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Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe

On the flat of the green, just before this hollow place, I resolved
to pitch my tent.  This plain was not above a hundred yards broad,
and about twice as long, and lay like a green before my door; and,
at the end of it, descended irregularly every way down into the low
ground by the seaside.  It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill; so
that it was sheltered from the heat every day, till it came to a W.
and by S. sun, or thereabouts, which, in those countries, is near
the setting.

Before I set up my tent I drew a half-circle before the hollow
place, which took in about ten yards in its semi-diameter from the
rock, and twenty yards in its diameter from its beginning and
ending.

In this half-circle I pitched two rows of strong stakes, driving
them into the ground till they stood very firm like piles, the
biggest end being out of the ground above five feet and a half, and
sharpened on the top.  The two rows did not stand above six inches
from one another.

Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in the ship, and
laid them in rows, one upon another, within the circle, between
these two rows of stakes, up to the top, placing other stakes in
the inside, leaning against them, about two feet and a half high,
like a spur to a post; and this fence was so strong, that neither
man nor beast could get into it or over it.  This cost me a great
deal of time and labour, especially to cut the piles in the woods,
bring them to the place, and drive them into the earth.

The entrance into this place I made to be, not by a door, but by a
short ladder to go over the top; which ladder, when I was in, I
lifted over after me; and so I was completely fenced in and
fortified, as I thought, from all the world, and consequently slept
secure in the night, which otherwise I could not have done; though,
as it appeared afterwards, there was no need of all this caution
from the enemies that I apprehended danger from.

Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labour, I carried all my
riches, all my provisions, ammunition, and stores, of which you
have the account above; and I made a large tent, which to preserve
me from the rains that in one part of the year are very violent
there, I made double - one smaller tent within, and one larger tent
above it; and covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin, which I
had saved among the sails.

And now I lay no more for a while in the bed which I had brought on
shore, but in a hammock, which was indeed a very good one, and
belonged to the mate of the ship.

Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and everything that
would spoil by the wet; and having thus enclosed all my goods, I
made up the entrance, which till now I had left open, and so passed
and repassed, as I said, by a short ladder.

When I had done this, I began to work my way into the rock, and
bringing all the earth and stones that I dug down out through my
tent, I laid them up within my fence, in the nature of a terrace,
so that it raised the ground within about a foot and a half; and
thus I made me a cave, just behind my tent, which served me like a
cellar to my house.

It cost me much labour and many days before all these things were
brought to perfection; and therefore I must go back to some other
things which took up some of my thoughts.  At the same time it
happened, after I had laid my scheme for the setting up my tent,
and making the cave, that a storm of rain falling from a thick,
dark cloud, a sudden flash of lightning happened, and after that a
great clap of thunder, as is naturally the effect of it.  I was not
so much surprised with the lightning as I was with the thought
which darted into my mind as swift as the lightning itself - Oh, my
powder!  My very heart sank within me when I thought that, at one
blast, all my powder might be destroyed; on which, not my defence
only, but the providing my food, as I thought, entirely depended.
I was nothing near so anxious about my own danger, though, had the
powder took fire, I should never have known who had hurt me.

Such impression did this make upon me, that after the storm was
over I laid aside all my works, my building and fortifying, and
applied myself to make bags and boxes, to separate the powder, and
to keep it a little and a little in a parcel, in the hope that,
whatever might come, it might not all take fire at once; and to
keep it so apart that it should not be possible to make one part
fire another.  I finished this work in about a fortnight; and I
think my powder, which in all was about two hundred and forty
pounds weight, was divided in not less than a hundred parcels.  As
to the barrel that had been wet, I did not apprehend any danger
from that; so I placed it in my new cave, which, in my fancy, I
called my kitchen; and the rest I hid up and down in holes among
the rocks, so that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully
where I laid it.

In the interval of time while this was doing, I went out once at
least every day with my gun, as well to divert myself as to see if
I could kill anything fit for food; and, as near as I could, to
acquaint myself with what the island produced.  The first time I
went out, I presently discovered that there were goats in the
island, which was a great satisfaction to me; but then it was
attended with this misfortune to me - viz. that they were so shy,
so subtle, and so swift of foot, that it was the most difficult
thing in the world to come at them; but I was not discouraged at
this, not doubting but I might now and then shoot one, as it soon
happened; for after I had found their haunts a little, I laid wait
in this manner for them: I observed if they saw me in the valleys,
though they were upon the rocks, they would run away, as in a
terrible fright; but if they were feeding in the valleys, and I was
upon the rocks, they took no notice of me; from whence I concluded
that, by the position of their optics, their sight was so directed
downward that they did not readily see objects that were above
them; so afterwards I took this method - I always climbed the rocks
first, to get above them, and then had frequently a fair mark.

The first shot I made among these creatures, I killed a she-goat,
which had a little kid by her, which she gave suck to, which
grieved me heartily; for when the old one fell, the kid stood stock
still by her, till I came and took her up; and not only so, but
when I carried the old one with me, upon my shoulders, the kid
followed me quite to my enclosure; upon which I laid down the dam,
and took the kid in my arms, and carried it over my pale, in hopes
to have bred it up tame; but it would not eat; so I was forced to
kill it and eat it myself.  These two supplied me with flesh a
great while, for I ate sparingly, and saved my provisions, my bread
especially, as much as possibly I could.

Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely necessary to
provide a place to make a fire in, and fuel to burn: and what I did
for that, and also how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I
made, I shall give a full account of in its place; but I must now
give some little account of myself, and of my thoughts about
living, which, it may well be supposed, were not a few.

I had a dismal prospect of my condition; for as I was not cast away
upon that island without being driven, as is said, by a violent
storm, quite out of the course of our intended voyage, and a great
way, viz. some hundreds of leagues, out of the ordinary course of
the trade of mankind, I had great reason to consider it as a
determination of Heaven, that in this desolate place, and in this
desolate manner, I should end my life.  The tears would run
plentifully down my face when I made these reflections; and
sometimes I would expostulate with myself why Providence should
thus completely ruin His creatures, and render them so absolutely
miserable; so without help, abandoned, so entirely depressed, that
it could hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life.

But something always returned swift upon me to check these
thoughts, and to reprove me; and particularly one day, walking with
my gun in my hand by the seaside, I was very pensive upon the
subject of my present condition, when reason, as it were,
expostulated with me the other way, thus: "Well, you are in a
desolate condition, it is true; but, pray remember, where are the
rest of you?  Did not you come, eleven of you in the boat?  Where
are the ten?  Why were they not saved, and you lost?  Why were you
singled out?  Is it better to be here or there?"  And then I
pointed to the sea.  All evils are to be considered with the good
that is in them, and with what worse attends them.

Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my
subsistence, and what would have been my case if it had not
happened (which was a hundred thousand to one) that the ship
floated from the place where she first struck, and was driven so
near to the shore that I had time to get all these things out of
her; what would have been my case, if I had been forced to have
lived in the condition in which I at first came on shore, without
necessaries of life, or necessaries to supply and procure them?
"Particularly," said I, aloud (though to myself), "what should I
have done without a gun, without ammunition, without any tools to
make anything, or to work with, without clothes, bedding, a tent,
or any manner of covering?" and that now I had all these to
sufficient quantity, and was in a fair way to provide myself in
such a manner as to live without my gun, when my ammunition was
spent: so that I had a tolerable view of subsisting, without any
want, as long as I lived; for I considered from the beginning how I
would provide for the accidents that might happen, and for the time
that was to come, even not only after my ammunition should be
spent, but even after my health and strength should decay.

I confess I had not entertained any notion of my ammunition being
destroyed at one blast - I mean my powder being blown up by
lightning; and this made the thoughts of it so surprising to me,
when it lightened and thundered, as I observed just now.

And now being about to enter into a melancholy relation of a scene
of silent life, such, perhaps, as was never heard of in the world
before, I shall take it from its beginning, and continue it in its
order.  It was by my account the 30th of September, when, in the
manner as above said, I first set foot upon this horrid island;
when the sun, being to us in its autumnal equinox, was almost over
my head; for I reckoned myself, by observation, to be in the
latitude of nine degrees twenty-two minutes north of the line.

After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came into my
thoughts that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of books,
and pen and ink, and should even forget the Sabbath days; but to
prevent this, I cut with my knife upon a large post, in capital
letters - and making it into a great cross, I set it up on the
shore where I first landed - "I came on shore here on the 30th
September 1659."

Upon the sides of this square post I cut every day a notch with my
knife, and every seventh notch was as long again as the rest, and
every first day of the month as long again as that long one; and
thus I kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning
of time.
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A Little Princess Frances Hodgson Burnett Category: Fiction Sections: 24 What's this? Table of Contents		Non Fiction Short Stories Poetry Plays Sci Fi Philosophy Religion Biography