The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe - 54

There are so many travellers who have written the history of their voyages and travels this way, that it would be but very little diversion to any body, to give a long account of the places we went to, and the people who inhabit there: those things I leave to others, and refer the reader to those journals and travels of Englishmen, many of which, I find, are published, and more promised every day. It is enough for me to tell you that we made the voyage to Achin, in the island of Sumatra, first; and from thence to Siam, where we exchanged some of our wares for opium, and for some arrack; the first a commodity which bears a great price among the Chinese, and which, at that time, was very much wanted there: in a word, we went up to Susham; made a very great voyage; were eight months out; and returned to Bengal: and I was very well satisfied with my adventure.

I observe, that our people in England often admire how the officers, which the Company send into India, and the merchants which generally stay there, get such very good estates as they do, and sometimes come home worth sixty, seventy, and a hundred thousand pounds at a time. But it is no wonder, or, at least, we shall see so much farther into it, when we consider the innumerable ports and places where they have a free commerce, that it will then be no wonder; and much less will it be so, when we consider, that at all those places and ports where the English ships come, there is so much, and such constant demand for the growth of all other countries, that there is a certain vent for the return, as well as a market abroad for the goods carried out.

In short, we made a very good voyage, and I got so much money by the first adventure, and such an insight into the method of getting more, that, had I been twenty years younger, I should have been tempted to have stayed here, and sought no farther for making my fortune: but what was all this to a man on the wrong side of threescore, that was rich enough, and came abroad more in obedience to a restless desire of seeing the world, than a covetous desire of getting in it? And indeed I think it is with great justice that I now call it a restless desire, for it was so: when I was at home, I was restless to go abroad; and now I was abroad, I was restless to be at home. I say, what was this gain to me? I was rich enough already; nor had I any uneasy desires about getting more money; and therefore, the profits of the voyage to me were things of no great force to me, for the prompting me forward to farther undertakings: hence I thought, that by this voyage I had made no progress at all; because I was come back, as I might call it, to the place from whence I came, as to a home; whereas my eye, which, like that which Solomon speaks of, was never satisfied with seeing, was still more desirous of wandering and seeing. I was come into a part of the world which I never was in before; and that part in particular which I had heard much of; and was resolved to see as much of it as I could; and then I thought I might say I had seen all the world that was worth seeing.

But my fellow-traveller and I had different notions: I do not name this to insist upon my own, for I acknowledge his was most just, and the most suited to the end of a merchant's life; who, when he is abroad upon adventures, it is his wisdom to stick to that, as the best thing for him, which he is like to get the most money by. My new friend kept himself to the nature of the thing, and would have been content to have gone, like a carrier's horse, always to the same inn, backward and forward, provided he could, as he called it, find his account in it: on the other hand, mine, as old as I was, was the notion of a mad rambling boy, that never cares to see a thing twice over.

But this was not all: I had a kind of impatience upon me to be nearer home, and yet the most unsettled resolution imaginable, which way to go. In the interval of these consultations, my friend, who was always upon the search for business, proposed another voyage to me, viz. among the Spice Islands; and to bring home a load of cloves from the Manillas, or thereabouts; places where, indeed, the Dutch do trade, but the islands belong partly to the Spaniards; though we went not so far, but to some other, where they have not the whole power as they have at Batavia, Ceylon, &c. We were not long in preparing for this voyage; the chief difficulty was in bringing me to come into it; however, at last, nothing else offering, and finding that really stirring about and trading, the profit being so great, and, as I may say, certain, had more pleasure in it, and more satisfaction to the mind, than sitting still; which, to me especially, was the unhappiest part of life, I resolved on this voyage too: which we made very successfully, touching at Borneo, and several islands, whose names I do not remember, and came home in about five months. We sold our spice, which was chiefly cloves, and some nutmegs, to the Persian merchants, who carried them away for the Gulf; and, making near five of one, we really got a great deal of money.

My friend, when we made up this account, smiled at me: "Well now," said he, with a sort of an agreeable insult upon my indolent temper, "is not this better than walking about here, like a man of nothing to do, and spending our time in staring at the nonsense and ignorace of the Pagans?"--"Why truly," said I, "my friend, I think it is; and I begin to be a convert to the principles of merchandising. But I must tell you," said I, "by the way, you do not know what I am doing; for if once I conquer my backwardness, and embark heartily, as old as I am, I shall harass you up and down the world till I tire you; for I shall pursue it so eagerly, I shall never let you lie still."

But to be short with my speculations: a little while after this there came in a Dutch ship from Batavia; she was a coaster, not an European trader, and of about two hundred tons burden: the men, as they pretended, having been so sickly, that the captain had not men enough to go to sea with, he lay by at Bengal; and, as if having got money enough, or being willing, for other reasons, to go for Europe, he gave public notice, that he would sell his ship; this came to my ears before my new partner heard of it; and I had a great mind to buy it. So I went home to him, and told him of it: he considered awhile, for he was no rash man neither; but musing some time, he replied, "She is a little too big; but, however, we will have her." Accordingly we bought the ship; and, agreeing with the master, we paid for her, and took possession; when we had done so, we resolved to entertain the men, if we could, to join them with those we had, for the pursuing our business; but on a sudden, they not having received their wages, but their share of the money, as we afterwards learnt, not one of them was to be found. We inquired much about them, and at length were told, that they were all gone together, by land, to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's residence; and from thence were to travel to Surat, and so by sea to the Gulf of Persia.

Nothing had so heartily troubled me a good while, as that I missed the opportunity of going with them; for such a ramble, I thought, and in such company as would both have guarded me and diverted me, would have suited mightily with my great design; and I should both have seen the world, and gone homewards too; but I was much better satisfied a few days after, when I came to know what sort of fellows they were; for, in short, their history was, that this man they called captain was the gunner only, not the commander; that they had been a trading voyage, in which they were attacked on shore by some of the Malaccans, who had killed the captain and three of his men; and that after the captain was killed, these men, eleven in number, had resolved to run away with the ship, which they did; and had brought her in at the Bay of Bengal, leaving the mate and five men more on shore; of whom we shall hear farther.

Well; let them come by the ship how they would, we came honestly by her, as we thought; though we did not, I confess, examine into things so exactly as we ought; for we never inquired any thing of the seamen, who, if we had examined, would certainly have faltered in their accounts, contradicted one another, and perhaps have contradicted themselves; or, one how or other, we should have seen reason to have suspected them: but the man shewed us a bill of sale for the ship, to one Emanuel Clostershoven, or some such name, (for I suppose it was all a forgery) and called himself by that name; and we could not contradict him; and being withal a little too unwary, or at least having no suspicion of the thing, we went through with our bargain.

However, we picked up some English seamen here after this, and some Dutch; and we now resolved for a second voyage to the south-east, for cloves, &c. that is to say, among the Philippine and Malacca isles; and, in short, not to fill this part of my story with trifles, when what is yet to come is so remarkable, I spent, from first to last, six years in this country, trading from port to port, backward and forward, and with very good success; and was now the last year with my partner, going in the ship above-mentioned, on a voyage to China; but designing first to go to Siam, to buy rice.

In this voyage, being by contrary winds obliged to beat up and down a great while in the Straits of Malacca, and among the islands, we were no sooner got clear of those difficult seas, but we found our ship had sprung a leak, and we were not able, by all our industry, to find out where it was. This forced us to make for some port; and my partner, who knew the country better than I did, directed the captain to put into the river of Cambodia; for I had made the English mate, one Mr. Thompson, captain, not being willing to take the charge of the ship upon myself. This river lies on the north side of the great bay or gulf which goes up to Siam.

While we were here, and going often on shore for refreshment, there comes to me one day an Englishman, and he was, it seems, a gunner's mate on board an English East India ship, which rode in the same river, up at or near the city of Cambodia: what brought him hither we knew not; but he comes up to me, and, speaking English, "Sir," says he, "you are a stranger to me, and I to you; but I have something to tell you, that very nearly concerns you."

I looked stedfastly at him a good while, and he thought at first I had known him, but I did not. "If it very nearly concerns me," said I, "and not yourself, what moves you to tell it me?"--"I am moved," says he, "by the imminent danger you are in; and, for aught I see, you have no knowledge of it."--"I know no danger I am in," said I, "but that my ship is leaky, and I cannot find it out; but I propose to lay her aground to-morrow, to see if I can find it."--"But, Sir," says he, "leaky or not leaky, find it or not find it, you will be wiser than to lay your ship on shore to-morrow, when you hear what I have to say to you. Do you know, Sir," said he, "the town of Cambodia lies about fifteen leagues up this river? And there are two large English ships about five leagues on this side, and three Dutch."--"Well," said I, "and what is that to me?"--"Why, Sir," says he, "is it for a man that is upon such adventures as you are, to come into a port, and not examine first what ships there are there, and whether he is able to deal with them? I suppose you do not think you are a match for them?" I was amused very much at his discourse, but not amazed at it; for I could not conceive what he meant; and I turned short upon him, and said, "Sir, I wish you would explain yourself; I cannot imagine what reason I have to be afraid of any of the Company's ships, or Dutch ships; I am no interloper; what can they have to say to me?"

He looked like a man half angry, half pleased; and pausing awhile, but smiling, "Well, Sir," says he, "if you think yourself secure, you must take your chance; I am sorry your fate should blind you against good advice; but assure yourself if you do not put to sea immediately, you will the very next tide be attacked by five long-boats full of men; and, perhaps, if you are taken, you will be hanged for a pirate, and the particulars be examined into afterwards. I thought, Sir," added he, "I should have met with a better reception than this, for doing you a piece of service of such importance."--"I can never be ungrateful," said I, "for any service, or to any man that offers me any kindness; but it is past my comprehension," said I, "what they should have such a design upon me for; however, since you say there is no time to be lost, and that there is some villanous design in hand against me, I will go on board this minute, and put to sea immediately, if my men can stop the leak, or if we can swim without stopping it: but, Sir," said I, "shall I go away ignorant of the reason of all this? Can you give me no farther light into it?"

"I can tell you but part of the story, Sir," says he; "but I have a Dutch seaman here with me, and, I believe, I could persuade him to tell you the rest; but there is scarce time for it: but the short of the story is this, the first part of which, I suppose, you know well enough, viz. that you were with this ship at Sumatra; that there your captain was murdered by the Malaccans, with three of his men; and that you, or some of those that were on board with you, ran away with the ship, and are since turned pirates. This is the sum of the story, and you will all be seized as pirates, I can assure you, and executed with very little ceremony; for you know merchant-ships shew but little law to pirates, if they get them in their power."

"Now you speak plain English," said I, "and I thank you; and though I know nothing that we have done, like what you talk of, but I am sure we came honestly and fairly by the ship; yet seeing such work is a-doing, as you say, and that you seem to mean honestly, I will be upon my guard."--"Nay, Sir," says he, "do not talk of being upon your guard; the best defence is to be out of the danger: if you have any regard to your life, and the lives of all your men, put out to sea without fail at high-water; and as you have a whole tide before you, you will be gone too far out before they can come down; for they will come away at high water; and as they have twenty miles to come, you'll get near two hours of them by the difference of the tide, not reckoning the length of the way: besides, as they are only boats, and not ships, they will not venture to follow you far out to sea, especially if it blows."

"Well," said I, "you have been very kind in this: what shall I do for you to make you amends?"--"Sir," says he, "you may not be so willing to make me amends, because you may not be convinced of the truth of it: I will make an offer to you; I have nineteen months pay due to me on board the ship ----, which I came out of England in; and the Dutchman, that is with me, has seven months pay due to him; if you will make good our pay to us, we will go along with you: if you find nothing more in it, we will desire no more; but if we do convince you, that we have saved your life, and the ship, and the lives of all the men in her, we will leave the rest to you."

I consented to this readily; and went immediately on board, and the two men with me. As soon as I came to the ship's side, my partner, who was on board, came on the quarter-deck, and called to me with a great deal of joy, "O ho! O ho! we have stopped the leak!"--"Say you so?" said I; "thank God; but weigh the anchor then immediately."--"Weigh!" says he; "what do you mean by that? What is the matter?" says he. "Ask no questions," said I, "but all hands to work, and weigh without losing a minute." He was surprised: but, however, he called the captain, and he immediately ordered the anchor to be got up; and though the tide was not quite done, yet a little land breeze blowing, we stood out to sea; then I called him into the cabin, and told him the story at large; and we called in the men, and they told us the rest of it: but as it took us up a great deal of time, so before we had done, a seaman comes to the cabin door, and calls out to us, that the captain made him tell us, we were chased. "Chased!" said I; "by whom, and by what?"--"By five sloops, or boats," said the fellow, "full of men."--"Very well," said I; "then it is apparent there is something in it." In the next place, I ordered all our men to be called up; and told them, that there was a design to seize the ship, and to take us for pirates; and asked them, if they would stand by us, and by one another? The men answered, cheerfully, one and all, that they would live and die with us. Then I asked the captain, what way he thought best for us to manage a fight with them; for resist them I resolved we would, and that to the last drop. He said, readily, that the way was to keep them off with our great shot, as long as we could, and then to fire at them with our small arms, to keep them from boarding us; but when neither of these would do any longer, we should retire to our close quarters; perhaps they had not materials to break open our bulk-heads, or get in upon us.

The gunner had, in the mean time, orders to bring two guns to bear fore and aft, out of the steerage, to clear the deck, and load them with musket-bullets and small pieces of old iron, and what next came to hand; and thus we made ready for fight; but all this while kept out to sea, with wind enough, and could see the boats at a distance, being five large long-boats following us, with all the sail they could make.

Two of these boats, which, by our glasses, we could see were English, had outsailed the rest, were near two leagues a head of them, and gained upon us considerably; so that we found they would come up with us: upon which we fired a gun without a shot, to intimate that they should bring to; and we put out a flag of truce, as a signal for parley; but they kept crowding after us, till they came within shot: upon this we took in our white flag, they having made no answer to it; hung out the red flag, and fired at them with shot; notwithstanding this, they came on till they were near enough to call to them with a speaking, trumpet, which we had on board; so we called to them, and bade them keep off at their peril.

It was all one, they crowded after us, and endeavoured to come under our stern, so to board us on our quarter: upon which, seeing they were resolute for mischief, and depended upon the strength that followed them, I ordered to bring the ship to, so that they lay upon our broadside, when immediately we fired five guns at them; one of them had been levelled so true, as to carry away the stern of the hindermost boat, and bring them to the necessity of taking down their sail, and running all to the head of the boat to keep her from sinking; so she lay by, and had enough of it; but seeing the foremost boat still crowd on after us, we made ready to fire at her in particular.