Captain Singleton

by Daniel Defoe

Gold, or the Value of any from another, during our whole Voyage till our Return

  quite to Portugal, he should be obliged by us all to restore it again on the

  Penalty of being disarm'd, and turn'd out of the Company, and of having no

  Relief from us on any Account whatsoever. This was to prevent Wagering and

  Playing for Money, which our Men were apt to do by several Means, and at several

  Games, tho' they had neither Cards or Dice.

  Having made this wholesom Agreement, we went chearfully to Work, and shew'd our

  Negroes how to work for us; and working up the Stream on both Sides, and in the

  Bottom of the River, we spent about three Weeks Time dabbling in the Water; by

  which time, as it lay all in our Way, we had gone about six Miles, and not more;

  and still the higher we went, the more Gold we found; till at last, having

  pass'd by the Side of a Hill, we perceived on a sudden, that the Gold stopp'd,

  and that there was not a Bit taken up beyond that Place; it presently occurr'd

  to my Mind, that it must then be from the Side of that little Hill that all the

  Gold we found was work'd down.

  Upon this, we went back to the Hill, and fell to Work with that. We found the

  Earth loose, and of a yellowish loamy Colour, and in some Places, a white hard

  Kind of Stone, which in describing since to some of our Artists, they tell me

  was the Spar which is found by the Oar, and surrounds it in the Mine. However,

  if it had been all Gold, we had no Instrument to force it out; so we passed

  that: But scratching into the loose Earth with our Fingers, we came to a

  surprizing Place, where the Earth for the Quantity of two Bushels, I believe, or

  thereabouts, crumbled down with little more than touching it, and apparently

  shewed us that there was a great deal of Gold in it. We took it all carefully

  up, and washing it in the Water, the loamy Earth wash'd away, and left the Gold

  Dust free in our Hands; and that which was more remarkable, was, that when this

  loose Earth was all taken away, and we came to the Rock or hard Stone, there was

  not one Grain of Gold more to be found.

  At Night we came all together to see what we had got, and it appeared we had

  found in that Day's Heap of Earth, about Seven and Fifty Pound Weight of Gold

  Dust, and about Thirty Four Pound more in all the rest of our Works in the

  River.

  It was a happy Kind of Disappointment to us, that we found a full Stop put to

  our Work; for had the Quantity of Gold been ever so small, yet had any at all

  come, I do not know when we should have given over; for having rummaged this

  Place, and not finding the least Grain of Gold in any other Place, or in any of

  the Earth there, except in that loose Parcel, we went quite back down the small

  River again, working it over and over again, as long as we could find any thing

  how small soever; and we did get six or seven Pound more the second time. Then

  we went into the first River, and tried it up the Stream and down the Stream, on

  the one Side and on the other. Up the Stream we found nothing, no not a Grain;

  down the Stream we found very little, not above the Quantity of Half an Ounce in

  two Miles working; so back we came again to the Golden River, as we justly

  called it, and work'd it up the Stream and down the Stream twice more a-piece,

  and every time we found some Gold, and perhaps might have done so, if we had

  stay'd there till this time; but the Quantity was at last so small, and the Work

  so much the harder, that we agreed by Consent to give it over, lest we should

  fatigue our selves and our Negroes so, as to be quite unfit for our Journey.

  When we had brought all our Purchase together, we had in the whole three Pound

  and a Half of Gold to a Man, Share and Share alike, according to such a Weight

  and Scale as our ingenious Cutler made for us to weigh it by, which he did

  indeed by guess, but which, as he said he was sure was rather more than less,

  and so it prov'd at last; for it was near two Ounces more than Weight in a

  Pound. Besides this, there was seven or eight Pound Weight left, which we agreed

  to leave in his Hands, to work it into such Shapes as we thought fit to give

  away to such People as we might yet meet with, from whom we might have Occasion

  to buy Provisions, or even to buy Friendship, or the like; and particularly we

  gave about a Pound to our Black Prince, which he hammer'd and work'd by his own

  indefatigable Hand, and some Tools our Artificer lent him, into little round

  Bits, as round almost as Beads, tho' not exact in Shape, and drilling Holes

  thro' them, put them all upon a String, and wore them about his black Neck, and

  they look'd very well there I assure you; but he was many Months a-doing it. And

  thus ended our first Golden Adventure.

  We now began to discover what we had not troubled our Heads much about before;

  and that was, that let the Country be good or bad that we were in, we could not

  travel much farther, for a considerable time. We had been now five Months and

  upwards in our Journey, and the Season began to change; and Nature told us, that

  being in a Climate that had a Winter as well as a Summer, tho' of a differing

  Kind from what our own Country produced, we were to expect a wet Season, and

  such as we should not be able to travel in, as well by reason of the Rain it

  self, as of the Floods which it would occasion wherever we should come; and tho'

  we had been no Strangers to those wet Seasons in the Island of Madagascar, yet

  we had not thought much of them since we begun our Travels; for setting out when

  the Sun was about the Solstice, that is, when it was at the greatest Northern

  Distance from us, we had found the Benefit of it in our Travels. But now it drew

  near us apace, and we found it began to rain; upon which we called another

  General Council, in which we debated our present Circumstances, and in

  particular, whether we should go forward, or seek for a proper Place upon the

  Bank of our Golden River, which had been so lucky to us to fix our Camp for the

  Winter.

  Upon the whole, it was resolved to abide where we were; and it was not the least

  Part of our Happiness that we did so, as shall appear in its Place.

  Having resolved upon this, our first Measures were to set our Negroes to Work,

  to make Hutts or Houses for our Habitation; and this they did very dexterously;

  only that we changed the Ground where we had at first intended it, thinking, as

  indeed it happen'd, that the river might reach it upon any sudden Rain. Our Camp

  was like a little Town, in which our Hutts were in the Center, having one large

  one in the Center of them also, into which all our particular Lodgings opened;

  so that none of us went into our Apartments, but thro' a publick Tent where we

  all eat and drank together, and kept our Councils and Society, and our

  Carpenters made us Tables, Benches, and Stools in Abundance, as many as we could

  make use of.

  We had no Need of Chimneys, it was hot enough without Fire; but yet we found our

  selves at last oblig'd to keep a Fire every Night upon a particular Occasion:

  For tho' we had in all other Respects a very pleasant and agreeable Scituation,

  yet we were rather
worse troubled with the unwelcome Visits of wild Beasts here,

  than in the Wilderness it self; for as the Deer, and other gentle Creatures came

  hither for Shelter and Food, so the Lions, and Tigers, and Leopards, haunted

  these Places continually for Prey.

  When first we discovered this, we were so uneasy at it, that we thought of

  removing our Scituation; but after many Debates about it, we resolved to fortify

  our selves in such a Manner, as not to be in any Danger from it; and this our

  Carpenters undertook, who first palisadoed our Camp quite round with long Stakes

  (for we had Wood enough) which Stakes were not stuck in one by another like

  Pales, but in an irregular Manner; a great Multitude of them so placed, that

  they took up near two Yards in Thickness, some higher, some lower, all sharpened

  at the Top, and about a Foot asunder; so that had any Creature jump'd at them,

  unless he had gone clean over, which it was very hard to do, he would be hung

  upon twenty or thirty Spikes.

  The Entrance into this, had larger Stakes than the rest, placed so before one

  another, as to make three or four short Turnings, which no four-footed Beast

  bigger than a Dog could possibly come in at; and that we might not be attack'd

  by any Multitude together, and consequently be alarm'd in our Sleep, as we had

  been, or be oblig'd to waste our Ammunition, which we were very chary of, we

  kept a great Fire every Night without the Entrance of our Palisade, having a

  Hutt for our two Centinels to stand in free from the Rain, just within the

  Entrance, and right against the Fire.

  To maintain this Fire, we cut a prodigious deal of Wood, and piled it upon a

  Heap to dry, and with the green Boughs made a second Covering over our Hutts, so

  high and thick, that it might cast the Rain off from the first, and keep us

  effectually dry.

  We had scarce finished all these Works, but that the Rain came on so fierce, and

  so continued, that we had little time to stir abroad for Food, except indeed

  that our Negroes, who wore no Clothes, seem'd to make nothing of the Rain, tho'

  to us Europeans in those hot Climates, nothing is more dangerous.

  We continued in this Posture for four Months, that is, from the Middle of June

  to the Middle of October; for tho' the Rains went off, at least the greatest

  Violence of them, about the Equinox, yet as the Sun was then just over our

  Heads, we resolved to stay a while till it was pass'd us a little to the

  Southward.

  During our Encampment here, we had several Adventures with the ravenous

  Creatures of that Country, and had not our Fire been always kept burning, I

  question much whether all our Fence, tho' we strengthen'd it afterwards with

  twelve or fourteen Rows of Stakes more, would have kept us secure. It was always

  in the Night that we had the Disturbance of them, and sometimes they came in

  such Multitudes, that we thought all the Lions, and Tigers, and Leopards, and

  Wolves of Africa were come together to attack us. One Night being clear

  Moonshine, one of our Men being upon the Watch, told us, he verily believed he

  saw Ten Thousand wild Creatures of one Sort or another, pass by our little Camp;

  and ever as they saw the Fire, they sheer'd off, but were sure to howl or roar,

  or whatever it was, when they were past.

  The Musick of their Voices was very far from being pleasant to us, and sometimes

  would be so very disturbing, that we could not sleep for it; and often our

  Centinels would call us, that were awake to come and look at them. It was one

  windy tempestuous Night after a very rainy Day, that we were indeed all called

  up; for such innumerable Numbers of Devilish Creatures came about us, that our

  Watch really thought they would attack us. They would not come on the Side where

  the Fire was; and tho' we thought our selves secure every where else, yet we all

  got up, and took to our Arms. The Moon was near the Full, but the Air full of

  flying Clouds, and a strange Hurricane of Wind to add to the Terror of the

  Night; when looking on the Back Part of our Camp, I thought I saw a Creature

  within our Fortification, and so indeed he was, except his Haunches; for he had

  taken a running Leap, I suppose, and with all his Might had thrown himself clear

  over our Palisadoes, except one strong Pile which stood higher than the rest,

  and which had caught hold of him, and by his Weight he had hang'd himself upon

  it, the Spike of the Pile running into his Hinder-Haunch or Thigh, on the

  Inside, and by that he hung growling and biting the Wood for Rage. I snatcht up

  a Lance from one of the Negroes that stood just by me, and running to him,

  struck it three or four Times into him, and dispatch'd him; being unwilling to

  shoot, because I had a Mind to have a Volley fired among the rest, whom I could

  see standing without as thick as a Drove of Bullocks going to a Fair. I

  immediately called our People out, and shewed them the Object of Terror which I

  had seen, and without any farther Consultation, fired a full Volley among them,

  most of our Pieces being loaden with two or three Sluggs or Bullets a-piece. It

  made a horrible Clutter among them, and in general they all took to their Heels,

  only that we could observe, that some walk'd off with more Gravity and Majesty

  than others, being not so much frighted at the Noise and Fire; and we could

  perceive that some were left upon the Ground struggling as for Life, but we

  durst not stir out to see what they were.

  Indeed they stood so thick, and were so near us, that we could not well miss

  killing or wounding some of them, and we believe they had certainly the Smell of

  us, and of our Victuals we had been killing; for we had killed a Deer, and three

  or four of those Creatures like Goats, the Day before; and some of the Offal had

  been thrown out behind our Camp, and this we suppose drew them so much about us;

  but we avoided it for the future.

  Tho' the Creatures fled, yet we heard a frightful Roaring all Night at the Place

  where they stood, which we supposed was from some that were wounded; and as soon

  as Day came, we went out to see what Execution we had done, and, indeed, it was

  a strange Sight; there were three Tygers and two Wolves quite killed, besides

  the Creature I had killed within onr Palisado, which seem'd to be of an

  ill-gendered kind, between a Tyger and a Leopard. Besides this, there was a

  noble old Lion alive, but with both his Fore Legs broke, so that he could not

  stir away, and he had almost beat himself to Death with struggling all Night;

  and we found, that this was the wounded Soldier that had roared so loud, and

  given us so much Disturbance: Our Surgeon, looking at him, smiled; Now, says he,

  if I could be sure this Lion would be as grateful to me, as one of his Majesty's

  Ancestors was to Andronicus the Roman Slave, I would certainly set both his Legs

  again, and cure him. I had not heard the Story of Andronicus, so he told it me

  at large; but as to the Surgeon, we told him, he had no Way to know whether the

  Lion would do so or not, but to cure him first, and trust to his Honour; but he

  had no Faith; so, to dispatch him, and put him out of his Torment, he
shot him

  into the Head, and killed him, for which we called him the King-Killer ever

  after.

  Our Negroes found no less than five of these ravenous Creatures wounded and

  dropt at a Distance from our Quarters; whereof, one was a Wolf, one a fine

  spotted young Leopard, and the other were Creatures that we knew not what to

  call them.

  We had several more of these Gentle-folks about us after that, but no such

  general Rendezvous of them as that was, any more; but this ill Effect it had to

  us, that it frighted the Deer and other Creatures from our Neighbourhood, of

  whose Company we were much more desirous, and who were necessary for our

  Subsistence: However, our Negroes went out every Day a-Hunting, as they called

  it, with Bow and Arrow, and they scarce ever failed of bringing us home

  something or other; and particularly we found in this Part of the Country, after

  the Rains had fallen some time, Abundance of Wild-fowl, such as we have in

  England ; Duck, Teal, Widgeon, &c. some Geese, and some Kinds that we had never

  seen before, and we frequently killed them. Also we catched a great Deal of

  fresh Fish out of the River, so that we wanted no Provision; if we wanted any

  thing, it was Salt to eat with our fresh Meat, but we had a little left, and we

  used it sparingly; for, as to our Negroes, they would not taste it, nor did they

  care to eat any Meat that was seasoned with it.

  The Weather began now to clear up, the Rains were down, and the Floods abated,

  and the Sun, which had passed our Zenith, was gone to the Southward a good Way,

  so we prepared to go on of our Way.

  It was the 12th of October or thereabouts, that we began to set forward, and

  having an easy Country to travel in, as well as to supply us with Provisions,

  tho' still without Inhabitants, we made more Dispatch, travelling some times, as

  we calculated it 20 or 25 Miles a Day; nor did we halt any were in eleven Days

  March, one Day excepted, which was to make a Raft to carry us over a small

  River, which having swelled with the Rains was not yet quite down.

  When we were past this River, which by the Way run to the Northward too, we

  found a great Row of Hills in our Way; we saw indeed the Country open to the

  Right at a great Distance, but as we kept true to our Course due West, we were

  not willing to go a great Way out of our Way, only to shun a few Hills; so we

  advanced; but we were surprized, when being not quite come to the Top, one of

  our Company who with two Negroes was got up before us, cry'd out the Sea! the

  Sea! and fell a-dancing and jumping as Signs of Joy.

  The Gunner and I were most surprized at it, because we had but that Morning been

  calculating, that we must have yet above a 1000 Miles to the Sea-side, and that

  we could not expect to reach it till an other rainy Season would be upon us, so

  that when our Man cry'd out the Sea, the Gunner was angry, and said he was mad.

  But we were both in the greatest Surprize imaginable, when coming to the Top of

  the Hill, and tho' it was very high, we saw nothing but Water, either before us,

  or to the right Hand or the left, being a vast Sea without any Bound but the

  Horizon.

  We went down the Hill full of Confusion of Thought, not being able to conceive

  whereabouts we were, or what it must be, seeing by all our Charts the Sea was

  yet a vast Way off.

  It was not above three Miles from the Hills before we came to the Shore, or

  Water-edge of this Sea, and there, to our further Surprize, we found the Water

  fresh and pleasant to drink; so that in short we knew not what Course to take:

  The Sea, as we thought it to be, put a full stop to our Journey, (I mean

  Westward) for it lay just in the Way. Our next Question was which Hand to turn

  to, to the Right or the Left, but this was soon resolved; for as we knew not the

  Extent of it, we considered that our Way, if it had been the Sea really, must be