above two furlongs over, we saw five great wolves cross the road, full speed, one after another, as if they had
been in chase of some prey, and had it in view; they took no notice of us, and were gone out of sight in a few
moments. Upon this, our guide, who, by the way, was but a fainthearted fellow, bid us keep in a ready
posture, for he believed there were more wolves a.coming. We kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us;
but we saw no more wolves till we came through that wood, which was near half a league, and entered the
plain. As soon as we came into the plain, we had occasion enough to look about us. The first object we met
with was a dead horse; that is to say, a poor horse which the wolves had killed, and at least a dozen of them at
work, we could not say eating him, but picking his bones rather; for they had eaten up all the flesh before. We
did not think fit to disturb them at their feast, neither did they take much notice of us. Friday would have let
fly at them, but I would not suffer him by any means; for I found we were like to have more business upon
our hands than we were aware of. We had not gone half over the plain when we began to hear the wolves
howl in the wood on our left in a frightful manner, and presently after we saw about a hundred coming on
directly towards us, all in a body, and most of them in a line, as regularly as an army drawn up by
experienced officers. I scarce knew in what manner to receive them, but found to draw ourselves in a close
line was the only way; so we formed in a moment; but that we might not have too much interval, I ordered
that only every other man should fire, and that the others, who had not fired, should stand ready to give them
a second volley immediately, if they continued to advance upon us; and then that those that had fired at first
should not pretend to load their fusees again, but stand ready, every one with a pistol, for we were all armed
with a fusee and a pair of pistols each man; so we were, by this method, able to fire six volleys, half of us at a
time; however, at present we had no necessity; for upon firing the first volley, the enemy made a full stop,
being terrified as well with the noise as with the fire. Four of them being shot in the head, dropped; several
others were wounded, and went bleeding off, as we could see by the snow. I found they stopped, but did not
immediately retreat; whereupon, remembering that I had been told that the fiercest creatures were terrified at
the voice of a man, I caused all the company to halloo as loud as they could; and I found the notion not
altogether mistaken; for upon our shout they began to retire and turn about. I then ordered a second volley to
be fired in their rear, which put them to the gallop, and away they went to the woods. This gave us leisure to
charge our pieces again; and that we might lose no time, we kept going; but we had but little more than
loaded our fusees, and put ourselves in readiness, when we heard a terrible noise in the same wood on our
left, only that it was farther onward, the same way we were to go.
The night was coming on, and the light began to be dusky, which made it worse on our side; but the noise
increasing, we could easily perceive that it was the howling and yelling of those hellish creatures; and on a
sudden we perceived three troops of wolves, one on our left, one behind us, and one in our front, so that we
seemed to be surrounded with them: however, as they did not fall upon us, we kept our way forward, as fast
as we could make our horses go, which, the way being very rough, was only a good hard trot. In this manner,
CHAPTER XX . FIGHT BETWEEN FRIDAY AND A BEAR
Robinson Crusoe
we came in view of the entrance of a wood, through which we were to pass, at the farther side of the plain;
but we were greatly surprised, when coming nearer the lane or pass, we saw a confused number of wolves
standing just at the entrance. On a sudden, at another opening of the wood, we heard the noise of a gun, and
looking that way, out rushed a horse, with a saddle and a bridle on him, flying like the wind, and sixteen or
seventeen wolves after him, full speed: the horse had the advantage of them; but as we supposed that he could
not hold it at that rate, we doubted not but they would get up with him at last: no question but they did.
But here we had a most horrible sight; for riding up to the entrance where the horse came out, we found the
carcasses of another horse and of two men, devoured by the ravenous creatures; and one of the men was no
doubt the same whom we heard fire the gun, for there lay a gun just by him fired off; but as to the man, his
head and the upper part of his body was eaten up. This filled us with horror, and we knew not what course to
take; but the creatures resolved us soon, for they gathered about us presently, in hopes of prey; and I verily
believe there were three hundred of them. It happened, very much to our advantage, that at the entrance into
the wood, but a little way from it, there lay some large timber.trees, which had been cut down the summer
before, and I suppose lay there for carriage. I drew my little troop in among those trees, and placing ourselves
in a line behind one long tree, I advised them all to alight, and keeping that tree before us for a breastwork, to
stand in a triangle, or three fronts, enclosing our horses in the centre. We did so, and it was well we did; for
never was a more furious charge than the creatures made upon us in this place. They came on with a growling
kind of noise, and mounted the piece of timber, which, as I said, was our breastwork, as if they were only
rushing upon their prey; and this fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occasioned by their seeing our
horses behind us. I ordered our men to fire as before, every other man; and they took their aim so sure that
they killed several of the wolves at the first volley; but there was a necessity to keep a continual firing, for
they came on like devils, those behind pushing on those before.
When we had fired a second volley of our fusees, we thought they stopped a little, and I hoped they would
have gone off, but it was but a moment, for others came forward again; so we fired two volleys of our pistols;
and I believe in these four firings we had killed seventeen or eighteen of them, and lamed twice as many, yet
they came on again. I was loth to spend our shot too hastily; so I called my servant, not my man Friday, for
he was better employed, for, with the greatest dexterity imaginable, he had charged my fusee and his own
while we were engaged . but, as I said, I called my other man, and giving him a horn of powder, I had him
lay a train all along the piece of timber, and let it be a large train. He did so, and had but just time to get
away, when the wolves came up to it, and some got upon it, when I, snapping an unchanged pistol close to
the powder, set it on fire; those that were upon the timber were scorched with it, and six or seven of them fell;
or rather jumped in among us with the force and fright of the fire; we despatched these in an instant, and the
rest were so frightened with the light, which the night . for it was now very near dark . made more terrible
that they drew back a little; upon which I ordered our last pistols to be fired off in one volley, and after that
we gave a shout; upon this the wolves turned tail, and we sallied immediately upon near twenty lame ones
that we found struggling on the ground, and fell to cutting them with our swords, which answered our
expectation, for the crying and howling they made was better understood by their fellows; so that they all fled
and left us.
We had, first and last, killed about threescore of them, and had it been daylight we had killed many more.
The field of battle being thus cleared, we made forward again, for we had still near a league to go. We heard
the ravenous creatures howl and yell in the woods as we went several times, and sometimes we fancied we
saw some of them; but the snow dazzling our eyes, we were not certain. In about an hour more we came to
the town where we were to lodge, which we found in a terrible fright and all in arms; for, it seems, the night
before the wolves and some bears had broken into the village, and put them in such terror that they were
obliged to keep guard night and day, but especially in the night, to preserve their cattle, and indeed their
people.
CHAPTER XX . FIGHT BETWEEN FRIDAY AND A BEAR
Robinson Crusoe
The next morning our guide was so ill, and his limbs swelled so much with the rankling of his two wounds,
that he could go no farther; so we were obliged to take a new guide here, and go to Toulouse, where we found
a warm climate, a fruitful, pleasant country, and no snow, no wolves, nor anything like them; but when we
told our story at Toulouse, they told us it was nothing but what was ordinary in the great forest at the foot of
the mountains, especially when the snow lay on the ground; but they inquired much what kind of guide we
had got who would venture to bring us that way in such a severe season, and told us it was surprising we were
not all devoured. When we told them how we placed ourselves and the horses in the middle, they blamed us
exceedingly, and told us it was fifty to one but we had been all destroyed, for it was the sight of the horses
which made the wolves so furious, seeing their prey, and that at other times they are really afraid of a gun;
but being excessively hungry, and raging on that account, the eagerness to come at the horses had made them
senseless of danger, and that if we had not by the continual fire, and at last by the stratagem of the train of
powder, mastered them, it had been great odds but that we had been torn to pieces; whereas, had we been
content to have sat still on horseback, and fired as horsemen, they would not have taken the horses so much
for their own, when men were on their backs, as otherwise; and withal, they told us that at last, if we had
stood altogether, and left our horses, they would have been so eager to have devoured them, that we might
have come off safe, especially having our firearms in our hands, being so many in number. For my part, I was
never so sensible of danger in my life; for, seeing above three hundred devils come roaring and open.
mouthed to devour us, and having nothing to shelter us or retreat to, I gave myself over for lost; and, as it
was, I believe I shall never care to cross those mountains again: I think I would much rather go a thousand
leagues by sea, though I was sure to meet with a storm once a.week.
I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in my passage through France . nothing but what other travellers
have given an account of with much more advantage than I can. I travelled from Toulouse to Paris, and
without any considerable stay came to Calais, and landed safe at Dover the 14th of January, after having had
a severe cold season to travel in.
I was now come to the centre of my travels, and had in a little time all my new.discovered estate safe about
me, the bills of exchange which I brought with me having been currently paid.
My principal guide and privy.counsellor was my good ancient widow, who, in gratitude for the money I had
sent her, thought no pains too much nor care too great to employ for me; and I trusted her so entirely that I
was perfectly easy as to the security of my effects; and, indeed, I was very happy from the beginning, and
now to the end, in the unspotted integrity of this good gentlewoman.
And now, having resolved to dispose of my plantation in the Brazils, I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, who,
having offered it to the two merchants, the survivors of my trustees, who lived in the Brazils, they accepted
the offer, and remitted thirty.three thousand pieces of eight to a correspondent of theirs at Lisbon to pay for
it.
In return, I signed the instrument of sale in the form which they sent from Lisbon, and sent it to my old man,
who sent me the bills of exchange for thirty.two thousand eight hundred pieces of eight for the estate,
reserving the payment of one hundred moidores a year to him (the old man) during his life, and fifty
moidores afterwards to his son for his life, which I had promised them, and which the plantation was to make
good as a rent.charge. And thus I have given the first part of a life of fortune and adventure . a life of
Providence's chequer.work, and of a variety which the world will seldom be able to show the like of;
beginning foolishly, but closing much more happily than any part of it ever gave me leave so much as to hope
for.
Any one would think that in this state of complicated good fortune I was past running any more hazards .
and so, indeed, I had been, if other circumstances had concurred; but I was inured to a wandering life, had no
family, nor many relations; nor, however rich, had I contracted fresh acquaintance; and though I had sold my
CHAPTER XX . FIGHT BETWEEN FRIDAY AND A BEAR
Robinson Crusoe
estate in the Brazils, yet I could not keep that country out of my head, and had a great mind to be upon the
wing again; especially I could not resist the strong inclination I had to see my island, and to know if the poor
Spaniards were in being there. My true friend, the widow, earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so far
prevailed with me, that for almost seven years she prevented my running abroad, during which time I took
my two nephews, the children of one of my brothers, into my care; the eldest, having something of his own, I
bred up as a gentleman, and gave him a settlement of some addition to his estate after my decease. The other I
placed with the captain of a ship; and after five years, finding him a sensible, bold, enterprising young fellow,
I put him into a good ship, and sent him to sea; and this young fellow afterwards drew me in, as old as I was,
to further adventures myself.
In the meantime, I in part settled myself here; for, first of all, I married, and that not either to my
disadvantage or dissatisfaction, and had three children, two sons and one daughter; but my wife dying, and
my nephew coming home with good success from a voyage to Spain, my inclination to go abroad, and his
importunity, prevailed, and engaged me to go in his ship as a private trader to the East Indies; this was in the
