by Daniel Defoe
overset, and threw me and all my cargointo the water; as for myself, it was no great harm, for I was near theshore; but as to my cargo, it was a great part of it lost, especiallythe iron, which I expected would have been of great use to me: however,when the tide was out, I got most of the pieces of cable ashore, andsome of the iron, though with infinite labour; for I was fain to dip forit into the water, a work which fatigued me very much. After this I wentevery day on board, and brought away what I could get.
I had been now thirteen days ashore, and had been eleven times on boardthe ship; in which time I had brought away all that one pair of handscould well be supposed capable to bring; though I believe verily, hadthe calm weather held, I should have brought away the whole ship, pieceby piece; but preparing the twelfth time to go on board, I found thewind began to rise: however, at low water, I went on board; and though Ithought I had rummaged the cabin so effectually, as that nothing couldbe found, yet I discovered a locker with drawers in it, in one of whichI found two or three razors, and one pair of large scissars with someten or a dozen of good knives and forks; in another I found aboutthirty-six pounds value in money, some European coin, some Brazil, somepieces of eight, some gold, and some silver.
I smiled to myself at the sight of this money: "O drug!" said I aloud,"what art thou good for? Thou art not worth to me, no, not the takingoff the ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap: I have nomanner of use for thee; e'en remain where thou art, and go to thebottom, as a creature whose life is not worth saving." However, uponsecond thoughts, I took it away; and wrapping all this in a piece ofcanvass, I began to think of making another raft; but while I waspreparing this, I found the sky over-cast, and the wind began to rise,and in a quarter of an hour it blew a fresh gale from the shore. Itpresently occurred to me, that it was in vain to pretend to make a raftwith the wind off shore; and that it was my business to be gone beforethe tide of flood began, or otherwise I might not be able to reach theshore at all. Accordingly I let myself down into the water, and swamacross the channel which lay between the ship and the sands, and eventhat with difficulty enough, partly with the weight of the things I hadabout me, and partly the roughness of the water; for the wind rose veryhastily, and before it was quite high water it blew a storm.
But I was got home to my little tent, where I lay, with all my wealthabout me very secure. It blew very hard all that night, and in themorning, when I looked out, behold, no more ship was to be seen! I was alittle surprised, but recovered myself with this satisfactoryreflection, viz. that I had lost no time, nor abated no diligence, toget every thing out of her that could be useful to me, and that, indeed,there was little left in her that I was able to bring away, if I had hadmore time.
I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or of any thing out ofher, except what might drive on shore, from her wreck; as, indeed,divers pieces of her afterwards did; but those things were of smalluse to me.
My thoughts were now wholly employed about securing myself againsteither savages, if any should appear, or wild beasts, if any were in theisland; and I had many thoughts of the method how to do this, and whatkind of dwelling to make, whether I should make me a cave in the earth,or a tent upon the earth: and in short, I resolved upon both; the mannerand description of which, it may not be improper to give an account of.
I soon found the place I was in was not for my settlement, particularlybecause it was upon a low, moorish ground, near the sea, and I believedit would not be wholesome; and more particularly because there was nofresh water near it: so I resolved to find a more healthy and moreconvenient spot of ground.
I consulted several things in my situation, which I found would beproper for me: 1st, Health and fresh water, I just now mentioned: 2dly,Shelter from the heat of the sun: 3dly, Security from ravenouscreatures, whether men or beasts: 4thly, A view to the sea, that if Godsent any ship in sight, I might not lose any advantage for mydeliverance, of which I was not willing to banish all myexpectation yet.
In search for a place proper for this, I found a little plain on theside of a rising hill, whose front towards this little plain was steepas a house-side, so that nothing could come down upon me from the top.On the side of this rock there was a hollow place, worn a little way in,like the entrance or door of a cave; but there was not really any cave,or way into the rock, at all.
On the flat of the green, just before this hollow place, I resolved topitch my tent. This plain was not above a hundred yards broad, and abouttwice as long, and lay like a green before my door; and, at the end ofit, descended irregularly every way down into the low ground by the seaside. It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill; so that it was shelteredfrom the heat every day, till it came to a W. and by S. sun, orthereabouts, which, in those countries, is near the setting.
Before I set up my tent, I drew a half-circle before the hollow place,which took in about ten yards in its semi-diameter from the rock, andtwenty yards in its diameter, from its beginning and ending.
In this half-circle I pitched two rows of strong stakes, driving theminto the ground till they stood very firm like piles, the biggest endbeing out of the ground about five feet and a half and sharpened on thetop. The two rows did not stand above six inches from one another.
Then I took the pieces of cable which I cut in the ship, and laid themin rows, one upon another, within the circle, between these two rows ofstakes, up to the top, placing other stakes in the inside, leaningagainst them, about two feet and a half high, like a spur to a post; andthis fence was so strong, that neither man nor beast could get into itor over it. This cost me a great deal of time and labour, especially tocut the piles in the woods, bring them to the place, and drive them intothe earth.
The entrance into this place I made to be not by a door, but by a shortladder to go over the top; which ladder, when I was in, I lifted overafter me; and so I was completely fenced in and fortified, as I thought,from all the world, and consequently slept secure in the night, whichotherwise I could not have done; though, as it appeared afterwards,there was no need of all this caution from the enemies that Iapprehended danger from.
Into this fence, or fortress, with infinite labour, I carried all myriches, all my provisions, ammunition, and stores, of which you have theaccount above; and I made a large tent, which, to preserve me from therains, that in one part of the year are very violent there, I madedouble, viz. one smaller tent within, and one larger tent above it, andcovered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin, which I had saved amongthe sails.
And now I lay no more for a while in the bed which I had brought onshore, but in a hammock, which was indeed a very good one, and belongedto the mate of the ship.
Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and every thing that wouldspoil by the wet; and having thus enclosed all my goods, I made up theentrance which till now I had left open, and so passed and repassed, asI said, by a short ladder.
When I had done this, I began to work my way into the rock, and bringingall the earth and stones that I dug down out through my tent, I laidthem up within my fence in the nature of a terrace, so that it raisedthe ground within about a foot and an half; and thus I made me a cave,just behind my tent, which served me like a cellar to my house. It costme much labour and many days, before all these things were brought toperfection; and therefore I must go back to some other things which tookup some of my thoughts. At the same time it happened, after I had laidmy scheme for the setting up my tent, and making the cave, that a stormof rain falling from a thick, dark cloud, a sudden flash of lightninghappened, and after that, a great clap of thunder, as is naturally theeffect of it. I was not so much surprised with the lightning, as I waswith a thought, which darted into my mind as swift as the lightningitself: O my powder! My very heart sunk within me when I thought, thatat one blast, all my powder might be destroyed; on which, not my defenceonly, but the providing me food, as I thought, entirely depended. I wasnothing near so anxious about my own danger, though, had the powder tookfire, I had never known who had hurt me.
S
uch impression did this make upon me, that after the storm was over, Ilaid aside all my works, my building and fortifying, and applied myselfto make bags and boxes, to separate the powder, and to keep it a littleand a little in a parcel, in hope that whatever might come, it might notall take fire at once; and to keep it so apart, that it should not bepossible to make one part fire another. I finished this work in about afortnight; and I think my powder, which in all was about 240 lb. weight,was divided in not less than a hundred parcels. As to the barrel thathad been wet, I did not apprehend any danger from that; so I placed itin my new cave, which, in my fancy, I called my kitchen, and the rest Ihid up and down in holes among the rocks, so that no wet might come toit, marking very carefully where I laid it.
In the interval of time while this was doing, I went out at least onceevery day with my gun, as well to divert myself, as to see if I couldkill any thing fit for food; and, as near as I could, to acquaint myselfwith what the island produced. The
