by Daniel Defoe
the fit for good and all, though I did not recover myfull strength for some weeks after. While I was thus gathering strength,my thoughts ran exceedingly upon this scripture, "I will deliver thee;"and the impossibility of my deliverance lay much upon my mind, in bar ofmy ever expecting it: but as I was discouraging myself with suchthoughts, it occurred to my mind, that I pored so much upon mydeliverance from the main affliction, that I disregarded the deliveranceI had received; and I was, as it were, made to ask myself such questionsas these; viz. Have I not been delivered, and wonderfully too, fromsickness? from the most distressed condition that could be, and that wasso frightful to me? and what notice had I taken of it? had I done mypart? _God had delivered me;_ but _I had not glorified him_: that is tosay, I had not owned and been thankful for that as a deliverance; andhow could I expect greater deliverance?
This touched my heart very much, and immediately I kneeled down, andgave God thanks aloud, for my recovery from my sickness.
July 4. In the morning I took the Bible; and, beginning at the NewTestament, I began seriously to read it, and imposed upon myself to reada while every morning and every night, not tying myself to the number ofchapters, but as long as my thoughts should engage me. It was not longafter I set seriously to this work, but I found my heart more deeply andsincerely affected with the wickedness of my past life; the impressionof my dream revived, and the words, "All these things have not broughtthee to repentance," ran seriously in my thoughts: I was earnestlybegging of God to give me repentance, when it happened providentiallythe very day, that, reading the Scripture, I came to these words, "He isexalted a Prince, and a Saviour, to give repentance, and to giveremission." I threw down the book, and with my heart as well as my handlifted up to heaven, in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud,"Jesus, thou Son of David, Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour, giveme repentance!"
This was the first time that I could say, in the true sense of thewords, that I prayed in all my life; for now I prayed with a sense of mycondition, and with a true Scripture view of hope, founded on theencouragement of the word of God; and from this time, I may say, I beganto have hope that God would hear me.
Now I began to construe the words mentioned above, "Call on me, and Iwill deliver thee," in a different sense from what I had ever donebefore; for then I had no notion of any thing being called deliverance,but my being delivered from the captivity I was in; for though I wasindeed at large in the place, yet the island was certainly a prison tome, and that in the worst sense in the world; but now I learnt to takeit in another sense. Now I looked back upon my past life with suchhorror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing ofGod, but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all mycomfort. As for my solitary life, it was nothing; I did not so much aspray to be delivered from it, or think of it; it was all of noconsideration in comparison of this; and I added this part here, to hintto whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense ofthings, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing thandeliverance from affliction.
But, leaving this part, I return to my journal. My condition began nowto be, though not less miserable as to my way of living, yet much easierto my mind; and my thoughts being directed, by a constant reading theScripture, and praying to God, to things of a higher nature, I had agreat deal of comfort within, which till now I knew nothing of; also asmy health and strength returned, I bestirred myself to furnish myselfwith every thing that I wanted, and make my way of living as regularas I could.
From the 4th of July to the 14th, I was chiefly employed in walkingabout with my gun in my hand a little and a little at a time, as a manthat was gathering up his strength after a fit of sickness; for it ishardly to be imagined how low I was, and to what weakness I was reduced.The application which I made use of was perfectly new, and perhaps whathad never cured an ague before; neither can I recommend it to any one topractise by this experiment; and though it did carry off the fit, yet itrather contributed to weaken me; for I had frequent convulsions in mynerves and limbs for some time.
I learnt from it also this in particular, that being abroad in the rainyseason was the most pernicious thing to my health that could be,especially in those rains which came attended with storms and hurricanesof wind; for as the rain which came in a dry season was always mostaccompanied with such storms, so I found this rain was much moredangerous than the rain which fell in September and October.
I had been now in this unhappy island above ten months; all possibilityof deliverance from this condition seemed to be entirely taken from me;and I firmly believed that no human shape had ever set foot upon thatplace. Having now secured my habitation, as I thought, fully to my mind,I had a great desire to make a more perfect discovery of the island, andto see what other productions I might find, which yet I knew nothing of.
It was the 15th of July that I began to take a more particular survey ofthe island itself. I went up the creek first, where, as I hinted, Ibrought my rafts on shore. I found, after I came about two miles up,that the tide did not flow any higher, and that it was no more than alittle brook of running water, and very fresh and good: but this beingthe dry season, there was hardly any water in some parts of it, at leastnot enough to run into any stream, so as it could be perceived.
On the bank of this brook I found many pleasant savannas or meadows,plain, smooth, and covered with grass; and on the rising parts of themnext to the higher grounds, where the water, as it might be supposed,never overflowed, I found a great deal of tobacco, green, and growing toa great and very strong stalk: there were divers other plants which Ihad no notion of, or understanding about; and might perhaps have virtuesof their own, which I could not find out.
I searched for the cassave root, which the Indians in all that climatemake their bread of, but I could find none. I saw large plants of aloes,but did not then understand them: I saw several sugar-canes, but wild,and, for want of cultivation, imperfect. I contented myself with thesediscoveries for this time, and came back, musing with myself what courseI might take to know the virtue and goodness of any of the fruits orplants which I should discover, but could bring it to no conclusion;for, in short, I had made so little observation while I was in theBrasils, that I knew little of the plants of the field, at least verylittle that might serve me to any purpose now in my distress.
The next day, the 16th, I went up the same way again; and, after goingsomething farther than I had done the day before, I found the brook andthe savannas began to cease, and the country became more woody thanbefore. In this part I found different fruits, and particularly I foundmelons upon the ground in great abundance, and grapes upon the trees;the vines had spread indeed over the trees, and the clusters of grapeswere just now in their prime, very ripe and rich. This was a surprisingdiscovery, and I was exceeding glad of them; but I was warned by myexperience to eat sparingly of them, remembering, that when I wasashore in Barbary, the eating of grapes killed several of our Englishmenwho were slaves there, by throwing them into fluxes and fevers: but Ifound an excellent use for these grapes, and that was to cure or drythem in the sun, and keep them as dried grapes or raisins are kept,which I thought would be, as indeed they were, as wholesome, and asagreeable to eat, when no grapes might be had.
I spent all that evening there, and went not back to my habitation,which by the way was the first night, as I might say, I had lain fromhome. In the night I took my first contrivance, and got up into a tree,where I slept well, and the next morning proceeded upon my discovery,travelling near four miles, as I might judge by the length of thevalley, keeping still due north, with a ridge of hills on the south andnorth side of me.
At the end of this march I came to an opening, where the country seemedto descend to the west; and a little spring of fresh water, which issuedout of the side of the hill by me, ran the other way, that is, due east;and the country appeared so fresh, so green, so flourishing, every thingbeing in a constant verdure or flourish of spring, that it looked like aplanted garden.
I desc
ended a little on the side of that delicious valley, surveying itwith a secret kind of pleasure (though mixed with other afflictingthoughts) to think that this was all my own, that I was king and lord ofall this country indefeasibly, and had a right of possession; and if Icould convey it, I might have it in inheritance, as completely as anylord of a manor in England. I saw here abundance of cocoa-trees, orangeand lemon, and citron-trees, but all wild, and few bearing any fruit; atleast, not then: however, the green limes that I gathered were not onlypleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I mixed their juice afterwardswith water, which made it very wholesome, and very cool and refreshing.
I found now I had business enough to gather and carry home; and resolvedto lay up a store, as well of grapes as limes and lemons, to furnishmyself for the wet season, which I knew was approaching.
In order to do this I gathered a great heap of grapes in one place, anda lesser heap in another place, and a great