The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Page 6

punishment at all.

  The Spaniards, indeed, despised them, and especially, having thus

  disarmed them, made light of their threatenings; but the two

  Englishmen resolved to have their remedy against them, what pains

  soever it cost to find them out. But the Spaniards interposed here

  too, and told them that as they had disarmed them, they could not

  consent that they (the two) should pursue them with firearms, and

  perhaps kill them. "But," said the grave Spaniard, who was their

  governor, "we will endeavour to make them do you justice, if you

  will leave it to us: for there is no doubt but they will come to

  us again, when their passion is over, being not able to subsist

  without our assistance. We promise you to make no peace with them

  without having full satisfaction for you; and upon this condition

  we hope you will promise to use no violence with them, other than

  in your own defence." The two Englishmen yielded to this very

  awkwardly, and with great reluctance; but the Spaniards protested

  that they did it only to keep them from bloodshed, and to make them

  all easy at last. "For," said they, "we are not so many of us;

  here is room enough for us all, and it is a great pity that we

  should not be all good friends." At length they did consent, and

  waited for the issue of the thing, living for some days with the

  Spaniards; for their own habitation was destroyed.

  In about five days' time the vagrants, tired with wandering, and

  almost starved with hunger, having chiefly lived on turtles' eggs

  all that while, came back to the grove; and finding my Spaniard,

  who, as I have said, was the governor, and two more with him,

  walking by the side of the creek, they came up in a very

  submissive, humble manner, and begged to be received again into the

  society. The Spaniards used them civilly, but told them they had

  acted so unnaturally to their countrymen, and so very grossly to

  themselves, that they could not come to any conclusion without

  consulting the two Englishmen and the rest; but, however, they

  would go to them and discourse about it, and they should know in

  half-an-hour. It may be guessed that they were very hard put to

  it; for, as they were to wait this half-hour for an answer, they

  begged they would send them out some bread in the meantime, which

  they did, sending at the same time a large piece of goat's flesh

  and a boiled parrot, which they ate very eagerly.

  After half-an-hour's consultation they were called in, and a long

  debate ensued, their two countrymen charging them with the ruin of

  all their labour, and a design to murder them; all which they owned

  before, and therefore could not deny now. Upon the whole, the

  Spaniards acted the moderators between them; and as they had

  obliged the two Englishmen not to hurt the three while they were

  naked and unarmed, so they now obliged the three to go and rebuild

  their fellows' two huts, one to be of the same and the other of

  larger dimensions than they were before; to fence their ground

  again, plant trees in the room of those pulled up, dig up the land

  again for planting corn, and, in a word, to restore everything to

  the same state as they found it, that is, as near as they could.

  Well, they submitted to all this; and as they had plenty of

  provisions given them all the while, they grew very orderly, and

  the whole society began to live pleasantly and agreeably together

  again; only that these three fellows could never be persuaded to

  work--I mean for themselves--except now and then a little, just as

  they pleased. However, the Spaniards told them plainly that if

  they would but live sociably and friendly together, and study the

  good of the whole plantation, they would be content to work for

  them, and let them walk about and be as idle as they pleased; and

  thus, having lived pretty well together for a month or two, the

  Spaniards let them have arms again, and gave them liberty to go

  abroad with them as before.

  It was not above a week after they had these arms, and went abroad,

  before the ungrateful creatures began to be as insolent and

  troublesome as ever. However, an accident happened presently upon

  this, which endangered the safety of them all, and they were

  obliged to lay by all private resentments, and look to the

  preservation of their lives.

  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 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 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 for

  the three Englishmen, who, since their last mutiny, were 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 that our spirits embodied have a

  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 knew how to make use of it. Come,

  let us go and look abroad; and if we find nothing at all in it to

  justify the trouble, I'll tell you a story to the purpose, that

  shall convince you of the justice of my proposing it."

  They went out presently to go up to the top of the hill, where I

  used to go; but they being strong, and a good company, nor alone,

  as I was, used none of my cautions to go up by the ladder, and

  pulling it up after them, to go up a second stage to the top
, but

  were going round through the grove unwarily, when they were

  surprised with seeing a light as of fire, a very little way from

  them, and hearing the voices of men, not of one or two, but of a

  great number.

  Among the precautions I used to take on the savages 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 occasion they came to know it, they felt it so effectually

  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 was the three

  savages in our last encounter who jumped into the boat; of whom, I

  mentioned, 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 understand; but whatever it was, it was their business either

  to have concealed themselves or not to have seen them at all, much

  less to have let the savages have seen there were any inhabitants

  in the place; or to have fallen upon them so effectually as 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 they must all run out to see how things stood. While it was

  dark, indeed, they were safe, and they had opportunity enough for

  some hours to view the savages by the light of three fires they had

  made at a distance from one another; what they were doing they knew

  not, neither did they know what to do themselves. 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 went 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 token of inhabitants; and they were in great perplexity

  also for fear of their flock of goats, which, if they should be

  destroyed, would have been little less than starving them. So the

  first thing they resolved upon was to despatch three men away

  before it was light, two Spaniards and one Englishman, to drive

  away all the goats 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 were resolved, if there had been a hundred

  of them, to attack them; but that could not be done, for they 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,

  they resolved at last, while it was still 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, 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 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 all on the same island, for the devouring

  their prisoners and making merry; but their 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; but he did

  not perceive that they had any notion of anybody being on the

  island but themselves. He had hardly made an end of telling his

  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 lie still, and

  the savages would kill one another to their hands, and then 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 that they must run out and see the

  battle. However, they used some caution too: 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 be

  seen by them; but 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 spirit, 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 one 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 would also do the like in search of them. Upon this,

  they resolved that they would stand armed within the wall, and

  whoever came into the grove, they resolved to 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 stocks of

  their muskets, but 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 comforting addition, that the conquerors

  had not pursued them, or seen which way they were gone; upon this

  the Spanish gov
ernor, 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, come in behind them, and

  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, made no pursuit, or very little, but drawing

  themselves into a body together, gave two great screaming shouts,

  most likely by way of triumph, and so the fight ended; the same

  day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, they also marched to

  their canoes. And thus the Spaniards had the island again free to

  themselves, their fright was over, and they saw no savages for

  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 men

  dead on the spot; some were killed with long arrows, which were

  found sticking in their bodies; but most of them were killed with

  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 strange, unwieldy things, and they must be very

  strong men that used them; most of those that were killed with them

  had their heads smashed to pieces, as we may say, or, as we call it

  in English, their brains knocked out, and several their arms and

  legs broken; so that it is evident they fight with inexpressible

  rage and fury. We found not one man that was not stone dead; for

  either they stay by their enemy till they have killed him, or they

  carry all the wounded men that are not quite dead away with them.

  This deliverance tamed our ill-disposed Englishmen for a great

  while; the sight had filled them with horror, and the consequences

  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 for food,

  as we kill our cattle; and they professed to me that the thoughts

  of being eaten up like beef and 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 such 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 tractable, and went about the

  common business of the whole society well enough--planted, sowed,

  reaped, and began to be all naturalised to the country. But some

  time after this they fell into such simple measures again as

  brought them into a great deal of trouble.

  They had taken three prisoners, as I observed; and these three

  being 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 as I did by my man Friday, viz. to begin

  with them upon the principle of having saved their lives, and then

  instruct them in the rational principles of life; much less did

  they think of teaching them religion, or attempt civilising and

  reducing them by kind usage and affectionate arguments. 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 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

  move their habitation, and plant in some more proper place for