work for my man Friday; and, first of all, I gave him a pair of linen
drawers, which I had out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, and
which I found in the wreck; and which, with a little alteration,
fitted him very well. Then I made him a jerkin of goat-skin, as well
as my skill would allow, and I was now grown a tolerable good tailor;
and I gave him a cap, which I had made of a hare-skin, very convenient
and fashionable enough; and thus he was clothed for the present
tolerably well, and was mighty well pleased to see himself almost as
well clothed as his master. It is true he went awkwardly in these
things at first; wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the
sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoulders, and the inside of his
arms; but a little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and
using himself to them, at length he took to them very well.
The next day after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to
consider where I should lodge him. And that I might do well for him,
and yet be perfectly easy myself, I made a little tent for him in the
vacant place between my two fortifications, in the inside of the last
and in the outside of the first; and as there was a door or entrance
there into my cave, I made a formal framed door-case, and a door to it
of boards, and set it up in the passage, a little within the entrance;
and causing the door to open on the inside, I barred it up in the
night, taking in my ladders too; so that Friday could no way come at
me in the inside of my innermost wall without making so much noise in
getting over that it must needs waken me; for my first wall had now a
complete roof over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning
up to the side of the hill, which was again laid cross with smaller
sticks instead of laths, and then thatched over a great thickness with
the rice-straw, which was strong, like reeds; and at the hole or place
which was left to go in or out by the ladder, I had placed a kind of
trap-door, which, if it had been attempted on the outside, would not
have opened at all, but would have fallen down, and made a great
noise; and as to weapons, I took them all into my side every night.
But I needed none of all this precaution; for never man had a more
faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me; without
passions, sullenness, or designs, perfectly obliged and engaged; his
very affections were tied to me, like those of a child to a father;
and I dare say he would have sacrificed his life for the saving mine,
upon any occasion whatsoever. The many testimonies he gave me of this
put it out of doubt, and soon convinced me that I needed to use no
precautions as to my safety on his account.
HOMEWARD BOUND
_By Daniel Defoe_
[After Crusoe has spent some years on the island, an English vessel
appears and a number of men come ashore. They prove to be mutineers
who have brought their captain and two other men to be left on the
island. By the aid of Crusoe and Friday, the captain regains
possession of his vessel.]
I laid me down; and it having been a day of great fatigue to me, I
slept very sound, till I was something 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 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, and so are we, and
all that belong 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 brought her to 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 at first landed my rafts and so
landed just at my door.
I was at first ready to sink down with the surprise; for I saw my
deliverance, indeed, visibly put 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 should have fallen
to the ground.
He perceived the surprise, and immediately pulls a bottle out of his
pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial, which he had brought on purpose
for me. After I had drank it, I sat down upon the ground; and though
it brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before I could speak
a word to him.
All this while the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not
under any surprise, as I was; and he said a thousand kind, tender
things to me, to compose me 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.
Then I took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer, and we rejoiced
together. I told him I looked upon him as a man sent from heaven to
deliver me, and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain of
wonders; that such things as these were the testimonies we had of a
secret hand of Providence governing the world, and an evidence that
the eyes of an infinite Power could search into the remotest corner of
the world, and 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 one in such a wilderness, and in such a desolate
condition, but from whom every deliverance must always be acknowledged
to proceed?
When we had talked a while, 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 his masters had not plundered him of.
Upon this he called aloud to the boat, and bid his men bring the
things ashore that were for the governor; and, indeed, it was a
present as if I had been one, not that was to be carried away along
with them, but as if I had been to dwell upon the island still, and
they were to go without me.
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
apiece), two pounds of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of
the ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, and about
a hundred-weight of biscuit.
He had brought me also a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of
lemons, and two bottles of lime juice, and abundance of other things;
but besides these, and what was a thousand times more useful to me, he
brought me six clean new shirts, six very good neck-cloths, two pair
of gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and one pair of stockings, and 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 any one may imagine, to
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 their first putting on.
After these ceremonies passed, and after all his good things were
brought into my little apartment, 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 away with us or no, especially two of
them, whom we knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the 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 at; and I found that the captain himself
was very anxious about it.
Upon this I told him that, if he desired it, I durst 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,"
says the captain, "with all my heart."
"Well," says I, "I will send for them up, 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, 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 had a
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 digged for
others.
I 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, for that they might
see him hanging at the yard-arm; that as to them, I wanted to know
what they had to say why I should not execute them as pirates, taken
in the fact, as by my commission they could not doubt I had authority
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 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 for England. And as 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 which was best
for them, unless they had a mind to take their fate in the island. If
they desired that, I did not care, as I had liberty to leave it. I had
some inclination to give them their lives, if they thought they could
shift on shore.
They seemed very thankful for it, said they would much rather venture
to stay there than to 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 seemed a little angry with the
captain, and told him that they were my prisoners, not his; and that
seeing 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 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 leave them some firearms, some ammunition, and 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
that 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 the next day for me; ordering him, in the meantime,
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 of their
circumstances. I told them I thought they had made a right choice;
that if the captain 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 then told them
I would let them into the story 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 a word, all that was necessary to make them easy. I
told them the story also of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be
expected, for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat
them in common with themselves.
I left them my firearms, viz., five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and
three swords. I had above a barrel and a half of powder left; for
after the 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 fatten them, and to make both butter and cheese.
In a word, I gave them every part of my own story, and I told them I
would 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 be sure to sow and increase them.
Having done all this, I left them the next day, and went on board the
ship. We prepared immediately to sail, but did not weigh that night.
The next morning early two of the five men came swimming to the ship's
side, and, making a most lamentable complaint of the other three,
begged to be taken into the ship for God's sake, for they should be
murdered, and begged the captain to take them on board, though he
hanged them immediately.
Upon this the captain pretended to have no power without me; but after
some difficulty, and after their solemn promises of amendment, they
were taken on board, and were some time after soundly whipped and
pickled, after which they proved very honest and quiet fellows.
Some time after this the boat was ordered on shore, the tide being up,
with the things promised to the men, to which the captain, at my
intercession, caused their chests and clothes to be added, which they
took, and were very thankful for. I also encouraged them by telling
them that if it lay in my way to send any vessel to take them in, I
would not forget them.
When I took leave of this island, I carried on board, for relics, the
great goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and my parrot; also I
forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by
me so long useless that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could
hardly pass for silver till it had been a little rubbed and handled;
as also the money I found in the wreck of the Spanish ship.
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
GULLIVER IS SHIPWRECKED ON THE COAST OF LILLIPUT
_By Jonathan Swift_
My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of
five sons. He sent me to Emanuel College in Cambridge, at fourteen
years old, where I resided three years, and applied myself close to my
studies; but the charge of maintaining me (although I had a very
scanty allowance) being too great for a narrow fortune, I was bound
apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent surgeon in London, with whom
I continued four years; and my father now and then sending me small
sums of money, I laid them out in learning navigation, and other parts
of the mathematics, useful to those who intend to travel, as I always
believed it would be some time or other my fortune to do. When I left
Mr. Bates, I went down to my father; where, by the assistance of him
and my uncle John, and some other relations, I got forty pounds, and a
promise of thirty pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden; there I
studied physic two years and seven months, knowing it would be useful
in long voyages. Soon after my return from Leyden, I was recommended
by my good master, Mr. Bates, to be surgeon to the Swallow, Captain
Abraham Pannell, commander, with whom I continued three years and a
half, making a voyage or two into the Levant, and some other parts.
When I came back I resolved to settle in London; to which Mr. Bates,
my master, encouraged me, and by him I was recommended to several
patients. I took part of a small house in the Old Jewry; and being
advised to alter my condition, I married Mrs. Mary Burton, second
daughter to Mr. Edmund Burton, hosier, in Newgate Street, with whom I
received four hundred pounds for a portion.
But my good master Bates dying in two years after, and I having few
friends, my business began to fail; for my conscience would not suffer
me to imitate the bad practice of too many among my brethren. Having
therefore consulted with my wife and some of my acquaintance, I
determined to go again to sea. I was surgeon successively in two
ships, and made several voyages, for six years, to the East and West
Indies, by which I got some addition to my fortune. My hours of
leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern, being
always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore, in
observing the manners and dispositions of the people, as well as
learning their language, wherein I had a great facility, by the
strength of my memory.
The last of these voyages not proving very fortunate, I grew weary of
the sea, and intended to stay at home with my wife and family. I
removed from the Old Jewry to Fetter Lane, and from thence to Wapping,
hoping to get business among the sailors, but it would not turn to
account. After three years' expectation that things would mend, I
accepted an advantageous offer from Captain William Prichard, master
of the Antelope, who was making a voyage to the South Sea. We set sail
from Bristol, May 4, 1699, and our voyage at first was very
prosperous.
It would not be proper, for some reasons, to trouble the reader with
the particulars of our adventures in those seas; let it suffice to
inform him that in our passage from thence to the East Indies, we were
driven by a violent storm to the northwest of Van Diemen's Land. By an
observation, we found ourselves in the latitude of 30 degrees 2
minutes south. Twelve of our crew were dead by immoderate labor and
ill food; the rest were in a very weak condition. On the 5th of
November, which was the beginning of summer in those parts, the
weather being very hazy, the seamen spied a rock within half a cable's
length of the ship; but the wind was so strong that we were driven
directly upon it, and immediately split. Six of the crew, of whom I
was one, having let down the boat into the sea, made a shift to get
clear of the ship and the rock. We rowed, by my computation, about
three leagues, till we were able to work no longer, being already
spent with labor while we were in the ship. We therefore trusted
ourselves to the mercy of the waves, and in about half an hour the
boat was overset by a sudden flurry from the north. What became of my
companions in the boat, as well as of those who escaped on the rock,
or were left in the vessel, I cannot tell; but conclude they were all
lost. For my own part, I swam as fortune directed me, and was pushed
forward by wind and tide. I often let my legs drop, and could feel no
bottom; but when I was almost gone, and able to struggle no longer, I
found myself within my depth; and by this time the storm was much
abated. The declivity was so small, that I walked near a mile before I
got to the shore, which I conjectured was about eight o'clock in the
evening. I then advanced forward near half a mile, but could not
discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least I was in so weak
a condition that I did not observe them. I was extremely tired, and
with that, and the heat of the weather, and about half a pint of
brandy that I drank as I left the ship, I found myself much inclined
to sleep. I lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft,
where I slept sounder than ever I remembered to have done in my life,
and, as I reckoned, about nine hours; for when I awaked, it was just
daylight. I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir; for, as I
happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly
fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and
thick, tied down in the same manner. I likewise felt several slender
ligatures across my body, from my armpits to my thighs. I could only
look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my
eyes. I heard a confused noise about me, but, in the posture I lay,
could see nothing except the sky. In a little time I felt something
alive moving on my left leg, which, advancing gently forward over my
breast, came almost up to my chin; when, bending my eyes downward as
much as I could, I perceived it to be a human creature not six inches
high, with a bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver at his back. In
the mean time, I felt at least forty more of the same kind (as I
conjectured) following the first. I was in the utmost astonishment,
and roared so loud that they all ran back in a fright; and some of
them, as I was afterwards told, were hurt with the falls they got by
leaping from my sides upon the ground. However, they soon returned,
and one of them, who ventured so far as to get a full sight of my
face, lifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration, cried out in
a shrill but distinct voice, "Hekinah degul." The others repeated the
same words several times, but I then knew not what they meant.