by Daniel Defoe
drank, I called him, to know if there was any waterleft? he said, "Yes;" and I bade him give it to the poor Spaniard, whowas in as much want of it as his father; and I sent one of the cakes,that Friday brought, to the Spaniard too, who was indeed very weak, andwas reposing himself upon a green place, under the shade of a tree, andwhose limbs were also very stiff, and very much swelled with the rudebandage he had been tied with: when I saw that, upon Friday's coming tohim with the water, he sat up and drank, and took the bread, and beganto eat, I went to him, and gave him a handful of raisins: he looked upin my face with all the tokens of gratitude and thankfulness that couldappear in any countenance; but was so weak, notwithstanding he had soexerted himself in the fight, that he could not stand upon his feet; hetried to do it two or three times, but was really not able, his ankleswere so swelled and so painful to him; so I bade him sit still, andcaused Friday to rub his ankles, and bathe them with rum, as he had donehis father's.
I observed the poor affectionate creature every two minutes, or perhapsless, all the while he was here, turned his head about, to see if hisfather was in the same place and posture as he left him sitting; and atlast he found he was not to be seen; at which he started up, and,without speaking a word, flew with that swiftness to him, that one couldscarce perceive his feet to touch the ground as he went: but when hecame, he only found he had laid himself down to ease his limbs: soFriday came back to me presently, and I then spoke to the Spaniard tolet Friday help him up, if he could, and load him to the boat, and thenhe should carry him to our dwelling, where I would take care of him: butFriday, a lusty young fellow, took the Spaniard quite up upon his back,and carried him away to the boat, and set him down softly upon the sideor gunnel of the canoe, with his feet in the inside of it, and thenlifted them quite in, and set him close to his father, and presentlystepping out again, launched the boat off, and paddled it along theshore faster than I could walk, though the wind blew pretty hard too; sohe brought them both safe into our creek; and leaving them in the boat,runs away to fetch the other canoe. As he passed me, I spoke to him, andasked him whither he went? He told me, "Go fetch more boat;" so away hewent, like the wind; for sure never man or horse ran like him, and hehad the other canoe in the creek almost as soon as I got to it by land;so he wafted me over, and then went to help our new guests out of theboat, which he did; but they were neither of them able to walk; so thatpoor Friday knew not what to do.
To remedy this, I went to work in my thought, and calling to Friday tobid them sit down on the bank while he came to me, I soon made a kind ofhand-barrow to lay them on, and Friday and I carried them up bothtogether upon it between us; but when we got them to the outside of ourwall or fortification, we were at a worse loss than before; for it wasimpossible to get them over; and I was resolved not to break it down: soI set to work again; and Friday and I, in about two hours time, made avery handsome tent, covered with old sails, and above that with boughsof trees, being in the space without our outward fence, and between thatand the grove of young wood which I had planted: and here we made twobeds of such things as I had; viz. of good rice-straw, with blanketslaid upon it to lie on, and another to cover them on each bed.
My island was now peopled, and I thought myself very rich in subjects;and it was a merry reflection which I frequently made, how like a kingI looked: first of all, the whole country was my own mere property; sothat I had an undoubted right of dominion: 2dly, My people wereperfectly subjected: I was absolute lord and lawgiver; they all owedtheir lives to me, and were ready to lay down their lives, if there hadbeen occasion for it, for me: it was remarkable too, I had but threesubjects, and they were of three different religions. My man Friday wasa Protestant, his father a Pagan and a cannibal; and the Spaniard was aPapist: however, I allowed liberty of conscience throughout mydominions: but this by the way.
As soon as I had secured my two weak rescued prisoners, and given themshelter, and a place to rest them upon, I began to think of making someprovision for them; and the first thing I did, I ordered Friday to takea yearling goat, betwixt a kid and a goat, out of my particular flock,to be killed: then I cut off the hind quarter, and, chopping it intosmall pieces, I set Friday to work to boiling and stewing, and made thema very good dish, I assure you, of flesh and broth; having put somebarley and rice also into the broth; and as I cooked it without doors,(for I made no fire within my inner wall) so I carried it all into thenew tent; and having set a table there for them, I sat down and ate mydinner also with them; and, as well as I could, cheered them andencouraged them, Friday being my interpreter, especially to his father,and indeed to the Spaniard too; for the Spaniard spoke the language ofthe savages pretty well.
After we had dined, or rather supped, I ordered Friday to take one ofthe canoes, and go and fetch our muskets and other fire-arms, which, forwant of time, we had left upon the place of battle; and the next day Iordered him to go and bury the dead bodies of the savages, which layopen to the sun, and, would presently be offensive; and I also orderedhim to bury the horrid remains of their barbarous feast, which I knewwere pretty much, and which I could not think of doing myself; nay, Icould not, bear to see them, if I went that way: all which hepunctually performed, and defaced the very appearance of the savagesbeing there; so that when I went again, I could scarce know where itwas, otherwise than by the corner of the wood pointing to the place.
I then began to enter into a little conversation with my two newsubjects; and first I set Friday to inquire of his father, what hethought of the escape of the savages in that canoe? and whether he mightexpect a return of them with a power too great for us to resist? Hisfirst opinion was, that the savages in the boat never could live out thestorm which blew that night they went off, but must of necessity bedrowned or driven south to those other shores, where they were as sureto be devoured, as they were to be drowned if they were cast away; butas to what they would do if they came safe on shore, he said, he knewnot; but it was his opinion, that they were so dreadfully frighted withthe manner of being attacked, the noise, and the fire, that he believedthey would tell their people they were all killed by thunder andlightning, and not by the hand of man; and that the two which appeared(viz. Friday and I) were two heavenly spirits or furies come down todestroy them, and not men with weapons. This, he said, he knew, becausehe heard them all cry out so in their language to one another; for itwas impossible for them to conceive that a man should dart fire, andspeak thunder, and kill at a distance, without lifting up the hand, aswas done now. And this old savage was in the right; for, as I understoodsince by other hands, the savages of that part never attempted to goover to the island afterwards. They were so terrified with the accountsgiven by these four men, (for it seems they did escape the sea) thatthey believed, whoever went to that enchanted island, would be destroyedwith fire from the gods.
This, however, I knew not, and therefore was under continualapprehensions for a good while, and kept always upon my guard, I and allmy army; for as there were now four of us, I would have ventured ahundred of them fairly in the open field at any time.
In a little time, however, no more canoes appearing, the fear of theircoming wore off, and I began to take my former thoughts of a voyage tothe main into consideration, being likewise assured by Friday's father,that I might depend upon good usage from their nation on his account, ifI would go.
But my thoughts were a little suspended, when I had a serious discoursewith the Spaniard, and when I understood, that there were sixteen moreof his countrymen and Portuguese, who having been cast away, and madetheir escape to that side, lived there at peace indeed with the savages,but were very sore put to it for necessaries, and indeed for life: Iasked him all the particulars of their voyage; and found they were aSpanish ship, bound from the Rio de la Plata to the Havanna, beingdirected to leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides andsilver, and to bring back what European goods they could meet withthere; that they had five Portuguese seamen on board, whom they took outof another wreck; that five of their own men were drowned when fi
rst theship was lost; and that these escaped through infinite dangers andhazards, and arrived almost starved on the cannibal coast, where theyexpected to have been devoured every moment.
He told me, they had some arms with them, but they were perfectlyuseless, for that they had neither powder nor ball, the washing of thesea having spoiled all their powder, but a little which they used attheir first landing to provide themselves some food.
I asked him what he thought would become of them there; and if they hadformed no design of making any escape? He said, they had manyconsultations about it, but that having neither vessel, nor tools tobuild one, or provisions of any kind, their counsels always ended intears and despair.
I asked him, how he thought they would receive a proposal from me,which might tend towards an escape; and whether, if they were all here,it might not be done? I told him with freedom, I feared mostly theirtreachery and ill usage of me, if I put my
