by Daniel Defoe
of them fell in, and how many fell out, the claynot being stiff enough to bear its own weight; how many cracked by theover-violent heat of the sun, being set out too hastily; and how manyfell to pieces with only removing, as well before as after they weredried; and, in a word, how, after having laboured hard to find the clay,to dig it, to temper it, to bring it home, and work it, I could not makeabove two large earthen ugly things, I cannot call them jars, in abouttwo months labour.
However, as the sun baked these two very dry and hard, I lifted themvery gently up and set them down again in two great wicker-baskets,which I had made on purpose for them that they might not break; and, asbetween the pot and the basket there was a little room to spare, Istuffed it full of the rice and barley-straw; and these two pots beingto stand always dry, I thought would hold my dry corn, and perhaps themeal when the corn was bruised.
Though I miscarried so much in my design for large pots, yet I madeseveral smaller things with better success; such as little round pots,flat dishes, pitchers, and pipkins, and any thing my hand turned to; andthe heat of the sun baked them strangely hard.
But all this would not answer my end, which was to get an earthen pot tohold what was liquid, and bear the fire, which none of these could do.It happened after some time, making a pretty large fire for cooking mymeat, when I went to put it out, after I had done with it, I found abroken piece of one of my earthenware vessels in the fire, burnt as hardas a stone, and red as a tile. I was agreeably surprised to see it, andsaid to myself, that certainly they might be made to burn whole, if theywould burn broken.
This set me to study how to order my fire, so as to make it burn me somepots. I had no notion of a kiln such as the potters burn in, or ofglazing them with lead, though I had some lead to do it with; but Iplaced three large pipkins, and two or three pots, in a pile one uponanother, and placed my fire-wood all round it with a great heap ofembers under them: I piled the fire with fresh fuel round the outside,and upon the top, till I saw the pots in the inside red-hot quitethrough, and observed that they did not crack at all: when I saw themclear red, I let them stand in that heat about five or six hours, till Ifound one of them, though it did not crack, did melt or run; for thesand which was mixed with the clay melted by the violence of the heat,and would have run into glass, if I had gone on; so I slacked my firegradually, till the pots began to abate of the red colour; and watchingthem all night that I might not let the fire abate too fast, in themorning I had three very good, I will not say handsome pipkins, and twoother earthen pots, as hard burnt as could be desired; and one of themperfectly glazed with the running of the sand.
After this experiment I need not say that I wanted no sort ofearthenware for my use; but I must needs say, as to the shapes of them,they were very indifferent, as any one may suppose, when I had no way ofmaking them, but as the children make dirt-pies, or as a woman wouldmake pies that never learnt to raise paste.
No joy at a thing of so mean a nature was ever equal to mine, when Ifound I had made an earthen pot that would bear the fire; and I hadhardly patience to stay till they were cold, before I set one upon thefire again with some water in it, to boil me some meat, which I didadmirably well; and with a piece of a kid I made some very good broth,though I wanted oatmeal, and several other ingredients requisite tomake it so good as I would have had it.
My next concern was to get me a stone mortar to stamp or beat some cornin; for as to the mill, there was no thought of arriving to thatperfection of art with one pair of hands. To supply this want, I was ata great loss; for of all trades in the world I was as perfectlyunqualified for a stone-cutter, as for any whatever; neither had I anytools to go about it with. I spent many a day to find out a great stonebig enough to cut hollow, and make fit for a mortar, and could find noneat all except what was in the solid rock, and which I had no way to digor cut out; nor indeed were the rocks in the island of hardnesssufficient, but were all of a sandy crumbling stone, which would neitherbear the weight of an heavy pestle, nor would break the corn withoutfilling it with sand; so, after a great deal of time lost in searchingfor a stone, I gave it over, and resolved to look out a great block ofhard wood, which I found indeed much easier; and getting one as big as Ihad strength to stir, I rounded it, and formed it on the outside with myaxe and hatchet; and then with the help of fire and infinite labour,made an hollow place in it, as the Indians in Brasil make their canoes.After this, I made a great heavy pestle or beater of the wood called theiron-wood, and this I prepared and laid by against I had my next crop ofcorn, when I proposed to myself to grind, or rather pound, my corn ormeal to make my bread.
My next difficulty was to make a sieve or searce, to dress my meal, andpart it from the bran and the husk, without which I did not see itpossible I could have any bread. This was a most difficult thing, somuch as but to think on; for to be sure I had nothing like the necessarythings to make it with; I mean fine thin canvass, or stuff, to searcethe meal through. And here I was at a full stop for many months; nor didI really know what to do: linen I had none left but what was mere rags;I had goat's hair, but neither knew I how to weave or spin it; and hadI known how, here were no tools to work it with. All the remedy that Ifound for this, was, that at last I did remember I had among theseamen's clothes which were saved out of the ship, some neckcloths ofcalico or muslin; and with some pieces of these I made three smallsieves, but proper enough for the work; and thus I made shift for someyears; how I did afterwards, I shall shew in its place.
The baking part was the next thing to be considered, and how I shouldmake bread when I came to have corn; for, first, I had no yeast: as tothat part, there was no supplying the want, so I did not concern myselfmuch about it. But for an oven, I was indeed in great pain. At length Ifound out an experiment for that also, which was this; I made someearthen vessels very broad, but not deep; that is to say, about two feetdiameter, and not above nine inches deep; these I burnt in the fire, asI had done the other, and laid them by; and when I wanted to bake, Imade a great fire upon the hearth, which I had paved with some squaretiles of my own making and burning also; but I should not callthem square.
When the fire-wood was burnt pretty much into embers, or live coals, Idrew them forward upon this hearth, so as to cover it all over; andthere I let them lie, till the hearth was very hot; then sweeping awayall the embers, I set down my loaf, or loaves; and whelming down theearthen pot upon them, drew the embers all round the outside of the pot,to keep in, and add to the heat; and thus, as well as in the best ovenin the world, I baked my barley-loaves, and became in a little time amere pastry-cook into the bargain; for I made myself several cakes ofthe rice, and puddings; indeed I made no pies, neither had I any thingto put into them, supposing I had, except the flesh either of fowlsor goats.
It need not be wondered at, if all these things took me up most part ofthe third year of my abode here; for it is to be observed, that in theintervals of these things I had my new harvest and husbandry to manage:for I reaped my corn in its season, and carried it home as well as Icould, and laid it up in the ear, in my large baskets, till I had timeto rub it out; for I had no floor to thresh it on, or instrument tothresh it with.
And now indeed my stock of corn increasing, I really wanted to build mybarns bigger: I wanted a place to lay it up in; for the increase of thecorn now yielded me so much, that I had of the barley about twentybushels, and of the rice as much, or more; insomuch that I now resolvedto begin to use it freely, for my bread had been quite gone a greatwhile; also I resolved to see what quantity would be sufficient for me awhole year, and to sow but once a year.
Upon the whole, I found that the forty bushels of barley and rice weremuch more than I could consume in a year: so I resolved to sow just thesame quantity every year that I sowed the last, in hopes that such aquantity would fully provide me with bread, &c.
All the while these things were doing, you may be sure my thoughts ranmany times upon the prospect of land which I had seen from the otherside of the island; and I was not without secret wishes, th
at I was onshore there, fancying that seeing the main land, and an inhabitedcountry, I might find some way or other to convey myself farther, andperhaps at last find some means of escape.
But all this while I made no allowance for the dangers of such acondition, and how I might fall into the hands of savages, and perhapssuch as I might have reason to think far worse than the lions and tigersof Africa: that if I once came into their power, I should run an hazardmore than a thousand to one of being killed, and perhaps of being eaten;for I had heard that the people of the Caribean coasts were cannibals,or men-eaters; and I knew by the latitude that I could not be far offfrom that shore: that, suppose they were not cannibals, yet they mightkill me, as many Europeans who had fallen into their hands had beenserved, even when they had been ten or twenty together; much more I thatwas but one, and could make little or no defence. All these things, Isay, which I ought to have considered well of, and I did cast up in mythoughts afterwards, yet took none of
