ROBINSON BUILDS A SECOND BOAT,
IN WHICH HE IS SWEPT OUT TO SEA
By the time that Robinson had been four years on the island, all his
clothes had become very ragged, and he had hardly anything that could
be called a hat. Clothes he must have, for he could not go naked
without getting his skin blistered by the hot sun, and he was afraid of
getting a sunstroke if he went about without a hat.
Now he had kept all the skins of the goats, and other animals, such as
hares and foxes, that he had shot; and from these, after many failures,
at last he made a hat and coat of goatskin, and a pair of short
trousers, all with the hair outside, so as to shoot off the wet when it
rained. The hat was very tall, and came to a sharp peak on top, and it
had a flap which hung down the back of his neck. Robinson also, with
much trouble, made of the skins an umbrella which he could open and
shut; and if his clothes and his umbrella, and especially his hat, were
not very good to look at, they were useful, and he could now go about
in any weather.
During the next five years nothing out of the common happened, and
Robinson’s time was mostly taken up with the getting of food, the
yearly sowing and reaping of his crops, and the curing of his raisins.
But towards the end of that time he made another attempt to build a
boat, and this time he made one much smaller than the first, and though
it took him nearly two years to finish, in the end he got her into the
sea. She was not big enough for him to try to sail in to the far-off
land that he had seen, and he used her only for cruising about the
shores of his own island, and for fishing. In her he fixed a little
mast, on which he rigged a small sail, made from a bit of one of the
old ship’s sails, and, using a paddle to steer with, he found that she
sailed very well. Over the stern he fixed his big umbrella, to shade
him from the sun, like an awning.
Eager to go all round the island, one day Robinson put a lot of food
on board, and, taking his gun, started on a voyage. All went well till
he came to the east end of the island, where he found that a ledge of
rocks, and beyond that a sand-bank, stretched out to sea for eight
or nine miles. Robinson did not like the idea of venturing so far in
a boat so small, and he therefore ran the boat ashore, and climbed a
hill, to get a good view of the rocks and shoals before going near
them. From the hill, he saw that a strong current was sweeping past
the sand-bank, which showed just clear of the water, and on which the
sea was breaking; but he thought there was an eddy which would swing
him safely round the point, without bringing him near the breakers.
However, that day and the next, there was a good deal of wind blowing
in the direction contrary to the current, which, of course, raised a
sea too big for a small boat, so Robinson stopped on shore where he was.
On the third day it was calm, and he set off. But no sooner had he come
abreast of the sand-bank than he found himself in very deep water, with
a current running like a mill-race, which carried the boat further and
further away from the land, in spite of all that he could do with his
paddle. There was no wind, and the sail was useless.
Now he gave himself up for lost, for the harder he worked, only the
further away seemed the boat to be swept. The island was soon so far
off that Robinson could hardly see it, and he was quite exhausted
with the hard struggle to paddle the boat against the current. He was
in despair, and giving up paddling, left the boat to drift where she
would. Just then a faint puff of wind touched his cheek, and Robinson
hurriedly hoisted his sail. Soon a good breeze blew, which carried him
past a dangerous reef of rocks. Here the current seemed to divide, the
part in which he now was began to swing round towards the island, and
he plucked up heart again, and with his paddle did all he could to help
the sail. Robinson felt like a man who is set free after he has been
told that he must die; he could almost have wept for joy. Miles and
miles he sailed, steadily getting nearer to the land, and late in the
evening at last he got ashore, but on the other side of the point that
he had tried to round in the morning. He drew up his boat on the shore
of a little cove that he found, and when he had made her fast, so that
the tide could not carry her away, there amongst the trees he lay down,
and slept sound, quite worn out.
In the morning he again got on board, and coasted along close inshore,
till he came to a bay with a little river running into it, which made a
very good harbour for the boat. Here he left her, and went on foot.
Soon he found that he was not far from a spot that he had once before
visited, and by afternoon he arrived at the hut which he called his
country-house. Robinson got over the fence by the ladder, as usual,
pulling it up after him, and then he lay down to rest in the shade, for
he was still very weary from the hard work of the day before. Soon he
fell asleep. But what was his surprise in a little time to be awakened
by a voice calling, ‘Robin! Robin Crusoe! where are you?’
At first he thought he was dreaming. But still the voice went on
calling:
‘Where are you, Robin?’
Up he jumped, trembling with fright and wonder, for it was so long
since he had heard any voice but his own that he fancied it must be
something more than human that he now listened to. But no sooner had
he risen than he saw, sitting on a tree near to him, his parrot, which
must have flown all the way from Robinson’s other house, where he had
been left. It was talking away at a great rate, very excited at again
seeing its master, and Robinson hardly knew whether to be more relieved
or disappointed that it was only the bird that had called him.
For about a year after this Robinson kept to his own side of the
island, and employed his time chiefly in working on his land, and
in making dishes and pots of clay. These he had now learned to burn
properly. Pipes, too, he made, and they were a great comfort to him,
for he managed to cure very good tobacco from the wild plants that grew
around. And as he feared lest his powder might begin to run short, he
thought much over ways whereby he could trap goats for food, instead
of shooting them. After many trials, the best plan, he decided, was to
dig holes, which he covered with thin branches and leaves, on which he
sprinkled earth, so that when anything heavy passed over, it must fall
into the pit. By this means he caught many, and the kids he kept and
tamed, so that in no great time he had quite a large herd of goats.
These he kept in various small fields, round which from time to time he
had put fences.