by Daniel Defoe
left on the ship's side, so we got init.
There we were all of us on the wild sea. The heart of each now grewfaint, our cheeks were pale, and our eyes were dim, for there was butone hope, and that was to find some bay, and so get in the lee of theland. We now gave up our whole souls to God.
The sea grew more and more rough, and its white foam would curl andboil. At last the waves, in their wild sport, burst on the boat's side,and we were all thrown out.
I could swim well, but the force of the waves made me lose my breath toomuch to do so. At length one large wave took me to the shore, and leftme high and dry, though half dead with fear. I got on my feet and madethe best of my way for the land; but just then the curve of a huge waverose up as high as a hill, and this I had no strength to keep from, soit took me back to the sea. I did my best to float on the top, and heldmy breath to do so. The next wave was quite as high, and shut me up inits bulk. I held my hands down tight to my side, and then my head shotout at the top of the waves. This gave me heart and breath too, and soonmy feet felt the ground.
I stood quite still for a short time, to let the sea run back from me,and then I set off with all my might to the shore, but yet the wavescaught me, and twice more did they take me back, and twice more land meon the shore. I thought the last wave would have been the death of me,for it drove me on a piece of rock, and with such force, as to leave mein a kind of swoon, which, thank God, did not last long. At length, tomy great joy, I got up to the cliffs close to the shore, where I foundsome grass, out of the reach of the sea. There, I sat down, safe on landat last.
I could but cry out in the words of the Psalm, "They that go down to thesea in ships, these men see the works of the Lord in the deep. For atHis word the storms rise, the winds blow, and lift up the waves; thendo they mount to the sky, and from thence go down to the deep. My soulfaints, I reel to and fro, and am at my wit's end: then the Lord bringsme out of all my fears."
I felt so wrapt in joy, that all I could do was to walk up and down thecoast, now lift up my hands, now fold them on my breast, and thank Godfor all that He had done for me, when the rest of the men were lost.All lost but I, and I was safe! I now cast my eyes round me, to find outwhat kind of a place it was that I had been thus thrown in, like a birdin a storm. Then all the glee I felt at first left me; for I was wet andcold, and had no dry clothes to put on, no food to eat and not a friendto help me.
There were wild beasts here, but I had no gun to shoot them with, or tokeep me from their jaws. I had but a knife and a pipe. It now grew dark;and where was I to go for the night? I thought the top of some high treewould be a good place to keep me out of harm's way; and that there Imight sit and think of death, for, as yet, I had no hopes of life. Well,I went to my tree, and made a kind of nest to sleep in. Then I cut astick to keep off the beasts of prey, in case they should come, and fellto sleep just as if the branch I lay on had been a bed of down.
When I woke up it was broad day; the sky too was clear and the sea calm.But I saw from the top of the tree that in the night the ship had leftthe bank of sand, and lay but a mile from me; while the boat was on thebeach, two miles on my right. I went some way down by the shore, to getto the boat; but an arm of the sea, half a mile broad, kept me fromit. At noon, the tide went a long way out, so that I could get near theship; and here I found that if we had but made up our minds to stay onboard, we should all have been safe.
I shed tears at the thought, for I could not help it; yet, as there wasno use in that, it struck me that the best thing for me to do was toswim to the ship. I soon threw off my clothes, took to the sea, and swamup to the wreck. But how was I to get on deck? I had swam twice roundthe ship, when a piece of rope, caught my eye, which hung down from herside so low, that at first the waves hid it. By the help of this rope Igot on board. I found that there was a bulge in the ship, and that shehad sprung a leak. You may be sure that my first thought was to lookround for some food, and I soon made my way to the bin, where the breadwas kept, and ate some of it as I went to and fro, for there was no timeto lose. There was, too, some rum, of which I took a good draught, andthis gave me heart. What I stood most in need of, was a boat to take thegoods to shore. But it was vain to wish for that which could not behad; and as there were some spare yards in the ship, two or three largeplanks of wood, and a spare mast or two, I fell to work with these, tomake a raft.
I put four spars side by side, and laid short bits of plank on them,cross ways, to make my raft strong. Though these planks would bear myown weight, they were too slight to bear much of my freight. So I took asaw which was on board, and cut a mast in three lengths, and these gavegreat strength to the raft. I found some bread and rice, a Dutch cheese,and some dry goat's flesh. There had been some wheat, but the rats hadgot at it, and it was all gone.
My next task was to screen my goods from the spray of the sea; and itdid not take me long to do this, for there were three large chests onboard which held all, and these I put on the raft. When the high tidecame up it took off my coat and shirt, which I had left on the shore;but there were some fresh clothes in the ship.
"See here is a prize!" said I, out loud, (though there were none to hearme), "now I shall not starve." For I found four large guns. But how wasmy raft to be got to land? I had no sail, no oars; and a gust of windwould make all my store slide off. Yet there were three things which Iwas glad of; a calm sea, a tide which set in to the shore, and a slightbreeze to blow me there.
I had the good luck to find some oars in a part of the ship, in whichI had made no search till now. With these I put to sea, and for half amile my raft went well; but soon I found it drove to one side. At lengthI saw a creek, to which, with some toil, I took my raft; and now thebeach was so near, that I felt my oar touch the ground.
Here I had well nigh lost my freight, for the shore lay on a slope, sothat there was no place to land on, save where one end of the raft wouldlie so high, and one end so low, that all my goods would fall off. Towait till the tide came up was all that could be done. So when the seawas a foot deep, I thrust the raft on a flat piece of ground, to moorher there, and stuck my two oars in the sand, one on each side of theraft. Thus I let her lie till the ebb of the tide, and when it wentdown, she was left safe on land with all her freight.
I saw that there were birds on the isle, and I shot one of them. Minemust have been the first gun that had been heard there since the worldwas made; for at the sound of it, whole flocks of birds flew up, withloud cries, from all parts of the wood. The shape of the beak of the oneI shot was like that of a hawk, but the claws were not so large.
I now went back to my raft to land my stores, and this took up the restof the day. What to do at night I knew not, nor where to find a safeplace to land my stores on. I did not like to lie down on the ground,for fear of beasts of prey, as well as snakes, but there was no causefor these fears, as I have since found. I put the chests and boardsround me as well as I could, and made a kind of hut for the night.
As there was still a great store of things left in the ship, which wouldbe of use to me, I thought that I ought to bring them to land at once;for I knew that the first storm would break up the ship. So I went onboard, and took good care this time not to load my raft too much.
The first thing, I sought for was the tool chest; and in it were somebags of nails, spikes, saws, knives, and such things: but best of all Ifound a stone to grind my tools on. There were two or three flasks,some large bags of shot, and a roll of lead; but this last I had notthe strength to hoist up to the ship's side, so as to get it on my raft.There were some spare sails too which I brought to shore.
I had some fear lest my stores might be run off with by beasts of prey,if not by men; but I found all safe and sound when I went back, and noone had come there but a wild cat, which sat on one of the chests. WhenI came up I held my gun at her, but as she did not know what a gun was,this did not rouse her. She ate a piece of dry goat's flesh, and thentook her leave.
Now that I had two freights of goods at hand, I made a ten
t with theship's sails, to stow them in, and cut the poles for it from the wood.I now took all the things out of the casks and chests, and put the casksin piles round the tent, to give it strength; and when this was done,I shut up the door with the boards, spread one of the beds (which I hadbrought from the ship) on the ground, laid two guns close to my head,and went to bed for the first time. I slept all night, for I was much inneed of rest.
The next day I was sad and sick at heart, for I felt how dull it was tobe thus cut off from all the rest of the world. I had no great wish forwork: but there was too much to be done for me to dwell long on my sadlot. Each day as it came, I went off to the wreck to fetch more things;and I brought back as much as the raft would hold. One day I had put toogreat a load on the raft, which made it sink down on one side, so thatthe goods were lost in the sea; but at this I did not fret, as the chiefpart of the freight was some rope, which would not have been of much useto me.
The twelve days that I had been in the isle were spent in this way, andI had brought to land all that one pair of hands could lift; though ifthe sea had been still calm, I might have brought the whole ship, pieceby piece.
The last time I swam to the wreck, the wind blew so hard, that I made upmy mind to go on board next time at low tide. I found some tea and somegold coin; but as to the gold, it made me laugh to look at it. "O drug!"said I, "Thou art of no use to me! I care not to save thee. Stay wherethou art, till the ship go down, then go thou with it!"
Still, I thought I might as well just take it; so I put it in a pieceof the sail, and threw it on deck that I might place it on the raft.Bye-and-bye, the wind blew from the shore, so I had to swim back withall speed; for I knew that at the turn of the tide, I should find ithard work to get to land at all. But in spite of the high wind, I cameto my home all safe. At dawn of day I put my head out, and cast my eyeson the sea. When lo! no ship was there!
This change in the face of things, and the loss of such a friend, quitestruck me down. Yet I was glad to think that I had brought to shore allthat could be of use to me. I had now to look out for some spot where Icould make my home. Half way up a hill there was a small plain, four orfive score feet long, and twice as broad; and as it had a full view ofthe sea, I thought that it would be a good place for my house.
I first dug a trench round a space which took in twelve yards; and inthis I drove two rows of stakes, till they stood firm like piles, fiveand a half feet from the ground. I made the stakes close and tight withbits of rope; and put small sticks on the top of them in the shape ofspikes. This made so strong a fence that no man or beast could get in.
The door of my house was on the top, and I had to climb up to it bysteps, which I took in with me, so that no one else might come up by thesame way. Close to the back of the house stood a high rock, in which Imade a cave, and laid all the earth that I had dug out of it round myhouse, to the height of a foot and a half. I had to go out once a day insearch of food. The first time, I saw some goats, but they were too shyand swift of foot, to let me get near them.
At last I lay in wait for them close to their own haunts. If they sawme in the vale, though they might be on high ground, they would run off,wild with fear; but if they were in the vale, and I on high ground, theytook no heed of me. The first goat I shot had a kid by her side, andwhen the old one fell, the kid stood near her, till I took her off onmy back, and then the young one ran by my side. I put down the goat, andbrought the kid home to tame it; but as it was too young to feed, I hadto kill it.
At first I thought that, for the lack of pen and ink, I should lose allnote of time; so I made a large post, in the shape of a cross, on whichI cut these words, "I came on these shores on the 8th day of June, inthe year 1659" On the side of this post I made a notch each day as itcame, and this I kept up till the last.
I have not yet said a word of my four pets, which were two cats, a dog,and a bird. You may guess how fond I was of them, for they were all thefriends left to me. I brought the dog and two cats from the ship. Thedog would fetch things for me at all times, and by his bark, his whine,his growl, and his tricks, he would all but talk to me; yet he could notgive me thought for thought.
If I could but have had some one near me to find fault with, or to findfault with me, what a treat it would have been! Now that I had broughtink from the ship, I wrote down a sketch of each day as it came; not somuch to leave to those who might read it, when I was dead and gone, asto get rid of my own thoughts, and draw me from the fears which all daylong dwelt on my mind, till my head would ache with the weight of them.
I was a long way out of the course of ships: and oh, how dull it was tobe cast on this lone spot with no one to love, no one to make me laugh,no one to make me weep, no one to make me think. It was dull to roam,day by day, from the wood to the shore; and from the shore back to thewood, and feed on my own thoughts all the while.
So much for the sad view of my case; but like most things it had abright side as well as a dark one. For here was I safe on land, whileall the rest of the ship's crew were lost. Well, thought I, God whoshapes our ways, and led me by the hand then, can save me from thisstate now, or send some one to be with me; true, I am cast on a roughand rude part of the globe, but there are no beasts of prey on it tokill or hurt me. God has sent the ship so near to me, that I have gotfrom it all things to meet my wants for the rest of my days. Let life bewhat it may, there is sure to be much to thank God for; and I soon gaveup all dull thoughts, and did not so much as look out for a sail.
My goods from the wreck had been in the cave for more than ten months;and it was time now to put them right, as they took up all the space,and left me no room to turn in: so I made my small cave a large one, anddug it out a long way back in the sand rock. Then I brought the mouth ofit up to the fence, and so made a back way to my house. This done, I putshelves on each side, to hold my goods, which made my cave look like ashop full of stores. To make these shelves I cut down a tree, and withthe help of a saw, an axe, a plane, and some more tools, I made boards.
A chair, and a desk to write on, came next. I rose in good time, and setto work till noon, then I ate my meal, then I went out with my gun, andto work once more till the sun had set; and then to bed. It took me morethan a week to change the shape and size of my cave, but I had made itfar too large; for in course of time the earth fell in from the roof;and had I been in it, when this took place, I should have lost my life.I had now to set up posts in my cave, with planks on the top of them, soas to make a roof of wood.
One day, when out with my gun, I shot a wild cat, the skin of which mademe a cap; and I found some birds of the dove tribe, which built theirnests in the holes of rocks.
I had to go to bed at dusk, till I made a lamp of goat's fat, which Iput in a clay dish; and this, with a piece of hemp for a wick, made agood light. As I had found a use for the bag which had held the fowl'sfood on board ship, I shook out from it the husks of corn. This was justat the time when the great rains fell, and in the course of a month,blades of rice, corn, and rye, sprang up. As time went by, and the grainwas ripe, I kept it, and took care to sow it each year; but I could notboast of a crop of wheat, as will be shown bye-and-bye, for three years.
A thing now took place on the isle, which no one could have dreamt of,and which struck me down with fear. It was this--the ground shookwith great force, which threw down earth from the rock with a loudcrash--once more there was a shock--and now the earth fell from the roofof my cave. The sea did not look the same as it had done, for the shockswere just as strong there as on land. The sway of the earth made me feelsick; and there was a noise and a roar all around me. The same kind ofshock came a third time; and when it had gone off, I sat quite still onthe ground, for I knew not what to do. Then the clouds grew dark, thewind rose, trees were torn up by the roots, the sea was a mass of foamand froth, and a great part of the isle was laid waste with the storm. Ithought that the world had come to an end. In three hours' time all wascalm; but rain fell all that night, and a great part of the next day.Now,
though quite worn out, I had to move my goods which were in thecave, to some safe place.
I knew that tools would be my first want, and that I should have togrind mine on the stone, as they were blunt and worn with use. But as ittook both hands to hold the tool, I could not turn the stone; so I madea wheel by which I could move it with my foot. This was no small task,but I took great pains with it, and at length it was done.
The rain fell for some days and a cold chill came on me; in short I wasill. I had pains in my head, and could get no sleep at night, and mythoughts were wild and strange. At one time I shook with cold, and thena hot fit came on, with faint sweats, which would last six hours at atime. Ill as I was, I had to go out with my gun to get food. I shot agoat, but it was a great toil to bring it home, and still more to cookit.
I spent the next day in bed, and felt half dead from thirst, yet tooweak to stand up to get some drink. I lay and wept like a child. "Lordlook on me! Lord look on me!" would I cry for hours.
At last the fit left me, and I slept, and did not wake till dawn. Idreamt that I lay on the ground, and saw a man come down from a greatblack cloud in a flame of light. When he stood on the earth, it shook asit had done a few days since; and all the world to me was full of fire.He came up and said "As I see that all these things have not broughtthee to pray, now thou shalt die." Then I woke, and found it was adream. Weak and faint, I was in dread all day lest my fit should comeon.
Too ill to get out with my gun, I sat on the shore to think, and thusran my thoughts: "What is this sea which is all round me? and whence isit? There can be no doubt that the hand that made it, made the air, theearth, the sky. And who is that? It is God who hath made all things.Well then, if God hath made all things, it must be He who guides them;and if so, no one thing in the whole range of His works can take place,and He not know it. Then God must know how sick and sad I am, and
