people under no
discipline or government but my own; who, though I had an influence over
them as father and benefactor, had no authority or power to act or
command one way or other, farther than voluntary consent moved them to
comply: yet even this, had I staid there, would have done well enough;
but as I rambled from them, and came thither no more, the last letters I
had from any of them, were by my partner’s means, who afterwards sent
another sloop to the place; and who sent me word, though I had not the
letter till five years after it was written, that they went on but
poorly, were malecontent with their long stay there; that Will Atkins
was dead; that five of the Spaniards were come away; and that though
they had not been much molested by the savages, yet they had had some
skirmishes with them; that they begged of him to write to me to think
of the promise I had made to fetch them away, that they might see their
own country again before they died.
But I was gone a wild-goose chase indeed, and they who will have any
more of me, must be content to follow me through a new variety of
follies, hardships, and wild adventures; wherein the justice of
Providence may be duly observed, and we may see how easily Heaven can
gorge us with our own desires, make the strongest of our wishes to be
our affliction and punish us most severely with those very things which
we think it would be our utmost happiness to be allowed in.
Let no wise man flatter himself with the strength of his own judgment,
as if he was able to choose any particular station of life for himself.
Man is a short-sighted creature, sees but a very little way before him;
and as his passions are none of his best friends, so his particular
affections are generally his worst counsellors.
I say this with respect to the impetuous desire I had from a youth to
wander into the world, and how evident it now was that this principle
was preserved in me for my punishment. How it came on, the manner, the
circumstance, and the conclusion of it, it is easy to give you
historically, and with its utmost variety of particulars. But the secret
ends of Divine Providence, in thus permitting us to be hurried down the
stream of our own desires, are only to be understood of those who can
listen to the voice of Providence, and draw religious consequences from
God’s justice and their own mistakes.
Be it had I business or no business, away I went. It is no time now to
enlarge any farther upon the reason or absurdity of my own conduct; but
to come to the history—I was embarked for the voyage, and the voyage
I went.
I shall only add here, that my honest and truly pious clergyman left me
here; a ship being ready to go to Lisbon, he asked me leave to go
thither; being still as he observed, bound never to finish any voyage
he began. How happy had it been for me if I had gone with him!
But it was too late now; all things Heaven appoints are best. Had I gone
with him, I had never had so many things to be thankful for, and you had
never heard of the Second Part of the Travels and Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe; so I must leave here the fruitless exclaiming at myself, and go
on with my voyage.
From the Brasils we made directly away over the Atlantic sea to the Cape
de Bonne Esperance, or, as we call it, the Cape of Good Hope; and had a
tolerable good voyage, our course generally south-east; now and then a
storm, and some contrary winds. But my disasters at sea were at an end;
my future rubs and cross events were to befal me on shore; that it might
appear the land was as well prepared to be our scourge as the sea, when
Heaven, who directs the circumstances of things, pleases to appoint
it to be so.
Our ship was on a trading voyage, and had a supercargo on board, who was
to direct all her motions after she arrived at the Cape; only being
limited to a certain number of days for stay, by charter-party, at the
several ports she was to go to. This was none of my business, neither
did I meddle with it at all; my nephew the captain, and the supercargo,
adjusting all those things between them as they thought fit.
We made no stay at the Cape longer than was needful to take in fresh
water, but made the best of our way for the coast of Coromandel; we were
indeed informed that a French man of war of fifty guns and two large
merchant-ships were gone for the Indies; and as I knew we were at war
with France, I had some apprehensions of them; but they went their own
way, and we heard no more of them.
I shall not pester my account, or the reader, with descriptions of
places, journals of our voyages, variations of the compass, latitudes,
meridian distances, trade-winds, situation of ports, and the like; such
as almost all the histories of long navigation are full of, and which
make the reading tiresome enough, and are perfectly unprofitable to all
that read, except only to those who are to go to those places
themselves.
It is enough to name the ports and places which we touched at, and what
occurred to us upon our passing from one to another. We touched first at
the island of Madagascar, where, though the people are fierce and
treacherous, and, in particular, very well armed with lances and bows,
which they use with inconceivable dexterity, yet we fared very well with
them awhile; they treated us very civilly; and for some trifles which we
gave them, such as knives, scissors, &c. they brought us eleven good fat
bullocks, middling in size, but very good in flesh, which we took in,
partly for fresh provisions for our present spending, and the rest to
salt for the ship’s use.
We were obliged to stay here for some time after we had furnished
ourselves with provisions; and I that was always too curious to look
into every nook of the world wherever I came, was for going on shore as
often as I could. It was on the east side of the island that we went on
shore one evening, and the people, who by the way are very numerous,
came thronging about us, and stood gazing at us at a distance; as we had
traded freely with them, and had been kindly used, we thought ourselves
in no danger; but when we saw the people we cut three boughs out of a
tree, and stuck them up at a distance from us, which, it seems, is a
mark in the country not only of truce and friendship, but when it is
accepted, the other side set up three poles or boughs also, which is a
signal that they accept the truce too; but then this is a known
condition of the truce, that you are not to pass beyond their three
poles towards them, nor they come past your three poles or boughs
towards you; so that you are perfectly secure within the three poles,
and all the space between your poles and theirs is allowed like a market
for free converse, traffic, and commerce. When you go thither you must
not carry your weapons with you; and if they come into that space they
stick up their javelins and lances all at the first poles, and come on
unarmed; but if any violence is offered them, and the truce thereby
broken, away they run to the poles and lay hold of their weapons, and
then the truce is at an end.
It happened one evening when we went on shore, that a greater number of
their people came down than usual, but all was very friendly and civil.
They brought with them several kinds of provisions, for which we
satisfied them with such toys as we had; their women also brought us
milk and roots, and several things very acceptable to us, and all was
quiet; and we made us a little tent or hut, of some boughs of trees, and
lay on shore all that night.
I know not what was the occasion, but I was not so well satisfied to lie
on shore as the rest; and the boat lying at an anchor about a stone’s
cast from the land, with two men in her to take care of her, I made one
of them come on shore, and getting some boughs of trees to cover us also
in the boat, I spread the sail on the bottom of the boat, and lay on
board, under the cover of the branches of the trees, all night.
About two o’clock in the morning we heard one of our men make a terrible
noise on the shore, calling out for God’s sake to bring the boat in, and
come and help them, for they were all like to be murdered; at the same
time I heard the firing of five muskets, which was the number of the
guns they had, and that three times over; for, it seems, the natives
here were not so easily frighted with guns as the savages were in
America, where I had to do with them.
All this while I knew not what was the matter; but rousing immediately
from sleep with the noise, I caused the boat to be thrust in, and
resolved, with three fusils we had on board, to land and assist our men.
We got the boat soon to the shore; but our men were in too much haste;
for being come to the shore, they plunged into the water to get to the
boat with all the expedition they could, being pursued by between three
and four hundred men. Our men were but nine in all, and only five of
them had fusils with them; the rest, indeed, had pistols and swords, but
they were of small use to them.
We took up seven of our men, and with difficulty enough too, three of
them being very ill wounded; and that which was still worse was, that
while we stood in the boat to take our men in, we were in as much danger
as they were in on shore; for they poured their arrows in upon us so
thick, that we were fain to barricade the side of the boat up with the
benches and two or three loose boards, which to our great satisfaction
we had by mere accident, or providence rather, in the boat.
And yet had it been daylight, they are, it seems, such exact marksmen,
that if they could have seen but the least part of any of us, they would
have been sure of us. We had, by the light of the moon, a little sight
of them as they stood pelting us from the shore with darts and arrows,
and having got ready our fire-arms, we gave them a volley, and we could
hear by the cries of some of them, that we had wounded several; however,
they stood thus in battle array on the shore till break of day, which we
suppose was that they might see the better to take their aim at us.
In this condition we lay, and could not tell how to weigh our anchor, or
set up our sail, because we must needs stand up in the boat, and they
were as sure to hit us as we were to hit a bird in a tree with small
shot. We made signals of distress to the ship, which though she rode a
league off, yet my nephew, the captain, hearing our firing, and by
glasses perceiving the posture we lay in, and that we fired towards the
shore, pretty well understood us; and weighing anchor with all speed, he
stood as near the shore as he durst with the ship, and then sent another
boat with ten hands in her to assist us; but we called to them not to
come too near, telling them what condition we were in; however, they
stood in nearer to us; and one of the men taking the end of a tow-line
in his hand, and keeping our boat between him and the enemy, so that
they could not perfectly see him, swam on board us, and made the line
fast to the boat, upon which we slipt our little cable, and leaving our
anchor behind, they towed us out of the reach of the arrows, we all the
while lying close behind the barricade we had made.
As soon as we were got from between the ship and the shore, that she
could lay her side to the shore, we ran along just by them, and we
poured in a broadside among them, loaded with pieces of iron and lead,
small bullets, and such stuff, besides the great shot, which made a
terrible havoc among them.
When we were got on board and out of danger, we had time to examine into
the occasion of this fray; and indeed our supercargo, who had been often
in those parts, put me upon it; for he said he was sure the inhabitants
would not have touched us after we had made a truce, if we had not done
something to provoke them to it. At length it came out, viz. that an old
woman, who had come to sell us some milk, had brought it within our
poles, with a young woman with her, who also brought some roots or
herbs; and while the old woman (whether she was mother to the young
woman or no they could not tell) was selling us the milk, one of our men
offered some rudeness to the wench that was with her, at which the old
woman made a great noise. However, the seaman would not quit his prize,
but carried her out of the old woman’s sight, among the trees, it being
almost dark. The old woman went away without her, and, as we suppose,
made an outcry among the people she came from; who, upon notice, raised
this great army upon us in three or four hours; and it was great odds
but we had been all destroyed.
One of our men was killed with a lance that was thrown at him, just at
the beginning of the attack, as he sallied out of the tent we had made;
the rest came off free, all but the fellow who was the occasion of all
the mischief, who paid dear enough for his black mistress, for we could
not hear what became of him a great while. We lay upon the shore two
days after, though the wind presented, and made signals for him; made
our boat sail up shore and down shore several leagues, but in vain; so
we were obliged to give him over; and if he alone had suffered for it,
the loss had been the less.
I could not satisfy myself, however, without venturing on shore once
more, to try if I could learn any thing of him or them. It was the third
night after the action that I had a great mind to learn, if I could by
any means, what mischief he had done, and how the game stood on the
Indian side. I was careful to do it in the dark, lest we should be
attacked again; but I ought indeed to have been sure that the men I went
with had been under my command before I engaged in a thing so hazardous
and mischievous, as I was brought into it without my knowledge
or desire.
We took twenty stout fellows with us as any in the ship, besides the
supercargo and myself; and we landed two hours before midnight, at the
same place where the Indians stood drawn up the evening before. I landed
here, because my design, as I have said, was chiefly to see if they had
quitted the field, and if they had left any marks behind them, or of the
mischief we had done them; and I thought if we could surprise one or two
of them, perhaps we might get our man again by way of exchange.
We landed without any noise, and divided our men into two companies,
whereof the boatswain commanded one, and I the other. We neither could
hear nor see any body stir when we landed; so we marched up, one body at
a distance from the other, to the field of battle. At first we could see
nothing, it being very dark; but by and by our boatswain, that led the
first party, stumbled and fell over a dead body. This made them halt
there awhile; for knowing by the circumstances that they were at the
place where the Indians had stood, they waited for my coming up. Here
we concluded to halt till the moon began to rise, which we knew would be
in less than an hour, and then we could easily discern the havoc we had
made among them. We told two-and-thirty bodies upon the ground, whereof
two were not quite dead. Some had an arm, and some a leg, shot off, and
one his head; those that were wounded we supposed they had carried away.
When we had made, as I thought, a full discovery of all we could come at
the knowledge of, I was for going on board again; but the boatswain and
his party often sent me word, that they were resolved to make a visit to
the Indian town, where these dogs, as they called them, dwelt, and
desired me to go along with them, and if they could find them, as they
still fancied they should, they did not doubt, they said, getting a good
booty, and it might be they might find Thomas Jeffrys there, that was
the man’s name we had lost.
Had they sent to ask my leave to go, I knew well enough what answer to
have given them; for I would have commanded them instantly on board,
knowing it was not a hazard fit for us to run who had a ship and a
ship’s loading in our charge, and a voyage to make, which depended very
much upon the lives of the men; but as they sent me word they were
resolved to go, and only asked me and my company to go along with them,
I positively refused it, and rose up (for I was sitting on the ground)
in order to go to the boat. One or two of the men began to importune me
to go, and when I still refused positively, began to grumble, and say
they were not under my command, and they would go. “Come, Jack,” says
one of the men, “will you go with me? I will go for one.” Jack said he
would; and another followed, and then another; and, in a word, they all
left me but one, whom, with much difficulty too, I persuaded to stay; so
the supercargo and I, with one man, went back to the boat, where, I
told them, we would stay for them, and take care to take in as many of
them as should be left; for I told them it was a mad thing they were
going about, and supposed most of them would run the fate of
Thomas Jeffrys.
They told me, like seamen, they would warrant it they would come off
again, and they would take care, &c. So away they went. I entreated them
to consider the ship and the voyage; that their lives were not their
own; and that they were entrusted with the voyage in some measure; that
if they miscarried, the ship might be lost for want of their help; and
that they could not answer it to God and man. I said a great deal more
to them on that head, but I might as well have talked to the main-mast
of the ship; they were mad upon their journey; only they gave me good
words, and begged I would not be angry; said they would be very
cautious, and they did not doubt but they would be back again in about
an hour at farthest; for the Indian town, they said, was not above half
a mile off; though they found it above two miles before they got to it.
Well, they all went away as above; and though the attempt was desperate,
and such as none but madmen would have gone about, yet, to give them
their due, they went about it warily as well as boldly. They were
gallantly armed, that is true; for they had every man a fusil or musket,
a bayonet, and every man a pistol; some of them had broad cutlasses,
some of them hangers, and the boatswain and two more had pole-axes;
besides all which they had among them thirteen hand-grenadoes. Bolder
fellows, and better provided, never went about any wicked work in
the world.
When they went out their chief design was plunder, and they were in
mighty hopes of finding gold there; but a circumstance, which none of
them were aware of, set them on fire with revenge, and made devils of
them all. When they came to the few Indian houses, which they thought
had been the town, which were not above half a mile off, they were under
a great disappointment; for there were not above twelve or thirteen
houses; and where the town was, or how big, they knew not. They
consulted therefore what to do, and were some time before they could
resolve; for if they fell upon these they must cut all their throats,
and it was ten to one but some of them might escape, it being in the
night, though the moon was up; and if one escaped he would run away, and
raise all the town, so they should have a whole army upon them. Again,
on the other hand, if they went away, and left those untouched (for the
people were all asleep), they could not tell which way to look for
the town.
However, the last was the best advice; so they resolved to leave those
houses, and look for the town as well as they could. They went on a
little way, and found a cow tied to a tree: this they presently
concluded would be a good guide to them; for they said the cow certainly
belonged to the town before them or the town behind them, and if they
untied her they should see which way she went: if she went back they had
nothing to say to her, but if she went forward they had nothing to do
but to follow her; so they cut the cord, which was made of twisted
flags, and the cow went on before them. In a word, the cow led them
directly to the town, which, as they reported, consisted of above two
hundred houses or huts; and in some of these they found several families
living together.
Here they found all silent; as profoundly secure as sleep and a country
that had never seen an enemy of that kind could make them. Upon this
they called another council to consider what they had to do, and in a
word they resolved to divide themselves into three bodies, and to set
three houses on fire in three parts of the town; and as the men came
out, to seize them and bind them; if any resisted, they need not be
asked what to do then, and so to search the rest of the houses for
plunder; but resolved to march silently first through the town, and see
what dimensions it was of, and consider if they might venture upon it
or no.
They did so, and desperately resolved that they would venture upon them;
but while they were animating one another to the work, three of them
that were a little before the rest called out aloud, and told them they
had found Thomas Jeffrys; they all ran up to the place; and so it was
indeed, for there they found the poor fellow, hanged up naked by one
arm, and his throat cut. There was an Indian house just by the tree,
where they found sixteen or seventeen of the principal Indians who had
been concerned in the fray with us before, and two or three of them
wounded with our shot; and our men found they were awake, and talking
one to another in that house, but knew not their number.
The sight of their poor mangled comrade so enraged them, as before, that
they swore to one another they would be revenged, and that not an Indian
who came into their hands should have quarter; and to work they went
immediately, and yet not so madly as by the rage and fury they were in
might be expected. Their first care was to get something that would soon
take fire; but after a little search they found that would be to no
purpose, for most of the houses were low, and thatched with flags or
rushes, of which the country is full: so they presently made some
wildfire, as we call it, by wetting a little powder in the palms of
their hands; and in a quarter of an hour they set the town on fire in
four or five places, and particularly that house where the Indians were
not gone to bed. As soon as the fire began to blaze, the poor frighted
creatures began to rush out to save their lives, but met with their fate
in the attempt, and especially at the door, where they drove them back,
the boatswain himself killing one or two with his pole-axe; the house
being large, and many in it, he did not care to go in, but called for an
hand-grenado, and threw it among them, which at first frighted them; but
when it burst made such havoc among them, that they cried out in a
hideous manner.
In short, most of the Indians who were in the open part of the house,
were killed or hurt with the grenado, except two or three more, who
pressed to the door, which the boatswain and two more kept with the
bayonets in the muzzles of their pieces, and dispatched all who came
that way. But there was another apartment in the house, where the
prince, or king, or whatsoever he was, and several others, were; and
they kept in till the house, which was by this time all of a light
flame, fell in upon them, and they were smothered or burnt together.