The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808)
Page 70
affectionatemother's life, was not so far gone; yet he lay in a cabin-bed as onestretched out, with hardly any life left in him; he had a piece of anold glove in his mouth, having eaten up the rest of it; however, beingyoung, and having more strength than his mother, the mate got somethingdown his throat, and he began sensibly to revive, though, by giving himsome time after but two or three spoonfuls extraordinary, he was verysick, and brought it up again.
But the next care was the poor maid; she lay all along upon the deckhard by her mistress, and just like one that had fallen down with anapoplexy, and struggled for life: her limbs were distorted, one of herhands was clasped round the frame of one chair, and she griped it sohard, that we could not easily make her let it go; her other arm layover her head, and her feet lay both together, set fast against theframe of the cabin-table; in short, she lay just like one in the lastagonies of death; and yet she was alive too.
The poor creature was not only starved with hunger, and terrified withthe thoughts of death, but, as the men told us afterwards, wasbroken-hearted for her mistress, whom she saw dying two or three daysbefore, and whom she loved most tenderly.
We knew not what to do with this poor girl; for when our surgeon, whowas a man of very great knowledge and experience, and with greatapplication recovered her as to life, he had her upon his hand as to hersenses, for she was little less than distracted for a considerable timeafter; as shall appear presently.
Whoever shall read these memorandums, must be desired to consider, thatvisits at sea are not like a journey into the country, where sometimespeople stay a week or a fortnight at a place. Our business was torelieve this distressed ship's crew, but not lie by for them; and thoughthey were willing to steer the same course with us for some days, yet wecould carry no sail to keep pace with a ship that had no masts: however,as their captain begged of us to help him to set up a main-topmast, anda kind of topmast to his jury-foremast, we did, as it were, lie by himfor three or four days, and then having given him five barrels of beefand pork, two hogsheads of biscuit, and a proportion of peas, flour, andwhat other things we could spare; and taking three casks of sugar andsome rum, and some pieces of eight of them for satisfaction, we leftthem, taking on board with us, at their own earnest request, the youthand the maid, and all their goods.
The young lad was about seventeen years of age, a pretty, well-bred,modest, and sensible youth; greatly dejected with the loss of hismother, and, as it happened had lost his father but a few months beforeat Barbados. He begged of the surgeon to speak to me, to take him out ofthe ship; for he said, the cruel fellows had murdered his mother; andindeed so they had, that is to say, passively; for they might havespared a small sustenance to the poor helpless widow, that might havepreserved her life, though it had been just to keep her alive. Buthunger knows no friend, no relation, no justice, no right; and thereforeis remorseless, and capable of no compassion.
The surgeon told him how far we were going, and how it would carry himaway from all his friends, and put him perhaps in as bad circumstance,almost, as we found them in; that is to say, starving in the world. Hesaid it mattered not whither he went, if he was but delivered from theterrible crew that he was among: that the captain (by which he meant me,for he could know nothing of my nephew) had saved his life, and he wassure would not hurt him; and as for the maid, he was sure, if she cameto herself, she would be very thankful for it, let us carry them whitherwe would. The surgeon represented the case so affectionately to me, thatI yielded, and we took them both on board with all their goods, excepteleven hogsheads of sugar, which could not be removed, or come at; andas the youth had a bill of lading for them, I made his commander sign awriting, obliging him to go, as soon as he came to Bristol, to one Mr.Rogers, a merchant there, to whom the youth said he was related, and todeliver a letter which I wrote to him, and all the goods he hadbelonging to the deceased widow; which I suppose was not done; for Icould never learn that the ship came to Bristol; but was, as is mostprobable, lost at sea, being in so disabled a condition, and so far fromany land, that I am of opinion, the first storm she met with afterwardsshe might founder in the sea; for she was leaky, and had damage in herhold when I met with her.
I was now in the latitude of 19 deg. 32 min. and had hitherto had atolerable voyage as to weather, though at first the winds had beencontrary. I shall trouble nobody with the little incidents of wind,weather, currents, &c. on the rest of our voyage; but, shortening mystory for the sake of what is to follow, shall observe, that I came tomy old habitation, the island, on the 10th of April, 1695. It was withno small difficulty that I found the place; for as I came to it, andwent from it before, on the south and east side of the island, as comingfrom the Brasils; so now coming in between the main and the island, andhaving no chart for the coast, nor any land-mark, I did not know it whenI saw it, or know whether I saw it or no.
We beat about a great while, and went on shore on several islands in themouth of the great river Oroonoque, but none for my purpose: only this Ilearnt by my coasting the shore, that I was under one great mistakebefore, viz. that the continent which I thought I saw from the island Ilived in, was really no continent, but a long island, or rather a ridgeof islands reaching from one to the other side of the extended mouth ofthat great river; and that the savages who came to my island, were notproperly those which we call Caribbees, but islanders, and otherbarbarians of the same kind, who inhabited something nearer to our sidethan the rest.
In short, I visited several of the islands to no purpose; some I foundwere inhabited, and some were not. On one of them I found someSpaniards, and thought they had lived there; but speaking with them,found they had a sloop lay in a small creek hard by, and that they camethither to make salt, and catch some pearl-muscles, if they could; butthey belonged to the Isle de Trinidad, which lay farther north, in thelatitude of 10 and 11 degrees.
Thus coasting from one island to another, sometimes with the ship,sometimes with the Frenchman's shallop (which we had found a convenientboat, and therefore kept her with their very good will,) at length Icame fair on the south side of my island, and I presently knew the verycountenance of the place; so I brought the ship safe to an anchorbroadside with the little creek where was my old habitation.
As soon as I saw the place, I called for Friday, and asked him, if heknew where he was? He looked about a little, and presently clapping hishands, cried, "O yes, O there, O yes, O there!" pointing to our oldhabitation, and fell a-dancing and capering like a mad fellow; and I hadmuch ado to keep him from jumping into the sea, to swim ashore tothe place.
"Well, Friday," said I, "do you think we shall find any body here, orno? and what do you think, shall we see your father?" The fellow stoodmute as a stock a good while; but when I named his father, the pooraffectionate creature looked dejected; and I could see the tears rundown his face very plentifully. "What is the matter, Friday?" said I;"are you troubled because you may see your father"--"No, no," says he,shaking his head, "no see him more, no ever more see again."--"Why so,"said I, "Friday? how do you know that?"--"O no, O no," says Friday, "helong ago die; long ago, he much old man."--"Well, well," said I,"Friday, you don't know; but shall we see any one else then?" Thefellow, it seems, had better eyes than I, and he points just to the hillabove my old house; and though we lay half a league off, he cries out,"Me see! me see! yes, yes, me see much man there, and there, and there."I looked, but I could see nobody, no, not with a perspective-glass;which was, I suppose, because I could not hit the place; for the fellowwas right, as I found upon inquiry the next day, and there were five orsix men all together stood to look at the ship, not knowing what tothink of us.
As soon as Friday had told me he saw people, I caused the Englishancient to be spread, and fired three guns, to give them notice we werefriends; and about half a quarter of an hour after, we perceived a smokerise from the side of the creek; so I immediately ordered a boat out,taking Friday with me; and hanging out a white flag, or a flag oftruce, I went directly on shore, taking with me the young friar Imentioned
, to whom I had told the whole story of living there, and themanner of it, and every particular both of myself and those that I leftthere, and who was on that account extremely desirous to go with me, Wehad besides about sixteen men very well armed, if we had found any newguest there which we did not know of; but we had no need of weapons.
As we went on shore upon the tide of flood near high water, we roweddirectly into the creek; and the first man I fixed my eye upon was theSpaniard whose life I had saved, and whom I knew by his face perfectlywell; as to his habit, I shall describe it afterwards. I ordered nobodyto go on shore at first but myself; but there was no keeping Friday inthe boat; for the affectionate creature had spied his father at adistance, a good way off of the Spaniards, where indeed I saw nothing ofhim; and if they had not let him go on shore he would have jumped intothe