The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe - 39

It happened one night that the governor, the Spaniard whose life I had saved, who was now the governor of the rest, found himself very uneasy in the night, and could by no means get any sleep: he was perfectly well in body, only found his thoughts tumultuous; his mind ran upon men fighting and killing one another; but he was broad awake, and could not by any means get any sleep; in short, he lay a great while, but growing more and more uneasy, he resolved to rise. As they lay, being so many of them, on goat-skins laid thick upon such couches and pads as they made for themselves, so they had little to do, when they were willing to rise, but to get upon their feet, and perhaps put on a coat, such as it was, and their pumps, and they were ready for going any way that their thoughts guided them. Being thus got up, he looked out; but being dark, he could see little or nothing, and besides, the trees which I had planted, and which were now grown tall, intercepted his sight, so that he could only look up, and see that it was a starlight night, and hearing no noise, he returned and lay down again; but to no purpose; he could not compose himself to anything like rest; but his thoughts were to the last degree uneasy, and he knew not for what.

Having made some noise with rising and walking about, going out and coming in, another of them waked, and, calling, asked who it was that was up? The governor told him how it had been with him. "Say you so?" says the other Spaniard; "such things are not to be slighted, I assure you; there is certainly some mischief working," says he, "near us;" and presently he asked him, "Where are the Englishmen?" "They are all in their huts," says he, "safe enough." It seems, the Spaniards had kept possession of the main apartment, and had made a place, where the three Englishmen, since their last mutiny, always quartered by themselves, and could not come at the rest. "Well," says the Spaniard, "there is something in it, I am persuaded from my own experience; I am satisfied our spirits embodied have converse with, and receive intelligence from, the spirits unembodied, and inhabiting the invisible world; and this friendly notice is given for our advantage, if we know how to make use of it. Come," says he, "let us go out and look abroad; and if we find nothing at all in it to justify our trouble, I'll tell you a story of the purpose, that shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it."

In a word, they went out to go to the top of the hill, where I used to go; but they, being strong, and in good company, nor alone, as I was, used none of my cautions to go up by the ladder, and then pulling it up after them, to go up a second stage to the top but were going round through the grove unconcerned and unwary, when they were surprised with seeing a light as of fire, a very little way off from them, and hearing the voices of men, not of one or two, but of a great number.

In all the discoveries I had made of the savage landing on the island, it was my constant care to prevent them making the least discovery of there being any inhabitant upon the place; and when by any necessity they came to know it, they felt it so effectively, that they that got away, were scarce able to give any account of it, for we disappeared as soon as possible, nor did ever any that had seen me, escape to tell any one else, except it were the three savages in our last encounter, who jumped into the boat, of whom I mentioned that I was afraid they should go home, and bring more help.

Whether it was the consequence of the escape of those men, that so great a number came now together; or whether they came ignorantly, and by accident, on their usual bloody errand, the Spaniards could not, it seems, understand: but whatever it was, it had been their business, either to have: concealed themselves, and not have seen them at all; much less to have let the savages have seen, that there were any inhabitants in the place; but to have fallen upon them so effectually, as that not a man of them should have escaped, which could only have been by getting in between them and their boats: but this presence of mind was wanting to them; which was the ruin of their tranquillity for a great while.

We need not doubt but that the governor, and the man with him, surprised with this sight, ran back immediately, and raised their fellows, giving them an account of the imminent danger they were all in; and they again as readily took the alarm, but it was impossible to persuade them to stay close within where they were, but that they must all run out to see how things stood.

While it was dark indeed, they were well enough, and they had opportunity enough, for some hours, to view them by the light of three fires they had made at some distance from one another; what they were doing they knew not, and what to do themselves they knew not; for, first, the enemy were too many; and, secondly, they did not keep together, but were divided into several parties, and were on shore in several places.

The Spaniards were in no small consternation at this sight; and as they found that the fellows ran straggling all over the shore, they made no doubt, but, first or last, some of them would chop in upon their habitation, or upon some other place, where they would see the tokens of inhabitants; and they were in great perplexity also for fear of their flock of goats, which would have been little less than starving them, if they should have been destroyed; so the first thing they resolved upon, was to dispatch three men away before it was light, viz. two Spaniards and one Englishman, to drive all the goats away to the great valley where the cave was, and, if need were, to drive them into the very cave itself.

Could they have seen the savages all together in one body, and at a distance from their canoes, they resolved, if there had been an hundred of them, to have attacked them; but that could not be obtained, for there were some of them two miles off from the other, and, as it appeared afterwards, were of two different nations.

After having mused a great while on the course they should take, and beaten their brains in considering their present circumstances, they resolved, at last while it was dark, to send the old savage (Friday's father) out as a spy, to learn if possible something concerning them, as what they came for, and what they intended to do, and the like. The old man readily undertook it, and stripping himself quite naked, as most of the savages were, away he went. After he had been gone an hour or two, he brings word that he had been among them undiscovered, that he found they were two parties, and of two several nations who had war with one another, and had had a great battle in their own country, and that both sides having had several prisoners taken in the fight, they were by mere chance landed in the same island for the devouring their prisoners, and making merry; but this coming so by chance to the same place had spoiled all their mirth; that they were in a great rage at one another, and were so near, that he believed they would fight again as soon as daylight began to appear; he did not perceive that they had any notion of anybody's being on the island but themselves. He had hardly made an end of telling the story, when they could perceive, by the unusual noise they made, that the two little armies were engaged in a bloody fight.

Friday's father used all the arguments he could to persuade our people to lie close, and not be seen; he told them their safety consisted in it, and that they had nothing to do but to lie still, and the savages would kill one another to their hands, and the rest would go away; and it was so to a tittle. But it was impossible to prevail, especially upon the Englishmen, their curiosity was so importunate upon their prudentials, that they must run out and see the battle; however, they used some caution, viz. they did not go openly just by their own dwelling, but went farther into the woods, and placed themselves to advantage, where they might securely see them manage the fight, and, as they thought, not to be seen by them; but it seems the savages did see them, as we shall find hereafter.

The battle was very fierce, and if I might believe the Englishmen, one of them said he could perceive that some of them were men of great bravery, of invincible spirits, and of great policy in guiding the fight. The battle, they said, held two hours before they could guess which party would be beaten; but then that party which was nearest our people's habitation began to appear weakest, and, after some time more, some of them began to fly; and this put our men again into a great consternation, lest any of those that fled should run into the grove before their dwelling for shelter, and thereby involuntarily discover the place, and that by consequence the pursuers should do the like in search for them. Upon this they resolved, that they would stand armed within the wall, and whoever came into the grove they should sally out over the wall, and kill them, so that if possible not one should return to give an account of it; they ordered also, that it should be done with their swords, or by knocking them down with the stock of the musket, not by shooting them, for fear of raising an alarm by the noise.

As they expected it fell out: three of the routed army fled for life, and crossing the creek ran directly into the place, not in the least knowing whither they went, but running as into a thick wood for shelter. The scout they kept to look abroad gave notice of this within, with this addition to our men's great satisfaction, viz. that the conquerors had not pursued them, or seen which way they were gone. Upon this the Spaniard governor, a man of humanity, would not suffer them to kill the three fugitives; but sending three men out by the top of the hill, ordered them to go round and come in behind them, surprise and take them prisoners; which was done: the residue of the conquered people fled to their canoes, and got off to sea; the victors retired, and made no pursuit, or very little, but drawing themselves into a body together, gave two great screaming shouts, which they suppose were by way of triumph, and so the fight ended; and the same day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, they also marched to their canoes. And thus the Spaniards had their island again free to themselves, their fright was over, and they saw no savages in several years after.

After they were all gone, the Spaniards came out of their den, and viewing the field of battle, they found about two-and-thirty dead men upon the spot; some were killed with great long arrows, several of which were found sticking in their bodies, but most of them were killed with their great wooden swords, sixteen or seventeen of which they found in the field of battle, and as many bows, with a great many arrows. These swords were great unwieldy things, and they must be very strong men that used them; most of those men that were killed with them had their heads mashed to pieces, as we may say, or, as we call it in English, their brains knocked out, and several of their arms and legs broken; so that it is evident they fight with inexpressible rage and fury. They found not one wounded man that was not stone dead; for either they stay by their enemy till they have quite killed them, or they carry all the wounded men, that are not quite dead, away with them.

This deliverance tamed our Englishmen for a great while; the sight had filled them with horror, and the consequence appeared terrible to the last degree; especially upon supposing that some time or other they should fall into the hands of those creatures, who would not only kill them as enemies, but kill them for food as we kill our cattle. And they professed to me, that the thoughts of being eaten up like beef or mutton, though it was supposed it was not to be till they were dead, had something in it so horrible that it nauseated their very stomachs, made them sick when they thought of it, and filled their minds with unusual terror, that they were not themselves for some weeks after.

This, as I said, tamed even the three English brutes I have been speaking of, and for a great while after they were very tractable, and went about the common business of the whole society well enough; planted, sowed, reaped, and began to be all naturalized to the country; but some time after this they fell all into such simple measures again as brought them into a great deal of trouble.

They had taken three prisoners, as I had observed; and these three being lusty stout young fellows, they made them servants, and taught them to work for them; and as slaves they did well enough; but they did not take their measures with them as I did by my man Friday, viz. to begin with them upon the principle of having saved their lives, and then instructed them in the rational principles of life, much less of religion, civilizing and reducing them by kind usage and affectionate arguings; but as they gave them their food every day, so they gave them their work too, and kept them fully employed in drudgery enough; but they failed in this by it, that they never had them to assist them and fight for them as I had my man Friday, who was as true to me as the very flesh upon my bones.

But to come to the family part: Being all now good friends (for common danger, as I said above, had effectually reconciled them,) they began to consider their general circumstances; and the first thing that came under their consideration was, whether, seeing the savages particularly haunted that side of the island, and that there were more remote and retired parts of it equally adapted to their way of living, and manifestly to their advantage, they should not rather remove their habitation, and plant in some more proper place for their safety, and especially for the security of their cattle and corn.

Upon this, after long debate, it was conceived that they should not remove their habitation, because that some time or other they thought they might hear from their governor again, meaning me; and if I should send any one to seek them, I would be sure to direct them on that side, where if they should find the place demolished they would conclude the savages had killed us all, and we were gone, and so our supply would go away too.

But as to their corn and cattle, they agreed to remove them into the valley where my cave was, where the land was as proper to both, and where indeed there was land enough; however, upon second thoughts they altered one part of that resolution too, and resolved only to remove part of their cattle thither, and plant part of their corn there; and so, if one part was destroyed, the other might be saved; and one piece of prudence they used, which it was very well they did; viz. that they never trusted these three savages, which they had taken prisoners, with knowing any thing of the plantation they had made in that valley, or of any cattle they had there; much less of the cave there, which they kept in case of necessity as a safe retreat; and thither they carried also the two barrels of powder which I had left them at my coming away.

But however they resolved not to change their habitation; yet they agreed, that as I had carefully covered it first with a wall and fortification, and then with a grove of trees; so seeing their safety consisted entirely in their being concealed, of which they were now fully convinced, they set to work to cover and conceal the place yet more effectually than before: to this purpose, as I had planted trees (or rather thrust in stakes which in time all grew to be trees) for some good distance before the entrance into my apartment, they went on in the same manner, and filled up the rest of that whole space of ground, from the trees I had set quite down to the side of the creek, where, as I said, I landed my floats, and even into the very ooze where the tide flowed, not so much as leaving any place to land, or any sign that there had been any landing thereabout. These stakes also being of a wood very forward to grow, as I had noted formerly, they took care to have generally very much larger and taller than those which I had planted, and placed them so very thick and close, that when they had been three or four years grown there was no piercing with the eye any considerable way into the plantation. As for that part which I had planted, the trees were grown as thick as a man's thigh; and among them they placed so many other short ones, and so thick, that, in a word, it stood like a palisado a quarter of a mile thick, and it was next to impossible to penetrate it but with a little army to cut it all down; for a little dog could hardly get between the trees, they stood so close.

But this was not all; for they did the same by all the ground to the right hand, and to the left, and round even to the top of the hill, leaving no way, not so much as for themselves to come out, but by the ladder placed up to the side of the hill, and then lifted up and placed again from the first stage up to the top; which ladder, when it was taken down, nothing but what had wings or witchcraft to assist it, could come at them.

This was excellently well contrived, nor was it less than what they afterwards found occasion for; which served to convince me, that as human prudence has authority of Providence to justify it, so it has, doubtless, the direction of Providence to set it to work, and, would we listen carefully to the voice of it, I am fully persuaded we might prevent many of the disasters which our lives are now by our own negligence subjected to: but this by the way.

I return to the story: They lived two years after this in perfect retirement, and had no more visits from the savages; they had indeed an alarm given them one morning, which put them in a great consternation for some of the Spaniards being out early one morning on the west side, or rather end of the island which, by the way, was that end where I never went, for fear of being discovered, they were surprised with seeing above twenty canoes of Indians just coming on shore.

They made the best of their way home in hurry enough, and, giving the alarm to their comrades, they kept close all that day and the next, going out only at night to make observation; but they had the good luck to be mistaken, for wherever the savages went, they did not land at that time on the island, but pursued some other design.

And now they had another broil with the three Englishmen, one of which, a most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one of the three slaves which I mentioned they had taken, because the fellow had not done something right which he bid him do, and seemed a little untractable in his shewing him, drew a hatchet out of a frog-belt, in which he bore it by his side, and fell upon him, the poor savage, not to correct him but to kill him. One of the Spaniards who was by, seeing him give the fellow a barbarous cut with the hatchet which he aimed at his head, but struck into his shoulder, so that he thought he had cut the poor creature's arm off, ran to him, and entreating him not to murder the poor man, clapt in between him and the savage to prevent the mischief.