The life and surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner

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Chapter I

I was born in the town of York, in the spring of 1632. I was the third son of a man of some wealth, and I had a good home. I was not bred to a trade, for my friends had a wish that I should learn the law as a means to help me through life. But, as I grew up, I made up my mind to go to sea; from a child, my head had been full of the sea, for when I was but a small boy I would sit, for hours at a time, on the banks of a small stream that was near our house, and dream of ships and the

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sea. My friends did all they could to keep me at home, but it was of no use, for in the fall of 1651 I ran off, and soon found my' way down on board of a ship bound for a large town on the south-east coast of the land. When safe on board the ship I felt quite proud and glad, but if I had known all I had to pass through in the rest of my life I would have gone back home, but as I did not, I went on my way, and though I had a great deal of bad luck, God took care of me through it all, and taught me in time what was for my good.

We had scarce left the land, when the wind blew up strong and kept up for a few days, and then a great storm came on, and one night I heard one of the men cry out, “The

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ship has sprung aleak.” All hands were brought on deck, and set to work at the pumps. We could hear the ship creak, and her beams crack from end to end, and soon it gave way, and we found that we must do all we could to save our lives.

We saw a ship a short way off, and gave them a sign, to make them know that we were in need of aid They came near to us, and sent out two small boats which we got into, and we were all soon on board the ship, and in a short time we were safe back in the town we came from, where we met friends who gave us food and clothes, as well as means to help us reach our homes.

You will say that now I ought to have gone home, but I had both

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clothes and means, and I was too proud to go back. The man who had lost his ship said to me, “Young man, you ought not to go to sea; this, your first trip, should be to you a sign that Cod will not help you if you do.”

Though I knew he was right, I - was hurt at this, and spoke back in a rude way, and would not heed him, but thought I would try it once more.

This time our ship was bound for some isles in the south. We had been out six weeks, and were far on our way, when we saw a queer ship full of men on our track, and we could see they were not friends. We thought we could keep clear of them, or, if there was need for it, fight them off, so we put on all our sails, but in

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a few hours they caught up to us. We found they were Turks. They came on board of our ship, and though we fought them as well as we could, they had more men and guns than we, and when they had cut all our sails, done all the harm to the ship they could, put to death three of our men, and hurt near all the rest, we had to yield.

They took us to their land, and sent most of the men to their King, but the chief of the Turks took me as his own prize and made a slave of me.

This was a great change for me, and my heart sank with grief I had time now to think of my home, and all that the dear ones had told me, but it was too late now, I must do the best I could. At first I had to

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work hard, but as I was young and quick, the chief soon took me to his own house to wait on him. From this time my whole mind was bent on how I could get off and be free.* I thought, “if the chief will take me with him when he goes to sea, I will find a way,” but this he would not do, for when he went to sea he left me home to work on his farm, and take care of the house, and when he was at home I had to fish, and watch his ship.

When I had been with him two years he was not so strict, but would take me with him when he went out to fish.

One day he sent me with a small boat to catch some fish, and I brought home a fine lot, which made him so

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II glad that he said some guests were to dine with him the next day, and I must go out for the fish. He sent me out in a small ship, with a man, a Moor, and a boy whose name was Xury. Now, I thought, this is my chance to get off; I will be free this time. I told the boy to get two guns and some shot, and sent the Moor for some tools, while I put some food and wine in the ship, and when we had all our things on board we set sail. When we had gone out for a mile, we sat down to fish, but as the Moor was a man I felt I could not trust, I would not pull up my lines, for I did not want him to see the fish, and I said to him, “There are no fish here, we must go out to sea,” and when we had gone for a league, I

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put my arm round his waist and threw him far out in the sea.

He swam up to the ship, and said if I would take him in, he would go with me, and stay all his life with me. I told him I did not want him, and bade him swim back to the shore. Xury swore he would be true to me, and as I thought I would be safe with him, and he might be of great use to me, I let him go with me.

We had a fair wind, and in a few days we were a great way out of the Turks’ reach. As I still had some fear, I kept out of the way of land for some time, but we found we must go on shore to get food and drink.

We came to a place where it was still, and we saw no one, and I told Xury we would stay here for the night, but as soon as it was dark, we heard such barks and growls, that we thought we would not go on shore ’till morn, when Xury said, that if wild men or beasts came, he would “give them shoot gun.” He could talk quite well, as he had been so much with the white slaves that the Turks had. «

In the morn, Xury said that if I would take the boat close up to the shore, and give him one of the jars we had with us, he would go and see if there were springs near by, and what he could find to eat. I said to him, “Why should you go; why not let me go?”

He said, in a way full of love, “If wild mans come, they eat me, you go way.”

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“Well Xury,” said I, “we will both go, and if wild mans come, we will kill them— they shall not eat us.”

When we were most up to the land, a large beast came down to the edge of the shore, and gave such a loud roar, that Xury cried out with fear. I took up my gun and shot at him, which sent him back with a cry of pain. I knew I had hurt him, but he fled to the woods and we saw no more of him.

Chapter II

We then brought the boat up on shore, but for fear some harm might come to it, I thought I would stay near by and watch it, so Xury took

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the gun and the jar, and went off to the south; he soon came back with the jar full, and on the end of his gun a hare that he had shot, and told me with great joy that he had seen “no wild mans.”

I then told Xury to cook our meal, and when it was done, we sat down and ate the hare, with some wild fruit he had found, and the bread we had left, and when we were through, put off to sea once more.

As near as I could guess, the Cape Verd isles were not far off, and I made up my mind to keep close to the coast, in hopes that I might fall in with some ship which would take me in, and I should be with friends once more.

As we went 4ip the coast, Xury, i6

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whose eyes were more on the watch than mine, saw a huge beast that lay on his side near the shore. I told Xury, “You shall go on shore and kill him.”

“Me kill! he eat me up with one mouth,” Xury said, in great fright.

I thought he might do us some good and took up my gun and shot at him. It did not kill him, but broke his leg, at which he set up such a loud roar, that Xury could do nouorht for some time but stand and

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gaze.

He said he must have some of him, and told me to give him the axe, and he would cut off his head; he went on shore but he found he could not take his head, so he came back with one of his feet and a part

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of the leg. I saw it was so large that I thought I would like his skin, as it would be of great use to me.

Xury and I went to work at him, it took us both the whole day, but at last we got the hide off of him, and I let it hang for two days in the sun to dry. I found it nice and soft to lie on, and it made me a good bed.

In one place some black men came down to the edge of the shore; one of them had a long lance and the rest held clubs and sticks. We were in need of food and drink, and I thought I would go up to them, but Xury thought from signs they made, they would like to kill us, and cried out in great fear, “No go! No go!”

I had some of the beast we had , shot which I did not like to eat, so

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I threw it to them, and made signs that we would like some food. When they saw that we did not mean to hurt them, one of them went off, and in less than half an hour came back with fruit, dry meat, and a kind of corn, but I did not know what it was, as we did not raise that kind in our part of the world. We did not know how we should get these things, for we did not want to go on shore, and they did not like to come to us, but at last they put them on the edge of the shore and went off; we were glad of this, for they were a wild set, and wore no clothes.

We went on for ten or twelve days more, but did not meet a ship, and my heart was full and sad. I thought we would starve, and that I should

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die, and I could not help but feel that it was all my own fault

One day I gave Xury charge of the ship, and sat down in one end, to think what I should do, and how I could get food, as we did not dare to go on shore, for fear of wild men and beasts. I was sad, and gave up all hope, when all at once Xury cried, “A ship with a sail.” How my heart rose with joy, but poor Xury did not share it with me, he thought it was the Turk who had come to take us back. I saw that it was a large ship, but could not tell where it was from. They did not see us at first, so I took a small flag that I had, and made a waft of it, and shot off my gun for a sign; they did not hear the gun, but when they saw the smoke, they

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brought to, and lay by for me, and in less than two hours’ time I came up with them.

The ship was from Spain, and bound for the south. A Scotch man on board said to me, “Who are you, and where are you from?”

I told him how I had run from the Turk, and this he told the man in charge, who said I must come on board, and took both Xury and me, as well as all my goods in his ship.

I was so sick of the sea, that I thought, “when I reach the land I will stay there”; and so when the man said he would pay me for my boat, and buy Xury from me, I told him he could have the boat, but Xury had been so good to me, that I would not like to sell him for a slave.

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He said, if Xury would be a good boy, he would set him free in a few years, and as I was at a loss to know what I should do with him, I let the man take him.

In a few weeks we came to the coast of a large land, which lays south-west of my own land, and there I made up my mind to stay.

The gold the man gave me for my boat and the things that were in it, was quite a large sum, and I had ten pounds at home with a friend, so I thought I would buy a farm.

While I went to look round for one, I met a man whose name was Wells; he had some stock but not much gold. He thought he would like to buy a farm. He said to me, that he thought if we would join our

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means, we could buy a large farm and make it pay us well. I saw that he was a good man and knew how to farm, so I sent to my friend for my gold, and we bought a large farm near the coast.

I now saw what a help Xury would be to me, and I felt I had done wrong to part with him, for in a short time we had to buy two more slaves to help us work our farm. The friend who sent me my gold, sent with it some cloth, baize, dress goods, and some small wares, which I gave in trade to the men where we were, and to those who came on shore from the ships that went by, and in a few months I was in a fair way to make a great deal of gold.

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Chapter III

All went on well for four years, our stock grew fast, and we were soon quite rich, but this kind of a life did not suit me, my old wish to roam came on, and in spite of all I had gone through each time I went to sea, 1 felt I would like to go once more. What more did I do here than I would have done at home with my friends, and was it for this that I had left them all. No! I would go off as soon as I could get a chance, and do some great thing yet.

My kind friend who had brought me here had been gone for some time, and I felt bad that I had not gone with him.

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One day while I was in this mood, three men came to me and said they would like me to take a share in a large slave ship they had, and go to sea in it. 1 told them I would go with all my heart, if they would look out for my farm, which they were glad to do. I made a sort of will, in which I told the men what to do with my share in the farm in case of my death, and made the man who had brought me here, and who was so kind to me, my heir.

In a few days I set sail, which, strange to say, was just eight years from the day I had left home.

We had on board six guns, and a crew of ten men and five boys. Our stock of goods was toys, beads, bits of glass, shells, and such odd things,

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that we knew we could trade for slaves.

We soon lost sight of land, and for two weeks the sea was calm, and the air clear and hot, and then there came a great change. One day there blew up a great gale and a fierce storm set in, and for three days we could not steer the ship, she was thrown round in such a way, and the high seas that came on us took off a man and a boy. In the midst of this one of the men said he saw land, and we thought we would try to reach it, but it was of no use, and though we did all we could, we could not save the ship, it struck on a sand bar. We could not move, and we could not stay here, for we thought the ship would break in two.

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There was a small boat on the ship, which the mate let down, and we all got in, but did not have much hope, as the sea was so wild and rough, and the storm so great We felt that nought but God’s care could save us; we had gone but a short way, when there rose a great high wave that fell on our boat, and swept us all out into the sea.

I was full of dread and fear, and thought there was no hope for me, but as I swam round, I saw, quite a way off, a piece of land, which I thought if I could reach I would be safe.

With the aid of the waves I swam straight for it, and when there the first thing I. did was to thank God for my life, and then to look for the rest of the men, but they must have

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all gone down, for I saw them no more, nor a sign of them, but three of their hats, one cap, and two shoes which were not mates.

I knew it would not do for me to sit still here, but must get up and look round me, and see what kind of a place I was in, and as night was near, how and where I should sleep.

It was too late to see much of the place, but not far off I found a thick tree like a fir, full of thorns. I thought I would make this do to sleep in, and though I saw no signs of them, I was full of fear of wild men and beasts, so I took my knife and cut me a sharp stick, and when it was dark I got up in my tree, where I slept as well as I think few could have done in my state.

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When I woke up the next morn, it was quite late, and the sun shone bright and clear. I could see the ship as it lay one end up out of the sea, not quite a mile off, and the small boat, which was lost, was so far off I could but just see it. At noon the sea was calm, and the tide low, so that I could swim to the ship, and as it was warm, I took off most of my clothes and laid them on the sand, and went to the ship.

H ere I found fresh cause for grief, for I saw if we had kept on board we would all have been safe, that is to say, we could all have got safe to the land, and I would not have been all that was left. At first I did not know how to get up on the ship, but when I had swam round her twice.

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I Spied a small piece of strong rope that hung down on one side, and with the aid of that, and hard work, I at last got up on deck.

You may be sure that my first work was to search for bread, which, when I had found it, I made a good meal off, and then I went to see what else there was in the ship, that I could take on shore.

But how could I get them there? I must have a boat to do this. The small boat, as I have said, was too far off, and there was none on the ship. It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not to be had. I found there were some spare yards, a mast or two, some large spars of wood, and some rope and planks. I thought I would go to work and see what

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I could do with these, so I took some rope and put it round each of the spars, and flung them in the sea, and then I threw the planks down, and when this was done, I went down the ship’s side, and put four of the spars end to end, and with the rope I made them as'well as I could in the form of a raft, and laid two or three short planks on it. I found I could walk on this, but it was too light to bear a great weight. I then, with a saw I had found, cut one of the large masts in three lengths, and put them to my raft.

This took much time and toil, but the fear that I would starve kept me up. My raft was now quite strong and large, and my next care was, what to load it with, and how to save

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what I put on it from the serf of the sea. I first laid all the loose planks and boards I could get on it, and then I put on three chests which I had found in one of the rooms of the ship. I thought one of the chests would be just the thing for me to put my food in, as it would keep it dry, so I put in it some bread, rice, cheese, dry meat, and some corn, which had been laid by for some fowls which we brought to sea with us. I found a large case of rum, but there was no need to put that in the chest, so I put it up by the side of it.

By this time the tide was up, and though the sea was calm, I saw my coat, vest, and shirt, which I had left on the sand, float off This made me think of some clothes, and I went

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down in the ship, and found some that had been worn by the men, and I took all that I thought I would need for a time.

In -the same room where the clothes were, I found what was a great prize to me, worth more than a ship full of gold would have been at that time, a chest with some tools in it. I took it down to my raft, whole as it was, as I did not have time to look through it. I then went for some arms. There were three good guns, a bag of shot, two old swords, an old horn, and three kegs of gun dust. The rest were so wet, that I knew they would be of no use to me.

Chapter IV

I put all these things on my raft, and then set off for the land. For a time my raft went well ; but as it was so large, and I had so much on it, I could not use my oars, and the sea was so strong, that I was in fear I would not reach the shore, but drift out from it. So I had to sit with my back to the chests to hold them up, and wait for the tide to come in, which it did in the course of an hour, and sent my raft quite high up on the shore, and here I thought I should lose all my goods, for it sent one end up so high, that I thought all the rest would fall in the sea, so I struck out my oars, and

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thrust the raft off a short way, and then stuck the oars in the ground, one on each side of the raft near the ends, which held it down straight, and so that it could not move.

When I had brought my goods upon the shore, I took out my pipe, and sat down to smoke. I thought of the past, of my friends at home ; I knew they would think me dead, and mourn for me. I did not see how I could send them word, or get off, for the isle I was on did not seem to have a soul on it. It was out of the way of the course of ships and trade, and though I could hear birds sing and beasts cry, still I felt I was lost to the world, and felt sad and sick at heart.

While I sat here, a great bird flew

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by me and I shot at it; I think it was the first gun that had been shot off on the isle, for the fowls and birds flew out from all sides, and set up loud cries of fright. The bird I took to be from its beak a kind of hawk, though its claws were not like nor near as large as a hawk’s; it was not good for food, so I threw it on the ground.

What to do, or where to rest this night, I knew not. I did not like to lie on the ground; my tree was too far off, and I knew I must stay near my goods to watch them ; so I made a kind of hut with the chests and boards, and I laid down on some of the boards, but I did not sleep well, for the boards were hard, and I had such great fear of wild beasts.

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The food I had brought from the ship I knew would last me some days, and I had seen some hares run out of the wood, where I had shot the fowl; still I felt I should need more food soon, and there was some in the ship which would be of great use to me, and I must get it on shore as quick as I could, for the sea was so strong at times I knew the ship could not stand long.

The next morn, when the tide went out, I swam to the ship.

My raft was so large that I left that on shore, and thought I would make a small one when I got on the ship. I did so, and then went to look through the ship. I found two or three bags full of nails and spikes, some saws and knives, and, to my

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great joy, a stone to grind my tools with.

I took all the men’s clothes I could find, a spare top sail, and a bed. I put these on my raft, and brought them all safe to the shore.

I found my things just as I had left them. A wild cat was up on one of the chests; my first thought was to shoot her, but as she did not seem to mind me, I threw a piece of dry rusk at her, which she ate, and then ran off

I then went to work to make a small tent of some kind, where I could stay and sleep, as well as store my goods in. I put up one with the sail and some poles I had cut, and brought in all my things that I thought the sun or rain would spoil.