The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) Page 12

to my thoughts at that time, was, to get upinto a thick bushy tree like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, andwhere I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what deathI should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked about afurlong 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 tobaccoin my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up intoit, endeavoured to place myself so, as that if I should sleep I mightnot fall; and having cut me a short stick, like a truncheon, for mydefence, I took up my lodging, and having been excessively fatigued, Ifell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could havedone in my condition, and found myself the most refreshed with it that Ithink I ever was on such an occasion.

  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 whichsurprised me most was, that the ship was lifted off in the night fromthe sand where she lay, by the swelling of the tide, and was driven upalmost as far as the rock which I first mentioned, where I had been sobruised by the dashing me against it; this being within about a milefrom the shore where I was, and the ship seeming to stand upright still,I wished myself on board, that, at least, I might save some necessarythings for my use.

  When I came down from my apartment in the tree, I looked about me again,and the first thing I found was the boat, which lay as the wind and thesea had tossed her up upon the land, about two miles on my right hand. Iwalked as far as I could upon the shore to have got to her, but found aneck or inlet of water between me and the boat, which was about half amile broad; so I came back for the present, being more intent upongetting at the ship, where I hoped to find something for my presentsubsistence.

  A little after noon I found the sea very calm, and the tide ebbed so farout, that I could come within a quarter of a mile of the ship; and hereI found a fresh renewing of my grief: for I saw evidently, that if wehad kept on board, we had been all safe, that is to say, we had all gotsafe on shore, and I had not been so miserable as to be left entirelydestitute of all comfort and company, as I now was. This forced tearsfrom my eyes again; but as there was little relief in that, I resolved,if possible, to get to the ship; so I pulled off my clothes, for theweather was hot to extremity, and took the water; but when I came to theship, my difficulty was still greater to know how to get on board; foras she lay aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing withinmy reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and the second time Ispied a small piece of a rope, which I wondered I did not see at first,hang down by the fore-chains so low as that with great difficulty I gothold of it, and by the help of that rope got up into the forecastle ofthe ship. Here I found that the ship was bulged, and had a great deal ofwater in her hold, but that she lay so on the side of a bank of hardsand, or rather earth, and her stern lay lifted up upon the bank, andher head low almost to the water: by this means all her quarter wasfree, and all that was in that part was dry; for you may be sure myfirst work was to search and to see what was spoiled and what was free;and first I found that all the ship's provisions were dry and untouchedby the water; and being very well disposed to eat, I went to thebread-room and filled my pockets with bisket, and ate it as I went aboutother things, for I had no time to lose. I also found some rum in thegreat cabin, of which I took a large drain, and which I had indeed needenough of to spirit me for what was before me. Now I wanted nothing buta boat to furnish myself with many things which I foresaw would be verynecessary to me.

  It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not to be had; andthis extremity roused my application. We had several spare yards, andtwo or three large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in theship; I resolved to fall to work with these, and flung as many of themoverboard as I could manage of their weight, tying every one with arope, that they might not drive away. When this was done I went down theship's side, and pulling them to me, I tied four of them fast togetherat both ends as well as I could, in the form of a raft, and laying twoor three short pieces of plank upon them crossways, I found I could walkupon it very well, but that it was not able to bear any great weight,the pieces being too light; so I went to work, and with the carpenter'ssaw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, and added them to my raft,with a great deal of labour and pains; but hope of furnishing myselfwith necessaries encouraged me to go beyond what I should have been ableto have done upon another occasion.

  My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight; my nextcare was what to load it with, and how to preserve what I laid upon itfrom the surf of the sea; but I was not long considering this: I firstlaid all the planks or boards upon it that I could get, and havingconsidered well what I most wanted, I first got three of the seamen'schests, which I had broken open and emptied, and lowered them down uponmy raft. The first of these I filled with provisions, viz. bread, rice,three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat's flesh, which we livedmuch upon, and a little remainder of European corn which had been laidby for some fowls which we brought to sea with us, but the fowls werekilled. There had been some barley and wheat together, but, to my greatdisappointment, I found afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled itall. As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles belonging to ourskipper, in which were some cordial waters, and in all above five or sixgallons of rack: these I stowed by themselves, there being no need toput them into the chest, nor no room for them. While I was doing this, Ifound the tide began to flow, though very calm, and I had themortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left onshore upon the sand, swim away; as for my breeches, which were onlylinen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings:however, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of which I foundenough, but took no more than I wanted for present use, for I had otherthings which my eye was more upon; as, first, tools to work with onshore; and it was after long searching that I found out the carpenter'schest, which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and much morevaluable than a ship-loading of gold would have been at that time: I gotit down to my raft, even whole as it was, without losing time to lookinto it, for I knew in general what it contained.

  My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very goodfowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols: these I securedfirst, with some powder horns, and a small bag of shot, and two oldrusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in the ship,but knew not where our gunner had stowed them; but with much search Ifound them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken water; thosetwo I got to my raft, with the arms. And now I thought myself prettywell freighted, and began to think how I should get to shore with them,having neither sail, oar, or rudder, and the least capful of wind wouldhave overset all my navigation.

  I had three encouragements: 1. A smooth, calm sea; 2. The tide risingand setting in to the shore; 3. What little wind there was blew metowards the land: and thus, having found two or three broken oarsbelonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest, Ifound two saws, an axe, and a hammer; and with this cargo I put to sea:for a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well, only that I found itdrive a little distant from the place where I had landed before, bywhich I perceived that there was some indraft of the water, andconsequently I hoped to find some creek or river there, which I mightmake use of as a port to get to land with my cargo.

  As I imagined, so it was: there appeared before me a little opening ofthe land, and I found a strong current of the tide set into it, so Iguided my raft as well as I could to keep in the middle of the stream;but here I had like to have suffered a second shipwreck, which, if Ihad, I think verily would have broke my heart; for knowing nothing ofthe coast, my raft run aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and notbeing aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all my cargohad slipped off towards that end that was afloat, and so fallen into thewater. I did my utmost, by setting my back against the chests, to keepthem in their places, but could not thrust off the raft with all mystren
gth; neither durst I stir from the posture I was in, but holding upthe chests with all my might, stood in that manner near half an hour, inwhich time the rising of the water brought me a little more upon alevel; and a little after, the water still rising, my raft floatedagain, and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel; andthen driving up higher, I at length found myself in the mouth of alittle river, with land on both sides, and a strong current or tiderunning up. I looked on both sides for a proper place to get to shore;for I was not willing to be driven too high up the river, hoping in timeto see some ship at sea, and therefore resolved to place myself as nearthe coast as I could.

  At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the creek, towhich, with great pain and difficulty, I guided my raft, and at last gotso near, as that, reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust herdirectly in; but here I had like to have dipped all my cargo in the seaagain; for that shore