by Daniel Defoe
strange andunforeseen accident intervened, of which the like has not, perhaps, beenheard of in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning, when myman Friday came running in to me, and called aloud, "Master, master,they are come, they are come."
I jumped up, and, regardless of danger, I went out as soon as I couldget my clothes on, through my little grove, which (by the way) was bythis time grown to be a very thick wood; I say, regardless of danger, Iwent without my arms, which was not my custom to do; but I wassurprised, when, turning my eyes to the sea, I presently saw a boat atabout a league and a half's distance, standing in for the shore, with ashoulder of mutton sail, as they call it, and the wind blowing prettyfair to bring them in. Also I observed presently, that they did not comefrom that side which the shore lay on, but from the southernmost end ofthe island. Upon this I called Friday in, and bid him be close, forthese were not the people we looked for, and that we did not know yetwhether they were friends or enemies.
In the next place, I went in to fetch my perspective glass, to see whatI could make of them; and having taken the ladder out, I climbed up tothe top of the hill, as I used to do when I was apprehensive of anything, and to take my view the plainer without being discovered.
I had scarce set my foot on the hill, when my eye plainly discovered aship lying at an anchor, at about two leagues and a half's distance fromme, S.S.E. but not above a league and a half from the shore. By myobservation it appeared plainly to be an English ship, and the boatappeared to be an English long-boat.
I cannot express the confusion I was in, though the joy of seeing aship, and one whom I had reason to believe was manned by my owncountrymen, and consequently friends, was such as I cannot describe; butyet I had some secret doubts hung about me, I cannot tell from whencethey came, bidding me keep upon my guard. In the first place, itoccurred to me to consider what business an English ship could have inthat part of the world; since it was not the way to or from any part ofthe world where the English had any traffic; and I knew there had beenno storms to drive them in there, as in distress; and that if they wereEnglish really, it was most probable that they were here upon no gooddesign; and that I had better continue as I was, than fall into thehands of thieves and murderers.
Let no man despise the secret hints and notices of danger, whichsometimes are given him when he may think there is no possibility of itsbeing real. That such hints and notices are given us, I believe few thathave made any observation of things can deny; that they are certaindiscoveries of an invisible world, and a converse of spirits, we cannotdoubt; and if the tendency of them seems to be to warn us of danger, whyshould we not suppose they are from some friendly agent, (whethersupreme, or inferior and subordinate, is not the question,) and thatthey are given for our good?
The present question abundantly confirms me in the justice of thisreasoning; for had I not been made cautious by this secret admonition,come from whence it will, I had been undone inevitably, and in a farworse condition than before, as you will see presently.
I had not kept myself long in this posture, but I saw the boat draw nearthe shore, as if they looked for a creek to thrust in at for theconvenience of landing; however, as they did not come quite far enough,they did not see the little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts, butrun their boat on shore upon the beach, at about half a mile from me,which was very happy for me; for otherwise they would have landed just,as I may say, at my door, and would have soon beaten me out of mycastle, and, perhaps, have plundered me of all I had.
When they were on shore, I was fully satisfied they were Englishmen, atleast most of them; one or two I thought were Dutch, but it did notprove so. There were in all eleven men, whereof three of them I foundwere unarmed, and (as I thought) bound; and when the first four or fiveof them were jumped on shore, they took those three out of the boat asprisoners: one of the three I could perceive using the most passionategestures of entreaty, affliction, and despair, even to a kind ofextravagance; the other two, I could perceive, lifted up their handssometimes, and appeared concerned indeed, but not to such a degree asthe first.
I was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not what the meaningof it should be; Friday called out to me in English, as well as hecould, "O master! you see English mans eat prisoners as well as savagemans."--"Why," said I, "Friday, do you think they are going to eat themthen"--"Yes," says Friday, "they will eat them."--"No, no," said I,"Friday; I am afraid they will murder them indeed; but you may be surethey will not eat them."
All this while I had no thought of what the matter really was, but stoodtrembling with the horror of the sight, expecting every moment when thethree prisoners should be killed; nay, once I saw one of the villainslift up his arm with a great cutlass (as the seamen call it) or sword,to strike one of the poor men; and I expected to see him fall everymoment, at which all the blood in my body seemed to run chill inmy veins.
I wished heartily now for our Spaniard, and the savage that was gonewith him; or that I had any way to have come undiscovered within shot ofthem, that I might have rescued the three men; for I saw no fire-armsthey had among them; but it fell out to my mind another way.
After I had observed the outrageous usage of the three men by theinsolent seamen, I observed the fellows ran scattering about the land,as if they wanted to see the country. I observed also, that the threeother men had liberty to go where they pleased; but they sat down allthree upon the ground very pensive, and looked like men in despair.
This put me in mind of the finest time when I came on shore, and beganto look about me; how I gave myself over for lost, how wildly I lookedround me, what dreadful apprehensions I had, and how I lodged in thetree all night for fear of being devoured by wild beasts.
As I knew nothing that night of the supply I was to receive by theprovidential driving of the ship nearer the land, by the storms andtides, by which I have since been so long nourished and supported; sothese three poor desolate men knew nothing how certain of deliveranceand supply they were, how near it was to them, and how effectually andreally they were in a condition of safety, at the same time they thoughtthemselves lost, and their case desperate.
So little do we see before us in the world, and so much reason have weto depend cheerfully upon the great Maker of the world, that he does notleave his creatures so absolutely destitute, but that in the worstcircumstances they have always something to be thankful for, andsometimes are nearer their deliverance than they imagine; nay, are evenbrought to their deliverance by the means by which they seem to bebrought to their destruction.
It was just at the top of high water when these people came on shore,and while, partly they stood parleying with the prisoners they brought,and partly while they rambled about to see what kind of place they werein, they had carelessly staid till the tide was spent, and the water wasebbed considerably away, leaving their boat aground.
They had left two men in the boat, who, as I found afterwards, havingdrank a little too much brandy, fell asleep; however, one of them wakingsooner than the other, and finding the boat too fast aground for him tostir it, hallooed for the rest who were straggling about, upon whichthey all soon came to the boat but it was past all their strength tolaunch her, the boat being very heavy, and the shore on that side beinga soft oozy sand, almost like a quicksand.
In this condition, like true seamen, who are, perhaps, the least of allmankind given to fore-thought, they gave it over, and away they strolledabout the country again; and I heard one of them say aloud to another,(calling them off from the boat) "Why, let her alone, Jack, can't ye?she'll float next tide." By which I was fully confirmed in the maininquiry, of what countrymen they were.
All this while I kept myself close, not once daring to stir out of mycastle, any further than to my place of observation, near the top of thehill; and very glad I was, to think how well it was fortified. I know itwas no less then ten hours before the boat could be on float again, andby that time it would be dark and I might be more at liberty to seetheir motions, and to hear their discour
se, if they had any.
In the meantime I fitted myself up for a battle, as before, though withmore caution, knowing I had to do with another kind of enemy than I hadat first: I ordered Friday also, whom I had made an excellent marksmanwith his gun, to load himself with arms: I took myself twofowling-pieces, and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, wasvery fierce; I had my formidable goat-skin coat on, with the great cap Imentioned, a naked sword, two pistols in my belt, and a gun uponeach shoulder.
It was my design, as I said above, not to have made any attempt till itwas dark; but about two o'clock, being the heat of the day, I found thatin short they were all gone straggling into the woods, and, as Ithought, were all laid down to sleep. The three poor distressed men, tooanxious for their condition to get any sleep, were however set downunder the shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter of a mile from me,and, as I thought, out of sight of any of the
