to that degree, that I was obliged to shoot several of them at first, to keep them from devouring me, and all I had; but at length, when the two old ones I brought with me were gone, and after fome time continually driving them from me, and letting them have no provifion with me, they all ran wild into the woods, except two or three favourites, which I kept tame, and whofe young, when they had any, I always drowned, and thefe were part of my family: besides these, I always kept two or three household kids about me, which I taught to feed out of my hand; and I had alfo more parrots which talked pretty well, and would all call Robin Crufoe, but none like my first; nor, indeed, did I take the pains with any of them that I had done with him: I had also feveral tame fea-fowls, whofe names I know not, which I caught upon the fhore, and cut their wings; and the little stakes, which I had planted before my cafle wall, being now grown up to a good thick grove, these fowls all lived among thefe low trees, and bred there, which was very agreeable to me; fo that, as I faid above, I began to be very well contented with the life I led, if it might but have been fecured from the dread of favages.

But it was otherwife directed; and it might not be amifs for all people who fhall meet with my ftory to make this just obfervation from it, viz. How frequently, in the courfe of our lives, the evil, which in itself we feek most to shun, and which, when we are fallen into, is the most dreadful to us, is oftentimes the very means or door of our deliverance, by which alone we can be raised again from the affliction we are fallen into: I could give many examples

of

of this in the courfe of my unaccountable life; but in nothing was it more particularly remarkable, than in the circumstances of my laft years of folitary refidence in this island.

It was now the month of December, as I faid above, in my twenty-third year; and this being the fouthern folftice, for winter I cannot call it, was the particular time of my harveft, and required my being pretty much abroad in the fields; when going out pretty. early in the morning, even before it was thorough day-light, I was surprised with seeing a light of fome fire upon the shore, at a distance from me of about two miles, towards the end of the island, where I had obferved fome favages had been, as before; but not on the other fide; but, to my great affliction, it was on my fide of the island.

I was indeed terribly surprised at the fight, and ftopped fhort within my grove, not daring to go out, left I might be furprised; and yet I had no more peace within, from the apprehenfions I had, that if thefe favages, in rambling over the island, should find my corn standing, or cut, or any of my works and improvements, they would immediately conclude that there were people in the place, and would then never give over till they found me out; in this extremity I went back directly to my caftle, pulled up the ladder after me, having made all things without look as wild and natural as I could..

Then I prepared myself within, putting myself in a posture of defence; I loaded all my cannon, as I called them, that is to fay, my mufquets, which were mounted upon my new fortification, and all my pistols, and refolved to defend myself to the last gasp; not forgetting

Q 3

forgetting ferioufly to recommend myfelf to the divine protection, and earneftly to pray to GOD to deliver me out of the hands of the barbarians; and in this pofture I continued about two hours, but began to be mighty impatient for intelligence abroad, for I had no fpies to fend out.

After fitting a while longer, and musing what I fhould do in this cafe, I was not able to bear fitting in ignorance longer; fo fetting up my ladder to the fide of the hill, where there was a flat place, as I obferved before, and then pulling the ladder up after me, I set it up again, and mounted to the top of the hill; and pulling out my perfpective glafs, which I had taken on purpose, I laid me down flat on my belly on the ground, and began to look for the place I prefently found there were no lefs than nine naked savages fitting round a small fire they had made; not to warm them, for they had no need of that, the weather being extreme hot; but, as I fuppofed, to drefs some of their barbarous diet of human flesh which they had brought with them, whether alive or dead I could not know.

They had two canoes with them, which they had haled up upon the fhore; and as it was then tide of ebb, they seemed to me to wait the return of the flood to go away again. It is not easy to imagine what confufion this fight put me into, efpecially feeing them come on my fide the island, and fo near me too; but when I obferved their coming must be always with the current of the ebb, I began afterwards to be more sedate in my mind, being satisfied that Į might go abroad with fafety all the time of tide of flood, if they were not on fhore before; and having

made

made this obfervation, I went abroad about my harveft work with the more compofure.

1

As I expected, fo it proved; for as foon as the tide made to the weftward, I faw them all take boat, and row (or paddle, as we call it) all away: I fhould have obferved, that for an hour and more before they went off, they went to dancing, and I could eafily difcern their postures and geftures by my glaffes: I could only perceive, by my niceft obfervation, that they were ftark naked, and had not the least covering upon them; but whether they were men or women, that I could not diftinguish.

As foon as I faw them fhipped and gone, I took two guns upon my shoulders, and two pistols at my girdle, and my great fword by my fide, without a scabbard; and with all the fpeed I was able to make, I went away to the hill, where I had discovered the first appearance of all. of all. As foon as I got thither, which was not lefs than two hours (for I could not go apace, being fo loaded with arms as I was), I perceived there had been three canoes more of favages on that place; and looking out further, I faw they were all at fea together, making over for the main.

This was a dreadful fight to me, especially, when going down to the fhore, I could fee the marks of horror which the difmal work they had been about had left behind it, viz. the blood, the bones, and part of the flesh of human bodies, eaten and devoured by those wretches with merriment and sport. I was fo filled with indignation at the fight, that I began now to premeditate the deftruction of the next that I faw there, let them be who or how many foever.

It seemed evident to me, that the vifits which they thus made to this ifland were not very frequent ; for it was above fifteen months before any more of them came on fhore there again; that is to fay, I never faw them, or any footsteps or fignals of them, in all that time; for as to the rainy feafons, then they are fure not to come abroad, at least not fo far; yet all this while I lived uncomfortably, by reafon of the conftant apprehenfions I was in of their coming upon me by furprife; from whence I obferve, that the expectation of evil is more bitter than the fuffering, especially if there is no room to shake off that expectation or thofe apprehenfions.

During all this time, I was in the murdering humour; and took up moft of my hours, which fhould have been better employed, in contriving how to circumvent and fall upon them the very next time I fhould fee them; efpecially if they fhould be divided, as they were the laft time, into two parties; nor did I confider at all, that if I killed one party, suppose ten or a dozen, I was still the next day, or week, or month, to kill another, and so another, even ad infinitum, till I fhould be at length no less a murderer than they were in being men-eaters, and perhaps much more fo.

I spent my days now in great perplexity and anxiety of mind, expecting that I fhould one day or other fall into the hands of thofe mercilefs creatures; if I did at any time venture abroad, it was not without looking round me with the greatest care and caution imaginable; and now I found, to my great comfort, how happy it was that I had provided a tame

flock