The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808)

by Daniel Defoe

when about two hours beforenight, they came down directly upon us; and, though we had not perceivedit, we found they had been joined by some more of the same, so that theywere near fourscore horse, whereof, however, we fancied some were women.They came in till they were within half a shot of our little wood, whenwe fired one musket without ball, and called to them in the Russiantongue, to know what they wanted, and bid them keep off; but, as if theyknew nothing of what we said, they came on with a double fury directlyto the wood-side, not imagining we were so barricaded, that they couldnot break in. Our old pilot was our captain, as well as he had been ourengineer; and desired of us, not to fire upon them till they came withinpistol shot, that we might be sure to kill; and that, when we did fire,we should be sure to take good aim. We bade him give the word ofcommand; which he delayed so long, that they were, some of them, withintwo pikes length of us when we fired.

  We aimed so true, (or Providence directed our shot so sure) that wekilled fourteen of them at the first volley, and wounded several others,as also several of their horses; for we had all of us loaded our pieceswith two or three bullets apiece at least.

  They were terribly surprised with our fire, and retreated immediatelyabout one hundred rods from us; in which time we loaded our piecesagain, and, seeing them keep that distance, we sallied out, and caughtfour or five of their horses, whose riders, we supposed, were killed;and coming up to the dead, we could easily perceive they were Tartars,but knew not from what country, or how they came to make an excursionsuch an unusual length.

  About an hour after, they made a motion to attack us again, and roderound our little wood, to see where else they might break in; butfinding us always ready to face them, they went off again, and weresolved not to stir from the place for that night.

  We slept but little, you may be sure; but spent the most part of thenight in strengthening our situation, and barricading the entrances intothe wood; and, keeping a strict watch, we waited for daylight, and, whenit came, it gave us a very unwelcome discovery indeed: for the enemy,who we thought were discouraged with the reception they had met with,were now increased to no less than three hundred, and had set up elevenor twelve huts and tents, as if they were resolved to besiege us; andthis little camp they had pitched, was upon the open plain, at aboutthree quarters of a mile from us. We were indeed surprised at thisdiscovery; and now, I confess, I gave myself over for lost, and all thatI had. The loss of my effects did not lie so near me (though they werevery considerable) as the thoughts of falling into the hands of suchbarbarians, at the latter end of my journey, after so many difficultiesand hazards as I had gone through; and even in sight of our port, wherewe expected safety and deliverance. As for my partner, he was raging: hedeclared, that to lose his goods would be his ruin; and he would ratherdie than be starved; and he was for fighting to the last drop.

  The young lord, as gallant as ever flesh shewed itself, was for fightingto the last also; and my old pilot was of the opinion we were able toresist them all, in the situation we then were in: and thus we spent theday in debates of what we should do; but towards evening, we found thatthe number of our enemies still increased: perhaps, as they were abroadin several parties for prey, the first had sent out scouts to call forhelp, and to acquaint them of their booty; and we did not know but bythe morning they might still be a greater number; so I began to inquireof those people we had brought from Tobolski, if there were no other, ormore private ways, by which we might avoid them in the night, andperhaps either retreat to some town, or get help to guard us overthe desert.

  The Siberian, who was servant to the young lord, told us, if we designedto avoid them, and not fight, he would engage to carry us off in thenight to a way that went north towards the river Petraz, by which hemade no doubt but we might get away, and the Tartars never the wiser;but he said, his lord had told him he would not return, but would ratherchoose to fight. I told him, he mistook his lord; for that he was toowise a man to love fighting for the sake of it; that I knew his lord wasbrave enough by what he had shewed already; but that his lord knewbetter than to desire to have seventeen or eighteen men fight fivehundred, unless an unavoidable necessity forced them to it; and that ifhe thought it possible for us to escape in the night, we had nothingelse to do but to attempt it. He answered, if his lord gave him suchorder, he would lose his life if he did not perform it. We soon broughthis lord to give that order, though privately, and we immediatelyprepared for the putting it in practice.

  And first, as soon as it began to be dark, we kindled a fire in ourlittle camp, which we kept burning, and prepared so as to make it burnall night, that the Tartars might conclude we were still there; but, assoon as it was dark, that is to say, so as we could see the stars, (forour guide would not stir before) having all our horses and camels readyloaded, we followed our new guide, who, I soon found, steered himself bythe pole or north star, all the country being level for a long way.

  After we had travelled two hours very hard, it began to be lighterstill; not that it was quite dark all night, but the moon; began torise; so that, in short, it was rather lighter than we wished it to be;but by six o'clock next morning we were gotten near forty miles, thoughthe truth is, we almost spoiled our horses. Here we found a Russianvillage, named Kirmazinskoy, where we rested, and heard, nothing of theKalmuck Tartars that day. About two hours before night we set out again,and travelled till eight the next morning, though not quite so hastilyas before; and about seven o'clock we passed a little river, calledKirtza, and came to a good large town inhabited by Russians, and verypopulous, called Ozomya. There we heard, that several troops or herds ofKalmucks had been abroad upon the desert, but that we were nowcompletely out of danger of them, which was to our great satisfaction,you may be sure. Here we were obliged to get some fresh horses, andhaving need enough of rest, we staid five days; and my partner and Iagreed to give the honest Siberian, who brought us hither, the value often pistoles for his conducting us.

  In five days more we came to Veussima, upon the river Witzogda, whichrunning into the river Dwina, we were there very happily near the end ofour travels by land, that river being navigable in seven days passage toArchangel. From hence we came to Lawrenskoy, where the river joins, thethird of July; and provided ourselves with two luggage-boats, and abarge, for our convenience. We embarked the seventh, and arrived allsafe at Archangel the eighteenth, having been a year, five months, andthree days on the journey, including our stay of eight months and odddays at Tobolski.

  We were obliged to stay at this place six weeks for the arrival of theships, and must have tarried longer, had not a Hamburgher come in abovea month sooner than any of the English ships; when after someconsideration, that the city of Hamburgh might happen to be as good amarket for our goods as London, we all took freight with him; andhaving put our goods on board, it was most natural for me to put mysteward, on board to take care of them; by which means my young lord hada sufficient opportunity to conceal himself, never coming on shore againin all the time we staid there; and this he did, that he might not beseen in the city, where some of the Moscow merchants would certainlyhave seen and discovered him.

  We sailed from Archangel the twentieth of August the same year; and,after no extraordinary bad voyage, arrived in the Elbe the thirteenth ofSeptember. Here my partner and I found a very good sale for our goods,as well those of China, as the sables, &c. of Siberia; and dividing theproduce of our effects my share amounted to 3475_l_. 17_s_. 3_d_.notwithstanding so many losses we had sustained, and charges we had beenat; only remembering that I had included, in this, about 600_l_. worthof diamonds, which I had purchased at Bengal.

  Here the young lord took his leave of us, and went up to the Elbe, inorder to go to the court of Vienna, where he resolved to seekprotection, and where he could correspond with those of his father'sfriends who were left alive. He did not part without all the testimonieshe could give of gratitude for the service I had done him, and his senseof my kindness to the prince his father.

  To conclude: having staid near f
our mouths in Hamburgh, I came fromthence over land to the Hague, where I embarked in the packet, andarrived in London the tenth of January 1705, having been gone fromEngland ten years and nine months.

  And here, resolving to harass myself no more, I am preparing for alonger journey than all these, having lived seventy-two years a life ofinfinite variety, and learnt sufficiently to know the value ofretirement, and the blessing of ending our days in peace.