Attempt to make a fire. Distil salt water. First meal. Reflections.
Hat-making. Repose.
I slept all night soundly in spite of the cool air and the novelty of
my situation. When I awoke, the sun was about two hours high, and I
came out from under my cedar-tree feeling quite refreshed, with the
exception of an intolerable thirst. The want of water had troubled me
on the preceding day, and it flashed across my mind, What shall I do if
I find no fresh water?--what shall I do if I find no fresh water?--and
this refrain kept now running through my head, accompanied with another
tune, What will you do for fire?--what will you do for fire? These
two melodies filled my ears without cessation. I arose from my seat
on the bank, and proceeded to the sea in front of me, and washed my
face and combed out my hair. I then fell upon my knees and invoked the
assistance of Divine Providence in my distress. Having ended these
duties I began to look about me for water,--water.
Should I start off at a venture and run the chance of finding water,
failing in which I should perish, or should I at once begin to work
with the brains that God had given me, to procure in a scientific
manner that which Nature had refused? If, thought I, I start off
and use up all my strength in a vain search, I can then but lay down
and die; whilst on the other hand, by commencing now whilst I am
comparatively fresh, to try and overcome this obstacle, I have two
chances of life: for, failing here, I can as a last resort push forward
into the island till I find water or lie down and die for want of it.
Having thus firmly made up my mind, I began to think. To procure water
I must first make fire. How should I do it? Matches I had none; flint,
steel, or tinder I was without, and no means of procuring them. I
_must_ find steel, flint, and tinder, but where? how? My eyes fell upon
the anchor, and that gave me an idea, but I knew that the iron of which
it was composed was too soft and rusty to be of use for my purpose. I
bethought me of the nails in the planking, but upon examination they
also were too soft.
An inspiration struck me. I drew off one of my shoes, and by means of
one of the larger nails and a pebble soon had one of the heels off,
displaying a row of nails that I hoped were hard enough for my purpose.
I pounded one of the most likely looking ones out of the leather, and
found it quite hard and polished. I ran towards the line of pebbles
that the sea had for ages cast up, and looked for a flinty stone to
strike my nail upon. I tried several, but could get no spark. I began
to despair. I had in boyhood thrown large stones together in the night
time on purpose to see the sparks fly, but I was well aware that,
obtained in this manner, they would be too weak to ignite any tinder,
and my only salvation was in my shoe nail and a flint, or at least a
flinty stone. I sought and sought, and tried and tried, without the
slightest success. The sweat began to drop from my brow in great beads
of excitement; finally I edged more towards the upper part of the beach
and towards a small cluster of rocks further inland, whose base was
also surrounded by small pebbles. I had almost given up hope, when,
pushing the pebbles to one side, I turned up to the light one of a
dirty yellow color that I was convinced was a veritable piece of flint.
I seized upon it and wiped it upon my clothes, for it was damp, and
felt convinced that it was genuine flint. I had to lay it in the sun to
dry before I could prove it, and you can little know the agony that I
endured in that short interval. At last the flint was dry, and, taking
it in my hand, I struck it against the nail. Eureka! Eureka! A faint
but perfect spark shone for an instant in the open air. I rushed back
with my prize to my cedar-tree, and placing the nail and flint where I
could easily find them, I plunged into the grove to look for tinder.
I took within half an hour a hundred different substances in my hand
to examine them and see if they would serve my purpose. Walking on, I
came to a little open field with a short, sour grass, and it was here
that I hoped to find my prize. Do you ask what I was looking for? I
was looking for one of those dried-up balls, that, as boys, we used to
burst open and see the dust fly, that we called nigger-balls. Moving
along I came upon a plant that is sometimes used to make pickles of,
and I knew that the pod contained a soft silky substance something like
cotton. I seized upon this and pulled off an old last year's pod, and
found the substance I was in search of. I did not know whether it would
do for tinder or not, but I hoped so. I ran about the field looking to
the right and the left, and as I was about to give the search up, right
under my nose I espied a large nigger-ball. I fastened upon it and
posted back to my bank near the cedar-tree. The time for the final test
had come. Now to the supreme trial.
I burst open the nigger-ball and extracted a small quantity of the
dark, dust-like powder that it contained, and laid it carefully upon
a small, smooth stone. I then extracted some of the cotton-like fibre
from my milkweed pod, and picked it carefully apart into minute atoms
with my fingers, and mixed it into the dust before me on the stone. I
gathered together minute dry twigs and leaves all ready to place upon
the tinder should I be able to ignite it. I leaned over my tinder,
and with the shoe nail grasped carefully and firmly in the left hand
I placed it near to it, and with the right hand containing the flint
struck it a smart blow. The first spark missed the tinder entirely. I
moved my hand slightly, and the next stroke sent a fine spark into the
very centre of the pile, and in one moment it was ignited, and a little
snake of fire began to run in and out of the tinder. I blew carefully
upon this and put little pieces of wood in the right places, petted
and worked upon it until, with a careful but increasing blast, it burst
into flame. I piled on wood and sticks till I felt sure of the result,
and then commenced dancing and singing round about the flame, till in
my weakness and excitement I fell down in a dead faint. I opened my
eyes again to see my fire burning cheerily away as if it was the most
natural thing in the world.
[Illustration: STRIKING FIRE WITH FLINT AND STEEL.--PAGE 48.]
Now for water! water! I seized upon the canister of garden seeds, which
was an old powder canister formerly, and would contain, I should say,
a gallon of water, and poured out the seeds through the screw hole in
the top upon a large flat stone, and covered them with a few leaves.
Weak as I then was, I recognized beans, wheat, rice, corn, cucumbers,
&c. I took the empty canister to the sea and washed it carefully out
and brought it back filled with salt water, and placed it upon my
fire, which was now burning splendidly. I rushed again to the seashore
and picked up several long pieces of kelp, which we boys used to call
devil's apron, and which I knew were long, hollow tubes that would suit
my purpose admirably. With the small twine in my pocket, and a piece of
my flannel shirt and various leaves, I bound one of these long tubes
of kelp to the screw hole of the canister on the fire, and supported
it clear of the flames by means of crotched sticks, which I tore from
trees near by, and also built a wall round about the fire, to confine
it more, made out of stones, upon which I rested the opposite edges of
the canister. I led this tube of kelp, which was at least ten feet
long, gradually down hill towards the ocean, and, digging a long furrow
in the sand, I filled it with wet kelp and seaweed, placed my tube
therein, and covered it up again with sand; at the orifice I dug quite
a deep hole, and set one of the empty meat-cans under it to catch the
dropping water that I knew must appear as soon as my powder canister
commenced to boil. I took the bailer and rushed to the ocean, and
saturated, by repeated trips, the sand under which my tube was buried.
By this time my thirst was fearful, and having heard that bathing is
sometimes useful in such circumstances, I dragged off my clothes, and,
too weak to swim, I lay down in the cool water at full length upon
the sandy bottom, within view of my fire and condenser. Anxious as I
was, I knew that I must sustain my strength, and I could think of no
better method than this. The cool sea water revived me greatly, more
than I could have believed possible, and, fearing to stay in too long,
I tottered ashore and to my little well. Water! water! There it was
dribbling out of the tube of kelp into the meat-can--already an inch
or two had collected. Although tasting badly of the salt kelp tube
through which it had passed, you can little know the rapture with which
I swallowed it and thanked God. In a few moments more I had enough for
another swallow, and of a much better quality, less brackish, and by
quietly waiting I soon had two or three inches of quite good water,
brackish to be sure, but pure enough to support life and to course like
quicksilver through my veins and give me a new lease of life. Suffice
it to say that, by renewing my canister on the fire, I had in a few
hours both the meat-cans full of water, and my craving thirst entirely
quenched. Brains had won. I had both fire and water--two of the four
elements--at my command. As soon as my thirst was appeased I commenced
to feel the pangs of hunger, but this gave me little disquietude, for
I had not been digging in the sand without observing that there were
plenty of clams on every side of me, and with a short stick I soon
had as many as I wanted on the surface, and from thence to the hot
stones of my fire, where I covered them with wet seaweed and allowed
them to roast. Whilst this was going on I strayed away to the left a
short distance, where I had seen many gulls gathered together, and
sure enough, as I suspected, I found the crevices of the rocks full of
eggs. I took upon myself, as proprietor of the island, to abstract some
dozen of them, and taking the large canister and rinsing it out with a
very little of the precious fresh water, I poured the remainder into it
from the meat-can, and started with the latter to the sea, and returned
with it filled with sea water, which I placed upon my fire, and dropped
into it half a dozen of my new-found eggs, which soon commenced to
boil right merrily. By this time my clams were baked or roasted, and I
sat down to my first meal, consisting of boiled eggs, baked clams, and
fresh water, with a thankful and even a cheerful heart; for had I not
overcome impossibilities almost, and made sure of the two great wants
of humanity, fire and water, which meant food, life, everything?
Nature being satisfied, I began to think of the horror of my situation,
the only survivor of a company of gallant fellows that had left England
in such good spirits only a few months ago. Here was I, a poor Robinson
Crusoe, alone and desolate on an unknown island. I tried to penetrate
the dark future and discover what fate still held in store for me. By
this time the day had passed into afternoon, and I felt the necessity
of preparing for the coming night. My great fear was that the island
was inhabited by savages, and if so I had preserved my life to little
purpose, for I should, upon being discovered, probably be killed at
once, or else be made to drag out a miserable existence as their slave,
or be kept a captive by them for the term of my natural life.
I glanced about me and saw that the island was fair to look upon, and
evidently of considerable extent. I desired to explore it, but prudence
and fear restrained me. My first care was to get some covering for my
head; the rays of the sun, although not oppressive, were uncomfortable.
I passed again through the grove of cedars and into the open field, and
looked about for something to make a hat of, but found nothing then to
suit me. I returned to the seaside again, and what would do for the
purpose struck my eye at once, namely, a sort of saltwater rushes which
grew out of the sand in large quantities, not far from me to the right,
similar to what we used to call at home sedge. I gathered sufficient
of the riper and less green leaves and stalks for my purpose, and
commenced to lay them up into what sailors call five-strand sennit, and
what young ladies would call five-strand braiding. I soon had several
yards of this material laid up, and found it quite well suited for my
purpose. When I had what I deemed sufficient I took the nail I had
before used to open the meat-can with, and which I kept in my pocket,
and commenced to bring its end to a sharp point by grinding it upon
a soft pebble that lay beside me, and having brought it to a point I
went to work and unlaid about a fathom of my manilla rope, and, taking
the edge of a clam-shell, sawed off one of the strands, and from that
I selected a few threads, which I laid up again into a good strong
twine. I then commenced at the crown of my straw hat, and by turning
the sennit round upon itself I soon had that part completed, for as I
passed once round, I, with the sharp nail as a pricker, forced holes
through each part at distances of every two or three inches of the
circumference, and passed my manilla twine through, knotted it, and
cut it off with the edge of my clam-shell. In this way, in an hour or
two I had quite a good straw hat with a large wide brim, and, although
hastily tacked together instead of being sewed, it answered my purpose
admirably. My hand being now in, I made, in the same manner and of
the same stock, quite a long, deep bag, which I fitted with a strong
manilla string to pass over my shoulder and hang by my side.
My next task was to get together plenty of wood for my precious
fire during the night. But this was an easy affair, the very edge of
the grove abounding in fallen and dried branches of every kind and
description.
I made another trip to the gulls' eggs, equipped in my new hat and with
my bag slung at my side, and returned with it filled with as many as I
desired, and for contingencies I boiled quite a large number of them in
salt water in my meat-can over the fire.
As a last thing, I went to the field and brought back an armful of
grass, which I strewed under my cedar-tree, and increased it with a
large bundle of dried seaweed for bed-clothing, and a good-sized stone
for a pillow. Having completed all these arrangements, eaten again of
my gulls' eggs and baked clams, and carefully attended to my fire, I
cut up some of the small quantity of tobacco remaining to me with my
clam-shell, and placing it in my pipe had a quiet smoke.
By this time the sun was sinking to rest, and I took care to make the
record of the day upon the boat-planking, and also opened a calendar
account upon one of the branches of my cedar-tree by means of my
pointed nail and clam-shell.
As the dusk came on I began to think, What is the next most important
thing for me to do? My mind answered me, Preserve your fire, or invent
means so that you can light it without trouble. I should say that I
had already burned a piece of the cotton lining of my trousers, and
carefully preserved it between two clean, large sea-clam shells for
tinder.
I thought that I saw my way clear to protect my fire on the morrow,
and also to give myself some weapons of offence, and after having
asked God's pity upon my condition I dropped asleep in my seaweed bed,
thinking of these things, with my fire near by me well covered up with
ashes.