The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
myself; and in this posture we marched out. I took a small bottle of
rum in my pocket, and gave Friday a large bag with more powder and
bullets; and as to orders, I charged him to keep close behind me, and
not to stir, or shoot, or do anything till I bid him, and in the
meantime not to speak a word. In this posture I fetched a compass to my
right hand of near a mile, as well to get over the creek as to get into
the wood, so that I could come within shot of them before I should be
discovered, which I had seen by my glass it was easy to do.
While I was making this march, my former thoughts returning, I began to
abate my resolution: I do not mean that I entertained any fear of their
number, for as they were naked, unarmed wretches, it is certain I was
superior to them—nay, though I had been alone. But it occurred to my
thoughts, what call, what occasion, much less what necessity I was in
to go and dip my hands in blood, to attack people who had neither done
or intended me any wrong? who, as to me, were innocent, and whose
barbarous customs were their own disaster, being in them a token,
indeed, of God’s having left them, with the other nations of that part
of the world, to such stupidity, and to such inhuman courses, but did
not call me to take upon me to be a judge of their actions, much less
an executioner of His justice—that whenever He thought fit He would
take the cause into His own hands, and by national vengeance punish
them as a people for national crimes, but that, in the meantime, it was
none of my business—that it was true Friday might justify it, because
he was a declared enemy and in a state of war with those very
particular people, and it was lawful for him to attack them—but I could
not say the same with regard to myself. These things were so warmly
pressed upon my thoughts all the way as I went, that I resolved I would
only go and place myself near them that I might observe their barbarous
feast, and that I would act then as God should direct; but that unless
something offered that was more a call to me than yet I knew of, I
would not meddle with them.
With this resolution I entered the wood, and, with all possible
wariness and silence, Friday following close at my heels, I marched
till I came to the skirts of the wood on the side which was next to
them, only that one corner of the wood lay between me and them. Here I
called softly to Friday, and showing him a great tree which was just at
the corner of the wood, I bade him go to the tree, and bring me word if
he could see there plainly what they were doing. He did so, and came
immediately back to me, and told me they might be plainly viewed
there—that they were all about their fire, eating the flesh of one of
their prisoners, and that another lay bound upon the sand a little from
them, whom he said they would kill next; and this fired the very soul
within me. He told me it was not one of their nation, but one of the
bearded men he had told me of, that came to their country in the boat.
I was filled with horror at the very naming of the white bearded man;
and going to the tree, I saw plainly by my glass a white man, who lay
upon the beach of the sea with his hands and his feet tied with flags,
or things like rushes, and that he was an European, and had clothes on.
There was another tree and a little thicket beyond it, about fifty
yards nearer to them than the place where I was, which, by going a
little way about, I saw I might come at undiscovered, and that then I
should be within half a shot of them; so I withheld my passion, though
I was indeed enraged to the highest degree; and going back about twenty
paces, I got behind some bushes, which held all the way till I came to
the other tree, and then came to a little rising ground, which gave me
a full view of them at the distance of about eighty yards.
I had now not a moment to lose, for nineteen of the dreadful wretches
sat upon the ground, all close huddled together, and had just sent the
other two to butcher the poor Christian, and bring him perhaps limb by
limb to their fire, and they were stooping down to untie the bands at
his feet. I turned to Friday. “Now, Friday,” said I, “do as I bid
thee.” Friday said he would. “Then, Friday,” says I, “do exactly as you
see me do; fail in nothing.” So I set down one of the muskets and the
fowling-piece upon the ground, and Friday did the like by his, and with
the other musket I took my aim at the savages, bidding him to do the
like; then asking him if he was ready, he said, “Yes.” “Then fire at
them,” said I; and at the same moment I fired also.
Friday took his aim so much better than I, that on the side that he
shot he killed two of them, and wounded three more; and on my side I
killed one, and wounded two. They were, you may be sure, in a dreadful
consternation: and all of them that were not hurt jumped upon their
feet, but did not immediately know which way to run, or which way to
look, for they knew not from whence their destruction came. Friday kept
his eyes close upon me, that, as I had bid him, he might observe what I
did; so, as soon as the first shot was made, I threw down the piece,
and took up the fowling-piece, and Friday did the like; he saw me cock
and present; he did the same again. “Are you ready, Friday?” said I.
“Yes,” says he. “Let fly, then,” says I, “in the name of God!” and with
that I fired again among the amazed wretches, and so did Friday; and as
our pieces were now loaded with what I call swan-shot, or small
pistol-bullets, we found only two drop; but so many were wounded that
they ran about yelling and screaming like mad creatures, all bloody,
and most of them miserably wounded; whereof three more fell quickly
after, though not quite dead.
“Now, Friday,” says I, laying down the discharged pieces, and taking up
the musket which was yet loaded, “follow me,” which he did with a great
deal of courage; upon which I rushed out of the wood and showed myself,
and Friday close at my foot. As soon as I perceived they saw me, I
shouted as loud as I could, and bade Friday do so too, and running as
fast as I could, which, by the way, was not very fast, being loaded
with arms as I was, I made directly towards the poor victim, who was,
as I said, lying upon the beach or shore, between the place where they
sat and the sea. The two butchers who were just going to work with him
had left him at the surprise of our first fire, and fled in a terrible
fright to the seaside, and had jumped into a canoe, and three more of
the rest made the same way. I turned to Friday, and bade him step
forwards and fire at them; he understood me immediately, and running
about forty yards, to be nearer them, he shot at them; and I thought he
had killed them all, for I saw them all fall of a heap into the boat,
though I saw two of them up again quickly; however, he killed two of
them, and wounded the third, so that he lay down in the bottom of the
boat as if he had been dead.
While my man Friday fired at them, I pulled out my knife and cut the
flags that bound the poor victim; and loosing his hands and feet, I
lifted him up, and asked him in the Portuguese tongue what he was. He
answered in Latin, Christianus; but was so weak and faint that he could
scarce stand or speak. I took my bottle out of my pocket and gave it
him, making signs that he should drink, which he did; and I gave him a
piece of bread, which he ate. Then I asked him what countryman he was:
and he said, Espagniole; and being a little recovered, let me know, by
all the signs he could possibly make, how much he was in my debt for
his deliverance. “Seignior,” said I, with as much Spanish as I could
make up, “we will talk afterwards, but we must fight now: if you have
any strength left, take this pistol and sword, and lay about you.” He
took them very thankfully; and no sooner had he the arms in his hands,
but, as if they had put new vigour into him, he flew upon his murderers
like a fury, and had cut two of them in pieces in an instant; for the
truth is, as the whole was a surprise to them, so the poor creatures
were so much frightened with the noise of our pieces that they fell
down for mere amazement and fear, and had no more power to attempt
their own escape than their flesh had to resist our shot; and that was
the case of those five that Friday shot at in the boat; for as three of
them fell with the hurt they received, so the other two fell with the
fright.
I kept my piece in my hand still without firing, being willing to keep
my charge ready, because I had given the Spaniard my pistol and sword:
so I called to Friday, and bade him run up to the tree from whence we
first fired, and fetch the arms which lay there that had been
discharged, which he did with great swiftness; and then giving him my
musket, I sat down myself to load all the rest again, and bade them
come to me when they wanted. While I was loading these pieces, there
happened a fierce engagement between the Spaniard and one of the
savages, who made at him with one of their great wooden swords, the
weapon that was to have killed him before, if I had not prevented it.
The Spaniard, who was as bold and brave as could be imagined, though
weak, had fought the Indian a good while, and had cut two great wounds
on his head; but the savage being a stout, lusty fellow, closing in
with him, had thrown him down, being faint, and was wringing my sword
out of his hand; when the Spaniard, though undermost, wisely quitting
the sword, drew the pistol from his girdle, shot the savage through the
body, and killed him upon the spot, before I, who was running to help
him, could come near him.
Friday, being now left to his liberty, pursued the flying wretches,
with no weapon in his hand but his hatchet: and with that he despatched
those three who as I said before, were wounded at first, and fallen,
and all the rest he could come up with: and the Spaniard coming to me
for a gun, I gave him one of the fowling-pieces, with which he pursued
two of the savages, and wounded them both; but as he was not able to
run, they both got from him into the wood, where Friday pursued them,
and killed one of them, but the other was too nimble for him; and
though he was wounded, yet had plunged himself into the sea, and swam
with all his might off to those two who were left in the canoe; which
three in the canoe, with one wounded, that we knew not whether he died
or no, were all that escaped our hands of one-and-twenty. The account
of the whole is as follows: Three killed at our first shot from the
tree; two killed at the next shot; two killed by Friday in the boat;
two killed by Friday of those at first wounded; one killed by Friday in
the wood; three killed by the Spaniard; four killed, being found
dropped here and there, of the wounds, or killed by Friday in his chase
of them; four escaped in the boat, whereof one wounded, if not
dead—twenty-one in all.
Those that were in the canoe worked hard to get out of gun-shot, and
though Friday made two or three shots at them, I did not find that he
hit any of them. Friday would fain have had me take one of their
canoes, and pursue them; and indeed I was very anxious about their
escape, lest, carrying the news home to their people, they should come
back perhaps with two or three hundred of the canoes and devour us by
mere multitude; so I consented to pursue them by sea, and running to
one of their canoes, I jumped in and bade Friday follow me: but when I
was in the canoe I was surprised to find another poor creature lie
there, bound hand and foot, as the Spaniard was, for the slaughter, and
almost dead with fear, not knowing what was the matter; for he had not
been able to look up over the side of the boat, he was tied so hard
neck and heels, and had been tied so long that he had really but little