I was born at York on the first of March in the sixth year of the reign
of King Charles the First. From the time when I was quite a young child,
I had felt a great wish to spend my life at sea, and as I grew, so did
this taste grow more and more strong; till at last I broke loose from
my school and home, and found my way on foot to Hull, where I soon got a
place on board a ship.
When we had set sail but a few days, a squall of wind came on, and on
the fifth night we sprang a leak. All hands were sent to the pumps, but
we felt the ship groan in all her planks, and her beams quake from stem
to stern; so that it was soon quite clear there was no hope for her, and
that all we could do was to save our lives.
The first thing was to fire off guns, to show that we were in need of
help, and at length a ship, which lay not far from us, sent a boat to
our aid. But the sea was too rough for it to lie near our ship's side,
so we threw out a rope, which the men in the boat caught, and made fast,
and by this means we all got in. Still in so wild a sea it was in vain
to try to get on board the ship which had sent out the men, or to use
our oars in the boat, and all we could do was to let it drive to shore.
In the space of half an hour our own ship struck on a rock and went
down, and we saw her no more. We made but slow way to the land, which we
caught sight of now and then when the boat rose to the top of some high
wave, and there we saw men who ran in crowds, to and fro, all bent on
one thing, and that was to save us.
At last to our great joy we got on shore, where we had the luck to meet
with friends who gave us the means to get back to Hull; and if I had now
had the good sense to go home, it would have been well for me.
The man whose ship had gone down said with a grave look, "Young lad, you
ought to go to sea no more, it is not the kind, of life for you." "Why
Sir, will you go to sea no more then?" "That is not the same kind of
thing; I was bred to the sea, but you were not, and came on board my
ship just to find out what a life at sea was like, and you may guess
what you will come to if you do not go back to your home. God will not
bless you, and it may be that you have brought all this woe on us."
I spoke not a word more to him; which way he went I knew not, nor did
I care to know, for I was hurt at this rude speech. Shall I go home
thought I, or shall I go to sea? Shame kept me from home, and I could
not make up my mind what course of life to take.
As it has been my fate through life to choose for the worst, so I did
now. I had gold in my purse, and good clothes on my back, and to sea I
went once more.
But I had worse luck this time than the last, for when we were far out
at sea, some Turks in a small ship came on our track in full chase. We
set as much sail as our yards would bear, so as to get clear from them.
But in spite of this, we saw our foes gain on us, and we felt sure that
they would come up with our ship in a few hours' time.
At last they caught us, but we brought our guns to bear on them, which
made them shear off for a time, yet they kept up a fire at us as long as
they were in range. The next time the Turks came up, some of their men
got on board our ship, and set to work to cut the sails, and do us all
kinds of harm. So, as ten of our men lay dead, and most of the rest had
wounds, we gave in.
The chief of the Turks took me as his prize to a port which was held by
the Moors. He did not use me so ill as at first I thought he would have
done, but he set me to work with the rest of his slaves. This was a
change in my life which I did not think had been in store for me. How my
heart sank with grief at the thought of those whom I had left at home,
nay, to whom I had not had the grace so much as to say "Good bye" when I
went to sea, nor to give a hint of what I meant to do!
Yet all that I went through at this time was but a taste of the toils
and cares which it has since been my lot to bear.
I thought at first that the Turk might take me with him when next he
went to sea, and so I should find some way to get free; but the hope
did not last long, for at such times he left me on shore to see to his
crops. This kind of life I led for two years, and as the Turk knew and
saw more of me, he made me more and more free. He went out in his boat
once or twice a week to catch a kind of flat fish, and now and then he
took me and a boy with him, for we were quick at this kind of sport, and
he grew quite fond of me.
One day the Turk sent me in the boat to catch some fish, with no one
else but a man and a boy. While we were out so thick a fog came on that
though we were out not half a mile from the shore, we quite lost sight
of it for twelve hours; and when the sun rose the next day, our boat was
at least ten miles out at sea. The wind blew fresh, and we were all much
in want of food, but at last, with the help of our oars and sail, we got
back safe to land.
When the Turk heard how we had lost our way, he said that the next time
he went out, he would take a boat that would hold all we could want if
we were kept out at sea. So he had quite a state room built in the long
boat of his ship, as well as a room for us slaves. One day he sent me
to trim the boat, as he had two friends who would go in it to fish with
him. But when the time came they did not go, so he sent me with the man
and the boy--whose name was Xury--to catch some fish for the guests that
were to sup with him.
Now the thought struck me all at once that this would be a good chance
to set off with the boat, and get free. So in the first place, I took
all the food that I could lay my hands on, and I told the man that it
would be too bold of us to eat of the bread that had been put in the
boat for the Turk. He said he thought so too, and he brought down a
small sack of rice and some rusks.
While the man was on shore I put up some wine, a large lump of wax, a
saw, an axe, a spade, some rope, and all sorts of things that might be
of use to us. I knew where the Turk's case of wine was, and I put that
in the boat while the man was on shore. By one more trick I got all that
I had need of. I said to the boy, "the Turk's guns are in the boat, but
there is no shot. Do you think you could get some? You know where it is
kept, and we may want to shoot a fowl or two." So he brought a case and
a pouch which held all that we could want for the guns. These I put in
the boat, and then set sail out of the port to fish.
The wind blew, from the North, or North West, which was a bad wind for
me; for had it been South I could have made for the coast of Spain. But,
blow which way it might, my mind was made up to get off, and to leave
the rest to fate. I then let down my lines to fish, but I took care to
have bad sport; and when the fish bit, I would not pull them up, for
the Moor was not to see them. I said to him, "This will not do, we shall
catch no fish here, we ought to sail on a bit." Well, the Moor thought
there was no harm in this. He set the sails, and, as the helm was in my
hands, I ran the boat out a mile or more, and then brought her to, as if
I meant to fish.
Now, thought I, the time has come for me to get free! I gave the helm
to the boy, and then took the Moor round the waist, and threw him out of
the boat.
Down he went! but soon rose up, for he swam like a duck. He said he
would go all round the world with me, if I would but take him in.
I had some fear lest he should climb up the boat's side, and force his
way back; so I brought my gun to point at him, and said, "You can swim
to land with ease if you choose, make haste then to get there; but if
you come near the boat you shall have a shot through the head, for I
mean to be a free man from this hour."
He then swam for the shore, and no doubt got safe there, as the sea was
so calm.
At first I thought I would take the Moor with me, and let Xury swim to
land; but the Moor was not a man that I could trust. When he was gone I
said to Xury, "If you will swear to be true to me, you shall be a great
man in time; if not, I must throw you out of the boat too."
The poor boy gave me such a sweet smile as he swore to be true to me,
that I could not find it in my heart to doubt him.
While the man was still in view (for he was on his way to the land), we
stood out to sea with the boat, so that he and those that saw us from
the shore might think we had gone to the straits' mouth, for no one went
to the South coast, as a tribe of men dwelt there who were known to kill
and eat their foes.
We then bent our course to the East, so as to keep in with the shore;
and as we had a fair wind and a smooth sea, by the next day at noon, we
were not less than 150 miles out of the reach of the Turk.
I had still some fear lest I should be caught by the Moors, so I would
not go on shore in the day time. But when it grew dark we made our way
to the coast, and came to the mouth of a stream, from which we thought
we could swim to land, and then look round us. But as soon as it was
quite dark we heard strange sounds--barks, roars, grunts, and howls. The
poor lad said he could not go on shore till dawn. "Well," said I, "then
we must give it up, but it may be that in the day time we shall be seen
by men, who for all we know would do us more harm than wild beasts."
"Then we give them the shoot gun," said Xury with a laugh, "and make
them run away." I was glad to see so much mirth in the boy, and gave him
some bread and rice.
We lay still at night, but did not sleep long, for in a few hours' time
some huge beasts came down to the sea to bathe. The poor boy shook from
head to foot at the sight. One of these beasts came near our boat, and
though it was too dark to see him well, we heard him puff and blow, and
knew that he must be a large one by the noise he made. At last the brute
came as near to the boat as two oars' length, so I shot at him, and he
swam to the shore.
The roar and cries set up by beasts and birds at the noise of my gun
would seem to show that we had made a bad choice of a place to land
on; but be that as it would, to shore we had to go to find some fresh
spring, so that we might fill our casks. Xury said if I would let him
go with one of the jars, he would find out if the springs were fit to
drink; and, if they were sweet, he would bring the jar back full. "Why
should you go?" said I; "Why should not I go, and you stay in the boat?"
At this Xury said, "if wild mans come they eat me, you go way." I could
not but love the lad for this kind speech. "Well," said I, "we will both
go, and if the wild men come we must kill them, they shall not eat you
or me."
I gave Xury some rum from the Turk's case to cheer him up, and we went
on shore. The boy went off with his gun, full a mile from the spot where
we stood, and came back with a hare that he had shot, which we were
glad to cook and eat; but the good news which he brought was that he had
found a spring, and had seen no wild men.
I made a guess that the Cape de Verd Isles were not far off, for I saw
the top of the Great Peak, which I knew was near them. My one hope was
that if I kept near the coast, I should find some ship that would take
us on board; and then, and not till then, should I feel a free man. In
a word, I put the whole of my fate on this chance, that I must meet with
some ship, or die.
On the coast we saw some men who stood to look at us. They were black,
and wore no clothes. I would have gone on shore to them, but Xury--who
knew best--said, "Not you go! Not you go!" So I brought the boat as near
the land as I could, that I might talk to them, and they kept up with me
a long way. I saw that one of them had a lance in his hand.
I made signs that they should bring me some food, and they on their part
made signs for me to stop my boat. So I let down the top of my sail, and
lay by, while two of them ran off; and in less than half an hour they
came back with some dry meat and a sort of corn which is grown in this
part of the world. This we should have been glad to get, but knew not
how to do so; for we durst not go on shore to them, nor did they dare
to come to us. At last they took a safe way for us all, for they brought
the food to the shore, where they set it, down, and then went a long way
off while we took it in. We made signs to show our thanks, for we had
not a thing that we could spare to give them.
But as good luck would have it, we were at hand to take a great prize
for them; for two wild beasts, of the same kind as the first I spoke of,
came in, full chase from the hills down to the sea.
They swam as if they had come for sport. The men flew from them in fear,
all but the one who held the lance. One of these beasts came near our
boat; so I lay in wait for him with my gun; and as soon as the brute was
in range, I shot him through the head. Twice he sank down in the sea,
and twice he came up; and then just swam to the land, where he fell down
dead. The men were in as much fear at the sound of my gun, as they had
been at the sight of the beasts. But when I made signs for them to come
to the shore, they took heart, and came.
They at once made for their prize; and by the help of a rope, which they
slung round him, they brought him safe on the beach.
We now left our wild men, and went on and on, for twelve days more. The
land in front of us ran out four or five miles, like a bill; and we had
to keep some way from the coast, to make this point, so that we lost
sight of the shore.
I gave the helm to Xury and sat down to think what would be my best
course to take: when all at once I heard the lad cry out "A ship with a
sail! A ship with a sail!" He did not show much joy at the sight, for
he thought that this ship had been sent out to take him back: but I knew
well, from the look of her, that she was not one of the Turk's.
I made all the sail I could to come in the ship's way, and told Xury to
fire a gun, in the hope that if those on deck could not hear the sound,
they might see the smoke. This they did see, and then let down their
sails so that we might come up to them, and in three hours time we were
at the ship's side. The men spoke to us in French, but I could not make
out what they meant. At last a Scot on board said in my own tongue, "Who
are you? Whence do you come?" I told him in a few words how I had got
free from the Moors.
Then the man who had charge of the ship bade me come on board, and took
me in with Xury and all my goods. I told him that he might take all I
had, but he said "You shall have your goods back when we come to land,
for I have but done for you what you would have done for me, had I been
in the same plight."
He gave me a good round sum for my boat, and said that I should have the
same sum for Xury, if I would part with him. But I told him that as it
was by the boy's help that I had got free, I was loath to sell him. He
said it was just and right in me to feel thus, but at the same time, if
I could make up my mind to part with him, he should be set free in two
years' time. So, as the poor slave had a wish to go with him, I did not
say "no." I got to All Saints' Bay in three weeks, and was now a free
man.
I had made a good sum by all my store, and with this I went on land. But
I did not at all know what to do next. At length I met with a man whose
case was much the same as my own, and we both took some land to farm.
My stock, like his, was low, but we made our farms serve to keep us in
food, though not more than that. We both stood in need of help, and I
saw now that I had done wrong to part with my boy.
I did not at all like this kind of life. What! thought I, have I come
all this way to do that which I could have done as well at home with
my friends round me! And to add to my grief, the kind friend, who had
brought me here in his ship, now meant to leave these shores.
On my first start to sea when a boy, I had put a small sum in the hands
of an aunt, and this my friend said I should do well to spend on my
farm. So when he got home he sent some of it in cash, and laid out the
rest in cloth, stuffs, baize, and such like goods. My aunt had put a few
pounds in my friend's hands as a gift to him, to show her thanks for all
that he had done for me, and with this sum he was so kind as to buy me a
slave. In the mean time I had bought a slave, so now I had two, and all
went on well for the next year.
But soon my plans grew too large for my means. One day some men came to
ask me to take charge of a slave ship to be sent out by them. They said
they would give me a share in the slaves, and pay the cost of the stock.
This would have been a good thing for me if I had not had farms and
land; but it was wild and rash to think of it now, for I had made a
large sum, and ought to have gone on in the same way for three or four
years more. Well, I told these men that I would go with all my heart, if
they would look to my farm in the mean time, which they said they would
do.
So I made my will, and went on board this ship on the same day on which,
eight years since, I had left Hull. She had six guns, twelve men, and a
boy. We took with us saws, chains, toys, beads, bits of glass, and such
like ware, to suit the taste of those with whom we had to trade.
We were not more than twelve days from the Line, when a high wind took
us off we knew not where. All at once there was a cry of "Land!" and the
ship struck on a bank of sand, in which she sank so deep that we could
not get her off. At last we found that we must make up our minds to
leave her, and get to shore as well as we could. There had been a boat
at her stern, but we found it had been torn off by the force of the
waves. One small boat was still left on the ship's side, so we got in
it.
There we were all of us on the wild sea. The heart of each now grew
faint, our cheeks were pale, and our eyes were dim, for there was but
one hope, and that was to find some bay, and so get in the lee of the
land. We now gave up our whole souls to God.
The sea grew more and more rough, and its white foam would curl and
boil. At last the waves, in their wild sport, burst on the boat's side,
and we were all thrown out.
I could swim well, but the force of the waves made me lose my breath too
much to do so. At length one large wave took me to the shore, and left
me high and dry, though half dead with fear. I got on my feet and made
the best of my way for the land; but just then the curve of a huge wave
rose up as high as a hill, and this I had no strength to keep from, so
it took me back to the sea. I did my best to float on the top, and held
my breath to do so. The next wave was quite as high, and shut me up in
its bulk. I held my hands down tight to my side, and then my head shot
out at the top of the waves. This gave me heart and breath too, and soon
my feet felt the ground.
I stood quite still for a short time, to let the sea run back from me,
and then I set off with all my might to the shore, but yet the waves
caught me, and twice more did they take me back, and twice more land me
on the shore. I thought the last wave would have been the death of me,
for it drove me on a piece of rock, and with such force, as to leave me
in a kind of swoon, which, thank God, did not last long. At length, to
my great joy, I got up to the cliffs close to the shore, where I found
some grass, out of the reach of the sea. There, I sat down, safe on land
at last.
I could but cry out in the words of the Psalm, "They that go down to the
sea in ships, these men see the works of the Lord in the deep. For at
His word the storms rise, the winds blow, and lift up the waves; then
do they mount to the sky, and from thence go down to the deep. My soul
faints, I reel to and fro, and am at my wit's end: then the Lord brings
me out of all my fears."
I felt so wrapt in joy, that all I could do was to walk up and down the
coast, now lift up my hands, now fold them on my breast, and thank God
for all that He had done for me, when the rest of the men were lost.
All lost but I, and I was safe! I now cast my eyes round me, to find out
what kind of a place it was that I had been thus thrown in, like a bird
in a storm. Then all the glee I felt at first left me; for I was wet and
cold, and had no dry clothes to put on, no food to eat and not a friend
to help me.
There were wild beasts here, but I had no gun to shoot them with, or to
keep me from their jaws. I had but a knife and a pipe. It now grew dark;
and where was I to go for the night? I thought the top of some high tree
would be a good place to keep me out of harm's way; and that there I
might sit and think of death, for, as yet, I had no hopes of life. Well,
I went to my tree, and made a kind of nest to sleep in. Then I cut a
stick to keep off the beasts of prey, in case they should come, and fell
to sleep just as if the branch I lay on had been a bed of down.
When I woke up it was broad day; the sky too was clear and the sea calm.
But I saw from the top of the tree that in the night the ship had left
the bank of sand, and lay but a mile from me; while the boat was on the
beach, two miles on my right. I went some way down by the shore, to get
to the boat; but an arm of the sea, half a mile broad, kept me from
it. At noon, the tide went a long way out, so that I could get near the
ship; and here I found that if we had but made up our minds to stay on
board, we should all have been safe.
I shed tears at the thought, for I could not help it; yet, as there was
no use in that, it struck me that the best thing for me to do was to
swim to the ship. I soon threw off my clothes, took to the sea, and swam
up to the wreck. But how was I to get on deck? I had swam twice round
the ship, when a piece of rope, caught my eye, which hung down from her
side so low, that at first the waves hid it. By the help of this rope I
got on board. I found that there was a bulge in the ship, and that she
had sprung a leak. You may be sure that my first thought was to look
round for some food, and I soon made my way to the bin, where the bread
was kept, and ate some of it as I went to and fro, for there was no time
to lose. There was, too, some rum, of which I took a good draught, and
this gave me heart. What I stood most in need of, was a boat to take the
goods to shore. But it was vain to wish for that which could not be
had; and as there were some spare yards in the ship, two or three large
planks of wood, and a spare mast or two, I fell to work with these, to
make a raft.
I put four spars side by side, and laid short bits of plank on them,
cross ways, to make my raft strong. Though these planks would bear my
own weight, they were too slight to bear much of my freight. So I took a
saw which was on board, and cut a mast in three lengths, and these gave
great strength to the raft. I found some bread and rice, a Dutch cheese,
and some dry goat's flesh. There had been some wheat, but the rats had
got at it, and it was all gone.
My next task was to screen my goods from the spray of the sea; and it
did not take me long to do this, for there were three large chests on
board which held all, and these I put on the raft. When the high tide
came up it took off my coat and shirt, which I had left on the shore;
but there were some fresh clothes in the ship.
"See here is a prize!" said I, out loud, (though there were none to hear
me), "now I shall not starve." For I found four large guns. But how was
my raft to be got to land? I had no sail, no oars; and a gust of wind
would make all my store slide off. Yet there were three things which I
was glad of; a calm sea, a tide which set in to the shore, and a slight
breeze to blow me there.
I had the good luck to find some oars in a part of the ship, in which
I had made no search till now. With these I put to sea, and for half a
mile my raft went well; but soon I found it drove to one side. At length
I saw a creek, to which, with some toil, I took my raft; and now the
beach was so near, that I felt my oar touch the ground.
Here I had well nigh lost my freight, for the shore lay on a slope, so
that there was no place to land on, save where one end of the raft would
lie so high, and one end so low, that all my goods would fall off. To
wait till the tide came up was all that could be done. So when the sea
was a foot deep, I thrust the raft on a flat piece of ground, to moor
her there, and stuck my two oars in the sand, one on each side of the
raft. Thus I let her lie till the ebb of the tide, and when it went
down, she was left safe on land with all her freight.
I saw that there were birds on the isle, and I shot one of them. Mine
must have been the first gun that had been heard there since the world
was made; for at the sound of it, whole flocks of birds flew up, with
loud cries, from all parts of the wood. The shape of the beak of the one
I shot was like that of a hawk, but the claws were not so large.
I now went back to my raft to land my stores, and this took up the rest
of the day. What to do at night I knew not, nor where to find a safe
place to land my stores on. I did not like to lie down on the ground,
for fear of beasts of prey, as well as snakes, but there was no cause
for these fears, as I have since found. I put the chests and boards
round me as well as I could, and made a kind of hut for the night.
As there was still a great store of things left in the ship, which would
be of use to me, I thought that I ought to bring them to land at once;
for I knew that the first storm would break up the ship. So I went on
board, and took good care this time not to load my raft too much.
The first thing, I sought for was the tool chest; and in it were some
bags of nails, spikes, saws, knives, and such things: but best of all I
found a stone to grind my tools on. There were two or three flasks,
some large bags of shot, and a roll of lead; but this last I had not
the strength to hoist up to the ship's side, so as to get it on my raft.
There were some spare sails too which I brought to shore.
I had some fear lest my stores might be run off with by beasts of prey,
if not by men; but I found all safe and sound when I went back, and no
one had come there but a wild cat, which sat on one of the chests. When
I came up I held my gun at her, but as she did not know what a gun was,
this did not rouse her. She ate a piece of dry goat's flesh, and then
took her leave.
Now that I had two freights of goods at hand, I made a tent with the
ship's sails, to stow them in, and cut the poles for it from the wood.
I now took all the things out of the casks and chests, and put the casks
in piles round the tent, to give it strength; and when this was done,
I shut up the door with the boards, spread one of the beds (which I had
brought from the ship) on the ground, laid two guns close to my head,
and went to bed for the first time. I slept all night, for I was much in
need of rest.
The next day I was sad and sick at heart, for I felt how dull it was to
be thus cut off from all the rest of the world. I had no great wish for
work: but there was too much to be done for me to dwell long on my sad
lot. Each day as it came, I went off to the wreck to fetch more things;
and I brought back as much as the raft would hold. One day I had put too
great a load on the raft, which made it sink down on one side, so that
the goods were lost in the sea; but at this I did not fret, as the chief
part of the freight was some rope, which would not have been of much use
to me.
The twelve days that I had been in the isle were spent in this way, and
I had brought to land all that one pair of hands could lift; though if
the sea had been still calm, I might have brought the whole ship, piece
by piece.
The last time I swam to the wreck, the wind blew so hard, that I made up
my mind to go on board next time at low tide. I found some tea and some
gold coin; but as to the gold, it made me laugh to look at it. "O drug!"
said I, "Thou art of no use to me! I care not to save thee. Stay where
thou art, till the ship go down, then go thou with it!"
Still, I thought I might as well just take it; so I put it in a piece
of the sail, and threw it on deck that I might place it on the raft.
Bye-and-bye, the wind blew from the shore, so I had to swim back with
all speed; for I knew that at the turn of the tide, I should find it
hard work to get to land at all. But in spite of the high wind, I came
to my home all safe. At dawn of day I put my head out, and cast my eyes
on the sea. When lo! no ship was there!
This change in the face of things, and the loss of such a friend, quite
struck me down. Yet I was glad to think that I had brought to shore all
that could be of use to me. I had now to look out for some spot where I
could make my home. Half way up a hill there was a small plain, four or
five score feet long, and twice as broad; and as it had a full view of
the sea, I thought that it would be a good place for my house.
I first dug a trench round a space which took in twelve yards; and in
this I drove two rows of stakes, till they stood firm like piles, five
and a half feet from the ground. I made the stakes close and tight with
bits of rope; and put small sticks on the top of them in the shape of
spikes. This made so strong a fence that no man or beast could get in.
The door of my house was on the top, and I had to climb up to it by
steps, which I took in with me, so that no one else might come up by the
same way. Close to the back of the house stood a high rock, in which I
made a cave, and laid all the earth that I had dug out of it round my
house, to the height of a foot and a half. I had to go out once a day in
search of food. The first time, I saw some goats, but they were too shy
and swift of foot, to let me get near them.
At last I lay in wait for them close to their own haunts. If they saw
me in the vale, though they might be on high ground, they would run off,
wild with fear; but if they were in the vale, and I on high ground, they
took no heed of me. The first goat I shot had a kid by her side, and
when the old one fell, the kid stood near her, till I took her off on
my back, and then the young one ran by my side. I put down the goat, and
brought the kid home to tame it; but as it was too young to feed, I had
to kill it.
At first I thought that, for the lack of pen and ink, I should lose all
note of time; so I made a large post, in the shape of a cross, on which
I cut these words, "I came on these shores on the 8th day of June, in
the year 1659" On the side of this post I made a notch each day as it
came, and this I kept up till the last.
I have not yet said a word of my four pets, which were two cats, a dog,
and a bird. You may guess how fond I was of them, for they were all the
friends left to me. I brought the dog and two cats from the ship. The
dog would fetch things for me at all times, and by his bark, his whine,
his growl, and his tricks, he would all but talk to me; yet he could not
give me thought for thought.
If I could but have had some one near me to find fault with, or to find
fault with me, what a treat it would have been! Now that I had brought
ink from the ship, I wrote down a sketch of each day as it came; not so
much to leave to those who might read it, when I was dead and gone, as
to get rid of my own thoughts, and draw me from the fears which all day
long dwelt on my mind, till my head would ache with the weight of them.
I was a long way out of the course of ships: and oh, how dull it was to
be cast on this lone spot with no one to love, no one to make me laugh,
no one to make me weep, no one to make me think. It was dull to roam,
day by day, from the wood to the shore; and from the shore back to the
wood, and feed on my own thoughts all the while.
So much for the sad view of my case; but like most things it had a
bright side as well as a dark one. For here was I safe on land, while
all the rest of the ship's crew were lost. Well, thought I, God who
shapes our ways, and led me by the hand then, can save me from this
state now, or send some one to be with me; true, I am cast on a rough
and rude part of the globe, but there are no beasts of prey on it to
kill or hurt me. God has sent the ship so near to me, that I have got
from it all things to meet my wants for the rest of my days. Let life be
what it may, there is sure to be much to thank God for; and I soon gave
up all dull thoughts, and did not so much as look out for a sail.
My goods from the wreck had been in the cave for more than ten months;
and it was time now to put them right, as they took up all the space,
and left me no room to turn in: so I made my small cave a large one, and
dug it out a long way back in the sand rock. Then I brought the mouth of
it up to the fence, and so made a back way to my house. This done, I put
shelves on each side, to hold my goods, which made my cave look like a
shop full of stores. To make these shelves I cut down a tree, and with
the help of a saw, an axe, a plane, and some more tools, I made boards.
A chair, and a desk to write on, came next. I rose in good time, and set
to work till noon, then I ate my meal, then I went out with my gun, and
to work once more till the sun had set; and then to bed. It took me more
than a week to change the shape and size of my cave, but I had made it
far too large; for in course of time the earth fell in from the roof;
and had I been in it, when this took place, I should have lost my life.
I had now to set up posts in my cave, with planks on the top of them, so
as to make a roof of wood.
One day, when out with my gun, I shot a wild cat, the skin of which made
me a cap; and I found some birds of the dove tribe, which built their
nests in the holes of rocks.
I had to go to bed at dusk, till I made a lamp of goat's fat, which I
put in a clay dish; and this, with a piece of hemp for a wick, made a
good light. As I had found a use for the bag which had held the fowl's
food on board ship, I shook out from it the husks of corn. This was just
at the time when the great rains fell, and in the course of a month,
blades of rice, corn, and rye, sprang up. As time went by, and the grain
was ripe, I kept it, and took care to sow it each year; but I could not
boast of a crop of wheat, as will be shown bye-and-bye, for three years.
A thing now took place on the isle, which no one could have dreamt of,
and which struck me down with fear. It was this--the ground shook
with great force, which threw down earth from the rock with a loud
crash--once more there was a shock--and now the earth fell from the roof
of my cave. The sea did not look the same as it had done, for the shocks
were just as strong there as on land. The sway of the earth made me feel
sick; and there was a noise and a roar all around me. The same kind of
shock came a third time; and when it had gone off, I sat quite still on
the ground, for I knew not what to do. Then the clouds grew dark, the
wind rose, trees were torn up by the roots, the sea was a mass of foam
and froth, and a great part of the isle was laid waste with the storm. I
thought that the world had come to an end. In three hours' time all was
calm; but rain fell all that night, and a great part of the next day.
Now, though quite worn out, I had to move my goods which were in the
cave, to some safe place.
I knew that tools would be my first want, and that I should have to
grind mine on the stone, as they were blunt and worn with use. But as it
took both hands to hold the tool, I could not turn the stone; so I made
a wheel by which I could move it with my foot. This was no small task,
but I took great pains with it, and at length it was done.
The rain fell for some days and a cold chill came on me; in short I was
ill. I had pains in my head, and could get no sleep at night, and my
thoughts were wild and strange. At one time I shook with cold, and then
a hot fit came on, with faint sweats, which would last six hours at a
time. Ill as I was, I had to go out with my gun to get food. I shot a
goat, but it was a great toil to bring it home, and still more to cook
it.
I spent the next day in bed, and felt half dead from thirst, yet too
weak to stand up to get some drink. I lay and wept like a child. "Lord
look on me! Lord look on me!" would I cry for hours.
At last the fit left me, and I slept, and did not wake till dawn. I
dreamt that I lay on the ground, and saw a man come down from a great
black cloud in a flame of light. When he stood on the earth, it shook as
it had done a few days since; and all the world to me was full of fire.
He came up and said "As I see that all these things have not brought
thee to pray, now thou shalt die." Then I woke, and found it was a
dream. Weak and faint, I was in dread all day lest my fit should come
on.
Too ill to get out with my gun, I sat on the shore to think, and thus
ran my thoughts: "What is this sea which is all round me? and whence is
it? There can be no doubt that the hand that made it, made the air, the
earth, the sky. And who is that? It is God who hath made all things.
Well then, if God hath made all things, it must be He who guides them;
and if so, no one thing in the whole range of His works can take place,
and He not know it. Then God must know how sick and sad I am, and He
wills me to be here. O, why hath God done this to me!"
Then some voice would seem to say, "Dost thou ask why God hath done this
to thee? Ask why thou wert not shot by the Moors, who came on board the
ship, and took the lives of thy mates. Ask why thou wert not torn by the
beasts of prey on the coasts. Ask why thou didst not go down in the
deep sea with the rest of the crew, but didst come to this isle, and art
safe."
A sound sleep then fell on me, and when I woke it must have been three
o'clock the next day, by the rays of the sun: nay, it may have been more
than that; for I think that this must have been the day that I did not
mark on my post, as I have since found that there was one notch too few.
I now took from my store the Book of God's Word, which I had brought
from the wreck, not one page, of which I had yet read. My eyes fell on
five words, that would seem to have been put there for my good at this
time; so well did they cheer my faint hopes, and touch the true source
of my fears. They were these: "I will not leave thee." And they have
dwelt in my heart to this day. I laid down the book, to pray. My cry was
"O, Lord, help me to love and learn thy ways."
This was the first time in all my life that I had felt a sense that God
was near, and heard me. As for my dull life here, it was not worth a
thought; for now a new strength had come to me; and there was a change
in my griefs, as well as in my joys.
I had now been in the isle twelve months, and I thought it was time to
go all round it, in search of its woods, springs, and creeks. So I set
off, and brought back with me limes and grapes in their prime, large and
ripe. I had hung the grapes in the sun to dry, and in a few days' time
went to fetch them, that I might lay up a store. The vale, on the banks
of which they grew, was fresh and green, and a clear, bright stream ran
through it, which gave so great a charm to the spot, as to make me wish
to live there.
But there was no view of the sea from this vale, while from my house, no
ships could come on my side of the isle, and not be seen by me; yet the
cool, soft banks were so sweet and new to me that much of my time was
spent there.
In the first of the three years in which I had grown corn, I had sown
it too late; in the next, it was spoilt by the drought; but the third
years' crop had sprung up well.
I found that the hares would lie in it night and day, for which there
was no cure but to plant a thick hedge all round it; and this took me
more than three weeks to do. I shot the hares in the day time; and when
it grew dark, I made fast the dog's chain to the gate, and there he
stood to bark all night.
In a short time the corn grew strong, and at last ripe but, just as the
hares had hurt it in the blade, so now the birds ate it in the ear. At
the noise of my gun, whole flocks of them would fly up; and at this rate
I saw that there would be no corn left; so I made up my mind to keep a
look out night and day. I hid by the side of a hedge, and could see the
birds sit on the trees and watch, and then come down, one by one, at
first. Now each grain of wheat was, as it were, a small loaf of bread to
me. So the great thing was to get rid of these birds. My plan was this,
I shot three, and hung them up, like thieves, to scare all that came to
the corn; and from this time, as long as the dead ones hung there, not
a bird came near. When the corn was ripe, I made a scythe out of the
swords from the ship, and got in my crop.
Few of us think of the cost at which a loaf of bread is made. Of course,
there was no plough here to turn up the earth, and no spade to dig it
with, so I made one with wood; but this was soon worn out, and for want
of a rake, I made use of the bough of a tree. When I had got the corn
home, I had to thrash it, part the grain from the chaff, and store it
up. Then came the want of a mill to grind it, of sieves to clean it, and
of yeast to make bread of it.
Still, my bread was made, though I had no tools; and no one could say
that I did not earn it, by the sweat of my brow. When the rain kept me
in doors, it was good fun to teach my pet bird Poll to talk; but so mute
were all things round me, that the sound of my own voice made me start.
My chief wants now were jars, pots, cups, and plates, but I knew not how
I could make them. At last I went in search of some clay, and found some
a mile from my house; but it was quite a joke to see the queer shapes
and forms that I made out of it. For some of my pots and jars were too
weak to bear their own weight; and they would fall out here, and in
there, in all sorts of ways; while some, when they were put in the sun
to bake, would crack with the heat of its rays. You may guess what my
joy was when at last a pot was made which would stand the heat of the
fire, so that I could boil the meat for broth.
The next thing to be made was a sieve, to part the grain from the husks.
Goat's hair was of no use to me, as I could not weave or spin; so I made
a shift for two years with a thin kind of stuff, which I had brought
from the ship. But to grind the corn with the stones was the worst of
all, such hard work did I find it. To bake the bread I burnt some wood
down to an ash, which I threw on the hearth to heat it, and then set my
loaves on the hearth, and in this way my bread was made.
The next thing to turn my thoughts to was the ship's boat, which lay on
the high ridge of sand, where it had been thrust by the storm which had
cast me on these shores. But it lay with the keel to the sky, so I had
to dig the sand from it, and turn it up with the help of a pole. When I
had done this I found it was all in vain, for I had not the strength to
launch it. So all I could do now, was to make a boat of less size out
of a tree; and I found one that was just fit for it, which grew not far
from the shore, but I could no more stir this than I could the ship's
boat. What was to be done? I first dug the ground flat and smooth all
the way from the boat to the sea, so as to let it slide down; but this
plan did not turn out well, so I thought I would try a new way, which
was to make a trench, so as to bring the sea up to the boat, as the boat
could not be brought to the sea. But to do this, I must have dug down to
a great depth, which would take one man some years to do. And when too
late, I found it was not wise to work out a scheme, till I had first
thought of the cost and toil.
"Well," thought I, "I must give up the boat, and with it all my hopes
to leave the isle. But I have this to think of: I am lord of the whole
isle; in fact, a king. I have wood with which I might build a fleet, and
grapes, if not corn, to freight it with, though all my wealth is but a
few gold coins." For these I had no sort of use, and could have found it
in my heart to give them all for a peck of peas and some ink, which last
I stood much in need of. But it was best to dwell more on what I had,
than on what I had not.
I now must needs try once more to build a boat, but this time it was to
have a mast, for which the ship's sails would be of great use. I made a
deck at each end, to keep out the spray of the sea, a bin for my food,
and a rest for my gun, with a flap to screen it from the wet. More than
all, the boat was one of such a size that I could launch it.
My first cruise was up and down the creek, but soon I got bold, and made
the whole round of my isle. I took with me bread, cakes, and a pot full
of rice, some rum, half a goat, two great coats, one of which was to
lie on, and one to put on at night. I set sail in the sixth year of my
reign. On the East side of the isle, there was a large ridge of rocks,
which lay two miles from the shore; and a shoal of sand lay for half a
mile from the rocks to the beach. To get round to this point, I had to
sail a great way out to sea; and here I all but lost my life.
But I got back to my home at last. On my way there, quite worn out with
the toils of the boat, I lay down in the shade to rest my limbs, and
slept. But judge, if you can, what a start I gave, when a voice woke
me out of my sleep, and spoke my name three times! A voice in this wild
place! To call me by name, too! Then the voice said, "Where are you?
Where have you been? How came you here?" But now I saw it all; for at
the top of the hedge sat Poll, who did but say the words she had been
taught by me.
I now went in search of some goats, and laid snares for them, with rice
for a bait I had set the traps in the night, and found they had all
stood, though the bait was gone. So I thought of a new way to take them,
which was to make a pit and lay sticks and grass on it, so as to hide
it; and in this way I caught an old goat and some kids. But the old goat
was much too fierce for me, so I let him go. I brought all the young
ones home, and let them fast a long time, till at last they fed from my
hand, and were quite tame. I kept them in a kind of park, in which there
were trees to screen them from the sun. At first my park was three miles
round; but it struck me that, in so great a space, the kids would soon
get as wild as if they had the range of the whole vale, and that it
would be as well to give them less room; so I had to make a hedge which
took me three months to plant. My park held a flock of twelve goats, and
in two years more there were more than two score.
My dog sat at meals with me, and one cat on each side of me, on stools,
and we had Poll to talk to us. Now for a word or two as to the dress in
which I made a tour round the isle. I could but think how droll it would
look in the streets of the town in which I was born. I wore a high cap
of goat's skin, with a flap that hung, down, to keep the sun and rain
from my neck, a coat made from the skin of a goat too, the skirts of
which came down to my hips, and the same on my legs, with no shoes, but
flaps of the fur round my shins. I had a broad belt of the same round
my waist, which drew on with two thongs; and from it, on my right side,
hung a saw and an axe; and on my left side a pouch for the shot. My
beard had not been cut since I came here. But no more need be said of
my looks, for there were few to see me. A strange sight was now in store
for me, which was to change the whole course of my life in the isle.
One day at noon, while on a stroll down to a part of the shore that was
new to me, what should I see on the sand but the print of a man's foot!
I felt as if I was bound by a spell, and could not stir from, the spot.
Bye-and-bye, I stole a look round me, but no one was in sight, What
could this mean? I went three or four times to look at it. There it
was--the print of a man's foot; toes, heel, and all the parts of a foot.
How could it have come there?
My head swam with fear; and as I left the spot, I made two or three
steps, and then took a look round me; then two steps more, and did the
same thing. I took fright at the stump of an old tree, and ran to my
house, as if for my life. How could aught in the shape of a man come to
that shore, and I not know it? Where was the ship that brought him? Then
a vague dread took hold of my mind, that some man, or set of men, had
found me out; and it might be, that they meant to kill me, or rob me of
all I had.
How strange a thing is the life of man! One day we love that which the
next day we hate. One day we seek what the next day we shun. One day
we long for the thing which the next day we fear; and so we go on. Now,
from the time that I was cast on this isle, my great source of grief
was that I should be thus cut off from the rest of my race. Why, then,
should the thought that a man might be near give me all this pain? Nay,
why should the mere sight of the print of a man's foot, make me quake
with fear? It seems most strange; yet not more strange than true.
Once it struck me that it might be the print of my own foot, when first
the storm cast me on these shores. Could I have come this way from the
boat? Should it in truth turn out to be the print of my own foot, I
should be like a boy who tells of a ghost, and feels more fright at his
own tale, than those do whom he meant to scare.
Fear kept me in-doors for three days, till the want of food drove me
out. At last I was so bold as to go down to the coast to look once more
at the print of the foot, to see if it was the same shape as my own. I
found it was not so large by a great deal; so it was clear there were
men in the isle. Just at this time my good watch dog fell down dead at
my feet. He was old and worn out, and in him I lost my best guard and
friend.
One day as I went from the hill to the coast, a scene lay in front of me
which made me sick at heart. The spot was spread with the bones of men.
There was a round place dug in the earth, where a fire had been made,
and here some men had come to feast. Now that I had seen this sight, I
knew not how to act; I kept close to my home, and would scarce stir from
it, save to milk my flock of goats.
To feel safe was now more to me than to be well fed; and I did not care
to drive a nail, or chop a stick of wood, lest the sound of it should be
heard, much less would I fire a gun. As to my bread and meat, I had to
bake it at night when the smoke could not be seen. But I soon found the
way to burn wood with turf at the top of it, which made it like chark,
or dry coal; and this I could use by day, as it had no smoke.
I found in the wood where I went to get the sticks for my fire, a cave
so large that I could stand in it; but I made more haste to get out,
than in; for two large eyes, as bright as stars, shone out from it with
a fierce glare. I took a torch, and went to see what they could be, and
found that there was no cause for fear; for the eyes were those of an
old gray goat, which had gone there to die of old age. I gave him a
push, to try to get him out of the cave, but he could not rise from the
ground where he lay; so I left him there to die, as I could not save his
life.
I found the width of the cave was twelve feet; but part of it, near the
end, was so low that I had to creep on my hands and feet to go in. What
the length of it was I could not tell, for my light went out, and I had
to give up my search. The next day, I went to the cave with large lights
made of goat's fat; and when I got to the end, I found that the roof
rose to two score feet or more.
As my lights shone on the walls and roof of the cave, a sight burst on
my view, the charms of which no tongue could tell; for the walls shone
like stars. What was in the rock to cause this it was hard to say; they
might be gems, or bright stones, or gold. But let them be what they may,
this cave was a mine of wealth to me; for at such time as I felt dull
or sad, the bright scene would flash on my mind's eye, and fill it with
joy.
A score of years had gone by, with no new sight to rest my eyes on, till
this scene burst on them. I felt as if I should like to spend the rest
of my life here; and at its close, lie down to die in this cave, like
the old goat.
As I went home I was struck by the sight of some smoke, which came from
a fire no more than two miles off. From this time I lost all my peace
of mind. Day and night a dread would haunt me, that the men who had made
this fire would find me out. I went home and drew up my steps, but first
I made all things round me look wild and rude. To load my gun was the
next thing to do, and I thought it would be best to stay at home and
hide.
But this was not to be borne long. I had no spy to send out and all I
could do was to get to the top of the hill, and keep a good look out. At
last, through my glass, I could see a group of wild men join in a dance
round their fire. As soon a they had left, I took two guns, and slung a
sword on my side; then with all speed, I set off to the top of the hill,
once more to have a good view.
This time I made up my mind to go up to the men, but not with a view to
kill them, for I felt that it would be wrong to do so. With such a load
of arms, it took me two hours to reach the spot where the fire was; and
by the time I got there, the men had all gone; but I saw them in four
boats out at sea.
Down on the shore, there was a proof of what the work of these men had
been. The signs of their feast made me sick at heart, and I shut my
eyes. I durst not fire my gun when I went out for food on that side the
isle, lest there should be some of the men left, who might hear it,
and so find me out. This state of things went on for a year and three
months, and for all that time I saw no more men.
On the twelfth of May, a great storm of wind blew all day and night. As
it was dark, I sat in my house; and in the midst of the gale, I heard
a gun fire! My guess was that it must have been from some ship cast on
shore by the storm. So I set a light to some wood on top of the hill,
that those in the ship, if ship it should be, might know that some one
was there to aid them. I then heard two more guns fire. When it was
light, I went to the South side of the isle, and there lay the wreck of
a ship, cast on the rocks in the night by the storm. She was too far off
for me to see if there were men on board.
Words could not tell how much I did long to bring but one of the ship's
crew to the shore! So strong was my wish to save the life of those on
board, that I could have laid down my own life to do so. There are some
springs in the heart which, when hope stirs them, drive the soul on with
such a force, that to lose all chance of the thing one hopes for, would
seem to make one mad; and thus was it with me.
Now, I thought, was the time to use my boat; so I set to work at once to
fit it out. I took on board some rum (of which I still had a good deal
left), some dry grapes, a bag of rice, some goat's milk, and cheese, and
then put out to sea. A dread came on me at the thought of the risk I had
run on the same rocks; but my heart did not quite fail me, though I
knew that, as my boat was small, if a gale of wind should spring up, all
would be lost. Then I found that I must go back to the shore till the
tide should turn, and the ebb come on.
I made up my mind to go out the next day with the high tide, so I slept
that night in my boat. At dawn I set out to sea, and in less than two
hours I came up to the wreck. What a scene was there! The ship had
struck on two rocks. The stern was torn by the force of the waves, the
masts were swept off, ropes and chains lay strewn on the deck, and all
was wrapt in gloom. As I came up to the wreck, a dog swam to me with a
yelp and a whine. I took him on board my boat, and when I gave him some
bread he ate it like a wolf, and as to drink, he would have burst, if I
had let him take his fill of it.
I went to the cook's room, where I found two men, but they were both
dead. The tongue was mute, the ear was deaf, the eye was shut, and the
lip was stiff; still the sad tale was told, for each had his arm round
his friend's neck, and so they must have sat to wait for death. What a
change had come on the scene, once so wild with the lash of the waves
and the roar of the wind! All was calm now--death had done its work,
and all had felt its stroke, save the dog, and he was the one thing that
still had life.
I thought the ship must have come from Spain, and there was much gold
on board. I took some of the chests and put them in my boat, but did not
wait to see what they held, and with this spoil, and three casks of rum,
I came back.
I found all things at home just as I had left them, my goats, my cats,
and my bird. The scene in the cook's room was in my mind day and night,
and to cheer me up I drank some of the rum. I then set to work to bring
my freight from the shore, where I had left it. In the chests were two
great bags of gold, and some bars of the same, and near these lay three
small flasks and three bags of shot which were a great prize.
From this time, all went well with me for two years; but it was not to
last. One day, as I stood on the hill, I saw six boats on the shore!
What could this mean?
Where were the men who had brought them? And what had they come for? I
saw through my glass that there were a score and a half, at least, on
the east side of the isle. They had meat on the fire, round which I
could see them dance. They then took a man from one of the boats, who
was bound hand and foot; but when they came to loose his bonds, he set
off as fast as his feet would take him, and in a straight line to my
house.
To tell the truth, when I saw all the rest of the men run to catch him,
my hair stood on end with fright. In the creek, he swam like a fish, and
the plunge which he took brought him through it in a few strokes. All
the men now gave up the chase but two, and they swam through the creek,
but by no means so fast as the slave had done. Now, I thought, was the
time for me to help the poor man, and my heart told me it would be right
to do so. I ran down my steps with my two guns, and went with all speed
up the hill, and then down by a short cut to meet them.
I gave a sign to the poor slave to come to me, and at the same time went
up to meet the two men, who were in chase of him. I made a rush at the
first of these, to knock him down with the stock of my gun, and he fell.
I saw the one who was left, aim at me with his bow, so, to save my life,
I shot him dead.
The smoke and noise from my gun, gave the poor slave who had been bound,
such a shock, that he stood still on the spot, as if he had been in a
trance. I gave a loud shout for him to come to me, and I took care to
show him that I was a friend, and made all the signs I could think of to
coax him up to me. At length he came, knelt down to kiss the ground, and
then took hold of my foot, and set it on his head. All this meant that
he was my slave; and I bade him rise, and made much of him.
But there was more work to be done yet; for the man who had had the blow
from my gun was not dead. I made a sign for my slave (as I shall now
call him) to look at him. At this he spoke to me, and though I could
not make out what he said, yet it gave me a shock of joy; for it was the
first sound of a man's voice that I had heard, for all the years I had
been on the isle.
The man whom I had struck with the stock of my gun, sat up; and my
slave, who was in great fear of him, made signs for me to lend him my
sword, which hung in a belt at my side. With this he ran up to the man,
and with one stroke cut off his head. When he had done this, he brought
me back my sword with a laugh, and put it down in front of me. I did not
like to see the glee with which he did it, and I did not feel that my
own life was quite safe with such a man.
He, in his turn, could but lift up his large brown hands with awe, to
think that I had put his foe to death, while I stood so far from him.
But as to the sword, he and the rest of his tribe made use of swords of
wood, and this was why he knew so well how to wield mine. He made signs
to me to let him go and see the man who had been shot; and he gave him a
turn round, first on this side, then on that; and when he saw the wound
made in his breast by the shot, he stood quite, still once more, as if
he had lost his wits. I made signs for him to come back, for my fears
told me that the rest of the men might come in search of their friends.
I did not like to take my slave to my house, nor to my cave; so I threw
down some straw from the rice plant for him to sleep on, and gave him
some bread and a bunch of dry grapes to eat. He was a fine man, with
straight strong limbs, tall, and young. His hair was thick, like wool,
and black. His head was large and high; and he had bright black eyes. He
was of a dark brown hue; his face was round, and his nose small, but
not flat; he had a good mouth with thin lips, with which he could give a
soft smile; and his teeth were as white as snow.
I had been to milk my goats in the field close by, and when he saw me,
he ran to me, and lay down on the ground to show me his thanks. He then
put his head on the ground, and set my foot on his head, as he had done
at first. He took all the means he could think of, to let me know that
he would serve me all his life; and I gave a sign to show that I thought
well of him. The next thing was to think of some name to call him by.
I chose that of the sixth day of the week (Friday), as he came to me on
that day. I took care not to lose sight of him all that night, and when
the sun rose, I made signs for him to come to me, that I might give him
some clothes, for he wore none. We then went up to the top of the hill,
to look out for the men; but as we could not see them, or their boats,
it was clear that they had left the isle.
My slave has since told me that they had had a great fight with the
tribe that dwelt next to them; and that all those men whom each side
took in war were their own by right. My slave's foes had four who fell
to their share, of whom he was one.
I now set to work to make my man a cap of hare's skin, and gave him a
goat's skin to wear round his waist. It was a great source of pride to
him, to find that his clothes were as good as my own.
At night, I kept my guns, sword, and bow close to my side; but there was
no need for this, as my slave was, in sooth, most true to me. He did all
that he was set to do, with his whole heart in the work; and I knew that
he would lay down his life to save mine. What could a man do more than
that? And oh, the joy to have him here to cheer me in this lone isle!
I did my best to teach him, so like a child as he was, to do and feel
all that was right, I found him apt, and full of fun; and he took great
pains to learn all that I could tell him. Our lives ran on in a calm,
smooth way; and, but for the vile feasts which were held on the shores,
I felt no wish to leave the isle.
As my slave had by no means lost his zest for these meals, it struck me
that the best way to cure him, was to let him taste the flesh of beasts;
so I took him with me one day to the wood for some sport. I saw a
she-goat, in the shade, with her two kids. I caught Friday by the arm,
and made signs to him not to stir, and then shot one of the kids; but
the noise of the gun gave the poor man a great shock. He did not see the
kid, nor did he know that it was dead. He tore his dress off his breast
to feel if there was a wound there; then he knelt down to me, and took
hold of my knees to pray of me not to kill him.
To show poor Friday that his life was quite safe, I led him by the hand,
and told him to fetch the kid. By and by, I saw a hawk in a tree, so I
bade him look at the gun, the hawk, and the ground; and then I shot the
bird. But my poor slave gave still more signs of fear this time, than he
did at first: for he shook from head to foot. He must have thought that
some fiend of death dwelt in the gun, and I think that he would have
knelt down to it, as well as to me; but he would not so much as touch
the gun for some time, though he would speak to it when he thought I was
not near. Once he told me that what he said to it was to ask it not to
kill him.
I brought home the bird, and made broth of it. Friday was much struck
to see me eat salt with it, and made a wry face; but I, in my turn, took
some that had no salt with it, and I made a wry face at that. The next
day I gave him a piece of kid's flesh, which I had hung by a string in
front of the fire to roast. My plan was to put two poles, one on each
side of the fire, and a stick, on the top of them to hold the string.
When my slave came to taste the flesh, he took the best means to let me
know how good he thought it.
The next day I set him to beat out and sift some corn. I let him see me
make the bread, and he soon did all the work. I felt quite a love for
his true, warm heart, and he soon learnt to talk to me. One day I said,
"Do the men of your tribe win in fight?" He told me, with a smile, that
they did. "Well, then," said I, "How came they to let their foes take
you?"
"They run one, two, three, and make go in the boat that time."
"Well, and what do the men do with those they take?"
"Eat them all up."
This was not good news for me, but I went on, and said, "Where do they
take them?"
"Go to next place where they think."
"Do they come here?"
"Yes, yes, they come here, come else place too."
"Have you been here with them twice?"
"Yes, come there."
He meant the North West side of the isle, so to this spot I took him the
next day. He knew the place, and told me he was there once with a score
of men. To let me know this, he put a score of stones all of a row, and
made me count them.
"Are not the boats lost on your shore now and then?" He said that there
was no fear, and that no boats were lost. He told me that up a great way
by the moon--that is where the moon then came up--there dwelt a tribe
of white men like me, with beards. I felt sure that they must have come
from Spain, to work the gold mines. I put this to him: "Could I go from
this isle and join those men?"
"Yes, yes, you may go in two boats."
It was hard to see how one man could go in two boats, but what he meant
was, a boat twice as large as my own.