by Daniel Defoe
end of it, to keep the water out; and so she laydry, as to the tide, from the sea; and to keep the rain off, we laid agreat many boughs of trees so thick, that she was as well thatched as ahouse; and thus we waited for the months of November and December, inwhich I designed to make my adventure.
When the settled season began to come in, as the thought of my designreturned with the fair weather, I was preparing daily for the voyage;and the first thing I did was to lay up a certain quantity of provision,being the store for the voyage; and intended, in a week or a fortnight'stime, to open the dock, and launch out our boat. I was busy one morningupon something of this kind, when I called to Friday, and bid him go tothe sea-shore, and see if he could find a turtle or tortoise, a thingwhich we generally got once a week, for the sake of the eggs, as well asthe flesh. Friday had not been long gone, when he came running back, andflew over my outward wall, or fence, like one that felt not the ground,or the steps he set his feet on; and before I had time to speak to him,he cried out to me, "O master! O master! O sorrow! O bad!"--"What's thematter, Friday?" said I. "O yonder there," says he, "one, two, three,canoe! one, two, three!" By this way of speaking I concluded there weresix; but on inquiry I found there were but three. "Well, Friday," saidI, "do not be frighted;" so I heartened him up as well as I could.However, I saw the poor fellow most terribly scared; for nothing ran inhis head, but that they were come to look for him, and would cut him inpieces, and eat him; the poor fellow trembled so, that I scarce knewwhat to do with him; I comforted him as well as I could, and told him Iwas in as much danger as he, and that they would eat me as well as him."But," said I, "Friday, we must resolve to fight them: can you fight,Friday?" "Me shoot," says he, "but there come many great number." "Nomatter for that," said I again; "our guns will fright them that we donot kill." So I asked him, whether, if I resolved to defend him, hewould defend me, and stand by me, and do just as I bade him? He said,"Me die, when you bid die, master;" so I went and fetched a good dram ofrum, and gave him; for I had been so good a husband of my rum, that Ihad a great deal left. When he had drank it, I made him take the twofowling-pieces which we always carried, and load them with largeswan-shot as big as small pistol bullets; then I took four muskets, andloaded them with two slugs and five small bullets each; and my twopistols I loaded with a brace of bullets each: I hung my great sword, asusual, naked by my side, and gave Friday his hatchet.
When I had thus prepared myself, I took my perspective-glass, and wentup to the side of the hill, to see what I could discover; and I foundquickly, by my glass, that there were one and twenty savages, threeprisoners, and three canoes; and that their whole business seemed to bethe triumphant banquet upon these three human bodies; a barbarous feastindeed, but nothing more than as I had observed was usual with them.
I observed also, that they were landed, not where they had done whenFriday made his escape, but nearer to my creek, where the shore was low,and where a thick wood came close almost down to the sea: this, with theabhorrence of the inhuman errand these wretches came about, so filled mewith indignation, that I came down again to Friday, and told him, I wasresolved to go down to them, and kill them all; and asked him if hewould stand by me. He was now gotten over his fright, and his spiritsbeing a little raised with the dram I had given him, he was verycheerful; and told me, as before, he would die when I bid die.
In this fit of fury, I took first and divided the arms which I hadcharged, as before, between us: I gave Friday one pistol to stick in hisgirdle, and three guns upon his shoulder; and I took one pistol, and theother three, myself; and in this posture we marched out. I took a smallbottle of rum in my pocket, and gave Friday a large bag with more powderand bullet; and as to orders, I charged him to keep close behind me, andnot to stir, shoot, or do any thing till I bid him; and in the meantime, not to speak a word. In this posture I fetched a compass to myright hand of near a mile, as well to get over the creek as to get intothe wood; so that I might come within shot of them before I could bediscovered, which I had seen by my glass it was easy to do.
While I was making this march, my former thoughts returning, I began toabate my resolution; I do not mean, that I entertained any fear of theirnumber; for as they were naked, unarmed wretches, it is certain I wassuperior to them; nay, though I had been alone: but it occurred to mythoughts, what call, what occasion, much less what necessity, I was into go and dip my hands in blood, to attack people who had neither doneor intended me any wrong, who, as to me, were innocent, and whosebarbarous customs were their own disaster, being in them a token indeedof God's having left them, with the other nations of that part of theworld, to such stupidity and to such inhuman courses; but did not callme to take upon me to be a judge of their actions, much less anexecutioner of his justice; that whenever he thought fit, he would takethe cause into his own hands, and by national vengeance punish them fornational crimes; but that in the mean time, it was none of my business;that it was true, Friday might justify it, because he was a declaredenemy, and in a state of war with those very particular people, and itwas lawful for him to attack them; but I could not say the same withrespect to me. These things were so warmly pressed upon my thoughts allthe way as I went, that I resolved I would only go place myself nearthem, that I might observe their barbarous feast, and that I would actthen as God should direct; but that unless something offered that wasmore a call to me than yet I knew of, I would not meddle with them.
With this resolution I entered the wood, and with all possible warinessand silence (Friday following close at my heels) I marched till I cameto the skirt of the wood, on the side which was next to them; only thatone corner of the wood lay between me and them: here I called softly toFriday, and shewing him a great tree, which was just at the corner ofthe wood, I bade him go to the tree, and bring me word if he could seethere plainly what they were doing: he did so, and came immediately backto me, and told me they might be plainly viewed there; that they wereall about the fire, eating the flesh of one of their prisoners; and thatanother lay bound upon the sand, a little from them, whom he said theywould kill next, and which fired the very soul within me. He told me, itwas not one of their nation, but one of the bearded men whom he had toldme of, who came to their country in the boat. I was filled with horrorat the very naming the white-bearded man, and, going to the tree, I sawplainly, by my glass, a white man, who lay upon the beach of the sea,with his hands and his feet tied with flags, or things like rushes; andthat he was an European, and had clothes on.
There was another tree, and a little thicket beyond it, about fiftyyards nearer to them than the place where I was, which, by going alittle way about, I saw I might come at undiscovered, and that then Ishould be within half-shot of them; so I withheld my passion, though Iwas indeed enraged to the highest degree; and going back about twentypaces, I got behind some bushes, which held all the way till I came tothe other tree, and then I came to a little rising ground, which gave mea full view of them, at the distance of about eighty yards.
I had now not a moment to lose; for nineteen of the dreadful wretchessat upon the ground all close huddled together, and had just sent theother two to butcher the poor Christian, and bring him, perhaps limb bylimb, to their fire; and they were stooped down to untie the bands athis feet. I turned to Friday; "Now, Friday," said I, "do as I bid thee."Friday said, he would. "Then, Friday," said I, "do exactly as you see medo; fail in nothing." So I set down one of the muskets and thefowling-piece upon the ground, and Friday did the like by his; and withthe other musket I took my aim at the savages, bidding him do the like.Then asking him if he was ready, he said, "Yes." "Then fire at them,"said I; and the same moment I fired also.
Friday took his aim so much better than I, that on the side that heshot, he killed two of them, and wounded three more; and on my side, Ikilled one, and wounded two. They were, you may be sure, in a dreadfulconsternation; and all of them, who were not hurt, jumped up upon theirfeet immediately, but did not know which way to run, or which way tolook; for they knew not from whence their destruction ca
me. Friday kepthis eyes close upon me, that, as I had bid him, he might observe what Idid; so as soon as the first shot was made, I threw down the piece, andtook up the fowling-piece, and Friday did the like; he sees me cock, andpresent; he did the same again. "Are you ready, Friday?" said I. "Yes,"says he. "Let fly then," said I, "in the name of God;" and with that Ifired again among the amazed wretches, and so did Friday; and as ourpieces were now loaden with what I call swan shot, or smallpistol-bullets, we found only two drop; but so many were wounded, thatthey ran about yelling and screaming like mad creatures, all bloody, andmiserably wounded most of them; whereof three more fell quickly after,though not quite dead.
"Now, Friday," said I, laying down the discharged
