on their knees to the captain, and promised, with the deepest imprecations, that they would be faithful to him
to the last drop, and that they should owe their lives to him, and would go with him all over the world; that
they would own him as a father to them as long as they lived. "Well," says the captain, "I must go and tell the
governor what you say, and see what I can do to bring him to consent to it." So he brought me an account of
the temper he found them in, and that he verily believed they would be faithful. However, that we might be
very secure, I told him he should go back again and choose out those five, and tell them, that they might see
he did not want men, that he would take out those five to be his assistants, and that the governor would keep
the other two, and the three that were sent prisoners to the castle (my cave), as hostages for the fidelity of
those five; and that if they proved unfaithful in the execution, the five hostages should be hanged in chains
alive on the shore. This looked severe, and convinced them that the governor was in earnest; however, they
had no way left them but to accept it; and it was now the business of the prisoners, as much as of the captain,
to persuade the other five to do their duty.
Our strength was now thus ordered for the expedition: first, the captain, his mate, and passenger; second, the
two prisoners of the first gang, to whom, having their character from the captain, I had given their liberty, and
trusted them with arms; third, the other two that I had kept till now in my bower, pinioned, but on the
captain's motion had now released; fourth, these five released at last; so that there were twelve in all, besides
five we kept prisoners in the cave for hostages.
I asked the captain if he was willing to venture with these hands on board the ship; but as for me and my man
Friday, I did not think it was proper for us to stir, having seven men left behind; and it was employment
enough for us to keep them asunder, and supply them with victuals. As to the five in the cave, I resolved to
keep them fast, but Friday went in twice a day to them, to supply them with necessaries; and I made the other
two carry provisions to a certain distance, where Friday was to take them.
When I showed myself to the two hostages, it was with the captain, who told them I was the person the
governor had ordered to look after them; and that it was the governor's pleasure they should not stir anywhere
but by my direction; that if they did, they would be fetched into the castle, and be laid in irons: so that as we
never suffered them to see me as governor, I now appeared as another person, and spoke of the governor, the
garrison, the castle, and the like, upon all occasions.
The captain now had no difficulty before him, but to furnish his two boats, stop the breach of one, and man
them. He made his passenger captain of one, with four of the men; and himself, his mate, and five more, went
in the other; and they contrived their business very well, for they came up to the ship about midnight. As soon
as they came within call of the ship, he made Robinson hail them, and tell them they had brought off the men
and the boat, but that it was a long time before they had found them, and the like, holding them in a chat till
they came to the ship's side; when the captain and the mate entering first with their arms, immediately
knocked down the second mate and carpenter with the butt.end of their muskets, being very faithfully
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Robinson Crusoe
seconded by their men; they secured all the rest that were upon the main and quarter decks, and began to
fasten the hatches, to keep them down that were below; when the other boat and their men, entering at the
forechains, secured the forecastle of the ship, and the scuttle which went down into the cook.room, making
three men they found there prisoners. When this was done, and all safe upon deck, the captain ordered the
mate, with three men, to break into the round.house, where the new rebel captain lay, who, having taken the
alarm, had got up, and with two men and a boy had got firearms in their hands; and when the mate, with a
crow, split open the door, the new captain and his men fired boldly among them, and wounded the mate with
a musket ball, which broke his arm, and wounded two more of the men, but killed nobody. The mate, calling
for help, rushed, however, into the round.house, wounded as he was, and, with his pistol, shot the new
captain through the head, the bullet entering at his mouth, and came out again behind one of his ears, so that
he never spoke a word more: upon which the rest yielded, and the ship was taken effectually, without any
more lives lost.
As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal agreed
upon with me to give me notice of his success, which, you may be sure, I was very glad to hear, having sat
watching upon the shore for it till near two o'clock in the morning. Having thus heard the signal plainly, I laid
me down; and it having been a day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound, till I was surprised with the
noise of a gun; and presently starting up, I heard a man call me by the name of "Governor! Governor!" and
presently I knew the captain's voice; when, climbing up to the top of the hill, there he stood, and, pointing to
the ship, he embraced me in his arms, "My dear friend and deliverer," says he, "there's your ship; for she is all
yours, and so are we, and all that belong to her." I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she rode, within little
more than half a mile of the shore; for they had weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters of her, and,
the weather being fair, had brought her to an anchor just against the mouth of the little creek; and the tide
being up, the captain had brought the pinnace in near the place where I had first landed my rafts, and so
landed just at my door. I was at first ready to sink down with the surprise; for I saw my deliverance, indeed,
visibly put into my hands, all things easy, and a large ship just ready to carry me away whither I pleased to
go. At first, for some time, I was not able to answer him one word; but as he had taken me in his arms I held
fast by him, or I should have fallen to the ground. He perceived the surprise, and immediately pulled a bottle
out of his pocket and gave me a dram of cordial, which he had brought on purpose for me. After I had drunk
it, I sat down upon the ground; and though it brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before I could
speak a word to him. All this time the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not under any surprise as
I was; and he said a thousand kind and tender things to me, to compose and bring me to myself; but such was
the flood of joy in my breast, that it put all my spirits into confusion: at last it broke out into tears, and in a
little while after I recovered my speech; I then took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer, and we
rejoiced together. I told him I looked upon him as a man sent by Heaven to deliver me, and that the whole
transaction seemed to be a chain of wonders; that such things as these were the testimonies we had of a secret
hand of Providence governing the world, and an evidence that the eye of an infinite Power could search into
the remotest corner of the world, and send help to the miserable whenever He pleased. I forgot not to lift up
my heart in thankfulness to Heaven; and what heart could forbear to bless Him, who had not only in a
miraculous manner provided for me in such a wilderness, and in such a desolate condition, but from whom
every deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed.
When we had talked a while, the captain told me he had brought me some little refreshment, such as the ship
afforded, and such as the wretches that had been so long his masters had not plundered him of. Upon this, he
called aloud to the boat, and bade his men bring the things ashore that were for the governor; and, indeed, it
was a present as if I had been one that was not to be carried away with them, but as if I had been to dwell
upon the island still. First, he had brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial waters, six large
bottles of Madeira wine (the bottles held two quarts each), two pounds of excellent good tobacco, twelve
good pieces of the ship's beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, and about a hundred.weight of
biscuit; he also brought me a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of lemons, and two bottles of lime.juice,
and abundance of other things. But besides these, and what was a thousand times more useful to me, he
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Robinson Crusoe
brought me six new clean shirts, six very good neckcloths, two pair of gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, and
one pair of stockings, with a very good suit of clothes of his own, which had been worn but very little: in a
word, he clothed me from head to foot. It was a very kind and agreeable present, as any one may imagine, to
one in my circumstances, but never was anything in the world of that kind so unpleasant, awkward, and
uneasy as it was to me to wear such clothes at first.
After these ceremonies were past, and after all his good things were brought into my little apartment, we
began to consult what was to be done with the prisoners we had; for it was worth considering whether we
might venture to take them with us or no, especially two of them, whom he knew to be incorrigible and
refractory to the last degree; and the captain said he knew they were such rogues that there was no obliging
them, and if he did carry them away, it must be in irons, as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the
first English colony he could come to; and I found that the captain himself was very anxious about it. Upon
this, I told him that, if he desired it, I would undertake to bring the two men he spoke of to make it their own
request that he should leave them upon the island. "I should be very glad of that," says the captain, "with all
my heart." "Well," says I, "I will send for them up and talk with them for you." So I caused Friday and the
two hostages, for they were now discharged, their comrades having performed their promise; I say, I caused
them to go to the cave, and bring up the five men, pinioned as they were, to the bower, and keep them there
till I came. After some time, I came thither dressed in my new habit; and now I was called governor again.
Being all met, and the captain with me, I caused the men to be brought before me, and I told them I had got a
full account of their villainous behaviour to the captain, and how they had run away with the ship, and were
preparing to commit further robberies, but that Providence had ensnared them in their own ways, and that
they were fallen into the pit which they had dug for others. I let them know that by my direction the ship had
been seized; that she lay now in the road; and they might see by.and.by that their new captain had received
the reward of his villainy, and that they would see him hanging at the yard.arm; that, as to them, I wanted to
know what they had to say why I should not execute them as pirates taken in the fact, as by my commission
they could not doubt but I had authority so to do.
One of them answered in the name of the rest, that they had nothing to say but this, that when they were taken
the captain promised them their lives, and they humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew not what
mercy to show them; for as for myself, I had resolved to quit the island with all my men, and had taken
passage with the captain to go to England; and as for the captain, he could not carry them to England other
than as prisoners in irons, to be tried for mutiny and running away with the ship; the consequence of which,
they must needs know, would be the gallows; so that I could not tell what was best for them, unless they had
a mind to take their fate in the island. If they desired that, as I had liberty to leave the island, I had some
inclination to give them their lives, if they thought they could shift on shore. They seemed very thankful for
it, and said they would much rather venture to stay there than be carried to England to be hanged. So I left it
on that issue.
However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty of it, as if he durst not leave them there. Upon this I
seemed a little angry with the captain, and told him that they were my prisoners, not his; and that seeing I had
offered them so much favour, I would be as good as my word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to it I
would set them at liberty, as I found them: and if he did not like it he might take them again if he could catch
them. Upon this they appeared very thankful, and I accordingly set them at liberty, and bade them retire into
the woods, to the place whence they came, and I would leave them some firearms, some ammunition, and
some directions how they should live very well if they thought fit. Upon this I prepared to go on board the
ship; but told the captain I would stay that night to prepare my things, and desired him to go on board in the
meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send the boat on shore next day for me; ordering him, at all
events, to cause the new captain, who was killed, to be hanged at the yard. arm, that these men might see
him.
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Robinson Crusoe
When the captain was gone I sent for the men up to me to my apartment, and entered seriously into discourse
with them on their circumstances. I told them I thought they had made a right choice; that if the captain had
carried them away they would certainly be hanged. I showed them the new captain hanging at the yard.arm
of the ship, and told them they had nothing less to expect.
When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I then told them I would let them into the story of my
living there, and put them into the way of making it easy to them. Accordingly, I gave them the whole history
of the place, and of my coming to it; showed them my fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my
corn, cured my grapes; and, in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy. I told them the story also of
