The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe

"Why, truly," said I, "my friend, I think it is, and I begin to be

  a convert to the principles of merchandising; but I must tell you,

  by the way, you do not know what I am doing; for if I once conquer

  my backwardness, and embark heartily, old as I am, I shall harass

  you up and down the world till I tire you; for I shall pursue it so

  eagerly, I shall never let you lie still."

  CHAPTER XI--WARNED OF DANGER BY A COUNTRYMAN

  A little while after this there came in a Dutch ship from Batavia;

  she was a coaster, not an European trader, of about two hundred

  tons burden; the men, as they pretended, having been so sickly that

  the captain had not hands enough to go to sea with, so he lay by at

  Bengal; and having, it seems, got money enough, or being willing,

  for other reasons, to go for Europe, he gave public notice he would

  sell his ship. This came to my ears before my new partner heard of

  it, and I had a great mind to buy it; so I went to him and told him

  of it. He considered a while, for he was no rash man neither; and

  at last replied, "She is a little too big--however, we will have

  her." Accordingly, we bought the ship, and agreeing with the

  master, we paid for her, and took possession. When we had done so

  we resolved to engage the men, if we could, to join with those we

  had, for the pursuing our business; but, on a sudden, they having

  received not their wages, but their share of the money, as we

  afterwards learned, not one of them was to be found; we inquired

  much about them, and at length were told that they were all gone

  together by land to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's residence,

  to proceed from thence to Surat, and then go by sea to the Gulf of

  Persia.

  Nothing had so much troubled me a good while as that I should miss

  the opportunity of going with them; for such a ramble, I thought,

  and in such company as would both have guarded and diverted me,

  would have suited mightily with my great design; and I should have

  both seen the world and gone homeward too. But I was much better

  satisfied a few days after, when I came to know what sort of

  fellows they were; for, in short, their history was, that this man

  they called captain was the gunner only, not the commander; that

  they had been a trading voyage, in which they had been attacked on

  shore by some of the Malays, who had killed the captain and three

  of his men; and that after the captain was killed, these men,

  eleven in number, having resolved to run away with the ship,

  brought her to Bengal, leaving the mate and five men more on shore.

  Well, let them get the ship how they would, we came honestly by

  her, as we thought, though we did not, I confess, examine into

  things so exactly as we ought; for we never inquired anything of

  the seamen, who would certainly have faltered in their account, and

  contradicted one another. Somehow or other we should have had

  reason to have suspected, them; but the man showed us a bill of

  sale for the ship, to one Emanuel Clostershoven, or some such name,

  for I suppose it was all a forgery, and called himself by that

  name, and we could not contradict him: and withal, having no

  suspicion of the thing, we went through with our bargain. We

  picked up some more English sailors here after this, and some

  Dutch, and now we resolved on a second voyage to the south-east for

  cloves, &c.--that is to say, among the Philippine and Malacca

  isles. In short, not to fill up this part of my story with trifles

  when what is to come is so remarkable, I spent, from first to last,

  six years in this country, trading from port to port, backward and

  forward, and with very good success, and was now the last year with

  my new partner, going in the ship above mentioned, on a voyage to

  China, but designing first to go to Siam to buy rice.

  In this voyage, being by contrary winds obliged to beat up and down

  a great while in the Straits of Malacca and among the islands, we

  were no sooner got clear of those difficult seas than we found our

  ship had sprung a leak, but could not discover where it was. This

  forced us to make some port; and my partner, who knew the country

  better than I did, directed the captain to put into the river of

  Cambodia; for I had made the English mate, one Mr. Thompson,

  captain, not being willing to take the charge of the ship upon

  myself. This river lies on the north side of the great bay or gulf

  which goes up to Siam. While we were here, and going often on

  shore for refreshment, there comes to me one day an Englishman, a

  gunner's mate on board an English East India ship, then riding in

  the same river. "Sir," says he, addressing me, "you are a stranger

  to me, and I to you; but I have something to tell you that very

  nearly concerns you. I am moved by the imminent danger you are in,

  and, for aught I see, you have no knowledge of it."--"I know no

  danger I am in," said I, "but that my ship is leaky, and I cannot

  find it out; but I intend to lay her aground to-morrow, to see if I

  can find it."--"But, sir," says he, "leaky or not leaky, you will

  be wiser than to lay your ship on shore to-morrow when you hear

  what I have to say to you. Do you know, sir," said he, "the town

  of Cambodia lies about fifteen leagues up the river; and there are

  two large English ships about five leagues on this side, and three

  Dutch?"--"Well," said I, "and what is that to me?"--"Why, sir,"

  said be, "is it for a man that is upon such adventures as you are

  to come into a port, and not examine first what ships there are

  there, and whether he is able to deal with them? I suppose you do

  not think you are a match for them?" I could not conceive what he

  meant; and I turned short upon him, and said: "I wish you would

  explain yourself; I cannot imagine what reason I have to be afraid

  of any of the company's ships, or Dutch ships. I am no interloper.

  What can they have to say to me?"--"Well, sir," says he, with a

  smile, "if you think yourself secure you must take your chance; but

  take my advice, if you do not put to sea immediately, you will the

  very next tide be attacked by five longboats full of men, and

  perhaps if you are taken you will be hanged for a pirate, and the

  particulars be examined afterwards. I thought, sir," added he, "I

  should have met with a better reception than this for doing you a

  piece of service of such importance."--"I can never be ungrateful,"

  said I, "for any service, or to any man that offers me any

  kindness; but it is past my comprehension what they should have

  such a design upon me for: however, since you say there is no time

  to be lost, and that there is some villainous design on hand

  against me, I will go on board this minute, and put to sea

  immediately, if my men can stop the leak; but, sir," said I, "shall

  I go away ignorant of the cause of all this? Can you give me no

  further light into it?"

  "I can tell you but part of the story, sir," says he; "but I have a

  Dutch seaman here with me, and I believe I could persuade him to

  tell you the rest;
but there is scarce time for it. But the short

  of the story is this--the first part of which I suppose you know

  well enough--that you were with this ship at Sumatra; that there

  your captain was murdered by the Malays, with three of his men; and

  that you, or some of those that were on board with you, ran away

  with the ship, and are since turned pirates. This is the sum of

  the story, and you will all be seized as pirates, I can assure you,

  and executed with very little ceremony; for you know merchant ships

  show but little law to pirates if they get them into their power."-

  -"Now you speak plain English," said I, "and I thank you; and

  though I know nothing that we have done like what you talk of, for

  I am sure we came honestly and fairly by the ship; yet seeing such

  a work is doing, as you say, and that you seem to mean honestly, I

  will be upon my guard."--"Nay, sir," says he, "do not talk of being

  upon your guard; the best defence is to be out of danger. If you

  have any regard for your life and the lives of all your men, put to

  sea without fail at high-water; and as you have a whole tide before

  you, you will be gone too far out before they can come down; for

  they will come away at high-water, and as they have twenty miles to

  come, you will get near two hours of them by the difference of the

  tide, not reckoning the length of the way: besides, as they are

  only boats, and not ships, they will not venture to follow you far

  out to sea, especially if it blows."--"Well," said I, "you have

  been very kind in this: what shall I do to make you amends?"--

  "Sir," says he, "you may not be willing to make me any amends,

  because you may not be convinced of the truth of it. I will make

  an offer to you: I have nineteen months' pay due to me on board

  the ship -, which I came out of England in; and the Dutchman that

  is with me has seven months' pay due to him. If you will make good

  our pay to us we will go along with you; if you find nothing more

  in it we will desire no more; but if we do convince you that we

  have saved your lives, and the ship, and the lives of all the men

  in her, we will leave the rest to you."

  I consented to this readily, and went immediately on board, and the

  two men with me. As soon as I came to the ship's side, my partner,

  who was on board, came out on the quarter-deck, and called to me,

  with a great deal of joy, "We have stopped the leak--we have

  stopped the leak!"--"Say you so?" said I; "thank God; but weigh

  anchor, then, immediately."--"Weigh!" says he; "what do you mean by

  that? What is the matter?"--"Ask no questions," said I; "but set

  all hands to work, and weigh without losing a minute." He was

  surprised; however, he called the captain, and he immediately

  ordered the anchor to be got up; and though the tide was not quite

  down, yet a little land-breeze blowing, we stood out to sea. Then

  I called him into the cabin, and told him the story; and we called

  in the men, and they told us the rest of it; but as it took up a

  great deal of time, before we had done a seaman comes to the cabin

  door, and called out to us that the captain bade him tell us we

  were chased by five sloops, or boats, full of men. "Very well,"

  said I, "then it is apparent there is something in it." I then

  ordered all our men to be called up, and told them there was a

  design to seize the ship, and take us for pirates, and asked them

  if they would stand by us, and by one another; the men answered

  cheerfully, one and all, that they would live and die with us.

  Then I asked the captain what way he thought best for us to manage

  a fight with them; for resist them I was resolved we would, and

  that to the last drop. He said readily, that the way was to keep

  them off with our great shot as long as we could, and then to use

  our small arms, to keep them from boarding us; but when neither of

  these would do any longer, we would retire to our close quarters,

  for perhaps they had not materials to break open our bulkheads, or

  get in upon us.

  The gunner had in the meantime orders to bring two guns, to bear

  fore and aft, out of the steerage, to clear the deck, and load them

  with musket-bullets, and small pieces of old iron, and what came

  next to hand. Thus we made ready for fight; but all this while we

  kept out to sea, with wind enough, and could see the boats at a

  distance, being five large longboats, following us with all the

  sail they could make.

  Two of those boats (which by our glasses we could see were English)

  outsailed the rest, were near two leagues ahead of them, and gained

  upon us considerably, so that we found they would come up with us;

  upon which we fired a gun without ball, to intimate that they

  should bring to: and we put out a flag of truce, as a signal for

  parley: but they came crowding after us till within shot, when we

  took in our white flag, they having made no answer to it, and hung

  out a red flag, and fired at them with a shot. Notwithstanding

  this, they came on till they were near enough to call to them with

  a speaking-trumpet, bidding them keep off at their peril.

  It was all one; they crowded after us, and endeavoured to come

  under our stern, so as to board us on our quarter; upon which,

  seeing they were resolute for mischief, and depended upon the

  strength that followed them, I ordered to bring the ship to, so

  that they lay upon our broadside; when immediately we fired five

  guns at them, one of which had been levelled so true as to carry

  away the stern of the hindermost boat, and we then forced them to

  take down their sail, and to run all to the head of the boat, to

  keep her from sinking; so she lay by, and had enough of it; but

  seeing the foremost boat crowd on after us, we made ready to fire

  at her in particular. While this was doing one of the three boats

  that followed made up to the boat which we had disabled, to relieve

  her, and we could see her take out the men. We then called again

  to the foremost boat, and offered a truce, to parley again, and to

  know what her business was with us; but had no answer, only she

  crowded close under our stern. Upon this, our gunner who was a

  very dexterous fellow ran out his two case-guns, and fired again at

  her, but the shot missing, the men in the boat shouted, waved their

  caps, and came on. The gunner, getting quickly ready again, fired

  among them a second time, one shot of which, though it missed the

  boat itself, yet fell in among the men, and we could easily see did

  a great deal of mischief among them. We now wore the ship again,

  and brought our quarter to bear upon them, and firing three guns

  more, we found the boat was almost split to pieces; in particular,

  her rudder and a piece of her stern were shot quite away; so they

  handed her sail immediately, and were in great disorder. To

  complete their misfortune, our gunner let fly two guns at them

  again; where he hit them we could not tell, but we found the boat

  was sinking, and some of the men already in the water: upon this,

&nbs
p; I immediately manned out our pinnace, with orders to pick up some

  of the men if they could, and save them from drowning, and

  immediately come on board ship with them, because we saw the rest

  of the boats began to come up. Our men in the pinnace followed

  their orders, and took up three men, one of whom was just drowning,

  and it was a good while before we could recover him. As soon as

  they were on board we crowded all the sail we could make, and stood

  farther out to the sea; and we found that when the other boats came

  up to the first, they gave over their chase.

  Being thus delivered from a danger which, though I knew not the

  reason of it, yet seemed to be much greater than I apprehended, I

  resolved that we should change our course, and not let any one know

  whither we were going; so we stood out to sea eastward, quite out

  of the course of all European ships, whether they were bound to

  China or anywhere else, within the commerce of the European

  nations. When we were at sea we began to consult with the two

  seamen, and inquire what the meaning of all this should be; and the

  Dutchman confirmed the gunner's story about the false sale of the

  ship and of the murder of the captain, and also how that he, this

  Dutchman, and four more got into the woods, where they wandered

  about a great while, till at length he made his escape, and swam

  off to a Dutch ship, which was sailing near the shore in its way

  from China.

  He then told us that he went to Batavia, where two of the seamen

  belonging to the ship arrived, having deserted the rest in their

  travels, and gave an account that the fellow who had run away with

  the ship, sold her at Bengal to a set of pirates, who were gone a-

  cruising in her, and that they had already taken an English ship

  and two Dutch ships very richly laden. This latter part we found

  to concern us directly, though we knew it to be false; yet, as my

  partner said, very justly, if we had fallen into their hands, and

  they had had such a prepossession against us beforehand, it had

  been in vain for us to have defended ourselves, or to hope for any

  good quarter at their hands; especially considering that our

  accusers had been our judges, and that we could have expected

  nothing from them but what rage would have dictated, and an

  ungoverned passion have executed. Therefore it was his opinion we

  should go directly back to Bengal, from whence we came, without

  putting in at any port whatever--because where we could give a good

  account of ourselves, could prove where we were when the ship put

  in, of whom we bought her, and the like; and what was more than all

  the rest, if we were put upon the necessity of bringing it before

  the proper judges, we should be sure to have some justice, and not

  to be hanged first and judged afterwards.

  I was some time of my partner's opinion; but after a little more

  serious thinking, I told him I thought it was a very great hazard

  for us to attempt returning to Bengal, for that we were on the

  wrong side of the Straits of Malacca, and that if the alarm was

  given, we should be sure to be waylaid on every side--that if we

  should be taken, as it were, running away, we should even condemn

  ourselves, and there would want no more evidence to destroy us. I

  also asked the English sailor's opinion, who said he was of my

  mind, and that we certainly should be taken. This danger a little

  startled my partner and all the ship's company, and we immediately

  resolved to go away to the coast of Tonquin, and so on to the coast

  of China--and pursuing the first design as to trade, find some way

  or other to dispose of the ship, and come back in some of the

  vessels of the country such as we could get. This was approved of

  as the best method for our security, and accordingly we steered

  away NNE., keeping above fifty leagues off from the usual course to

  the eastward. This, however, put us to some inconvenience: for,

  first, the winds, when we came that distance from the shore, seemed

  to be more steadily against us, blowing almost trade, as we call