The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
the coast of Africa without some assistance both to our ship and to
ourselves.
With this design we changed our course, and steered away N.W. by W., in
order to reach some of our English islands, where I hoped for relief.
But our voyage was otherwise determined; for, being in the latitude of
twelve degrees eighteen minutes, a second storm came upon us, which
carried us away with the same impetuosity westward, and drove us so out
of the way of all human commerce, that, had all our lives been saved as
to the sea, we were rather in danger of being devoured by savages than
ever returning to our own country.
In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, one of our men
early in the morning cried out, “Land!” and we had no sooner run out of
the cabin to look out, in hopes of seeing whereabouts in the world we
were, than the ship struck upon a sand, and in a moment her motion
being so stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner that we
expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were
immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the very
foam and spray of the sea.
It is not easy for any one who has not been in the like condition to
describe or conceive the consternation of men in such circumstances. We
knew nothing where we were, or upon what land it was we were
driven—whether an island or the main, whether inhabited or not
inhabited. As the rage of the wind was still great, though rather less
than at first, we could not so much as hope to have the ship hold many
minutes without breaking into pieces, unless the winds, by a kind of
miracle, should turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking upon
one another, and expecting death every moment, and every man,
accordingly, preparing for another world; for there was little or
nothing more for us to do in this. That which was our present comfort,
and all the comfort we had, was that, contrary to our expectation, the
ship did not break yet, and that the master said the wind began to
abate.
Now, though we thought that the wind did a little abate, yet the ship
having thus struck upon the sand, and sticking too fast for us to
expect her getting off, we were in a dreadful condition indeed, and had
nothing to do but to think of saving our lives as well as we could. We
had a boat at our stern just before the storm, but she was first staved
by dashing against the ship’s rudder, and in the next place she broke
away, and either sunk or was driven off to sea; so there was no hope
from her. We had another boat on board, but how to get her off into the
sea was a doubtful thing. However, there was no time to debate, for we
fancied that the ship would break in pieces every minute, and some told
us she was actually broken already.
In this distress the mate of our vessel laid hold of the boat, and with
the help of the rest of the men got her slung over the ship’s side; and
getting all into her, let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven in
number, to God’s mercy and the wild sea; for though the storm was
abated considerably, yet the sea ran dreadfully high upon the shore,
and might be well called _den wild zee_, as the Dutch call the sea in a
storm.
And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly that
the sea went so high that the boat could not live, and that we should
be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none, nor if we had
could we have done anything with it; so we worked at the oar towards
the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we
all knew that when the boat came near the shore she would be dashed in
a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we committed our
souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind driving us
towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own hands,
pulling as well as we could towards land.
What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether steep or shoal, we
knew not. The only hope that could rationally give us the least shadow
of expectation was, if we might find some bay or gulf, or the mouth of
some river, where by great chance we might have run our boat in, or got
under the lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth water. But there was
nothing like this appeared; but as we made nearer and nearer the shore,
the land looked more frightful than the sea.
After we had rowed, or rather driven about a league and a half, as we
reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,
and plainly bade us expect the _coup de grâce_. It took us with such a
fury, that it overset the boat at once; and separating us as well from
the boat as from one another, gave us no time to say, “O God!” for we
were all swallowed up in a moment.
Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sank
into the water; for though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver
myself from the waves so as to draw breath, till that wave having
driven me, or rather carried me, a vast way on towards the shore, and
having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry,
but half dead with the water I took in. I had so much presence of mind,
as well as breath left, that seeing myself nearer the mainland than I
expected, I got upon my feet, and endeavoured to make on towards the
land as fast as I could before another wave should return and take me
up again; but I soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for I saw the
sea come after me as high as a great hill, and as furious as an enemy,
which I had no means or strength to contend with: my business was to
hold my breath, and raise myself upon the water if I could; and so, by
swimming, to preserve my breathing, and pilot myself towards the shore,
if possible, my greatest concern now being that the sea, as it would
carry me a great way towards the shore when it came on, might not carry
me back again with it when it gave back towards the sea.
The wave that came upon me again buried me at once twenty or thirty
feet deep in its own body, and I could feel myself carried with a
mighty force and swiftness towards the shore—a very great way; but I
held my breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward with all my
might. I was ready to burst with holding my breath, when, as I felt
myself rising up, so, to my immediate relief, I found my head and hands
shoot out above the surface of the water; and though it was not two
seconds of time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved me
greatly, gave me breath, and new courage. I was covered again with
water a good while, but not so long but I held it out; and finding the
water had spent itself, and began to return, I struck forward against
the return of the waves, and felt ground again with my feet. I stood
still a few moments to recover breath, and till the waters went from
me, and then took to my heels and ran with what strength I had further
towards the shore. But neither would this deliver me from the fury of
the sea, which came pouring in after me again; and twice more I was
lifted up by the waves and carried forward as before, the shore being
very flat.
The last time of these two had well-nigh been fatal to me, for the sea
having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me,
against a piece of rock, and that with such force, that it left me
senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my own deliverance; for the blow
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were quite out of my
body; and had it returned again immediately, I must have been strangled
in the water; but I recovered a little before the return of the waves,
and seeing I should be covered again with the water, I resolved to hold
fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible,
till the wave went back. Now, as the waves were not so high as at
first, being nearer land, I held my hold till the wave abated, and then
fetched another run, which brought me so near the shore that the next
wave, though it went over me, yet did not so swallow me up as to carry
me away; and the next run I took, I got to the mainland, where, to my
great comfort, I clambered up the cliffs of the shore and sat me down
upon the grass, free from danger and quite out of the reach of the
water.
I was now landed and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank God
that my life was saved, in a case wherein there was some minutes before
scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express, to the
life, what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are, when it is so
saved, as I may say, out of the very grave: and I do not wonder now at
the custom, when a malefactor, who has the halter about his neck, is
tied up, and just going to be turned off, and has a reprieve brought to
him—I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon with it, to let
him blood that very moment they tell him of it, that the surprise may
not drive the animal spirits from the heart and overwhelm him.
“For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.”
I walked about on the shore lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as
I may say, wrapped up in a contemplation of my deliverance; making a
thousand gestures and motions, which I cannot describe; reflecting upon
all my comrades that were drowned, and that there should not be one
soul saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw them afterwards,
or any sign of them, except three of their hats, one cap, and two shoes
that were not fellows.
I cast my eye to the stranded vessel, when, the breach and froth of the
sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far off; and
considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore?
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition,
I began to look round me, to see what kind of place I was in, and what
was next to be done; and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, in a
word, I had a dreadful deliverance; for I was wet, had no clothes to
shift me, nor anything either to eat or drink to comfort me; neither
did I see any prospect before me but that of perishing with hunger or
being devoured by wild beasts; and that which was particularly
afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon, either to hunt and kill any
creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other
creature that might desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I had
nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a little tobacco in a
box. This was all my provisions; and this threw me into such terrible
agonies of mind, that for a while I ran about like a madman. Night
coming upon me, I began with a heavy heart to consider what would be my
lot if there were any ravenous beasts in that country, as at night they
always come abroad for their prey.
All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that time was to get up
into a thick bushy tree like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, and
where I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what death
I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked about a
furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh water to
drink, which I did, to my great joy; and having drank, and put a little
tobacco into my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and
getting up into it, endeavoured to place myself so that if I should
sleep I might not fall. And having cut me a short stick, like a
truncheon, for my defence, I took up my lodging; and having been
excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as,
I believe, few could have done in my condition, and found myself more
refreshed with it than, I think, I ever was on such an occasion.
CHAPTER IV. FIRST WEEKS ON THE ISLAND
When I waked it was broad day, the weather clear, and the storm abated,
so that the sea did not rage and swell as before. But that which