showed us the pleasant and fruitful provinces of It was happy for the poor man that it was my man Friday; for, having been used to such creatures in his country, he had no fear upon him, but went close up to him and shot him: whereas, any other of us would have fired at a farther distance, and would perhaps either have 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 My man Friday had delivered our guide, and when we I was surprised to see the fellow so well pleased: road, for he is a very nice gentleman; he will not go a like a cat, though so monstrous heavy. I was amazed FRIDAY TEACHES THE BEAR TO DANCE. the most dismal howling of wolves; and the noise, him, as if the bear could understand him, "Hark ye, redoubled by the echo of the mountains, appeared to us hark ye," says Friday, "me speakee with you." We as if there had been a prodigious number of them; and followed at a distance, for now being down on the perhaps there was not such a few as that we had no Gascony side of the mountains, we were entered a vast cause of aprehension: however, as Friday had killed forest, where the country was plain and pretty open, this wolf, the other that had fastened upon the horse though it had many trees in it scattered here and there. left him immediately, and fled, without doing him any Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came damage, having happily fastened upon his head, where up with him quickly, and took up a great stone, and the bosses of the bridle had stuck in his teeth. But threw it at him, and hit him just on the head, but did the man was most hurt; for the raging creature had him no more harm than if he had thrown it against a bit him twice, once in the arm, and the other time a wall; but it answered Friday's end, for the rogue was little above his knee; and though he had made some so void of fear that he did it merely to make the bear defence, he was just tumbling down by the disorder of follow him, and show us some laugh, as he called it. his horse, when Friday came up and shot the wolf. As soon as the bear felt the blow, and saw him, he It is easy to suppose that at the noise of Friday's turns about, and comes after him, taking very long pistol we all mended our pace, and rode up as fast as strides, and shuffling on at a strange rate, so as would the way, which was very difficult, would give us leave, have put a horse to a middling gallop; away runs Friday, to see what was the matter. As soon as we came clear and takes his course as if he ran towards us for help; so of the trees, which blinded us before, we saw clearly we all resolved to fire at once upon the bear, and deliver what had been the case, and how Friday had disengaged my man; though I was angry at him heartily for bringthe poor guide, though we did not presently discern ing the bear back upon us, when he was going about his what kind of creature it was he had killed, business another way; and especially I was angry that But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in he had turned the bear upon us and then ran away; such a surprising manner, as that which followed between and I called out, "You dog! is this your making us Friday and the bear, which gave us all, though at first laugh? Come away, and take your horse, that we may we were surprised and afraid for him, the greatest diver- shoot the creature." He heard me, and cried out, "No sion imaginable. As a bear is a heavy, clumsy creature, shoot, no shoot; stand still, and you get much laugh:" and does not gallop as the wolf does, who is swift and and as the nimble creature ran two feet for the bear's light, so he has two particular qualities, which generally one, he turned on a sudden on one side of us, and seeing are the rule of his actions; first, as to men, who are not a great oak-tree fit for his purpose, he beckoned to us his proper prey (he does not usually attempt them, to follow; and doubling his pace, he got nimbly up the except they first attack him, unless he be excessively tree, laying his gun down upon the ground, at about 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 five or six yards from the bottom of the tree. The bear 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. The ground was still covered with snow, though not so deep and dangerous as on the mountains; and the ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards, were come down into the forest and plain country, pressed by hunger, to seek for food, and had done a great deal of mischief in the villages, where they surprised the country people, killed a great many of their sheep and horses, and some people too. We had one dangerous place to pass, and our guide told us, if there were more wolves in the country we should find them there; and this was a small plain surrounded with woods on every side, and a long narrow defile, or lane, which we were to pass to get through the wood, and then we should come to the village where we were to lodge. It was within half an hour of sunset when we entered the wood, and a little after sunset when we entered the plain: we met with nothing in the first wood, except that in a little plain within the wood, which was not above two furlongs over, we saw five great wolves cross the road, full speed, one after another, as if they had : been in chase of some prey, and had it in view; they took no notice of us, and were gone out of sight in a few moments. Upon this, our guide, who by the way was but a faint-hearted fellow, bid us keep in a ready posture, for he believed there were more wolves a-coming." We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us; but we saw no more wolves till we came through that wood, which was near half a league, and entered the plain. As soon as we came into the plain, we had occasion enough to look about us: the first object we met with was a dead horse; that is to say, a poor horse which the wolves had killed, and at least a dozen of them at work, we could not say eating him, but picking his bones rather; for they had eaten up all the flesh before. We did not think fit to disturb them at their feast, neither did they take much notice of us. Friday would have let fly at them, but I would not suffer him by any means; for I found we were like to have more business upon our hands than we were aware of. We had not gone half over the plain, when we began to hear the wolves howl in the wood on our left in a frightful manner, and presently after we saw about a hundred coming on directly towards us, all in a body, and most of them in a line, as regularly as an army drawn up by experienced officers. I scarce knew in what manner to receive them, but found to draw ourselves in a close line was the only way; so we formed in a moment; but that we might not have too much interval, I ordered that only every other man should fire, and that the others, who had not fired, should stand ready to give them a second volley immediately, if they continued to advance upon us; and then that those who had fired at first, should not pretend to load their fusees again, but stand ready, every one with a pistol, for we were all armed with a fusee and a pair of pistols each man; so we were, by this method, able to fire six volleys, half of us at a time: however, at present we had no necessity; for upon firing the first volley, the enemy made a full stop, being terrified as well with the noise as with the fire. Four of them being shot in the head, dropped; several others were wounded, and went bleeding off, as we could see by the snow. I found they stopped, but did not immediately retreat; whereupon, remembering that I had been told that the fiercest creatures were terrified at the voice of a man, I caused all the company to halloo as loud as they could; and I found the notion not altogether mistaken; for upon our shout they began to retire and turn about. I then ordered a second volley to be fired in their rear, which put them to the gallop, and away they went to the woods. This gave us leisure to charge our pieces again; and that we might lose no time, we kept going; but we had but little more than loaded our fusees, and put ourselves in readiness, when we heard a terrible noise in the same wood on our left, only that it was farther onward, the same way we were to go. The night was coming on, and the light began to be dusky, which made it worse on our side; but the noise increasing, we could easily perceive that it was the howling and yelling of those hellish creatures; and, on a sudden, we perceived three troops of wolves, one on our left, one behind us, and one in our front, so that we seemed to be surrounded with them: however, as they did not fall upon us, we kept our way forward, as fast as we could make our horses go, which, the way being very rough, was only a good hard trot. In this manner, we came in view of the entrance of a wood, through which we were to pass, at the farther side of the plain; but we were greatly surprised, when coming uearer the lane or pass, we saw a confused number of wolves standing just at the entrance. On a sudden, at another opening of the wood, we heard the noise of a gun, and looking that way, out rushed a horse, with a saddle and a bridle on him, flying like the wind, and sixteen or seventeen wolves after him full speed: the horse had the advantage of them; but as we supposed that he could not hold it at that rate, we doubted not but they would get up with him at last: no question but they did. But here we had a most horrible sight; for, riding up to the entrance where the horse came out, we found the carcases of another horse and of two men, devoured by the ravenous creatures; and one of the men was no doubt the same whom we heard fire the gun, for there lay a gun just by him fired off; but as to the man, his head and the upper part of his body were eaten up. This filled us with horror, and we knew not what course to take; but the creatures resolved us soon, for they gathered about us presently, in hopes of prey; and I verily believe there were three hundred of them. It happened, very much to our advantage, that at the entrance into the wood, but a little way from it, there lay some large timber-trees, which had been cut down the summer before, and I suppose lay there for carriage. I drew my little troop in among those trees, and placing ourselves in a line behind one long tree, I advised them all to alight, and keeping that tree before us for a breastwork, to stand in a triangle, or three fronts, inclosing our horses in the centre. We did so, and it was well we did; for never was a more furious charge than the creatures made upon us in this place. They came on with a growling kind of noise, and mounted the piece of timber, which, as I said, was our breastwork, as if they were only rushing upon their prey; and this fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occasioned by their seeing our horses behind us. I ordered our senseless of danger,-and that if we had not by the con men to fire as before, every other man; and they took tinued fire, and at last by the stratagem of the train of their aim so sure that they killed several of the wolves powder, mastered them, it had been great odds but that at the first volley; but there was a necessity to keep a we had been torn to pieces; whereas had we been concontinual firing, for they came on like devils, those tent to have sat still on horseback, and fired as horsemen, behind pushing on those before. they would not have taken the horses so much for their When we had fired a second volley of our fusees, we own, when men were on their backs, as otherwise; and, thought they stopped a little, and I hoped they would withal, they told us that at last, if we had stood altohave gone off, but it was but a moment, for others came gether, and left our horses, they would have been so forward again; so we fired two volleys of our pistols; eager to have devoured them, that we might have come and I believe in these four firings we had killed off safe, especially having our fire-arms in our hands, seventeen or eighteen of them, and lamed twice as being so many in number. For my part, I was never so many, yet they came on again. I was loath to spend sensible of danger in my life,-for, seeing above three our shot too hastily; so I called my servant, not my hundred devils come roaring and open-mouthed to man Friday, for he was better employed, for, with the devour us, and having nothing to shelter us or retreat greatest dexterity imaginable, he had charged my fusee to, I gave myself over for lost; and, as it was, I believe and his own while we were engaged,-but, as I said, I shall never care to cross those mountains again; I I called my other man, and giving him a horn of powder, think I would much rather go a thousand leagues by I bade him lay a train all along the piece of timber, and sea, though I was sure to meet with a storm once a let it be a large train. He did so, and had but just week. time to get away, when the wolves came up to it, and some got upon it, when I, snapping an uncharged pistol close to the powder, set it on fire; those that were upon the timber where scorched with it, and six or seven of them fell, or rather jumped in among us with the force and fright of the fire: we despatched these in a instant, and the rest were so frightened with the light, which the night-for it was now very near dark-made more terrible, that they drew back a little; upon which I ordered our last pistols to be fired off in one volley, and after that we gave a shout; upon this the wolves turned tail, and we sallied immediately upon near twenty lame ones that we found struggling on the ground, and fell to cutting them with our swords, which answered our expectation, for the crying and howling they made was better understood by their fellows; so that they all fled and left us. I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in my passage through France,-nothing but what other travellers have given an account of with much more advantage than I can. I travelled from Toulouse to Paris, and without any considerable stay came to Calais, and landed safe at Dover the 14th of January, after having had a severe cold season to travel in. I was now come to the centre of my travels, and had in a little time all my new-discovered estate safe about me, the bills of exchange which I brought with me having been very currently paid. My principal guide and privy-counsellor was my good ancient widow, who, in gratitude for the money I had sent her, thought no pains too much nor care too great to employ for me; and I trusted her so entirely with everything, that I was perfectly easy as to the security of my effects; and, indeed, I was very happy from the We had, first and last, killed about threescore of them, and had it been daylight we had killed many more. The field of battle being thus cleared, we made forward again, for we had still near a league to go. We heard the ravenous creatures howl and yell in the woods as we went several times, and sometimes we fancied we saw some of them; but the snow dazzling our eyes, we were not certain. In about an hour more we came to the town where we were to lodge, which we found in a terrible fright and all in arms; for, it seems, the night before, the wolves and some bears had broke into the village, and put them in such terror, that they were obliged to keep guard night and day, but especially in the night, to preserve their cattle, and indeed their people. The next morning our guide was so ill, and his limbs swelled so much with the rankling of his two wounds, that he could go no farther; so we were obliged to take a new guide here, and go to Toulouse, where we found a warm climate, a fruitful, pleasant country, and no snow, no wolves nor anything like them; but when we told our story at Toulouse, they told us that it was nothing but that was ordinary in the great forest at the foot of the mountains, especially when the snow lay on the ground; but they inquired much what kind of guide we had got, who would venture to bring us that way in such a severe season, and told us it was surprising we were not all devoured. When we told them how we placed ourselves and the horses in the middle, they blamed us exceedingly, and told us it was fifty to one but we had been all destroyed, for it was the sight of the horses which made the wolves so furious, seeing their prey, and that at other times they are really afraid of a gun,but being excessively hungry, and raging on that account, the eagerness to come at the horses had made them beginning, and now to the end, in the unspotted integrity of this good gentlewoman. And now, having resolved to dispose of my plantation in the Brazils, I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, who having offered it to the two merchants, the survivors of my trustees, who lived in the Brazils, they accepted the offer and remitted thirty-three thousand piecesof-eight to a correspondent of theirs at Lisbon to pay for it. In return, I signed the instrument of sale in the form which they sent from Lisbon, and sent it to my old man, who sent me the bills of exchange for thirty-two thousand eight hundred pieces-of-eight for the estate, reserving the payment of one hundred moidores a year to him (the old man) during his life, and fifty moidores afterwards to his son for his life, which I had promised them, and which the plantation was to make good as a rent charge. And thus I have given the first part of a life of fortune and adventure,-a life of Providence's chequer-work, and of a variety which the world will seldom be able to show the like of ;-beginning foolishly, but closing much more happily than any part of it ever gave me leave so much as to hope for. Any one would think that in this state of complicated good fortune I was past running any more hazards,and so, indeed, I had been, if other circumstances had concurred; but I was inured to a wandering life, had no family, nor many relations; nor, however rich, had I contracted fresh acquaintance; and though I had sold my estate in the Brazils, yet I could not keep that country out of my head, and had a great mind to be upon the wing again; especially I could not resist the strong inclination I had to see my island, and to know if the poor Spaniards were in being there. My true friend, the widow, earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so far prevailed with me, that for almost seven years she prevented my running abroad, during which time I took my two nephews, the children of one of my brothers, into my care; the eldest, having something of his own, I bred up as a gentleman, and gave him a settlement of some addition to his estate after my decease. The other I placed with the captain of a ship; and after five years, finding him a sensible, bold, enterprising young fellow, I put him into a good ship, and sent him to sea; and this young fellow afterwards drew me in, as old as I was, to further adventures myself. In the meantime, I in part settled myself here; for, first of all, I married, and that not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction, and had three children, two sons and one daughter; but my wife dying, and my nephew coming home with good success from a voyage to Spain, my inclination to go abroad, and his importunity, prevailed, and engaged me to go in his ship as a private trader to the East Indies; this was in the year 1694. In this voyage I visited my new colony in the island, -saw my successors the Spaniards,-had the whole story of their lives, and of the villains I left there,how at first they insulted the poor Spaniards,-how women from they afterwards agreed, disagreed, united, separated, the island; and in it, besides other supplies, I sent seven But all these things, with an account how three hundred Caribbees came and invaded them, and ruined their plantations, and how they fought with that whole number twice, and were at first defeated, and one of them killed; but, at last, a storm destroying their enemies' canoes, they famished or destroyed almost all the rest, and renewed and recovered the possession of their plantation, and still lived upon the island. Here I stayed about twenty days,-left them supplies of all necessary things, and particularly of arms, powder, shot, clothes, tools, and two workmen, which I had brought from England with me,-viz. a carpenter and a smith. Besides this, I shared the lands into parts with them, reserved to myself the property of the whole, but gave them such parts respectively as they agreed on; and having settled all things with them, and engaged them All these things, with some very surprising incidents not to leave the place, I left them there. in some new adventures of my own, for ten years more, From thence I touched at the Brazils, from whence II shall give a farther account of in the Second Part of sent a bark, which I bought there, with more people to my Story. THA HAT homely proverb, used on so many occasions in England, viz. "That what is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh," was never more verified than in the story of my Life. Any one would think that after thirty-five years' affliction, and a variety of unhappy circumstances, which few men, if any, ever went through before, and after near seven years of peace and enjoyment in the fulness of all things; grown old, and when, if ever, it might be allowed me to have had experience of every state of middle life, and to know which was most adapted to make a man completely happy; I say, after all this, any one would have thought that the native propensity to rambling, which I gave an account of in my first setting out in the world to have been so predominant in my thoughts, should be worn out, and I might, at sixty-one years of age, have been a little inclined to stay at home, and have done venturing life and fortune any more. Nay, farther, the common motive of foreign adventures was taken away in me, for I had no fortune to make; I had nothing to seek: if I had gained ten thousand pounds, I had been no richer; for I had already sufficient for me, and for those I had to leave it to; and what I had was visibly increasing; for, having no great family, I could not spend the income of what I had, unless I would set up for an expensive way of living, such as a great family, servants, equipage, gaiety, and the like, which were things I had no notion of, or inclination to; so that I had nothing, indeed, to do but to sit still, and fully enjoy what I had got, and see it increase daily upon my hands. Yet all these things had no effect upon me, or at least not enough to resist the strong inclination I had to go abroad again, which hung about me like a chronical distemper. In particular, the desire of seeing my new plantation in the island, and the colony I left there, ran in my head continually. I dreamed of it all night, and my imagination ran upon it all day: it was uppermost in all my thoughts; and my fancy worked so steadily and strongly upon it, that I talked of it in my sleep; in short, nothing could remove it out of my mind: it even broke so violently into all my discourses that it made my conversation tiresome, for I could talk of nothing else; all my discourse ran into it, even to impertinence; and I saw it myself. PART II. of tedious sufferings and disasters, and closed in so happy and easy a manner, I say, what business had I to rush into new hazards, and put myself upon adventures fit only for youth and poverty to run into? Friday's father, and the reprobate sailors I left upon the But to return to my story: In this kind of temper I lived some years; I had no enjoyment of my life, no pleasant hours, no agreeable diversion, but what had something or other of this in it; so that my wife, who saw my mind wholly bent upon it, told me very seriously one night, that she believed there was some secret, powerful impulse of Providence upon me which had determined me to go thither again; and that she found nothing hindered my going, but my being engaged to a wife and children. She told me that it was true she could not think of parting with me: but as she was assured that if she was dead it would be the first thing I would do; so, as it seemed to her that the thing was determined above, she would not be the only obstruction; for, if I thought I have often heard persons of good judgment say, that fit and resolved to go- [Here she found me very all the stir that people make in the world about ghosts intent upon her words, and that I looked very earnestly and apparitions is owing to the strength of imagination, at her, so that it a little disordered her, and she stopped. and the powerful operation of fancy in their minds; I asked her why she did not go on, and say out what she that there is no such thing as a spirit appearing, or a was going to say? But I perceived that her heart was ghost walking; that people's poring affectionately upon too full, and some tears stood in her eyes.] "Speak out, the past conversation of their deceased friends, so my dear," said I; "are you willing I should go?"realizes it to them, that they are capable of fancying, No," says she, very affectionately, "I am far from upon some extraordinary circumstances, that they see willing; but if you are resolved to go," says she," rather them, talk to them, and are answered by them, when, than I would be the only hindrance, I will go with you: in truth, there is nothing but shadow and vapour in the for though I think it a most preposterous thing for one thing, and they really know nothing of the matter. of your years, and in your condition, yet, if it must be," For my part, I know not to this hour whether there said she, again weeping, "I would not leave you; are any such things as real apparitions, spectres, or for, if it be of Heaven, you must do it; there is no walking of people after they are dead; or whether there resisting it; and if Heaven make it your duty to go, is anything in the stories they tell us of that kind He will also make it mine to go with you, or othermore than the product of vapours, sick minds and wise dispose of me, that I may not obstruct it." wandering fancies: but this I know, that my imagina- This affectionate behaviour of my wife brought me a tion worked up to such a height, and brought me into little out of the vapours, and I began to consider what such excess of vapours, or what else I may call it, that I was doing; I corrected my wandering fancy, and I actually supposed myself often upon the spot, at my began to argue with myself sedately what business old castle, behind the trees; saw my old Spaniard, I had after threescore years, and after such a life I farmed upon my own land; I had no rent to pay, was limited by no articles; I could pull up or cut down as I pleased; what I planted was for myself, and what I improved was for my family; and having thus left off the thoughts of wandering, I had not the least discomfort in any part of life as to this world. Now I thought indeed that I enjoyed the middle state of life which my father so earnestly recommended to me, and lived a kind of heavenly life, something like what is described by the poet, upon the subject of a country life:"Free from vices, free from care, Age has no pain, and youth no snare." But in the middle of all this felicity, one blow from unseen Providence unhinged me at once; and not only made a breach upon me inevitable and incurable, but drove me, by its consequences, into a deep relapse of the wandering disposition, which, as I may say, being born in my very blood, soon recovered its hold of me; and, like the returns of a violent distemper, came on with an irresistible force upon me. This blow was the loss of my wife. It is not my business here to write an elegy upon my wife, give a character of her particular loss of her. virtues, and make my court to the sex by the flattery him, "What devil," said I, "sent you on this unlucky shot of all sizes, three or four tons of lead, and two of a funeral sermon. She was, in a few words, the stay errand?" My nephew stared as if he had been pieces of brass cannon; and, because I knew not what of all my affairs; the centre of all my enterprises; the frightened at first; but perceiving that I was not much time and what extremities I was providing for, I carried engine that, by her prudence, reduced me to that happy displeased with the proposal, he recovered himself. "I a hundred barrels of powder, besides swords, cutlasses, compass I was in, from the most extravagant and hope it may not be an unlucky proposal, sir," says he, and the iron part of some pikes and halberts. In short, ruinous project that filled my head, and did more to "I dare say you would be pleased to see your new we had a large magazine of all sorts of stores; and I guide my rambling genius than a mother's tears, a colony there, where you once reigned with more felicity made my nephew carry two small quarter-deck guns father's instructions, a friend's counsel, or all my own than most of your brother monarchs in the world." more than he wanted for his ship, to leave behind if reasoning powers could do. I was happy in listening to In a word, the scheme hit so exactly with my temper, there was occasion; so that when we came there, we her, and in being moved by her entreaties; and to the that is to say, the prepossession I was under, and of might build a fort, and man it against all sorts of last degree desolate and dislocated in the world by the which I have said so much, that I told him, in a few enemies. Indeed, I at first thought there would be words, if he agreed with the merchants, I would go need enough for all, and much more, if we hoped to When she was gone, the world looked awkwardly with him; but I told him I would not promise to go maintain our possession of the island; as shall be seen round me. I was as much a stranger in it, in my any further than my own island. "Why, sir," says he, in the course of that story. thoughts, as I was in the Brazils, when I first went "you don't want to be left there again, I hope ?" on shore there; and as much alone, except for the "But," said I, "can you not take me up again on your assistance of servants, as I was in my island. I knew return?" He told me it would not be possible to do neither what to think, or what to do. I saw the world so; that the merchants would never allow him to come busy around me: one part labouring for bread, another that way with a laden ship of such value, it being a part squandering in vile excesses or empty pleasures, month's sail out of his way, and might be three or but equally miserable because the end they proposed four. "Besides, sir, if I should miscarry," said he, still fled from them; for the men of pleasure every "and not return at all, then you would be just reduced day surfeited of their vice, and heaped up work for to the condition you were in before." sorrow and repentance; and the men of labour spent their strength in daily struggling for bread to maintain the vital strength they laboured with: so living in a daily circulation of sorrow, living but to work, and working but to live, as if daily bread were the only end of wearisome life, and a wearisome life the only occasion of daily bread. This put me in mind of the life I lived in my kingdom, the island; where I suffered no more corn to grow, because I did not want it; and bred no more goats, because I had no more use for them; where the money lay in the drawer till it grew mouldy, and had scarce the favour to be looked upon in twenty years. All these things, had I improved them as ought to have done, and as reason and religion had dictated to me, would have taught me to search farther than human enjoyments for a full felicity; and that there was something which certainly was the reason and end of life, superior to all these things, and which was either to be possessed, or at least hoped for, on this side of the grave. But my sage counsellor was gone; I was like a ship without a pilot, that could only run afore the wind. My thoughts ran all away again into the old affair; my head was quite turned with the whimseys of foreign adventures; and all the pleasant, innocent amusements of my farm, my garden, my cattle, and my family, which before entirely possessed me, were nothing to me, had no relish, and were like music to one that has no ear, or food to one that has no taste. In a word, I resolved to leave off house-keeping, let my farm, and return to London; and in a few months after I did so. This was very rational; but we both found out a remedy for it; which was, to carry a framed sloop on board the ship, which being taken in pieces, might, by the help of some carpenters, whom we agreed to carry with us, be set up again in the island, and finished fit to go to sea in a few days. I was not long resolving; for, indeed, the importunities of my nephew joined so effectually with my inclination, that nothing could oppose me; on the other hand, my wife being dead, none concerned themselves so much for me as to persuade me to one way or the other, except my ancient good friend the widow, who earnestly struggled with me to consider my years, my easy circumstances, and the needless hazards of a long voyage; and above all, my young children. But it was all to no purpose: I had an irresistible desire for the voyage; and I told her I thought there was something so uncommon in the impressions I had upon my mind, that it would be a kind of resisting Providence if I should attempt to stay at home; after which she ceased her expostulations, and joined with me, not only in making provision for my voyage, but also in settling my family affairs for my absence, and providing for the education of my children. In order to do this, I made my will, and settled the estate I had in such a manner for my children, and placed in such hands, that I was perfectly easy and satisfied they would have justice done them, whatever might befall me; and for their education, left it wholly to the widow, with a sufficient maintenance to herself for her care: all which she richly deserved; for no mother could have taken more care in their education, or understood it better: and as she lived till 1 came home, I also lived to thank her for it. When I came to London, I was still as uneasy as I was before; I had no relish for the place, no employment in it, nothing to do but to saunter about like an My nephew was ready to sail about the beginning of idle person, of whom it may be said he is perfectly January, 1694-5; and I, with my man Friday, went on useless in God's creation, and it is not one farthing's board, in the Downs, the 8th; having, besides that matter to the rest of his kind whether he be dead or sloop which I mentioned above, a very considerable alive. This also was the thing which, of all circum-cargo of all kinds of necessary things for my colony; stances of life, was the most my aversion, who had which, if I did not find in good condition. I resolved to been all my days used to an active life; and I would leave so. often say to myself, "A state of idleness is the very dregs of life;" and, indeed, I thought I was much more suitably employed when I was twenty-six days making a deal board. It was now the beginning of the year 1693, when my nephew, whom, as I have observed before, I had brought up to the sea, and had made him commander of a ship, was come home from a short voyage to Bilboa, being the first he had made. He came to me, and told me that some merchants of his acquaintance had been proposing to him to go a voyage for them to the East Indies, and to China, as private traders. "And now, uncle," says he, "if you will go to sea with me, I will engage to land you upon your old habitation in the island; for we are to touch at the Brazils." Nothing can be a greater demonstration of a future state, and of the existence of an invisible world, than the concurrence of second causes with the ideas of things which we form in our minds, perfectly reserved, and not communicated to any in the world. First, I carried with me some servants whom I purposed to place there as inhabitants, or at least to set on work there upon my account, while I stayed, and either to leave them there or carry them forward, as they should appear willing: particularly I carried two carpenters, a smith, and a very handy, ingenious fellow, who was a cooper by trade, and was also a general mechanic; for he was dexterous at making wheels, and hand-mills to grind corn, was a good turner, and a good pot-maker; he also made anything that was proper to make of earth or of wood: in a word, we called him our Jack-of-all-trades. With these I carried a tailor, who had offered himself to go a passenger to the East Indies with my nephew, but afterwards consented to stay on our new plantation, and who proved a most necessary handy fellow as could be desired, in many other businesses besides that of his trade; for, as I observed formerly, necessity arms us for all employments. My cargo, as near as I can recollect, for I have not My nephew knew nothing how far my distemper of kept account of the particulars, consisted of a sufficient wandering was returned upon me, and I knew nothing quantity of linen, and some English thin stuffs, for of what he had in his thought to say, when that very clothing the Spaniards that I expected to find there; morning, before he came to me, I had, in a great deal and enough of them, as by my calculation, might comof confusion of thought, and revolving every part of my fortably supply them for seven years; if I remember circumstances in my mind, come to this resolution, that right, the materials I carried for clothing them, with I would go to Lisbon, and consult with my old sea- gloves, hats, shoes, stockings, and all such things as captain; and if it was rational and practicable, I would they could want for wearing, amounted to above two go and see the island again, and what was become of my hundred pounds, including some beds, bedding, and people there. I had pleased myself with the thoughts household stuff, particularly kitchen utensils, with pots, of peopling the place, and carrying inhabitants from kettles, pewter, brass, &c.; and near a hundred pounds hence, getting a patent for the possession, and I know more in iron-work, nails, tools of every kind, staples, not what; when, in the middle of all this, in comes my hooks, hinges, and every necessary thing I could nephew, as I have said, with his project of carrying me think of. thither in his way to the East Indies. I paused a while at his words, and looking steadily at I carried also a hundred spare arms, muskets and fusees; besides some pistols, a considerable quantity of I had not such bad luck in this voyage as I had been used to meet with; and, therefore, shall have the less occasion to interrupt the reader, who, perhaps, may be impatient to hear how matters went with my colony: yet some odd accidents, cross winds, and bad weather, happened on this first setting out, which made the voyage longer than I expected it at first; and I, who had never made but one voyage, my first voyage to Guinea, in which I might be said to come back again, as the voyage was at first designed, began to think the same ill fate attended me; and that I was born to be never contented with being on shore, and yet to be always unfortunate at sea. Contrary winds first put us to the northward, and we were obliged to put in at Galway, in Ireland, where we lay wind-bound two-andtwenty days: but we had this satisfaction with the disaster, that provisions were here exceeding cheap, and in the utmost plenty; so that while we lay here, we never touched the ship's stores, but rather added to them. Here, also, I took in several live hogs, and two cows with their calves, which I resolved, if I had a good passage, to put on shore in my island; but we found occasion to dispose otherwise of them. We set out on the 5th of February from Ireland, and had a very fair gale of wind for some days. As I remember, it might be about the 20th of February in the evening late, when the mate, having the watch, came into the round house, and told us he saw a flash of fire, and heard a gun fired; and while he was telling us of it, a boy came in, and told us the boatswain heard another. This made us all run out upon the quarter-deck, where for a while we heard nothing; but in a few minutes we saw a very great light, and found that there was some very terrible fire at a distance; immediately we had recourse to our reckonings, in which we all agreed that there could be no land that way in which the fire showed itself, no, not for five hundred leagues, for it appeared at W.N.W. Upon this, we concluded it must be some ship on fire at sea; and as, by our hearing the noise of guns just before, we concluded that it could not be far off, we stood directly towards it, and were presently satisfied we should discover it, because the further we sailed, the greater the light appeared; though the weather being hazy, we could not perceive anything but the light for a while. In about half an hour's sailing, the wind being fair for us, though not much of it, and the weather clearing up a little, we could plainly discern that it was a great ship on fire in the middle of the sea. I was most sensibly touched with this disaster, though not at all acquainted with the persons engaged in it: I presently recollected my former circumstances, and what condition I was in when taken up by the Portguese captain; and how much more deplorable the circumstances of the poor creatures belonging to that ship must be, if they had no other ship in company with them. Upon this, I immediately ordered that five guns should be fired, one soon after another, that, if possible, we might give notice to them that there was help for them at hand, and that they might endeavour to save themselves in their boat; for though we could see the flames of the ship, yet they, it being night, could see nothing of us We lay by some time upon this, only driving as the burning ship drove, waiting for daylight; when, on a sudden, to our great terror, though we had reason to expect it, the ship blew up in the air; and in a few minutes all the fire was out, that is to say, the rest of the ship sunk. This was a terrible, and indeed an afflicting sight, for the sake of the poor men, who, I concluded, must be either all destroyed in the ship, or be in the utmost distress in their boat, in the middle of the ocean; which, at present, as it was dark, I could not see. However, to direct them as well as I could, I caused lights to be hung out in all the parts of the ship where we could, and which we had lanterns for, and kept firing guns all the night long: letting them know by this that there was a ship not far off. About eight o'clock in the morning we discovered the ship's boats by the help of our perspective glasses, and found there were two of them, both thronged with people, and deep in the water. We perceived they rowed, the wind being against them; that they saw our ship, and did their utmost to make us see them. We immediately spread our ancient, to let them know we saw them, and hung a waft out, as a signal for them to come on board, and then made more sail, standing They had no more to do then but to get into their boats, which, to their great comfort, were pretty large; being their long-boat, and a great shallop, besides a small skiff, which was of no great service to them, other than to get some fresh water and provisions into her, after they had secured their lives from the fire. They had, indeed, small hopes of their lives by getting into these boats at that distance from any land; only, as they said, that they thus escaped from the fire, and there was a possibility that some ship might happen to be at sea, and might take them in. They had sails, oars, and a compass; and had as much provision and water as, with sparing it so as to be next door to starving, might support them about twelve days, in which, if they had no bad weather and no contrary winds, the captain said he hoped he might get to the Banks of Newfoundland, and might perhaps take some fish, to sustain them till they might go on shore. But there were so many chances against them in all these cases, such as storms, to overset and founder them; rains and cold, to benumb and perish their limbs; contrary winds, to keep them out and starve them; that it must have been next to miraculous if they had escaped. In the midst of their consternation, every one being hopeless and ready to despair, the captain, with tears in his eyes, told me they were on a sudden surprised with the joy of hearing a gun fire, and after that four more; these were the five guns which I caused to be fired at first seeing the light. This revived their hearts, and gave them the notice, which, as above, I desired it should, that there was a ship at hand for their help. It was upon the hearing of these guns that they took down their masts and sails: the sound coming from the windward, they resolved to lie by till morning. Some time after this, hearing no more guns, they fired three muskets, one a considerable while after another; but these, the wind being contrary, we never heard. Some time after that again, they were still more agreeably surprised with seeing our lights, and hearing the guns which, as I have said, I caused to be fired all the rest of the night. This set them to work with their oars, to keep their boats ahead, at least, that we might the sooner come up with them; and, at last, to their inexpressible joy, they found we saw them. It is impossible for me to express the several gestures, the strange ecstasies, the variety of postures, which these poor delivered people ran into, to express the joy of their souls at so unexpected a deliverance. Grief and fear are easily described: sighs, tears, groans, and a very few motions of the head and hands, make up the sum of its variety; but an excess of joy, a surprise of joy, has a thousand extravagances in it. There were some in tears; some raging and tearing themselves, as if they had been in the greatest agonies of sorrow; some stark raving and downright lunatic; some ran about the ship stamping with their feet, others wringing their hands; some were dancing, some singing, some laughing, more crying, many quite dumb, not able to speak a word; others sick and vomiting; several swooning and ready to faint; and a few were crossing themselves and giving God thanks. I therefore told the French captain that we had taken them up in their distress, it was true, but that it was our duty to do so, as we were fellow-creatures; and we would desire to be so delivered, if we were in the like or any other extremity; that we had done nothing for them but what we believed they would have done for us, if we had been in their case, and they in ours; but that we took them up to save them, not to plunder them; and it would be a most barbarous thing to take that little from them which they had saved out of the fire, and then set them on shore and leave them; that this would be first to save them from death, and then kill them ourselves: save them from drowning, and abandon them to starving; and, therefore, I would not let the least thing be taken from them. As to setting them on shore, I told them, indeed, that was an exceeding difficulty to us, for that the ship was bound to the East Indies; and though we were driven out of our course to the westward a very great way, and perhaps were directed by Heaven on purpose for their deliverance, yet it was impossible for us wilfully to change our voyage on their particular account; nor could my nephew, the captain, answer it to the freighters, with whom he was under charter to pursue his voyage by way of Brazil; and all I knew we could do for them was, to put ourselves in the way of meeting with other ships homeward bound from the West Indies, and get them a passage, if possible, to England or France. not show themselves in that different manner I have had saved some money and some things of value in I cannot help committing this to writing, as perhaps it may be useful to those into whose hands it may fall, for guiding themselves in the extravagances of their passions; for if an excess of joy can carry men out to such a length beyond the reach of their reason, what will not the extravagances of anger, rage, and a provoked mind, carry us to? And, indeed, here I saw reason for keeping an exceeding watch over our passions of every kind, as well those of joy and satisfaction, as those of sorrow and anger. I would not wrong them either; there might be many that were thankful afterwards; but the passion was too strong for them at first, and they were not able to master it: they were thrown into ecstasies, and a kind of frenzy, and it was but a very few that were composed and serious in their joy. Perhaps, also, the case may have some addition to it from the particular circum- We were somewhat disordered by these extravagances stance of that nation they belonged to: I mean the among our new guests, for the first day; but after they French, whose temper is allowed to be more volatile, had retired to lodgings provided for them as well as our more passionate, and more sprightly, and their ship would allow, and had slept heartily-as most of spirits more fluid than in other nations. I am them did, being fatigued and frightened-they were not philosopher enough to determine the cause; but quite another sort of people the next day. Nothing of nothing I had ever seen before came up to it. The good manners, or civil acknowledgments for the kindecstasies poor Friday, my trusty savage, was in, when he found his father in the boat, came the nearest to it; and the surprise of the master and his two companions, whom I delivered from the villains that set them on shore in the island, came a little way towards it; but nothing was to compare to this, either that I saw in Friday, or anywhere else in my life. It is further observable, that these extravagances did ness shown them, was wanting; the French it is The first part of the proposal was so generous and kind, they could not but be very thankful for it; but they were in very great consternation, especially the passengers, at the notion of being carried away to the East Indies; they then entreated me, that as I was driven so far to the westward before I met with them, I would, at least, keep on the same course to the Banks of Newfoundland, where it was probable I might meet with some ship or sloop that they might hire to carry them back to Canada. It was The wind continued fresh easterly, but the weather points between N.E. and S.E. a long time, we missed several opportunities of sending them to France; for we met several ships bound to Europe, whereof two were French, from St. Christopher's, but they had been so long beating up against the wind that they durst take in no passengers, for fear of wanting provisions for the voyage, as well for themselves as for those they should take in; so we were obliged to go on. about a week after this that we made the Banks of Newfoundland; where, to shorten my story, we put all our French people on board a bark which they hired at sea there, to put them on shore, and afterwards to carry them to France, if they could get provision to victual themselves with. When I say all the French went on shore, I should remember, that the young priest I spoke of, hearing we were bound to the East Indies, desired to go the voyage with us, and to be set on shore on the coast of Coromandel; which I readily agreed to, for I wonderfully liked the man, and had very good reason, as will appear afterwards; also four of the seamen entered themselves on our ship, and proved very useful fellows. From hence we directed our course for the West Indies, steering away S. and S. by E. for about twenty days together, sometimes little or no wind at all; when we met with another subject for our humanity to work upon, almost as deplorable as that before. |