by Daniel Defoe
While I was in view of the Moor that was swimming, I stood out directly to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that they might think me gone towards the Straits-mouth15 (as indeed any one that had been in their wits must ha’ been suppos’d to do) for who wou’d ha’ suppos’d we were sail’d on to the southward to the truly barbarian coast, where whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with their canoes, and destroy us; where we could ne’er once go on shore but we should be devour’d by savage beasts, or more merciless savages of human kind.
But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I chang’d my course, and steer’d directly south and by east, bending my course a little toward the east, that I might keep in with the shore; and having a fair fresh gale of wind, and a smooth quiet sea, I made such sail that I believe by the next day at three a clock in the afternoon, when I first made the land, I could not be less than 150 miles south of Sallee; quite beyond the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions, or indeed of any other king thereabouts, for we saw no people.
Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into their hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore, or come to an anchor; the wind continuing fair, till I had sail’d in that manner five days: And then the wind shifting to the southward, I concluded also that if any of our vessels were in chase of me, they also would now give over; so I ventur’d to make to the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what, or where; neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or what river: I neither saw, or desir’d to see any people, the principal thing I wanted was fresh water: We came into this creek in the evening, resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the country; but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and beg’d of me not to go on shore till day; well Xury, said I, then I won’t, but it may be we may see men by day, who will be as bad to us as those lyons; then we give them the shoot gun, says Xury, laughing, make them run wey; such English Xury spoke by conversing among us slaves, however I was glad to see the boy so cheerful, and I gave him a dram (out of our patron’s case of bottles) to cheer him up: After all, Xury’s advice was good, and I took it, we dropp’d our little anchor and lay still all night; I say still, for we slept none! for in two or three hours we saw vast great creatures (we knew not what to call them) of many sorts, come down to the sea-shore and run into the water, wallowing and washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling themselves; and they made such hideous howlings and yellings, that I never indeed heard the like.
Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed so was I too; but we were both more frighted when we heard one of these mighty creatures come swimming towards our boat, we could not see him, but we might hear him by his blowing to be a monstrous, huge and furious beast; Xury said it was a lyon, and it might be so for ought I know; but poor Xury cried to me to weigh the anchor and row away; no, says I, Xury, we can slip our cable with the buoy to it and go off to sea, they cannot follow us far; I had no sooner said so, but I perceiv’d the creature (whatever it was) within two oars length, which something surprised me; however I immediately stept to the cabin-door, and taking up my gun fir’d at him, upon which he immediately turn’d about, and swam towards the shore again.
But it is impossible to describe the horrible noises, and hideous cries and howlings, that were raised as well upon the edge of the shore, as higher within the country; upon the noise or report of the gun, a thing I have some reason to believe those creatures had never heard before: This convinc’d me that there was no going on shore for us in the night upon that coast, and how to venture on shore in the day was another question too; for to have fallen into the hands of any of the savages, had been as bad as to have fallen into the hands of lyons and tygers; at least we were equally apprehensive of the danger of it.
Be that as it would, we were oblig’d to go on shore somewhere or other for water, for we had not a pint left in the boat; when or where to get to it was the point: Xury said, if I would let him go on shore with one of the jars, he would find if there was any water and bring some to me. I ask’d him why he would go? Why I should not go and he stay in the boat? The boy answer’d with so much affection that made me love him ever after. Says he, If wild mans come, they eat me, you go wey. Well, Xury, said I, we will both go, and if the wild mans come, we will kill them, they shall eat neither of us; so I gave Xury a piece of rusk-bread to eat, and a dram out of our patron’s case of bottles which I mentioned before; and we hal’d the boat in as near the shore as we thought was proper, and waded on shore, carrying nothing but our arms and two jars for water.
I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the coming of canoes with savages down the river; but the boy seeing a low place about a mile up the country, rambled to it; and by and by I saw him come running towards me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, or frighted with some wild beast, and I run forward towards him to help him, but when I came nearer to him, I saw something hanging over his shoulders which was a creature that he had shot, like a hare, but different in colour, and longer legs, however we were very glad of it, and it was very good meat; but the great joy that poor Xury came with, was to tell me he had found good water and seen no wild mans.
But we found afterwards that we need not take such pains for water, for a little higher up the creek where we were, we found the water fresh when the tide was out, which flowed but a little way up; so we filled our jars and feasted on the hare we had killed, and prepared to go on our way, having seen no foot-steps of any human creature in that part of the country.
As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I knew very well that the islands of the Canaries, and the Cape de Verd Islands16 also, lay not far off from the coast. But as I had no instruments to take an observation to know what latitude we were in, and did not exactly know, or at least remember what latitude they were in; I knew not where to look for them, or when to stand off to sea towards them; otherwise I might now easily have found some of these islands. But my hope was, that if I stood along this coast till I came to that part where the English traded, I should find some of their vessels upon their usual design of trade, that would relieve and take us in.
By the best of my calculation, that place where I now was, must be that country, which lying between the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions and the Negroes, lies waste and uninhabited, except by wild beasts; the Negroes having abandon’d it, and gone farther south for fear of the Moors; and the Moors not thinking it worth inhabiting, by reason of its barrenness; and indeed both forsaking it because of the prodigious numbers of tygers, lyons, leopards, and other furious creatures which harbour there; so that the Moors use it for their hunting only, where they go like an army, two or three thousand men at a time; and indeed for near an hundred miles together upon this coast, we saw nothing but a waste uninhabited country, by day; and heard nothing but howlings and roaring of wild beasts, by night.
Once or twice in the day time, I thought I saw the Pico of Teneriffe, being the high top of the mountain Teneriffe in the Canaries; and had a great mind to venture out in hopes of reaching thither; but having tried twice I was forced in again by contrary winds, the sea also going too high for my little vessel, so I resolved to pursue my first design and keep along the shore.
Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water, after we had left this place; and once in particular, being early in the morning, we came to an anchor under a little point of land which was pretty high, and the tide beginning to slow, we lay still to go farther in; Xury, whose eyes were more about him than it seems mine were, calls softly to me, and tells me that we had best go farther off the shore; for, says he, look yonder lies a dreadful monster on the side of that hillock fast asleep: I look’d where he pointed, and saw a dreadful monster indeed, for it was a terrible great lyon that lay on the side of the shore, unde
r the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as it were a little over him. Xury, says I, you shall go on shore and kill him; Xury look’d frighted, and said, Me kill! he eat me at one mouth; one mouthful he meant; however, I said no more to the boy, but bad him lye still, and I took our biggest gun, which was almost musquet-bore, and loaded it with a good charge of powder, and with two slugs, and laid it down; then I loaded another gun with two bullets, and the third, for we had three pieces, I loaded with five smaller bullets. I took the best aim I could with the first piece to have shot him into the head, but he lay so with his leg rais’d a little above his nose, that the slugs hit his leg about the knee, and broke the bone. He started up growling at first, but finding his leg broke fell down again, and then got up upon three legs and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard; I was a little surpris’d that I had not hit him on the head; however I took up the second piece immediately, and tho’ he began to move off fir’d again, and shot him into the head, and had the pleasure to see him drop, and make but little noise, but lay struggling for life. Then Xury took heart, and would have me let him go on shore: Well, go said I; so the boy jump’d into the water, and taking a little gun in one hand, swam to shore with the other hand, and coming close to the creature, put the muzzle of the piece to his ear, and shot him into the head again which dispatch’d him quite.
This was game indeed to us, but this was no food, and I was very sorry to lose three charges of powder and shot upon a creature that was good for nothing to us. However Xury said he would have some of him; so he comes on board, and ask’d me to give him the hatchet; for what, Xury, said I? Me cut off his head, said he. However Xury could not cut off his head, but he cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a monstrous great one.
I bethought my self however, that perhaps the skin of him might one way or other be of some value to us; and I resolved to take off his skin if I could. So Xury and I went to work with him; but Xury was much the better workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it. Indeed it took us up both the whole day, but at last we got off the hide of him, and spreading it on the top of our cabin, the sun effectually dried it in two days time, and it afterwards serv’d me to lye upon.
After this stop we made on to the southward continually for ten or twelve days, living very sparing on our provisions, which began to abate very much, and going no oftner into the shore than we were oblig’d to for fresh water; my design in this was to make the River Gambia or Sennegall,17 that is to say, any where about the Cape de Verd, where I was in hopes to meet with some European Ship, and if I did not, I knew not what course I had to take, but to seek out for the Islands, or perish there among the Negroes. I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sail’d either to the Coast of Guiney, or to Brasil, or to the East-Indies, made this Cape or those Islands; and in a word, I put the whole of my fortune upon this single point, either that I must meet with some ship, or must perish.
When I had pursued this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land was inhabited, and in two or three places as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us, we could also perceive they were quite black and stark-naked. I was once inclin’d to ha’ gone on shore to them; but Xury was my better councellor, and said to me, no go, no go; however I hal’d in nearer the shore that I might talk to them, and I found they run along the shore by me a good way; I observ’d they had no weapons in their hands, except one who had a long slender stick, which Xury said was a lance, and that they would throw them a great way with good aim; so I kept at a distance, but talk’d with them by signs as well as I could; and particularly made signs for something to eat, they beckon’d to me to stop my boat, and they would fetch me some meat; upon this I lower’d the top of my sail, and lay by, and two of them run up into the country, and in less than half an hour came back, and brought with them two pieces of dry flesh and some corn, such as is the produce of their country, but we neither knew what the one or the other was; however we were willing to accept it, but how to come at it was our next dispute, for I was not for venturing on shore to them, and they were as much afraid of us; but they took a safe way for us all, for they brought it to the shore and laid it down, and went and stood a great way off till we fetch’d it on board, and then came close to us again.
We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing to make them amends; but an opportunity offer’d that very instant to oblige them wonderfully, for while we were lying by the shore, came two mighty creatures, one pursuing the other, (as we took it) with great fury, from the mountains towards the sea; whether it was the male pursuing the female, or whether they were in sport or in rage, we could not tell, any more than we could tell whether it was usual or strange, but I believe it was the latter; because in the first place, those ravenous creatures seldom appear but in the night; and in the second place, we found the people terribly frighted, especially the women. The man that had the lance or dart did not fly from them, but the rest did; however as the two creatures ran directly into the water, they did not seem to offer to fall upon any of the Negroes, but plung’d themselves into the sea and swam about as if they had come for their diversion; at last one of them began to come nearer our boat than at first I expected, but I lay ready for him, for I had loaded my gun with all possible expedition, and bad Xury load both the other; as soon as he came fairly within my reach, I fir’d, and shot him directly into the head; immediately he sunk down into the water, but rose instantly and plung’d up and down as if he was struggling for life; and so indeed he was; he immediately made to the shore, but between the wound which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling of the water, he dyed just before he reach’d the shore.
It is impossible to express the astonishment of these poor creatures at the noise and the fire of my gun; some of them were even ready to dye for fear, and fell down as dead with the very terror. But when they saw the creature dead and sunk in the water, and that I made signs to them to come to the shore; they took heart and came to the shore and began to search for the creature. I found him by his blood staining the water, and by the help of a rope which I slung round him and gave the Negroes to hawl, they drag’d him on shore, and found that it was a most curious leopard, spotted and fine to an admirable degree, and the Negroes held up their hands with admiration to think what it was I had kill’d him with.
The other creature frighted with the flash of fire and the noise of the gun swam on shore, and ran up directly to the mountains from whence they came, nor could I at that distance know what it was. I found quickly the Negroes were for eating the flesh of this creature, so I was willing to have them take it as a favour from me, which when I made signs to them that they might take him, they were very thankful for, immediately they fell to work with him, and tho’ they had no knife, yet with a sharpen’d piece of wood they took off his skin as readily, and much more readily than we cou’d have done with a knife; they offer’d me some of the flesh, which I declined, making as if I would give it them, but made signs for the skin, which they gave me very freely, and brought me a great deal more of their provision, which tho’ I did not understand, yet I accepted; then I made signs to them for some water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning it bottom upward, to shew that it was empty, and that I wanted to have it filled. They call’d immediately to some of their friends, and there came two women and brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt as I suppose in the sun; this they set down for me, as before, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and filled them all three. The women were as stark naked as the men.
I was now furnished with roots and corn, such as it was, and water, and leaving my friendly Negroes, I made forward for about eleven days more, without offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run out a great length into the sea, at about the distance of four or five leagues before me, and the sea being very calm, I kept a large offing to make this point; at length, doubling the point at about two leagues from the land, I saw plainly land on the other side to seaw
ard; then I concluded, as it was most certain indeed, that this was the Cape de Verd, and those the Islands, call’d from thence Cape de Verd Islands. However they were at a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had best to do, for if I should be taken with a fresh of wind I might neither reach one or other.
In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stept into the cabin, and sat me down, Xury having the helm, when on a sudden the boy cry’d out Master, Master, a ship with a sail, and the foolish boy was frighted out of his wits, thinking it must needs be some of his master’s ships sent to pursue us, when, I knew we were gotten far enough out of their reach. I jump’d out of the cabin, and immediately saw not only the ship, but what she was, (viz.) that it was a Portuguese ship, and as I thought was bound to the coast of Guinea for Negroes. But when I observ’d the course she steer’d, I was soon convinc’d they were bound some other way, and did not design to come any nearer to the shore; upon which I stretch’d out to sea as much as I could, resolving to speak with them if possible.
With all the sail I could make I found I should not be able to come in their way, but that they would be gone by, before I could make any signal to them; but after I had crowded to the utmost, and began to despair, they it seems saw me by the help of their perspective-glasses, and that it was some European boat, which as they supposed must belong to some ship that was lost, so they shortned sail to let me come up. I was encouraged with this, and as I had my patron’s antient on board, I made a waft of it to them for a signal of distress, and fir’d a gun, both which they saw, for they told me they saw the smoke, tho’ they did not hear the gun; upon these signals they very kindly brought to, and lay by for me, and in about three hours time I came up with them.