sterling in money, and had an estate, as I might well call it, in the
Brazils, of above a thousand pounds a year, as sure as an estate of
lands in England; and, in a word, I was in a condition which I scarce
knew how to understand, or how to compose myself for the enjoyment of
it. The first thing I did was to recompense my original benefactor, my
good old captain, who had been first charitable to me in my distress,
kind to me in my beginning, and honest to me at the end. I showed him
all that was sent to me; I told him, that next to the providence of
Heaven, which disposed all things, it was owing to him; and that it now
lay on me to reward him, which I would do a hundredfold: so I first
returned to him the hundred moidores I had received of him; then I sent
for a notary, and caused him to draw up a general release or discharge
from the four hundred and seventy moidores, which he had acknowledged he
owed me, in the fullest and firmest manner possible. After which I
caused a procuration to be drawn, empowering him to be my receiver of
the annual profits of my plantation, and appointing my partner to
account with him, and make the returns by the usual fleets to him in my
name; and a clause in the end, being a grant of one hundred moidores a
year to him during his life, out of the effects, and fifty moidores a
year to his son after him, for his life: and thus I requited my old man.
I was now to consider which way to steer my course next, and what to do
with the estate that Providence had thus put into my hands; and, indeed,
I had more care upon my head now than I had in my silent state of life
in the island, where I wanted nothing but what I had, and had nothing
but what I wanted; whereas I had now a great charge upon me, and my
business was how to secure it. I had never a cave now to hide my money
in, or a place where it might lie without lock or key, till it grew
mouldy and tarnished before any body would meddle with it: on the
contrary, I knew not where to put it, or whom to trust with it. My old
patron, the captain, indeed, was honest, and that was the only refuge I
had. In the next place, my interest in the Brazils seemed to summon me
thither; but now I could not tell how to think of going thither till I
had settled my affairs, and left my effects in some safe hands behind
me. At first I thought of my old friend the widow, who I knew was
honest, and would be just to me; but then she was in years, and but
poor, and, for aught. I knew, might be in debt; so that, in a word, I
had no way but to go back to England myself, and take my effects
with me.
It was some months, however, before I resolved upon this; and therefore,
as I had rewarded the old captain fully, and to his satisfaction, who
had been my former benefactor, so I began to think of my poor widow,
whose husband had been my first benefactor, and she, while it was in her
power, my faithful steward and instructor. So the first thing I did, I
got a merchant in Lisbon to write to his correspondent in London, not
only to pay a bill, but to go find her out, and carry her in money a
hundred pounds from me, and to talk with her, and comfort her in her
poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, have a further supply:
at the same time I sent my two sisters in the country a hundred pounds,
each, they being, though not in want, yet not in very good
circumstances; one having been married and left a widow; and the other
having a husband not so kind to her as he should be. But among all my
relations or acquaintances, I could not yet pitch upon one to whom I
durst commit the gross of my stock, that I might go away to the
Brazils, and leave things safe behind me; and this greatly perplexed me.
I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils, and have settled myself
there, for I was, as it were, naturalized to the place; but I had some
little scruple in my mind about religion, which insensibly drew me back.
However, it was not religion that kept me from going there for the
present; and as I had made no scruple of being openly of the religion of
the country all the while I was among them, so neither did I yet; only
that, now and then, having of late thought more of it than formerly,
when I began to think of living and dying among them, I began to regret
my having professed myself a papist, and thought it might not be the
best religion to die with.
But, as I have said, this was not the main thing that kept me from going
to the Brazils, but that really I did not know with whom to leave my
effects behind me; so I resolved, at last, to go to England with it,
where, if I arrived, I concluded I should make some acquaintance, or
find some relations that would be faithful to me; and, accordingly, I
prepared to go to England with all my wealth.
In order to prepare tilings for my going home, I first, the Brazil fleet
being just going away, resolved to give answers suitable to the just and
faithful account of things I had from thence; and, first, to the prior
of St. Augustine I wrote a letter full of thanks for their just
dealings, and the offer of the eight hundred and seventy-two moidores
which were undisposed of, which I desired might be given, five hundred
to the monastery, and three hundred and seventy-two to the poor, as the
prior should direct; desiring the good padre's prayers for me, and the
like. I wrote next a letter of thanks to my two trustees, with all the
acknowledgment that so much justice and honesty called for; as for
sending them any present, they were far above having any occasion for
it. Lastly, I wrote to my partner, acknowledging his industry in the
improving the plantation, and his integrity in increasing the stock of
the, works; giving him instructions for his future government of my
part, according to the powers I had left with my old patron, to whom I
desired him to send whatever became due to me, till he should hear from
me more particularly; assuring him that it was my intention not only to
come to him, but to settle myself there for the remainder of my life. To
this I added a very handsome present of some Italian silks for his wife
and two daughters, for such the captain's son informed me he had; with
two pieces of fine English broad-cloth, the best I could get in Lisbon,
five pieces of black baize, and some Flanders lace of a good value.
Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and turned all my effects
into good bills of exchange, my next difficulty was, which way to go to
England: I had been accustomed enough to the sea, and yet I had a
strange aversion to go to England by sea at that time; and though I
could give no reason for it, yet the difficulty increased upon me so
much, that though I had once shipped my baggage in order to go, yet I
altered my mind, and that not once, but two or three times.
It is true; I had been very unfortunate by sea, and this might be some
of the reasons; but let no man slight the strong impulses of his own
thoughts in cases of such moment: two of the ships which I had singled
out to go in, I mean more particularly singled out than any other,
having put my things on board one of them, and in the other to have
agreed with the captain; I say, two of these ships miscarried, viz. one
was taken by the Algerines, and the other was cast away on the Start,
near Torbay, and all the people drowned, except three; so that in either
of those vessels I had been made miserable.
Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I
communicated every thing, pressed me earnestly not to go by sea, but
either to go by land to the Groyne, and cross over the Bay of Biscay to
Rochelle, from whence it was but an easy and safe journey by land to
Paris, and so to Calais and Dover; or to go up to Madrid, and so all the
way by laud through France. In a word, I was so prepossessed against my
going by sea at all, except from Calas to Dover, that I resolved to
travel all the way by land; which, as I was not in haste, and did not
value the charge, was by much the pleasanter way: and to make it more
so, my old captain brought an English gentleman, the son of a merchant
in Lisbon, who was willing to travel with me; after which we picked up
two more English merchants also, and two young Portuguese gentlemen, the
last going to Paris only; so that in all there were six of us, and five
servants; the two merchants and the two Portuguese contenting themselves
with one servant between two, to save the charge; and as for me, I got
an English sailor to travel with me as a servant, besides my man Friday,
who was too much a stranger to be capable of supplying the place of a
servant on the road.
In this manner I set out from Lisbon; and our company being very well
mounted and armed, we made a little troop, whereof they did me the
honour to call me captain, as well because I was the oldest man, as
because I had two servants, and, indeed, was the original of the
whole journey.
As I have troubled you with none of my sea journals, so I shall trouble
you now with none of my land journal; but some adventures that happened
to us in this tedious and difficult journey I must not omit.
When we came to Madrid, we being all of us strangers to Spain, were
willing to stay some time to see the court of Spain, and to see what was
worth observing; but it being the latter part of the summer, we hastened
away, and set out from Madrid about the middle of October; but when we
came to the edge of Navarre, we were alarmed, at several towns on the
way, with an account that so much snow was fallen on the French side of
the mountains, that several travellers were obliged to come back to
Pampeluna, after having attempted, at an extreme hazard, to pass on.
When we came to Pampeluna itself, we found it so indeed; and to me, that
had been always used to a hot climate, and to countries where I could
scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insufferable: nor, indeed, was
it more painful than surprising, to come but ten days before out of Old
Castile, where the weather was not only warm, but very hot, and
immediately to feel a wind from the Pyrenean mountains so very keen, so
severely cold, as to be intolerable, and to endanger benumbing and
perishing of our fingers and toes.
Poor Friday was really frightened when he saw the mountains all covered
with snow, and felt cold weather, which he had never seen or felt before
in his life. To mend the matter, when we came to Pampeluna, it continued
snowing with so much violence, and so long, that the people said winter
was come before its time; and the roads, which were difficult before,
were now quite impassable; for, in a word, the snow lay in some places
too thick for us to travel, and being not hard frozen, as is the case in
the northern countries, there was no going without being in danger of
being buried alive every step. We stayed no less than twenty days at
Pampeluna; when seeing the winter coming on, and no likelihood of its
being better, for it was the severest winter all over Europe that had
been known in the memory of man, I proposed that we should all go away
to Fontarabia, and there take shipping for Bourdeaux, which was a very
little voyage. But while I was considering this, there came in four
French gentlemen, who having been stopped on the French side of the
passes, as we were on the Spanish, had found out a guide, who,
traversing the country near the head of Languedoc, had brought them over
the mountains by such ways, that they were not much incommoded with the
snow; for where they met with snow in any quantity, they said it was
frozen hard enough to bear them and their horses. We sent, for this
guide, who told us he would undertake to carry us the same way with no
hazard from the snow, provided we were armed sufficiently to protect
ourselves from wild beasts; for, he said, upon these great snows it was
frequent for some wolves to show themselves at the foot of the
mountains, being made ravenous for want of food, the ground being
covered with snow. We told him we were well enough prepared for such
creatures as they were, if he would ensure us from a kind of two-legged
wolves, which, we were told, we were in most danger from, especially on
the French side of the mountains. He satisfied us that there was no
danger of that kind in the way that we were to go: so we readily agreed
to follow him, as did also twelve other gentlemen, with their servants,
some French, some Spanish, who, as I said, had attempted to go, and were
obliged to come back again.
Accordingly, we set out from Pampeluna, with our guide, on the 15th of
November; and, indeed, I was surprised, when, instead of going forward,
he came directly back with us on the same road that we came from Madrid,
about twenty miles; when having passed two rivers, and come into the
plain country, we found ourselves in a warm climate again, where the
country was pleasant, and no snow to be seen; but on a sudden, turning
to his left, he approached the mountains another way: and though it is
true the hills and precipices looked dreadful, yet he made so many
tours, such meanders, and led us by such winding ways, that we
insensibly passed the height of the mountains without being much
encumbered with the snow; and, all on a sudden, he showed us the
pleasant fruitful provinces of Languedoc and Gascony, all green and
flourishing, though, indeed, at a great distance, and we had some rough
way to pass still.
We were a little uneasy, however, when we found it snowed one whole day
and a night so fast, that we could not travel; but he bid us be easy; we
should soon be past it all: we found, indeed, that we began to descend
every day, and to come more north than before; and so depending upon our
guide, we went on.
It was about two hours before night, when our guide being something
before us, and not just in sight, out rushed three monstrous wolves, and
after them a bear, out of a hollow way adjoining to a thick wood: two of
the wolves made at the guide, and had he been far before us, he would
have been devoured before we could have helped him; one of them fastened
upon his horse, and the other attacked the man with that violence, that
he had not time, or presence of mind enough, to draw his pistol, but
hallooed and cried out to us most lustily. My man Friday being next me,
I bade him ride up, and see what was the matter. As soon as Friday came
in sight of the man, he hallooed out as loud as the other, "O master! O
master!" but, like a bold fellow, rode directly up to the poor man, and
with his pistol shot the wolf that attacked him in the head.
It was happy for the poor man that it was my man Friday; for he having
been used to such creatures in his country, he had no fear upon him, but
went close up to him and shot him, as above; whereas any other of us
would have fired at a farther distance, and have perhaps either missed
the wolf, or endangered shooting the man.
But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man than I; and, indeed, it
alarmed all our company, when, with the noise of Friday's pistol, we
heard on both sides the most dismal howling of wolves; and the noise,
redoubled by the echo of the mountains, appeared to us as if there had
been a prodigious number of them; and perhaps there was not such a few
as that we had no cause of apprehensions: however, as Friday had killed
this wolf, the other that had fastened upon the horse left him
immediately, and fled, without doing him any damage, having happily
fastened upon his head, where the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his
teeth. But the man was most hurt; for the raging creature had bit him
twice, once in the arm, and the other time a little above his knee; and
though he had made some defence, he was just as it were tumbling down by
the disorder of his horse, when Friday came up and shot the wolf.
It is easy to suppose that at the noise of Friday's pistol we all mended
our pace, and rode up as fast as the way, which was very difficult,
would give us leave, to see what was the matter. As soon as we came
clear of the trees, which blinded us before, we saw clearly what had
been the case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide, though we
did not presently discern what kind of creature it was he had killed.
But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in such a surprising
manner, as that which followed between Friday and the bear, which gave
us all, though at first we were surprised and afraid for him, the
greatest diversion imaginable. As the bear is a heavy clumsy creature,
and does not gallop as the wolf does, who is swift and light, so he has
two particular qualities, which generally are the rule of his actions:
first, as to men, who are not his proper prey, (he does not usually
attempt them, except they first attack him, unless he be excessive
hungry, which it is probable might now be the case, the ground being
covered with snow,) if you do not meddle with him, he will not meddle
with you; but then you must take care to be very civil to him, and give
him the road, for he is a very nice gentleman; he will not go a step out
of his way for a prince; nay, if you are really afraid, your best way is
to look another way, and keep going on; for sometimes if you stop, and
stand still, and look steadfastly at him, he takes it for an affront;
but if you throw or toss any thing at him, and it hits him, though it
were but a bit of stick as big as your finger, he thinks himself abused,
and sets all other business aside to pursue his revenge, and will have
satisfaction in point of honour;--this is his first quality: the next
is, if he be once affronted, he will never leave yon, night nor day,
till he has his revenge, but follows, at a good round rate, till he
overtakes yon.
My man Friday had delivered our guide, and when we came up to him, he
was helping him off from his horse, for the man was both hurt and
frightened, when, on a sudden, we espied the bear come out of the wood,
and a vast monstrous one it was, the biggest by far that ever I saw. We
were all a little surprised when we saw him; but when Friday saw him,
it was easy to see joy and courage in the fellow's countenance: "O, O,
O!" says Friday, three times, pointing to him; "O master! you give me
te leave, me shakee te hand with him; me makee you good laugh."
I was surprised to see the fellow so well pleased; "You fool," says I,
"he will eat you up,"--"Eatee me up! eatee me up!" says Friday, twice
over again; "me eatee him up; me' makee you good laugh; you all stay
here, me show you good laugh." So down he sits, and gets off his boots
in a moment, and puts on a pair of pumps, (as we call the flat shoes
they wear, and which he had in his pocket,) gives my other servant his
horse, and with his gun away he flew, swift like the wind.
The bear was walking softly on, and offered to meddle with nobody, till
Friday coming pretty near, calls to him, as if the bear could understand
him, "Hark ye, hark ye," says Friday, "me speakee with you." We followed
at a distance; for now being come down on the Gaseony side of the
mountains, we were entered a vast great forest, where the country was
plain and pretty open, though it had many trees in it scattered here and
there. Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with
him quickly, and takes up a great stone and throws it at him, and hit
him just on the head, but did him no more harm than if he had thrown it
against a wall; but it answered Friday's end, for the rogue was so void
of fear that he did it purely to make the bear follow him, and show us
some laugh, as he called it. As soon as the bear felt the blow, and saw
him, he turns about, and comes after him, taking devilish long strides,
and shuffling on at a strange rate, so as would have put a horse to a
middling gallop: away runs Friday, and takes his course as if he run
towards us for help; so we all resolved to fire at once upon the bear,
and deliver my man; though I was angry at him heartily for bringing the
bear back upon us, when he was going about his own business another way:
and especially I was angry that he had turned the bear upon us, and then
run away; and I called out, "You dog, is this your making us laugh? Come
away, and take your horse, that we may shoot the creature." He heard me,
and cried out, "No shoot, no shoot; stand still, and you get much
laugh:" and as the nimble creature ran two feet for the bear's one, he
turned on a sudden, on one side of us, and seeing a great oak tree fit
for his purpose, he beckoned to us to follow; and doubling his pace, he
gets nimbly up the tree, laying his gun down upon the ground, at about
five or six yards from the bottom of the tree. The bear soon came to the
tree, and we followed at a distance: the first thing he did, he stopped
at the gun, smelt to it, but let it lie, and up he scrambles into the
tree, climbing like a cat, though so monstrous heavy. I was amazed at
the folly, as I thought it, of my man, and could not for my life see any
thing to laugh at yet, till seeing the bear get up the tree, we all rode
near to him.
When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small end of a
large branch, and the bear got about half way to him. As soon as the
bear got out to that part where the limb of the tree was weaker,--"Ha!"
says he to us, "now you see me teachee the bear dance:" so he falls a
jumping and shaking the bough, at which the bear began to totter, but
stood still, and began to look behind him, to see how he should get
back; then, indeed, we did laugh heartily. But Friday had not done with
him by a great deal; when seeing him stand still, he calls out to him
again, as if he had supposed the bear could speak English, "What, you
come no farther? pray you come farther:" so he left jumping and shaking
the tree; and the bear, just as if he understood what he said, did come
a little farther; then he fell a jumping again, and the bear stopped
again. We thought now was a good time to knock him in the head, and
called to Friday to stand still, and we would shoot the bear: but he
cried out earnestly, "O pray! O pray! no shoot, me shoot by and then;"
he would have said by and by. However, to shorten the story, Friday
danced so much, and the bear stood so ticklish, that we had laughing
enough, but still could not imagine what the fellow would do: for first
we thought he depended upon shaking the bear off; and we found the bear
was too cunning for that too; for he would not go out far enough to be
thrown down, but clings fast with his great broad claws and feet, so
that we could not imagine what would be the end of it, and what the jest
would be at last. But Friday put us out of doubt quickly: for seeing the
bear cling fast to the bough, and that he would not be persuaded to come
any farther, "Well, well," says Friday, "you no come farther, me go; you
no come to me, me come to you:" and upon this he goes out to the smaller
end of the bough, where it would bend with his weight, and gently lets
himself down by it, sliding down the bough, till he came near enough to
jump down on his feet, and away he runs to his gun, takes it up, and
stands still. "Well," said I to him, "Friday, what will you do now? Why
don't you shoot him?"--"No shoot," says Friday, "no yet; me shoot now,
me no kill; me stay, give you one more laugh:" and, indeed, so he did,
as you will see presently; for when the bear saw his enemy gone, he
comes back from the bough where he stood, but did it mighty cautiously,
looking behind him every step, and coming backward till he got into the
body of the tree; then with the same hinder end foremost, he came down
the tree, grasping it with his claws, and moving one foot at a time,
very leisurely. At this juncture, and just before he could set his hind
foot on the ground, Friday stepped up close to him, clapped the muzzle
of his piece into his ear, and shot him dead. Then the rogue turned
about to see if we did not laugh; and when he saw we were pleased, by
our looks, he falls a laughing himself very loud. "So we kill bear in
my country," says Friday. "So you kill them?" says I: "why, you have no
guns."--"No," says he, "no gun, but shoot great much long arrow." This
was a good diversion to us; but we were still in a wild place, and our
guide very much hurt, and what to do we hardly knew: the howling of
wolves ran much in my head; and, indeed, except the noise I once heard
on the shore of Africa, of which I have said something already, I never
heard any thing that filled me with so much horror.
These things, and the approach of night, called us off, or else, as
Friday would have had us, we should certainly have taken the skin of
this monstrous creature off, which was worth saving; but we had near
three leagues to go, and our guide hastened us; so we left him, and went
forward on our journey.