The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)

Wife. Why, you say, he makee you, why makee you no much better then?

A. It is I alone that have deformed myself, and abused his goodness.

Wife. Pray makee God know me, me no makee him angry, no do bad ting.

A. You mean, my dear, that you desire I would teach you to know God: alas! poor dear creature, he must teach thee, and not I. But I'll pray earnestly to him to direct thee, and to forgive me, a miserable sinner. (Hereupon he went a little distance, and kneeling down, prayed earnestly to God to enlighten her mind, and to pardon his sins; when this was done, they continued their discourse thus.)

Wife. What you put down knee for? For what hold up hand? Who you speak to?

A. My dear, I bowed in token of submission to him that made me, and prayed that he would open your eyes and understanding.

Wife. And can he do that too? And will he hear what you say?

A. Yes, my dear, he bids us pray, and has given us promise that he will hear us.

Wife. When did he bid you pray? What I do you hear him speak?

A. No, my dear, but God has spoken formerly to good men from heaven; and by divine revelation they have written all his laws down in a book.

Wife. O where dat good book?

A. I have it not now by me; but one time or other I shall get it for you to read. Then he embraced her with great affection.

Wife. Pray tell a mee, did God, teachee them write that book?

A. Yes, and by that rule we know him to be God.

Wife. What way, what rule you know him?

A. Because he teaches what is good, just, and holy; and forbids all wicked and abominable actions that incur his displeasure.

Wife. O me fain understand that, and if he do all things you say he do, surely he hear me say O to him; he makee me good if I wish to be good, he no kill me if I love him; me tink, believe him great God; me say O to him, along with you, my dear.

Here the poor man fell upon his knees, and made her kneel down by him praying with the greatest fervency, that God would instruct her by his Holy Spirit; and that God by his providence would send them a Bible for both their instructions. And such was the early piety of this new convert, that she made him promise never to forsake God any more, lest being made dead, as she called it; she should not only want her instructor, but himself be miserable in a long eternity.

Such a surprising account as this was, proved very affecting to us both, but particularly to the young clergyman, who was mightily concerned he could not talk to her himself. "Sir," said he, "there, is something more to be done to this woman then to marry her; I mean that she ought to be baptized." To this, I presently agreed: "Pray," said he, "ask her husband, whether he has ever talked to her of Jesus Christ, the salvation of sinners, the nature of faith, and redemption in and by him, of the Holy Spirit, the resurection, last judgment, and a future state;" but the poor fellow melted into tears at this question, saying, that he had said something to her of these things, but his inability to talk of them, made him afraid, lest her knowledge of them should rather make her contemn religion, than be benefited by it; but that if I would discourse with her, it would be very evident my labour would not be in vain. Accordingly I called her in, and placing myself as interpreter between the religious priest and the woman, I entreated him to go on; but surely never was such a sermon preached by any clergyman in these latter days, with so much zeal, knowledge, and sincerity; in short, he brought the woman to embrace the knowledge of Christ, and of redemption by him, with so surprising a degree of understanding, that she made it her own request to be baptized.

He than performed his office in the sacrament of baptism, first, by saying some words over to himself in Latin, and then asking me to give her a name, as being her godfather, and pouring a whole dish-full of water upon the woman's head, he said, "Mary, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" so that none could know of what religion he was. After this he pronounced the benediction in Latin. Thus the woman being made a Christian, he married her to Will Atkins; which being finished, he affectionately exhorted him to lead a holy life for the future; and since the Almighty, for the convictions of his conscience, had honoured him to be the instrument or his wife's conversion, he should not dishonor the grace of God, that while the savage was converted, the instrument should be cast away. Thus ended a ceremony, to me the most pleasant and agreeable I ever passed in my life.

The affairs of the island being settled, I was preparing to go on board, when the young man (whose mother was starved) came to me, saying, that as he understood I had a clergyman with me, who had married the Englishmen with savages, he had a match to make between two Christians, which he desired might be finished before I departed. Thinking that it was he himself that had courted his mother's maid, I persuaded him not to do any thing rashly upon the account of his solitary circumstances; that the maid was an unequal match for him, both in respect to substance and years; and that it was very probable he would live to return to his own country, where he might have a far better choice. At these words, smiling, he interrupted me, thanking me for my good-advice; that as he had nothing to beg of me but a small settlement, with a servant or two, or some new necessaries, so he hoped I would not be unmindful of him when I returned to England, but give his letter to his friends; and that when he was redeemed, the plantation, and all its improvements, however valuable, should be returned to me again. But as for the marriage he proposed, that it was not himself, but that it was between my Jack-of-all-trades and the maid Susan.

I was indeed agreeably surprised at the mentioning this match, which seemed very suitable, the one being a very ingenious fellow, and the other an excellent, dexterous, and sensible housewife, fit to be governess of the whole island; so we married them the same day; and as I was her father, and gave her away, so I gave her a handsome portion, appointing her and her husband a convenient large space of ground for their plantation. The sharing out of the land I left to Will Atkins, who really divided if very justly, to every person's satisfaction; they only desired one general writing under my hand for the whole, which I caused to be drawn up, signed, and sealed to them, setting out their bounds, and giving them a right to the whole possession of their respective plantations, with their improvements, to them and their heirs, reserving all the rest of the island as my own property, and a certain rent for every particular plantation, after eleven years. As to their laws and government, I exhorted them to love one another; and as to the Indians who lived in a nook by themselves, I allotted three or four of them plantations, and the rest willingly chose to become servants to the other families, by which means they were employed in useful labour, and fared much better than they did before. Besides the savages thus mixed with the Christians, the work of their conversion might be set on foot by the latter, in the clergyman's absence, to our equal satisfaction. The young priest, however, was a little anxious lest the Christians should not be willing to do their parts in instructing these poor Indians; I therefore told him we should call them all together; that he should speak to the Spaniards who were Papists, and I to the English, who were Protestants, and make them promise that they would never make any distinction in religion, but teach the general true knowledge of God, and his son Jesus Christ, in order to convert the poor savages. And this, indeed, they all promised us accordingly.

When I came to Will Atkins's house, I found his baptized wife, and the young woman newly married to my Jack-of-all-trades, were become great intimates, and discoursing of religion together. O, Sir, says Will Atkins, when God has sinners to reconcile to himself, he never wants an instructor; I knew I was unworthy of so good a work, and therefore this young woman has been sent hither as it were from heaven, who is sufficient to convert a whole nation of savages. The young woman blushed, and was going to rise; but I desired her to sit still, and hoped that God would bless her in so good a work; and then pulling out a Bible (which I brought on purpose in my pocket for him.) Here Atkins, said I, here is an assistant that perhaps you had not before. So confounded was the poor man, that is was some time before he could speak; at last turning to his wife, My dear, he said, did I not tell you that God could hear what we said? Here's the book I prayed for, when you and I kneeled under the bush: God then heard us, and now has sent it. The woman was surprised, and thought really God had sent that individual book from heaven; but I turned to the young woman, and desired her to explain to the young convert, that God may properly be said to answer our petitions, when, in the course of his providence, such particular things came to pass as we petitioned for. This the young woman did effectually; but surely Will Atkins's joy cannot be expressed; no man being more thankful for any thing in the world, than he was for his Bible, nor desired it from a better principle.

After several religious discourses, I desired the young woman to give me an account of the anguish she felt when she was starving to death with hunger; to which she readily consented, and began in the following manner:

"Sir," said she, "all our victuals being gone, after I had fasted one day, my stomach was very sickly, and, at the approach, of night, I was inclined to yawning and sleepy. When I slept upon the couch three hours, I awaked a little refreshed: three hours after, my stomach being more and more sickly, I lay down again, but could not sleep, being very faint and ill. Thus I passed the second day with a strange variety, first hungry, then sick again, with reachings to vomit: that night I dreamed I was at Barbadoes, buying plenty of provisions; and dined heartily. But when I awaked, my spirits were exceedingly sunk, to find myself in the extremity of famine. There was but one glass of wine, which being mixed with sugar, I drank up; but for want of substance to digest upon, the fumes of it got into my head, & made me senseless for some time. The third day I was so ravenous and furious, that I could have eaten a little child if it had come in my way; during which time, I was as mad as any creature in Bedlam. In one of these fits I fell down, and struck my face against the corner of a pallet bed, where my mistress lay; the blood gushed out of my nose, but by my excessive bleeding, both the violence of the fever, and the ravenous part of the hunger abated. After this, I grew sick again, strove to vomit, but could not; then bleeding a second time, I swooned away as dead; when I came to myself, I had a dreadful gnawing pain in my stomach, which went of towards night, with a longing desire for food. I took a draught of water and sugar, but it came up again; then I drank water without sugar, and that staid with me. I laid me down on the bed, praying God would take me away: after I had slumbered, I thought myself a-dying, therefore recommended my soul to God, and wished somebody would throw me into the sea. All this while my departing mistress lay by me: the last bit of bread she had, she gave to her dear child my young master. The morning after, I fell into a violent passion of crying, and after that into hunger. I espied the blood that came from my nose in a bison, which I immediately swallowed up. At night I had the usual variations, as the pain in the stomach, sick, sleepy, and ravenous: and I had no thought but that I should die before morning. In the morning came on terrible gripings in my bowels. At this time I heard my young master's lamentations, by which I understood his mother was dead. Soon after this, the sailors cried, A sail! A sail! hallooing as if they were distracted for joy of that relief, which afterwards we received from your hands."

Surely never was a more distinct account of starving to death than this. But to return to the disposition of things among my people, I did not take any notice to them of the sloop that I had framed, neither would I leave them the two pieces of brass cannon, or the two quarter-deck guns that I had on board, lest, upon any disgust, they should have separated, or turned pirates, and so made the island a den of thieves, instead of a plantation of sober pious people: but leaving them in a flourishing condition, with a promise to send them further relief, from Brazil, as sheep, hogs, and cows (being obliged to kill the latter at sea, having no hay to feed them) I went on board the ship again, the first of May, 1695, after having been twenty days among them: and next morning, giving them a salute of five guns at parting, we set sail for the Brazils. The third day, towards evening, there happening a calm, and the current being very strong, we were drove to the N.N.E. towards the land. Some hours after, we perceived the sea covered as it were with something very black, not easily at first to be discovered: upon which our chief mate ascending the shrouds a little way, and taking a view with a perspective glass, he cries out, An army! An army! You fool, said I, what do you mean? Nay, Sir, said he, don't be angry. I assure you, it is not only an army, but a fleet, too, for I believe there are a thousand canoes paddling along, and making with great haste towards us.

Indeed every one of us were surprised at this relation; and my nephew the captain could not tell what to think of it, but thought we should all be devoured. Nor was I free from concern, when I considered how much we were becalmed, and what a strong current set towards the shore; however, I encouraged him not to be afraid, but bring the ship to an anchor as soon as we were certain that we must engage them. Accordingly we did so, and furled all our sails, as to the savages we feared nothing, but only that they might se the ship on fire; to prevent which, I ordered them to get their boats out, and fasten them, one close by the head, and the other by the stern, well manned, with skeets and buckets to extinguish the flames, should it so happen. The savages soon came up with us, but there were not so many as the mate had said, for instead of a thousand canoes there were only one hundred and twenty; too many indeed for us, several of their canoes containing about sixteen or seventeen men.

As they approached us, they seemed to be in the greatest amazement, not knowing what to make of us. They rowed round the ship, which occasioned us to call to the men in the boats, not to suffer them to come near them. Hereupon they beckoned to the savages to keep back, which they accordingly did; but at their retreat they let fly about fifty arrows among us, and very much wounded one of our men in the long-boat. I called to them not to fire upon any account, but handing them down some deal boards, the carpenters made them a kind of fence to shield them from the arrows. In half an hour after they came so near astern of us, that we had a perfect sight of them; then they rowed a little farther out, till they came directly along-side of us, and then approached so near, that they could hear us speak; this made me order all our men to keep close, and get their guns ready. In the mean time I ordered Friday to go out upon deck, and ask them in his language what they meant. No sooner did he do so, but six of the savages, who were in the foremost canoes, stooping down, showed us their naked backsides, as much as to say in English, Kiss our-: but Friday quickly knew what this meant, by immediately crying out they were going to shoot; unfortunately for him, poor creature, who fell under the cloud of three hundred arrows, no less than seven piercing through his body, killing one of the best servants, and faithfullest of companions in all my solitudes and afflictions.

So enraged was I at the death of poor Friday, that the guns, which before were charged only with powder, to frighten them, I ordered to be loaded with small shot; nor did the gunners fail in their aim, but at this broadside split and overset thirteen or fourteen of their canoes, which killed numbers of them, and set the rest a swimming, the others, frightened out of their wits, little regarding their fellows drowning, scoured away as fast as they could. One poor wretch our people took up, swimming for his life, an hour after. He was very sullen at first, to that he would neither eat nor speak; but I took a way to cure him, by ordering them to throw him into the sea, which they did, and then he came swimming back like a cork, calling in his tongue, as I suppose, to save him. So we took him on board, but it was a long time before we could make him speak or understand English; yet when we had taught him, he told us, 'they were going with their kings to fight a great battle;' and when we asked him, what made them come up to us? he said, to makee de great wonder look; where it is to be noted, that those natives, and those of Africa, always add to e's at the end of English words, as makee, takee, and the like, from which it is very difficult thing to make them break off.

Being now under sail, we took our last farewell of poor honest Friday, and interred him with all possible decency and solemnity, putting him in a coffin, and committing him to the deep, at the same time cauling eleven guns to be fired at him. Thus ended the life of one of the most grateful, faithful, honest, and affectionate servants, that ever any man was blessed with in the world.

Having now a fair wind for Brazil, in about twelve days time we made land in the latitude of five degrees south of the line. Four days we kept on S. by E. in sight of shore, when we made Cape St. Augustin, and in three days we came up to an anchor off the Bay of all Saints. I had great difficulty here to get leave to hold correspondence on shore; for neither the figure of my partner, my two merchant trustees, nor the fame of my wonderful preservation in the island, could procure me the favour, till such time as the prior of the monastery of the

Augustines (to whom I had given 500 moidores) obtained leave from the Governor, for me personally, with the Captain & one more, together with eight sailors, to come on shore; upon this condition, that we should not land any goods out of the ship, nor carry any person away without licence; I found means, however, to get on shore three bales of English goods, such as fine broad cloths, stuffs, and some linen, which I brought as a present for my partner, who had sent me on board a present of fresh provisions, wine and sweetmeats, worth about thirty moidores, including some tobacco, and three or four fine gold medals.

Here I delivered my partner in goods to the value of 100 £ sterling, and obliged him to fit up the sloop I bought for the use of my island, in order to send them refreshments; and so active was he in this matter, that he had the vessel finished in a few days, to the master of which I gave particular instructions to find the place. I soon loaded him with a small cargo; and one of our sailors offered to settle there, upon my letter to the Spanish governor, if I would allot him tools and a plantation. This I willingly granted, and gave him the savage we had taken prisoner to be his slave. All things being ready for the voyage, my old partner told me there was an acquaintance of his, a Brazil planter, who having fallen under the displeasure of the church, & in fear of the Inquisition which obliged him to be concealed, would be glad of such an opportunity to make his escape, with his wife & two daughters; & if I would allot them a plantation in my island, he would give them a small stock to begin with, for that the officers had already seized his effects and estate, and left him nothing but a little household stuff and two slaves. This request I presently granted, concealing him and his family on board our ship, till such time as the sloop (where all the effects were) was gone out of the bay, and then we put them on board, who carried some materials, and plants for planting sugar-canes, along with them. By this sloop, among other things, I sent my subjects three milch cows and five calves, about 22 hogs, three sows big with pig, two mares and a stone horse. I also engaged three Portugal women to go for sake of the Spaniards, which, with the persecuted man's two daughters, were sufficient, since the rest had wives of their own, though in another country; all which cargo arrived safe, no doubt to their exceeding comfort, who, with this addition, were about sixty or seventy people, besides children.

At this place, my truly honest and pious clergyman left me; for a ship being ready to set sail for Lisbon, he asked me leave to go thither, but I assure you it was with the greatest reluctance I parted from a person, whose virtue and piety merited the greatest esteem.

From the Brazils, we made directly over the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, having a tolerable good voyage, steering for the most part S.E. We were on a trading voyage, and had a supercargo on board, who was to direct all the ship's motions after she arrived at the Cape, only being limited to a certain number of days, for stay, by charter party, at the several ports she was to go to. At the Cape we only took in fresh water, and then sailed for the coast of Coromandel; we were there informed, that a French man of war of 50 guns, and two large merchant ships were sailed for the Indies, but we heard no more of them.

In our passage, we touched at the island of Madagascar, where, though the inhabitants are naturally fierce and treacherous, & go constantly armed with bows & lances, yet for some time they treated us civily enough; and, in exchange for knives, scisors, and other trifles, they brought us eleven good fat bullocks, which we took partly for present victuals, and the remainder to salt for the ship's use.

So curious was I to view every corner of the world where I came to, that I went on shore as often as I could. One evening when on shore, we observed numbers of the people stand gazing at us at a distance. We thought ourselves in no danger, as they had hitherto used us kindly. However, we cut three boughs cut of a tree, sticking them at a distance from us, which it seems, in that country, is not only a token of truce and amity, but when poles or boughs are set up on the other side, it is a sign the truce is accepted. In these treaties, however, there is one principal thing to be regarded, that neither party come beyond one another's three poles or boughs; so that the middle space is not only secure, but is also allowed as a market for traffic and commerce. When the truce is thus accepted, they stick up their javelins and lances at the first poles, and come on unarmed; but if any violence is offered, away they run to their poles, take up their weapons, and then the truce is at an end. This evening it happened that a greater number of people than usual, both men and women, traded among us for such toys as we had, with such great civility, that we made us a little tent, of large boughs of trees, some of the men resolving to lie on shore all night; but, for my part, I and some others took our lodging in the boat, with boughs of trees spread over it, having a sail spread at the bottom to lie upon. About two o'clock in the morning we were awakened by the firing of muskets, and our men crying out for help, or else they would all be murdered. Scarce had we time to get the boat ashore, when our men came plunging themselves into the water, with about four hundred of the islanders at their heels. We took up seven of the men, three of them very much wounded, and one left behind killed, while the enemy poured their arrows so thick among us, that we were forced to make a barricade, with boards lying at the side of the boat, to shield us from danger: and, having got ready our fire-arms, we returned them a volley, which wounded several of them, as we could hear by their cries. In this condition we lay till break of day, and then making signals of distress to the ship, which my nephew the captain heard and understood, he weighed anchor, & stood as near the shore as possible, and then sent another boat with ten hands in her to assist us; but we called to them not to come near, informing them of our unhappy condition. However they ventured; when one of the men taking the end of a tow-line in one hand, and keeping our boat between him and our adversaries, swam to us, and slipping our cables, they towed us, out of reach of their arrows, and quickly after a broadside was given them from the ship, which made a most dreadful havoc among them. When we got on board, we examined into the occasion of this fray. The men who fled informed us that an old woman who sold milk within the poles, had brought a young woman with her, who carried roots or herbs, the sight of whom so much tempted our men, that they offered rudeness to the maid, at which the old woman set up a great cry: nor would the sailors part with the prize, but carried her among the trees, while the old woman went, and brought a whole army down upon them. At the beginning of the attack, one of our men was killed with a lance, and the fellow who began the mischief, paid dear enough for his mistress, though as yet we did not know what had become of him; the rest luckily escaped. The third night after the action, being curious to understand how affairs stood, I took the supercargo and twenty stout fellows with me, and landed about two hours before midnight, at the same place where those Indians stood the night before, and there we divided our men into two bodies, the boatswain commanding one, and I another. It was so dark, that we could see nobody, neither did we hear any voice near us: but by & bye the boatswain falling over a dead body, we agreed to halt till the moon should rise, which he knew would be in an hour after. We perceived here no fewer than two and thirty bodies upon the ground, whereof two were not quite dead. Satisfied with this discovery I was for going on board again; but the boatswain and the rest told me, they would make a visit to the Indian town, where these dogs (so they called them) resided, asking me at the same time to go along with them; for they did not doubt, besides getting a good booty, but they should find Tom Jeffery there, for that was the unhappy man we missed. But I utterly refused to go, and commanded them back, being unwilling to hazard their lives, as the safety of the ship wholly depended upon them. Notwithstanding all I could say to them, they all left me but one, and the supercargo; so we three returned to the boat, where a boy was left, resolving to stay till they returned. At parting I told them I supposed most of them would run the same fate with Tom Jeffery. To this they replied, Come boys, come along, we'll warrant we'll come off safe enough; and so away they went, notwithstanding all my admonitions, either concerning their own safety or the preservation of the ship. Indeed they were gallantly armed, every man having a musket, bayonet, and a pistol, besides cutlasses, hangers, pole-axes, and hand granades. They came to a few Indian houses at first, which not being the town they expected they went farther, & finding a cow tied to a tree, they concluded that she would be a sufficient guide, and so it proved; for, after they untied her, she led them directly to the town, which consisted of above two hundred houses, several families living in some of the huts together. At their arrival, all being in a profound sleep, the sailors agreed to divide themselves into three bodies, and set three parts of the town on fire at once, to kill those that were escaping, and plunder the rest of the houses. Thus desperately resolved, they went to work; but the first party had not gone far, before they called out to the rest, that they had found Tom Jeffery; whereupon they all ran up to the place, and found the poor fellow indeed hanging up naked by one arm, and his throat almost cut from ear to ear. In a house that was hard by the tree, they found sixteen or seventeen Indians, who had been concerned in the fray, two or three of them being wounded, were not gone to sleep: this house they set on fire first, and in a few minutes after, five or six places more in the town appeared in flames. The conflagration spread like wild-fire, their housing being all of wood, and covered with flags or rushes. The poor affrighted inhabitants endeavoured to run out to save their lives, but they were driven back into the flames by the sailors, and killed without mercy. At the first house above mentioned, after the boatswain had slain two with his pole-ax, he threw a hand-granade into the house, which bursting, made a terrible havoc, killing and wounding most of them; and their king and most of his train, who were then in that house, fell victims to their fury, every creature of them being either smothered or burnt. All this while they never fired a gun, lest the people should awaken faster than they could overpower them. But the fire awakened them fast enough, which obliged our fellows to keep together in bodies. By this time the whole town was in a flame, yet their fury rather increased, calling out to one another to remember Tom Jeffery. The terrible light of this conflagration made me very uneasy, and roused my nephew the captain, and the rest of his men, who knew nothing of the matter. When he perceived the dreadful smoke, and heard the guns go off, he readily concluded his men were in danger; he therefore takes another boat, and comes ashore himself, with thirteen men well armed. He was greatly surprised to see me and only two men in the boat, but more so when I told him the story: but though I argued with him, as I did with the men, about the danger of the voyage, the interests of the merchants and owners, and the safety of the ship, yet my nephew, like the rest, declared, that he would rather lose the ship, his voyage, his life and all, than his men should be lost for want of help; and so away he went. For my part, seeing him resolved to go, I had not power to stay behind. He ordered the pinnace back again for twelve men more, and then we marched directly as the flame guided us. But surely never was such a scene of horror beheld, or more dismal cries heard, except when Oliver Cromwell took Drogheda in Ireland, where he neither spared man, woman, nor child.

The first object, I think, we met with, was the ruins of one of their habitations, before which lay four men and three woman killed, and two more burnt to death among the fire, which was now decaying. Nothing could appear more barbarous than this revenge; none more cruel than the authors of it. As we went on, the fire increased, and the cry proceeded in proportion. We had not gone much farther, when we beheld three naked women, followed by sixteen or seventeen men, flying with the greatest swiftness from our men, who shot one of them in our sight. When they perceived us, whom they supposed also their murderers, they set up a most dreadful shriek, and both of them swooned away in the fright. This was a sight which might have softened the hardest heart; and in pity we took some ways to let them know we would not hurt them, while the poor creatures with bended knees, and lifted up hands, made piteous lamentations to us to save their lives. I ordered our men not to hunt any of the poor creatures whatsoever; but being willing to understand the occasion of all this, I went among these unhappy wretches, who neither understood me, nor the good I meant them. However being resolved to put an end to this barbarity, I ordered the men to follow me. We had not gone fifty yards before we came up with the boatswain, with four of our men at his heels, all of them covered with blood and dust, and in search of more people to satiate their vengeance. As soon as we saw them, we called out, and made them understand who we were; upon which they came up to us, setting up a holloo of triumph, in token that more help was come. Noble Captain, said he to my nephew, I'm glad your come: we have not half done with these villainous hell-hound dogs; wee'll root out the very nation of them from the earth, and kill more than poor Tom has hairs upon his head: and thus he went on till I interrupted him. – "Blood-thirsty dog," said I, "will your cruelty never end? I charge you touch not one creature more; stop your hands and stand still, or you're a dead man this moment." Why Sir, said he, you neither know whom you are protecting, nor what they have done: but pray come hither, and behold an instance of compassion, if such can merit your clemency; and with that he shewed me the poor fellow with his throat cut, hanging upon the tree.

Indeed, here was enough to fill their breasts with rage, which, however, I thought had gone too far, agreeable to these words of Jacob to his sons Simeon and Levi: Cursed be their anger for it was fierce; and their wrath; for it was cruel. But this sight made my nephew and the rest as bad as they: nay, my nephew declared, his concern was only for his men; as for the people, not a soul of them ought to live. Upon this, the boatswain and eight more directly turned about, and went to finish the intended tragedy; which being out of my power to prevent, I returned back from the dismal sight, & the piteous cries of those unfortunate creatures, who were made victims to their fury. Indeed, it was an egregious piece of folly in me to return to the boat with but one attendant; and I had very near paid for it, having narrowly escaped forty armed Indians, who had been alarmed by the conflagration; but having passed the place where they stood, I got to the boat accompanied with the supercargo, and so went on board, sending the pinnace back again, to assist the men in what might happen. When I had got to the boat, the fire was almost extinguished, and the noise abated; but I had scarce been half an hour on board the ship, when I heard another volley given by our sailors, and a great smoke, which, as I afterwards found, was our men falling upon those houses and persons that stood between them and the sea; but here they spared the wives and children, and killed only the men, to the number of about sixteen or seventeen. By the time they got to the shore, the pinnace and the ship's boat were ready to receive them, and they all got safe on board, not a man of them having received the least hurt, except two, one of whom strained his foot, and the other burnt his hand a little; for they met with no resistance, the poor Indians being unprepared, amazed, and confounded.

I was extremely angry with every one of them, but particularly with the captain, who instead of cooling the rage of the men, had prompted them on to further mischief: nor could he make me any other excuse, but that as he was a man, he could not master his passions at the sight of one of his men so cruelly murdered. As for the rest, knowing they were not under my command, they took no notice of any anger, but rather boasted of their revenge. According to all their accounts, they killed or destroyed about 150 men, women, and children, besides burning the town to ashes. They took their companion Tom Jeffery from the tree, covered him with some of the ruins, and so left him. But however this action of our men might seem to them justifiable, yet I always openly condemned it with the appellation, of the Massacre of Madagascar. For tho' the natives had slain this Jeffery, yet certainly he was the first aggressor, by attempting to violate the chastity of a young innocent woman, who ventured down to them, on the faith of the public capitulation, which was so treacherously broken.

While we were under sail, the boatswain would often defend this bloody action, by saying, that the Indians had broke the truce the night before, by shooting one of our men without just provocation: and what if the poor fellow had taken a little liberty with the wench, he ought not to have been murdered in so villainous a manner: and that they had acted nothing but what the divine laws commissioned to be done to such homicides. However I was in the same mind as before, telling them that they were murderers, and bid them depend upon it that God would blast their voyage, for such an unparalleled piece of barbarity.

When we came to the Gulph of Persia, five of our men, who ventured on shore, were either killed or made slaves by the Arabians, the rest of them having scarce time to escape to their boat. This made me upbraid them afresh with the just retribution of Heaven for such actions; upon which the boatswain very warmly asked me, Whether those men on whom the tower of Siloam fell, were greater sinners than the rest of the Galileans? and besides, Sir, said he, none of these five poor men that are lost, were with us at the Massacre of Madagascar, as you call it, and therefore your representation is very unjust, and your application improper. Besides, added he, you are continually using the men very ill upon this account, and, being but a passenger yourself, we are not obliged to bear it; nor can we tell what evil designs you may have to bring us to judgment for it in England: and, therefore, if you do not leave this discourse, as also not concern yourself with any of our affairs, I will leave the ship, and not sail among such dangerous company.

All this I heard very patiently; but, it being often repeated, I at length told him, the concern I had on board was none of his business; that I was a considerable owner in the ship, and therefore had a right to speak in common, and that I was no way accountable to him, nor to any body else. As no more passed for some time after, I thought all had been over. At this time we were in the road of Bengal, where, going on shore with the supercargo one day, in the evening, as I was preparing to go on board, one of the men came to me, and told me, I need not trouble myself to come to the boat, for that the cockswain and others had ordered him not to carry me on board any more. This insulent message much surprised me; yet I gave him no answer to it, but went directly and acquainted the supercargo, entreating him to go on board, and, by acquainting the Captain with it, prevent the mutiny which I perceived would happen. But before I had spoken this, the matter was effected on board; for no sooner was he gone off in the boat, but the boatswain, gunner, carpenter, and all the inferior officers, came to the quarter-deck, desiring to speak with the Captain; & there the boatswain made a long harangue, exclaiming against me, as before mentioned, that, if I had not gone on shore peaceably, for my own diversion, they, by violence would have compelled me, for their satisfaction: that as they had shipped with the Captain, so they would faithfully serve him; but if I did not quit the ship, or the Captain oblige me to it, they would leave the ship immediately: hereupon, turning his face about by way of signal, they all cried out, "ONE and ALL! ONE and ALL!"

You may be sure, that though my nephew was a man of great courage, yet he could not but be surprised at their sudden and unexpected behaviour; and though he talked stoutly to them, and afterwards expostulated with them, that in common justice to me, who was a considerable owner in the ship, they could not turn me as it were out of mine own house, which might bring their lives in danger should they ever be taken in England; nay, though he invited the boatswain on shore to accomodate matters with me, yet all this I say, signified nothing; they would have nothing to do with me; and they were resolved to go on shore if I came on board. Well, said my nephew, if you are so resolved, permit me to talk with him, and then I have done; and so he came to me, giving me an account of their resolution, how one and all designed to forsake the ship when I came on board, for which he was mightily concerned. "I am glad to see you, nephew," said I, "and rejoice it is no worse, since they have not rebelled against you; I only desire you to send my necessary things on shore, with a sufficient sum of money, and I will find my way to England as well as I can." Though this grieved my nephew to the heart, yet there was no remedy but complience; in short, all my necessaries were sent me, and so this matter was over in a few hours.

I think I was now near a thousand leagues farther off England by sea, than at my little kingdom, except this difference, that I might travel by land over the Great Mogul's country to Surat, from thence to Baffora, by sea up the Persian Gulph, then take the way of the caravans over the Arabian desert to Alleppo and Scanderoon, there take shipping to Italy, and so travel by land into France, and from thence cross the sea to England.

My nephew left me two persons to attend me; one of them was his servant, and the other clerk to the purser, who engaged to be mine. I took lodging in an English woman's house, where several French, one English, and two Italian merchants resided. The handsome entertainment I met with here, occasioned me to stay nine months, considering what course I should take. Some English goods I had with me of great value, besides a thousand pieces of eight, and a letter for more, if there was such necessity. The goods I soon disposed of to advantage, and bought here several good diamonds, which I could easily carry about with me. One morning the English merchant came to me, as being very intimate together, countryman, said he, I have a project to communicate to you, which I hope will suit to both our advantage. To be short, Sir, we are both in a remote part of the world from our country; but yet in a place where men of business may get a great deal of money. Now, if you will put a thousand pounds to my thousand pounds, we will hire a ship to our satisfaction; you shall be Captain, I will be merchant: and we'll go a trading voyage to China, for why should we lie still like drones, while the whole world is in a continual motion.

This proposal soon got my consent, being very agreeable to my rambling genius; and the more so, because I looked upon my countryman to be a very sincere person; it required some time before we could get a vessel to our mind, and sailors to man it accordingly; at length we bought a ship, and got an English mate, boatswain, and gunner, a Dutch carpenter, and three Portuguese foremast men; and, for want of others, made shift with Indian seamen. We first sailed to Achin, in the island of Sumatra, and then to Siam, where we bartered our wares for some arrack and opium, the last of which bore a great price among the Chinese; in a word, we went up to Suskan, making a very great voyage; &, after eight months time, I returned to Bengal, very well satisfied with this adventure, having not only got a sufficient quantity of money, but an insight of getting a great deal more.

The next voyage my friend proposed to me, was to go among the spice islands, and bring home a load of cloves from the Manillas, or thereabouts; islands belonging partly to Spain, but where the Dutch trade very considerably. We were not long in preparing for this voyage, which we made no less successful than the last, touching at Borneo, and several other places which I do not perfectly remember, and returning home in about five months time. We soon sold our spices, which were chiefly cloves and some nutmegs, to the Persian merchants, who carried them away to the gulph; and, in short, making five to one advantage, we were loaded with money.

Not long after my friend and I had made up our accounts, to our entire satisfaction, there came in a Dutch coaster from Batavia of about two hundred tons. The crew of this vessel pretended themselves so sickly, that there were not hands sufficient to undertake a voyage; and the Captain having given out that he intended to go to Europe, public notice was given that the ship was to be sold. No sooner did this come to our ears, but we bought the ship, paid the master, and took possession. We would also have very willingly entertained some of the men; but they having received their share of booty, were not to be found, being altogether fled to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's residence; and from thence went to travel to Surat, and so by the sea to the Persian Gulph. And indeed they had reason to fly in this manner; for the truth of it was the pretended Captain was the gunner only, and not the commander; that having been on a trading voyage, they were attacked on shore by the Malayans, who killed three men and the Captain; after whose death the other eleven men ran away with the ship to the Bay of Bengal, and left the mate and five men more on shore: but of this affair we shall have occasion to speak more at length hereafter.

However they came by the ship, we thought we bought it honestly; neither did we suspect any thing of the matter, when the man showed us a bill of sale for the ship (undoubtedly forged) to one Emanuel Clostershoven, which name he went by. And so without any more to do, we picked up some Dutch and English seamen, resolving for another voyage for cloves among the Phillippine and Molucca Islands: in short, we continued thus five or six years, trading from port to port with extraordinary success. In the seventh year, we undertook a voyage to China, designing to touch at Siam, and buy some rice by the way. In this voyage, contrary winds beat us up and down for a considerable time among the islands in the Straits of Molucca. No sooner were we clear of those rugged seas, but we perceived our ship had sprung a leak, which obliged us to put into the river Cambodia, which lies northward of the Gulph, and goes up to Siam.