by Daniel Defoe
In this voyage I visited my new collony in the island, saw my successors the Spaniards, had the whole story of their lives, and of the villains I left there; how at first they insulted the poor Spaniards, how they afterwards agreed, disagreed, united, separated, and how at last the Spaniards were oblig’d to use violence with them, how they were subjected to the Spaniards, how honestly the Spaniards used them; a history, if it were entred into, as full of variety and wonderful accidents, as my own part, particularly also as to their battles with the Carribeans, who landed several times upon the island, and as to the improvement they made upon the island it self, and how five of them made an attempt upon the main land, and brought away eleven men and five women prisoners, by which, at my coming, I found about twenty young children on the island.
Here I stay’d about 20 days, left them supplies of all necessary things, and particularly of arms, powder, shot, clothes, tools, and two workmen, which I brought from England with me, viz. a carpenter and a smith.
Besides this, I shar’d the island into parts with ’em, reserv’d to my self the property of the whole, but gave them such parts respectively as they agreed on; and having settled all things with them, and engaged them not to leave the place, I left them there.
From thence I touch’d at the Brasils, from whence I sent a bark, which I bought there, with more people to the island, and in it, besides other supplies, I sent seven women, being such as I found proper for service, or for wives to such as would take them: As to the English men, I promis’d them to send them some women from England, with a good cargo of necessaries, if they would apply themselves to planting, which I afterwards perform’d. And the fellows prov’d very honest and diligent after they were master’d, and had their properties set apart for them. I sent them also from the Brasils five cows, three of them being big with calf, some sheep, and some hogs, which, when I came again, were considerably encreas’d.
But all these things, with an account how 300 Caribbees came and invaded them, and ruin’d their plantations, and how they fought with that whole number twice, and were at first defeated, and three of them kill’d; but at last a storm destroying their enemies canoes, they famish’d or destroy’d almost all the rest, and renew’d and recover’d the possession of their plantation, and still liv’d upon the island.
All these things, with some very surprising incidents in some new adventures of my own, for ten years more, I may perhaps give a farther account of hererafter.
GLOSSARY
acted by: moved to action by
admiration (admire): astonishment (to wonder at)
affection: zeal, enthusiasm
affections: emotions, feelings
ague: fever, chills or fit of shivering (Crusoe probably has some sort of malaria)
alcamies: see curlieus
Algerines: pirates from North Africa, from Algeria
all adventures: great risk, all risk
alloes: aloes; a purgative or tonic drug derived from the dried juice of aloe leaves
amuse, amusement: to trick, befuddle; to be distracted, entertained
antick: grotesquely animated
antient and pendants: flags – ensign and pennants
attempted: attacked, tried to kill or capture
bays: baize cotton or woollen material napped to imitate felt
beachy rough: gravelly
better end: utmost length, bitter end
boltsprit: bowsprit, a spar or wooden pole extending from the stem of a ship
brand goose: species of wild goose, called in America, brant
breach of the sea: breaking waves
bruised: crushed into flour
bulg’d: bilged; with a hole or leak in the inner part of the ship’s hull
burthen: cargo capacity
buskins: foot and leg covering or half-boot stretching half way to the knee
calenture: tropical fever, from Spanish, calentura
canes: sugar canes
carriage: ready to be hauled away
case-bottle: bottle designated for use in cases, fitting into divisions of the case
cassava root: tropical American plant with a large, starchy root, also called ‘manioc’
casuist: one who determines what is right or wrong in matters of conscience
chickens meat: grain, chicken feed
chop’d: swerved or changed direction suddenly
colliers: ships carrying coal
come home: come loose
confus’d: assembled in a disorderly fashion, jumbled
conscience: consciousness
consequence: by-product
conversation: friendship, social interaction
converse of spirits: communication of spirits with human beings
cordial waters: liqueurs – sweet, syrupy alcoholic beverages, often with a brandy base
corn: in British usage, any cereal plant food such as oats, wheat, rye or barley
crowded to the utmost: spread all the sail possible in order to go as fast as possible
Cruisadoes (crusados): Portuguese silver coins, named after the cross inscribed on them
cur’d: cleared and ready for cultivation
curlieus: curlews – brownish, long-legged shore birds having long, slender, downward-curving bills
depending: impending, about to happen
design: plan, strategy
discover: explore; display, show
discover’d: showed, displayed
discoveries: revelations
doctor: teacher, scholar
Doubloons: Spanish gold coin, a double pistole
drills: rills or small streams
dubb: to strike, cut, or rub (wood or leather) to make them smooth
Ducats: any of various gold and silver coins formerly current in most European countries
eat: ate
embarrass’d: impeded by or encumbered with
entertain’d: preoccupied
Equinox: Equator, line dividing the northern and southern hemispheres; see also Line
fain: gladly, preferably, ready, willing
fancy: imagination, a fantasy, to imagine
fetch’d a compass: circled
fewel: fuel
flags: plants having long blade-like leaves
flea: to flay, that is, to skin
fleet: float
fluxes: dysentery
fore-castle: section of the upper deck of a ship located at the bow
fowling-piece: shotgun for hunting birds or small animals
frame: that is, frame of mind (p. 131)
freshning: increasing in velocity
frog: loop fastened to a belt to hold a weapon
fustic: tropical American tree that yields a yellow dye
fuzees: muskets
Generalissimo: commander-in-chief.
genius: inclination, talent, personal tendency
glaz’d powder: grains of the best gunpowder glazed with graphite to slow down combustion and thereby make it safer
graplin: grappling iron, an iron shaft with claws at one end used for drawing and holding an enemy ship alongside
ground-tackle: equipment (cable, anchor, etc.) used to anchor or moor a ship
gudgeons: metal pins joining the wheel, in this case, to the shaft of the wheelbarrow
Guinea grains: seeds of African plants
gyb’d: jibbed, swung around and shifted from one side of the boat to the other
hale, hal’d, hailing: to haul, hauled, hauling
hallow: see hollow
hanger: short sword
hawser: cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship
head: fore part of the ship
hogshead: large barrel
hollow, hallow: to shout, to call
indifferently: neither good nor bad, mediocre
iron crows: crow bars
jealous: apprehensive, fearful
jealousy: suspicion
jerkin: vest or waistcoat
league: about 3
miles or 4.8 kilometers
lee: side of the land that provides shelter from the wind
Line: Equator
long-boat: longest boat carried by a sailing ship
luxuries: excessive, unnecessary or self-indulgent pleasures
magazine: storehouse or place where goods are stored
main: mainland
man of war: warship
Maresco: variant of Moresco, Spanish for Moor
meat: as used by Crusoe, often refers to food in general rather than specifically or exclusively to animal flesh
mechanical, mechanick: manual, of manual labour (also one who earns a living by manual labour)
medium: compromise
memento: reminder or example, an emblem or warning.
mere, meer: completely, perfectly, entirely, ‘nothing more than’; see ‘my meer fate’, i.e. purely and fully my fate (p. 7)
misen-yard: the mizzen is the third mast aft on sailing ships carrying three or more sails, so the misen-yard is the pole supporting the mizzen mast
Moidore, Moydor: moidores, Portuguese and Brazilian gold coins
moiety: one half share
moletta: mulatto, since Crusoe is dark from exposure to the sun
molossus: molasses
moorish: like a moor, poorly drained and infertile land
move: urge
murthering humour: in the mood or disposition to commit murder
naked: defenceless
naturalists: those who study natural phenomena, scientists
Nicaragua Wood: South American redwood, also called Brazil wood
nice: particular, fastidious
oakum: hemp or jute fibre, sometimes treated with tar or creosote and used for caulking seams in wooden ships
obligation: contractual promise
observation: navigational reckoning
offing: position at a distance from the shore
opticks: eyes
original: originator or organizer
osiers: see sallows
pale: fence enclosing a field, or the area thus enclosed
pantaloons: men’s tight trousers, normally reaching from the waist to the ankle
parch’d: cooked and dried
parly: to negotiate, negotiations
paste: flour moistened with water or milk and kneaded to make pastry
penthouse: shed or sloping roof attached to the main house
periagua: dug-out canoe made from a single tree trunk
perspective-glasses: prospective-glasses, telescopes
physical: medicinal, curative
physick: medicine, medical treatment
Pieces of Eight: Spanish silver dollars marked with a figure ‘8’
pinnace: small boat or tender attached to a ship
pipkins: small earthenware pots
presently: immediately
primitive: earlier or original
procuration: power of attorney
prospective-glass: telescope, ‘perspective glass’
prudential: worldly wisdom, the prudent or practical thing to do
pumps: low-heeled shoes without laces
quarter: upper portion of the deck of a ship; mercy
rack: arrack, intoxicating liquor made of palm sap or coconuts
rankling: festering
regiment of foot: foot soldiers, infantry
rid forecastle in: with the bow of the ship underwater
round-house: cabin in the stern or rear of the ship, just below the poop or rear deck
Royals: Spanish silver coins, reals (from ‘real’ = royal)
rubb’d out: separated the kernel or grain of the barley from the chaff or straw
runlet: cask of varying sizes, usually holding about eighteen gallons
sallows: willows and osiers: trees in the willow family, all having long, rodlike twigs used in basketry
scuttle: hatchway
sheet anchor: large, extra anchor intended for use in emergencies
shoal: shallow
shoulder of mutton sail: triangular sail
simplicity: naive or foolish behaviour
skrew-jack: jack for lifting heavy objects, operated by a screw
softly: quietly or slowly
spatter-dashes: leather or cloth gaiters, leggings extending from the knee to the instep
sprit-sail: sail extended by a pole from the lower part of the mast to the peak of the main sail
step at the stern: platform to support the end of the mast
stern: rear of a ship
strike our top-masts: that is, lower the sails on those masts and secure them
stuff: woven material, especially woollens
stupid: in a stupor
sublunary: earthly
succades: candied fruit
supra cargo, super-cargo: officer on a merchant ship who has charge of the cargo, its purchase and sale
take a round: circle around
tell: count
thrash: thresh, to beat the stems and husks of cereal plants in order to separate the grain or seeds from the straw
toy: small article of little value but prized as a curiosity
traffick: business, trade
turn’d off: hanged, executed
twist: crotch
uncur’d: unprepared for planting
upon the ladder: upon the gallows, about to be hanged
vapours: anxiety or hysteria, depression
vesting: investing
virtue: said of plants, their efficacious medicinal properties
viz.: shortened form of videlicit: that is to say, namely (Latin); literally, ‘it is easy or plain to see’
warmly: strongly, clearly
wave: to waive
whelming down: to place a hollow vessel upside down over something
willows: see sallows
yard: spar or pole used to support the sails on a ship
NOTES
1 dispatch’d: That is to say, stories such as this were meant to be read quickly (with dispatch) and inattentively, so that their truth or falsity did not matter.
2 Robinson Crusoe: Defoe’s model for Crusoe seems to have been Alexander Selkirk: see Introduction. The ‘Great River of OROONOQUE’ (see title-page) is the Orinoco, in Venezuela, one of South America’s longest rivers, extending about 2560 km (1590 miles).
3 Bremen: City in northwestern Germany, capital of the state of Bremen on the Weser River, near the North Sea.
4 Dunkirk against the Spaniards: Sir William Lockhart (1621–76), one of Oliver Cromwell’s generals, captured Dunkirk from the Spanish in 1658.
5 Wise man…poverty or riches: Solomon, considered the wisest man in the Old Testament, as recorded in Proverbs 30:8 (though not directly attributed to him).
6 1651: The first edition has 1661, but this would make Crusoe twenty-nine years old. Subsequent editions correct the date to 1651.
7 Humber: Estuary in eastern England, flowing generally east from the junction of the Trent and Ouse rivers and then southeast into the North Sea.
8 Prodigal: Refers to Christ’s parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–24): this son goes on a journey to a ‘far country’ and wastes his money, but when he returns his father kills the ‘fatted calf’ for the celebration of his homecoming.
9 Yarmouth: Now Great Yarmouth, at the junction of the Yare and Waveney rivers with the North Sea. From medieval times, it was a port and centre of herring fishing.
10 Winterton-Ness: Promontory on the Norfolk coast.
11 Jonah in the Ship of Tarshish: Old Testament prophet on a ship bound for Tarshish was the cause of a fierce storm at sea because of his disobedience to God and was ‘cast…forth into the sea’ by the sailors to save the ship (Jonah 1:2–15); hence any person causing bad luck.
12 Sallee: Seaport in Morocco, which was a notorious base for pirates (‘rovers’). From the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century, Morocco and the other Barbary Coast states were bases for piracy on the Mediterranean trade.
13 athwart our quarter…stern: The pirates draw their ship up alongside the ‘quarterdeck’ of the ship Crusoe is on instead of by the stern or rear part, and so are vulnerable to the mounted guns.
14 Emperor’s court: Probably in Rabat, the capital. After a couple of centuries of struggle, the Moroccans expelled the Spaniards and the Portuguese, and by the end of the seventeenth century the country was ruled by the Alawite dynasty.
15 Straits-mouth: Straits of Gibraltar.
16 Canaries…Cape de Verd Islands: Canary Islands – seven islands in the Atlantic off the northwestern coast of Africa, which constitute two Spanish provinces; Cape Verde Islands – an archipelago, Portuguese territory, in the Atlantic about 400 miles west of Senegal. Crusoe is sailing southward away from the Canaries along the northwest coast of Africa, by the peninsula of Cape Verde (the westernmost point in Africa) and in the direction of the Cape Verde Islands.
17 Gambia or Sennegall: The Gambia river flows generally west through the nations of Senegal and The Gambia before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean by a wide estuary near Saint Mary’s Island, the site of Banjul, the capital of The Gambia.
18 All-Saints-Bay: Harbour in northern Brazil where San Salvador, then the capital, is located.
19 Assiento’s: Assiento (mod. asiento) was a monopoly on the African slave trade into their American colonies enforced by the Spanish and the Portuguese.
20 the —th of —: Spaces were left for the day, month and year in the first three editions. In the fourth and subsequent editions, these were replaced with ‘the first of September, 1659’.
21 120 tun burthen: Having a cargo capacity of about 120 tons.
22 Fernand de Noronha: They are sailing toward the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, which is a Brazilian possession in the Atlantic Ocean.
23 Den wild Zee: The wild sea.
24 For sudden…confound at first: Professor Geoffrey Sill has discovered the source of these lines: ‘Wild’s Humble Thanks for His Majesties Gracious Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, March 15, 1672’, a broadside published in 1672 by Robert Wild (1609–79). The poem was written in response to Charles II’s suspension that year of penal laws against Catholics and Nonconformists. Wild was a Nonconformist minister and a Royalist.