by Daniel Defoe
not but there are enough to load a thousand Sail of the biggest Ships in the
World, by which I may be understood to mean, that the Quantity is not to be
conceived of; seeing that as they lasted in View for above eighty Miles
Travelling, so they might continue as far to the right Hand, and to the left as
far, and many times as far, for ought we knew; for it seems the Number of
Elephants hereabouts is prodigious great. In one Place in particular, we saw the
Head of an Elephant, with several Teeth in it, but one the biggest that ever I
saw: The Flesh was consumed to be sure many Hundred Years before, and all the
other Bones; but three of our strongest Men could not lift this Scull and Teeth:
The great Tooth, I believe, weighed at least 300 Weight, and this was
particularly remarkable to me, that I observed the whole Scull was as good Ivory
as the Teeth, and I believe all together weighed at least 600 Weight, and tho' I
do not know but, by the same Rule, all the Bones of the Elephant may be Ivory;
yet I think there is this just Objection against it from the Example before me,
that then all the other Bones of this Elephant would have been there as well as
the Head.
I proposed to our Gunner, that seeing we had travelled now 14 Days without
Intermission, and that we had Water here for our Refreshment, and no Want of
Food yet, or any Fear of it; we should rest our People a little, and see at the
same time, if perhaps we might kill some Creatures that were proper for Food.
The Gunner, who had more Forecast of that kind, than I had, agreed to the
Proposal, and added, why might we not try to catch some Fish out of the Lake?
The first thing we had before us, was to try if we could make any Hooks, and
this indeed put our Artificer to his Trumps; however, with some Labour and
Difficulty he did it, and we catched fresh Fish of several kinds. How they came
there, none but he that made the Lake, and all the World, knows; for to be sure
no human Hands ever put any in there, or pulled any out before.
We not only catched enough for our present Refreshment, but we dried several
large Fishes of Kinds which I cannot describe, in the Sun, by which we
lengthen'd out our Provision considerably; for the Heat of the Sun dried them so
effectually without Salt, that they were perfectly cured dry and hard in one
Day's time.
We rested our selves here five Days, during which time we had Abundance of
pleasant Adventures with the wild Creatures, too many to relate: One of them was
very particular, which was a Chase between a She Lion, or Lioness, and a large
Deer; and tho' the Deer is naturally a very nimble Creature, and she flew by us
like the Wind, having perhaps about 300 Yards the Start of the Lion, yet we
found the Lion by her Strength, and the Goodness of her Lungs, got Ground of
her. They past by us within about a Quarter of a Mile, and we had a View of them
a great Way, when having given them over, we were surprized about an Hour after,
to see them come thundering back again on the other Side of us, and then the
Lion was within 30 or 40 Yards of her, and both straining to the Extremity of
their Speed, when the Deer coming to the Lake, plunged into the Water, and swam
for her Life, as she had before run for it.
The Lioness plunged in after her, and swam a little way, but came back again;
and when she was got upon the Land, she set up the most hideous Roar that ever I
heard in my Life, as if done in the Rage of having lost her Prey.
We walked out Morning and Evening constantly; the Middle of the Day we refreshed
our selves under our Tent; but one Morning early we saw another Chase, which
more nearly concern'd us than the other; for our Black Prince, walking by the
Side of the Lake, was set upon by a vast great Crocodile, which came out of the
Lake upon him; and tho' he was very light of Foot, yet it was as much as he
could do to get away: He fled amain to us, and the Truth is, we did not know
what to do, for we were told no Bullet would enter her; and we found it so at
first, for tho' three of our Men fired at her, yet she did not mind them; but my
Friend the Gunner, a ventrous Fellow, of a bold Heart, and great Presence of
Mind, went up so near as to thrust the Muzzle of his Piece into her Mouth, and
fired but let his Piece fall, and run for it the very Moment he had fired it:
The Creature raged a great while, and spent its Fury upon the Gun, making Marks
upon the very Iron with her Teeth, but after some time fainted and died.
Our Negroes spread the Banks of the Lake all this while, for Game, and at length
killed us three Deer, one of them very large, the other two very small. There
was Water-Fowl also in the Lake, but we never came near enough to them to shoot
any; and, as for the Desart, we saw no Fowls any where in it, but at the Lake.
We likewise killed two or three Civet Cats, but their Flesh is the worst of
Carrion; we saw Abundance of Elephants at a Distance, and observed, that they
always go in very good Company, that is to say, Abundance of them together, and
always extended in a fair Line of Battle; and this, they say, is the way they
defend themselves from their Enemies; for if Lions or Tygers, Wolves or any
Creatures, attack them, they being drawn up in a Line, sometimes reaching five
or six Miles in Length, whatever comes in their Way is sure to be trod under
Foot, or beaten in Pieces with their Trunks, or lifted up in the Air with their
Trunks; so that if a hundred Lions or Tygers were coming along, if they meeta
Line of Elephants, they will always fly back till they see Room to pass by to
the Right Hand or to the Left; and if they did not, it would be impossible for
one of them to escape; for the Elephant, tho' a heavy Creature, is yet so
dexterous and nimble with his Trunk, that he will not fail to lift up the
heaviest Lion, or any other wild Creature, and throw him up in the Air quite
over his Back, and then trample him to Death with his Feet. We saw several Lines
of Battle thus, we saw one so long, that indeed there was no End of it to be
seen, and, I believe, their might be 2000 Elephants in a Row, or Line. They are
not Beasts of Prey, but live upon the Herbage of the Field, as an Ox does, and,
it is said, that tho' they are so great a Creature, yet that a smaller Quantity
of Forage supplies one of them, than will suffice a Horse.
The Numbers of this kind of Creature that are in those Parts are inconceivable,
as may be gather'd from the prodigious Quantity of Teeth, which as I said we saw
in this vast Desart, and indeed we saw a 100 of them to one of any other Kinds.
One Evening we were very much surprized; we were most of us laid down upon our
Matts to Sleep, when our Watch came running in among us, being frighted with the
sudden Roaring of some Lions just by them, which it seems they had not seen, the
Night being dark, till they were just upon them. There was, as it proved, an old
Lion and his whole Family, for there was the Lioness and three young Lions,
besides the old King, who was a monstrous great one: One of the young ones, who
were good large well grown ones too, leapt up upon one of our Negroes, who sto
od
Centinel, before he saw him, at which he was heartily frighted, cried out, and
run into the Tent: Our other Man, who had a Gun, had not Presence of Mind at
first to shoot him, but struck him with the But-End of his Piece, which made him
whine a little, and then growl at him fearfully; but the Fellow retired, and we
being all alarmed, three of our Men snatched up their Guns, run to the
Tent-Door, where they saw the great old Lion by the Fire of his Eyes, and first
fired at him, but, we supposed, missed him, or at least did not kill him; for
they went all off, but raised a most hideous Roar, which, as if they had called
for Help, brought down a prodigious Number of Lions, and other furious
Creatures, we know not what about them, for we could not see them; but their was
a Noise and Yelling, and Howling, and all sort of such Wilderness Musick on
every Side of us, as if all the Beasts of the Desart were assembled to devour
us.
We asked our Black Prince what we should do with them? Me go, says he, fright
them all; so he snatches up two or three of the worst of our Matts, and, getting
one of our Men to strike some Fire, he hangs the Matt up at the End of a Pole,
and set it on Fire, and it blazed abroad a good while; at which the Creatures
all moved off, for we heard them roar, and make their bellowing Noise at a great
Distance. Well, says our Gunner, if that will do, we need not burn our Matts,
which are our Beds to lay under us, and our Tilting to cover us. Let me alone,
says he, so he comes back into our Tent, and falls to making some artificial
Fire-Works, and the like; and he gave our Centinels some to be ready at Hand,
upon Occasion, and particularly he placed a great Piece of Wild-fire upon the
same Pole that the Matt had been tied to, and set it on Fire, and that burnt
there so long, that all the Wild Creatures left us for that time.
However, we began to be weary of such Company, and, to be rid of them, we set
forward again two Days sooner than we intended. We found now, that tho' the
Desart did not end, nor could we see any Appearance of it, yet that the Earth
was pretty full of green Stuff, of one sort or another, so that our Cattle had
no Want. And secondly, that there were several little Rivers which run into the
Lake, and so long as the Country continued low, we found Water sufficient, which
eased us very much in our Carriage, and we went on yet sixteen Days more without
yet coming to any Appearance of better Soil: After this we found the Country
rise a little, and by that we perceived, that the Water would fail us, so, for
fear of the worst, we filled our Bladder Bottles with Water; we found the
Country rising gradually thus for three Days continually, when, on the sudden,
we perceived, that tho' we had mounted up insensibly, yet that we were on the
Top of a very high ridge of Hills, tho' not such as at first.
When we came to look down on the other Side of the Hills we saw, to the great
Joy of all our Hearts, that the Desart was at an End; that the Country was
clothed with Green, Abundance of Trees, and a large River, and we made no doubt
but that we should find People and Cattel also; and here, by our Gunner's
Account, who kept our Computations, we had marched above 400 Miles over this
dismal Place of Horrour, having been four and thirty Days a-doing of it, and
consequently were come about 1100 Miles of our Journey.
We would willingly have descended the Hills that Night, but it was too late; the
next Morning we saw every thing more plain, and rested our selves under the
Shade of some Trees; which were now the most refreshing things imaginable to us,
who had been scorched above a Month without a Tree to cover us. We found the
Country here very pleasant, especially considering that we came from, and we
killed some Deer here also, which we found very frequent under the Cover of the
Woods; also we killed a creature like a Goat, whose Flesh was very god to eat,
but it was no Goat: We found also a great Number of Fowls like Partridge, but
something smaller, and were very tame, so that we lived here very well, but
found no People, at least none that would be seen, no not for several Days
Journey; and, to allay our Joy, we were almost every Night disturbed with Lions
and Tygers; Elephants indeed we saw none here.
In three Days March we came to a River, which we saw from the Hills, and which
we called the Golden River, and we found it run Northward, which was the first
Stream we had met with that did so; it run with a very rapid current, and our
Gunner pulling out his Map, assured me that this was either the River Nile, or
run into the great Lake; out of which the River Nile was said to take its
Beginning; and he brought out his Carts and Maps, which by his Instruction, I
began to understand very well; and told me, he would convince me of it, and
indeed he seemed to make it so plain to me, that I was of the same Opinion.
But I did not enter into the Gunner's Reason for this Enquiry, not in the least,
till he went on with it farther, and stated it thus; if this is the River Nile,
why should not we build some more Canoes, and go down this Stream rather than to
expose our selves to any more Desarts and scorching Sands, in Quest of the Sea,
which when we are come to, we shall be as much at a Loss how to get home as we
were at Madagascar.
The Argument was good, had there been no Objections in the Way, of a Kind which
none of us were capable of answering; but upon the whole it was an Undertaking
of such a Nature, that every one of us thought it impracticable, and that upon
several Accounts; and our Surgeon, who was himself a good Scholar, and a Man of
Reading, tho' not acquainted with the Business of Sailing, opposed it; and some
of his Reasons, I remember, were such as these; first, the Length of the Way,
which both he and the Gunner allowed by the Course of the Water and Turnings of
the River, would be at least 4000 Miles. Secondly, The innumerable Crocodiles in
the River, which we should never be able to escape. Thirdly, The dreadful
Desarts in the Way; and lastly, the approaching rainy Season, in which the
Streams of the Nile would be so furious, and rise so high, spreading far and
wide over all the plain Country, that we should never be able to know when we
were in the Channel of the River, and when not, and should certainly be cast
away, over-set, or run a-ground so often, that it would be impossible to proceed
by a River so excessively dangerous.
This last Reason he made so plain to us, that we began to be so sensible of it
our selves; so that we agreed to lay that Thought aside, and proceed in our
first Course Westward towards the Sea: But as if we had been loath to depart, we
continued, by way of refreshing our selves, to loyter two Days upon this River,
in which time our Black Prince, who delighted much in wandering up and down,
came one Evening and brought us several little Bits of something, he knew not
what; but he found it felt heavy, and looked well, and shewed it to me, as what
he thought was some Rarity. I took not much Notice of it to him, but stepping
out, and calling the Gunner to me, I shewed it him, and told him what I thought,
viz. that it was certainly Gold: He agreed with me in that, and also in what
follow'd, that we would take the Black Prince out with us the next Day, and make
him shew us where he found it, that if there was any Quantity to be found, we
would tell our Company of it, but if there was but little, we would keep
Counsel, and have it to our selves.
But we forgot to engage the Prince in the Secret, who innocently told so much to
all the rest, as that they guessed what it was, and came to us to see; when we
found it was publick, we were more concerned to prevent their suspecting that we
had any Design to conceal it, and openly telling our Thoughts of it, we called
our Artificer, who agreed presently that it was Gold; so I proposed, that we
should all go with the Prince to the Place where he found it, and if any
Quantity was to be had, we would lye here some time, and see what we could make
of it.
Accordingly, we went every Man of us, for no Man was willing to be left behind
in a Discovery of such a Nature. When we came to the Place, we found it was on
the West Side of the River, not in the main River, but in another small River or
Stream which came from the West, and run into the other River at that Place. We
fell to raking in the Sand, and washing it in our Hands, and we seldom took up a
Handful of Sand, but we washed some little round Lumps as big as a Pin's Head,
or sometimes as big as a Grapestone, into our Hands, and we found in two or
three Hours time, that every one had got some, so we agreed to leave off, and go
to Dinner.
While we were eating, it came into my Thoughts, that while we work'd at this
Rate in a thing of such Nicety and Consequence, it was ten to one if the Gold,
which was the Makebait of the World, did not first or last set us together by
the Ears to break our good Articles and our Understanding one among another, and
perhaps cause us to part Companies, or worse; I therefore told them, that I was
indeed the youngest Man of the Company, but as they had always allowed me to
give my Opinion in things, and had sometimes been pleased to follow my Advice,
so I had something to propose now, which I thought, would be for all our
Advantages, and I believed they would all like it very well. I told them we were
in a Country where we all knew there was a great deal of Gold, and that all the
World sent Ships thither to get it; that we did not indeed know where it was,
and so we might get a great deal, or a little, we did not know whether; but I
offered it to them to consider whether it would not be the best Way for us, and
to preserve the good Harmony and Friendship that had been always kept among us,
and which was so absolutely necessary to our Safety, that what we found should
be brought together to one common Stock, and be equally divided at last, rather
than to run the Hazard of any Difference which might happen among us, from any
one's having found more or less than another. I told them, that if we were all
upon one Bottom, we should all apply our selves heartily to the Work, and
besides that we might then set our Negroes all to Work for us, and receive
equally the Fruit of their Labour, and of our own, and being all exactly alike
Sharers, there could be no just Cause of Quarrel or Disgust among us.
They all approv'd the Proposal, and every one jointly swore, and gave their
Hands to one another, that they would not conceal the least Grain of Gold from
the rest; and consented, that if any one or more should be found to conceal any,
all that he had should be taken from him, and divided among the rest: And one
thing more was added to it by our Gunner, from Considerations equally good and
just; that if any one of us, by any Play, Bett, Game, or Wager, won any Money or
