The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)

by Daniel Defoe

  CHAP. VI. _Of the immorality of conversation, and the vulgar errors ofbehaviour_.

  As conversation is a great part of human happiness, so it is a pleasantsight to behold a sweet tempered man, who is always fit for it; to seean air of humour and pleasantness sit ever upon his brow, and evensomething angelic in his very countenance: Whereas, if we observe adesigning man, we shall find a mark of involuntary sadness break in uponhis joy, and a certain insurrection in the soul, the natural concomitantof profligate principles.

  They err very much, who think religion, or a strict morality discomposesthe mind, and renders it unfit for conversation; for it rather inspiresus to innocent mirth, without such a counterfeit joy as vitious menappear with; and indeed wit is as consistent with religion, as religionis with good manners; nor is there any thing in the limitation of virtueand religion that should abate the pleasures of this world, but on thecontrary rather serves to increase them.

  On the other hand, many men, by their own vice and intemperance,disqualify themselves for conversation. Conversation is immoral, wherethe discourse is undecent, immodest, scandalous, slanderous, andabusive. How great is their folly, and how much do they exposethemselves when they affront their best friend, even God himself, wholaughs at the fool _when his fear cometh?_

  The great scandal atheistical and immoral discourse gives to virtue,ought, methinks, to be punished by all good magistrates: Make a man oncecease to believe a God, and he has nothing left to limit his soul. Howincongruous is it to government, that a man shall be punished fordrunkenness, and yet have liberty to affront, and even deny the Majestyof heaven? When if, even among men, one gives the lie to a gentleman incompany, or perhaps speaks an affronting word, a quarrel will ensue, anda combat, and perhaps murder be the consequence: At the least, he, willprosecute him at law with the utmost virulence and oppression.

  The next thing to be refrained, is obscene discourse, which is thelanguage only of proficients in debauchery, who never repent, but in agaol or hospital; and whose carcases relish no better than theirdiscourse, till the body becomes too nasty for the soul to stay anylonger in it.

  Nor is false talking to be less avoided; for lying is the sheep'sclothing hung upon the wolf's back: It is the Pharisee's prayer, thewhore's buss, the hypocrite's paint, the murderer's smile, the thief'scloak; it is Joab's embrace, and Judah's kiss; in a word, it ismankind's darling sin, and the devil's distinguishing character. Someadd lies to lies, till it not only comes to be improbable, but evenimpossible too: Others lie for gain to deceive, delude, and betray: Anda third lies for sport, or for fun. There are other liars, who arepersonal and malicious; who foment differences, and carry tales from onehouse to another, in order to gratify their own envious tempers, withoutany regard to reverence or truth.

  THE

  REMARKABLE HISTORY

  OF

  ALEXANDER SELKIRK

  _From the voyage of Captain Woodes Rogers to the South Seas and roundthe World._

  * * * * *

  On February 1st, 1709, we came before that island,[1] having had a goodobservation the day before, and found our latitude to be 34 degrees 10minutes south. In the afternoon, we hoisted out our pinnace; and CaptainDover, with the boat's crew, went in her to go ashore, though we couldnot be less that four leagues off. As soon as the pinnace was gone, Iwent on board the Duchess, who admired our boat attempting going ashoreat that distance from land. It was against my inclination: but, tooblige Captain Dover, I let her go: As soon as it was dark, we saw alight ashore. Our boat was then about a league off the island, and boreaway for the ship as soon as she saw the lights: We put our lightsaboard for the boat, though some were of opinion, the lights we saw wereour boat's lights: But, as night came on, it appeared too large forthat: We fired our quarter-deck gun, and several muskets, showing lightsin our mizen and fore-shrouds, that our boat might find us whilst wewere in the lee of the island: About two in the morning our boat came onboard, having been two hours on board the Duchess, that took them upastern of us; we were glad they got well off, because it began to blow.We were all convinces the light was on the shore, and designed to makeour ships ready to engage, believing them to be French ships at anchor,and we must either fight them, or want water. All this stir andapprehension arose, as we afterwards found, from one poor naked man, whopassed in our imagination, at present, for a Spanish garrison, a body ofFrenchmen, or a crew of pirates. While we were under theseapprehensions, we stood on the backside of the island, in order to fallin with the southerly wind, till we were past the island; and then wecame back to it again, and ran close aboard the land that begins to makethe north-east side.

  [Footnote 1: _Juan Fernandez._]

  We still continued to reason upon this matter; and it is in a mannerincredible, what strange notions many of our people entertained from thesight of the fire upon the island. It served, however, to show people'stempers and spirits; and we were able to give a tolerable guess how ourmen would behave, in case there really were any enemies upon the island.The flaws came heavy off the shore, and we were forced to reef ourtopsails when we opened the middle bay, where we expected to have foundour enemy; but saw all clear, & no ships, nor in the other bay next thenorth-east end. These two bays are all that ships ride in, which recruiton this island; but the middle bay is by much the best. We guessed therehad been ships there, but that they were gone on sight of us. We sentour yawl ashore about noon, with Captain Dover, Mr. Fry, and six men,all armed: Mean while we and the Duchess kept turning to get in, andsuch heavy flaws came off the land, that we were forced to let go ourtop sail sheet, keeping all hands to stand by our sails, for fear of thewinds carrying them away: But when the flaws were gone, we had little orno wind. These flaws proceeded from the land; which is very high in themiddle of the island. Our boat did not return; we sent our pinnace withthe men armed, to see what was the occasion of the yawl's stay; for wewere afraid, that the Spaniards had a garrison there, and might haveseized them. We put out a signal for our boat, and the Duchess showed aFrench ensign. Immediately our pinnace returned from the shore, andbrought abundance of cry-fish, with a man clothed in goats skins, wholooked wilder than the first owners of them. He had been on the islandfour years and four months, being left there by Captain Stradling in theCinque-ports, his name was Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who had beenmaster of the Cinque-ports, a ship that came here last with CaptainDampier, who told me, that this was the best man in her. I immediatelyagreed with him to be a mate on board our ship: It was he that made thefire last night when he saw our ships, which he judged to be English.During his stay here he saw several ships pass by, but only two came into anchors: As he went to view them; he found them to be Spaniards, andretired from them, upon which they shot at him: Had they been French, hewould have submitted; but choose to risque his dying alone on theisland, rather than fall into the hands of Spaniards in these parts;because he apprehended they would murder him, or make a slave of him inthe mines; for he feared they would spare no stranger that might becapable of discovering the South Seas.

  The Spaniards had landed, before he knew what they were; and they cameso near him, that he had much ado to escape; for they not only shot athim, but pursued him to the woods, where he climbed to the top of atree, at the foot of which they made water, and killed several goatsjust by, but went off again without discovering him. He told us that hewas born at Largo, in the county of Fife, in Scotland, and was bred asailor from his youth. The reason of his being left here was differencebetween him and his captain; which together with the ship's being leaky,made him willing rather to stay here, than go along with him at first;but when he was at last willing to go, the captain would not receivehim. He had been at the island before, to wood and water, when two ofthe ship's company were left upon it for six mouths, till the Shipreturned, being chased thence by two French South-sea ships. He had withhim his cloaths and bedding, with a firelock, some powder, bullets andtobacco, a hatchet, a knife, a kettle, a bible, some practical pieces,and
his mathematical instruments and books. He diverted and provided forhimself as well as he could; but for the first eight months, had muchado to bear up against melancholy, and the terror of being left alone insuch a desolate place. He built two huts with pimento trees, coveredthem with long grass, & lined them with the skins of goats, which bekilled with his gun as he wanted, so long as his powder lasted, whichwas but a pound; and that being almost spent, he got fire by rubbing twosticks of pimento-wood together upon his knee. In the lesser hut, atsome distance from the other, he dressed his victuals; and in the largerhe slept; and employed himself in reading, singing psalms, and praying;so that he said. He was a better Christian, while in this solitude, thanever he was before, or than, he was afraid, he would ever be again.

  At first he never ate anything till hunger constrained him, partly forgrief, and partly for want of bread and salt: Nor did he go to bed, tillhe could watch no longer; the pimento-wood, which burnt very clear,served him both for fire and candle, and refreshed him with its fragrantsmell. He might have had fish enough, but would not eat them for want ofsalt, because they occasioned a looseness, except crayfish which are aslarge as our lobsters, and very good: These he sometimes boiled, and atother times broiled, as he did his goat's flesh, of, which he made verygood broth, for they are not so rank as ours: he kept an account of 500that he killed while there, and caught as many more, which he marked onthe ear, and let go. When, his powder failed, he took them by speed offeet; for his way of living, continual exercise of walking and runningcleared him of all gross humours; so that he ran with wonderfulswiftness through the woods, and up the rocks and hills, as we perceivedwhen we employed him to catch goats for us; We had a bull dog, which welent with several of our nimblest runners, to help him in catchinggoats; but he distanced and tired both the dog and the men, caught thegoats, and brought them to us on his back.

  He told us, that his agility in pursuing a goat had once like to havecost him his life; he pursued it with so much eagerness, that he catchedhold of it on the brink of a precipiece, of which he was not aware, thebushes hiding it from him; so, that he fell with the goat down theprecipiece; a great height, and was to stunned and bruised with thefall, that he narrowly escaped with his life; and, when he came to hissenses, found the goat dead under him: He lay there about twenty-fourhours, and was scarce able to crawl to his hut, which was about a miledistant, or to stir abroad again in ten days.

  He came at last to relish his meat well enough without salt or bread;and, in the season had plenty of good turreps, which had been sewedthere by Captain Dampier's men, and have now overspread some acres ofground. He had enough of good cabbage from the cabbage-trees, andseasoned his meat with the fruit of the pimento trees, which is the sameas Jamaica pepper, and smells deliciously: He found also a black pepper,called Ma'azeta, which was very good to expel wind, and against grippingin the guts.

  He soon wore out all his shoes and clothes by running in the woods; andat last, being forced to shift without them, his feet became so hard,that he ran everywhere without difficulty; and it was some time beforehe could wear shoes after we found him; for not being used to any solong, his feet swelled when he came first to wear them again.

  After he had conquered his melancholy, he diverted himself sometimeswith cutting his name in the trees, and the time of his being left, andcontinuance there. He was at first much pestered with cats and rats,that bred in great numbers, from some of each species which had gotashore from ships that put in there to wood and water: The rats gnawedhis feet and cloathes whilst asleep, which obliged him to cherish thecats with his goats flesh, by which many of them became so tame, thatthey would lie about him in hundreds, and soon delivered him from therats: He likewise tamed some kids; and, to divert himself would, now andthen, sing and dance with them, and his cats: So that by the favour ofProvidence, and vigour of his youth, being now but thirty years old, hecame, at last, to conquer all the inconveniencies of his solitude, andto be very easy.

  When his cloathes were worn out, he made himself a coat and a cap ofgoat-skins, which he stiched together with little thongs of the same,that he cut with his knife, He had no other needle but a nail; and, whenhis knife was worn to the back, he made others, as well as he could, ofsome iron hoops that were left ashore, which he beat thin, and groundupon stones. Having some linnen cloth by him, he sewed him some shirtswith a nail, and stiched them with the worsted of his old stockings,which he pulled out on purpose. He had his last shirt on, when we foundhim in the island.

  At his first coming on board us, he had so much forgot his language, forwant of use, that we could scarce understand him: for he seemed to speakhis words by halve. We offered him a dram: but he would not touch it;having drank nothing but water since his being there; And it wassometime before he could relish our victuals. He could give us anaccount of no other product of the island, than what we have mentioned,except some black plums, which are very good, but hard to come at, thetrees, which bear them, growing on high mountains and rocks.Pimento-trees are plenty here, and we saw some of sixty feet high andabout two yards thick; and cotton-trees higher, and near four fathomsround in the stock. The climate is so good that the trees and grass areverdant all the year round. The winter lasts no longer than June andJuly, and is not then severe, there being only a small frost, and alittle hail: but sometimes great rains. The heat of the summer isequally moderate; and there is not much thunder, or tempestuous weatherof any sort. He saw no venomous or savage creature on the island, norany sort of beasts but goats, the first of which had been put ashorehere, on purpose for a breed, by Juan Fernandez, a Spaniard, who settledthere with some families, till the continent of Chili began to submit tothe Spaniards; which, being more profitable; tempted them to quit thisisland, capable however, of maintaining a good number of people, andbeing made so strong, that they could hot be easily dislodged fromthence.

  February 3d we got our smith's forge on shore, set our coopers to work,and made a little tent for me to have the benefit of the air. TheDuchess had also a tent for their sick men; so that we had a small townof our own here, and every body employed. A few men supplied us all withfish of several sorts, all very good, in such abundance, that, in a fewhours, we could take as many as would serve 200. There were sea-fowls inthe bay, as large as geese: but eat fishy. The governor never failed ofprocuring us two or three goats a day for our sick men; by which, withthe help of the greens, and the wholesome air, they recovered very soonof the scurvy; so that Captain Dover and I thought it a very agreeableseat, the weather being neither too hot nor too cold. We spent our time,till the 10th, in refitting our ships, taking wood on board; and layingin water, that which we brought from England and St. Vincent beingspoiled by the badness of the casks. We likewise boiled up about eightygallons of sea-lions oil, as we might have done several tons, had webeen provided with vessels. We refined it for our lamps, to savecandles. The sailors sometimes use it to fry their meat, for want ofbutter, and find it agreeable enough. The men who worked on ourrigging, eat young seals, which they preferred to our ships victuals, &said it was as good as English lamb, though I should have been glad ofsuch an exchange. We made what haste we could to get all the necessarieson board, being willing to lose no time; for we were informed at theCanaries, that five stout French ships were coming together to thoseseas.