Chapter V.
From the time that our unfortunate exile made up his mind not to expect relief for three months, and to hope that his dear father had, by some unknown means, been delivered, his mind gained considerable strength, and he resolved that he would indeed "not be a child," but meet the exigencies of his case like a man. He did not like to hear the parrot use these words, therefore he took some pains to teach him to say, "Don't despair, my dear boy," instead, both because the words reminded him of his papa, and taught him his duty. Of course there were many, many times, when his spirits gave way, under the sorrows and loneliness of his situation; and some particular places could never be seen by him without tears, such as the grave of poor Captain Gordon, the little promontory, and the boat; but nevertheless, as he daily gained strength, and was at an age when the mind is naturally buoyant, in the course of a short time he ceased to afflict himself uselessly; he determined to meet his misfortunes like a man, and fulfilled his intention.
Had he been every day pining after release, had he spent his time in climbing into high trees, or standing on the spot where the flag was, he must undoubtedly become so reduced by famine, that he would at length have been unable to crawl, and in a state of perpetual solicitude during the day; and every night would have seen him overwhelmed with despair, and weeping as in his first agonies. He acted with far more wisdom, and therefore procured more happiness: he remembered particularly all which his father and the captain had said about idleness, and he resolved to give himself continual employment, even if his wants did not call for it; he recollected also, that his tutor had always pointed out to him the great value of apportioning certain times of the day to certain studies or amusements, and he said "he would do the same," as he was sure the time would pass much the pleasanter, from having a certain round of occupations. Charles had with him an excellent watch, but it had not been wound up for several days; he had likewise lost, as he believed (and truly), one day in the week; but this he now endeavoured to retrieve. He wound up his watch, making it twelve o'clock when the sun appeared highest in the heavens; and as there were a number of slender trees, with long smooth stems, standing in a cluster near Captain Gordon's grave, he fixed upon them for what he called his almanack, and began with cutting a line in the bark for every day he had spent in the island; this brought to his recollection that the present day must be a Sunday, therefore he cut the line twice as long, and putting down his knife, said—"It is proper I should 'remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy,' so I will do nothing to-day but feed my dear Poll and read my Bible. What a comfort it is that I have a Bible to read! that when all the books in the ship were gone, this should be saved in the captain's pocket! when I have done reading, I will try to compose a prayer, to thank God for this particular blessing." When Charles had read several chapters, first in Genesis, and then in the Acts of the Apostles, which he called the lessons of the day, he recollected that Robinson Crusoe, in his desert island, had fixed on a place for a church, and he determined that he would do the same. He knew that his island was much less than the one described in this favourite story, that it had no high hill, or romantic rocks; but he remembered that there were two or three very large venerable trees, in what appeared the midst of it; and he set out for the first time to examine them. It was from one of these high trees that Sambo had discovered (or thought he discovered) a vessel, and this supposition had led to his present situation; but he did not allow this fact to afflict him now. He said to himself—"I will make this my church, in which I will keep Sunday, by reading and praying here; and if it has innocently been the means of depriving me of my earthly parent, who knows that it may not give me still more than it has taken away, by drawing down the mercy of my heavenly parent, who, the Bible says, 'is a God that answereth prayer,' and even 'from the mouths of babes has ordained praise.'" Charles returned to his hut, composed and happy, making a hearty supper of dates, and intending the next day to begin a regular course of industry and care, suitable to his situation and necessities.
The first thing Charles did on Monday morning, was to examine the stores of his hut. They consisted of three canisters of gunpowder, not containing more than two pounds each; a large earthen bottle of lamp oil, and flask of olive oil; about a dozen cocoa-nuts, and a famous canister of coffee; a jar of molasses, and another of warm pickles. All the things they secured (except a small barrel of pickled pork) had been got from the captain's cabin, and consisted of a tea-kettle, coffee-biggin, two cups, and a basin; three knives, an odd fork, a coat and cloak, a razor-case, medicine-chest, and his bed, which has been already mentioned. In addition to these things (taken out at the time of the wreck), they afterwards secured two guns, a tin lamp, and a box of clothing, which had been appropriated as a seat by Mr. Crusoe. There was a wine barrel observed to stick fast in the sand, which it had been Mr. Crusoe's intention to secure; but the death of the captain following so soon, put it out of his mind. On looking over these things, Charles necessarily came to that valuable property, left by that poor gentleman, and he took care to keep it safe as before; but he could not help saying—"Ah! of how little value is money to me now! these bonds and bills, and even these glittering jewels, if they were my own, I should gladly exchange for bread and meat, of even the poorest kind that could be given me." After replacing his stores, and allaying his hunger with one of the cocoa-nuts, he proceeded to the place where his gun remained buried under the sand; and after a good deal of trouble, succeeded in getting it out; after which he set seriously to work to clean it. Charles had never really worked before in his life, though he had lately done many things of the same nature: he was very proud when he got it again into order, considering it as the only thing he had to depend upon for his future subsistence; and therefore, as soon as his job was completed, he loaded it, and went towards the upper end of the island, to see if he could shoot one of the little hares which he had frequently seen running amongst the grass.
Charles was exceedingly fond of all animals, and his heart ached at the thoughts of killing any of those innocent creatures, which he considered as having a better right to the island than he had; and it was a long time before he could persuade himself to fire. He, however, recollected that he had seen no cocoa-nuts on the island, that the dates were very small, that his hunger was very great, and not likely to be appeased without animal food, and that undoubtedly if his father had remained on the island, he would have shot many of them before this time. Thus encouraging himself, he at length fired, and shot a fine leveret in the head, which of course died instantly, to his great satisfaction, as it would have grieved him sadly to witness the pangs of death. He took it up and carried it to the hut, where he lighted a fire, intending to roast it as his father had roasted some fish, by putting a stick into the ground, to which it was tied, and first doing one side and then another. He found this animal of course much more troublesome to cook than the fish had been, because of the skin; and to him the task of skinning it was so difficult and disgusting, that he thought if he lived a year at the island, he would never shoot another; but when it was roasted, he made a very hearty meal, and put by the remainder, with sincere thankfulness for such a needful refreshment.
Every day of his life he walked to the promontory, to see that the flag was still hanging; and he generally came home past the boat, to see that it also was safe. One day, when he went as usual, he was exceedingly alarmed by perceiving a monstrous large fish, close by the side of it, opening a tremendous mouth, and gazing with a pair of prodigious eyes at him, as if it would swallow him instantly. He retreated as fast as possible, and then turning, fired, on which the creature, after beating the sand with his tail in an outrageous manner, floundered back into the sea, leaving poor Charles in such a tremor as he had never been since the time when he first found that he was left fatherless and friendless on this desolate island.
"Surely," said the poor boy, "my father did not fall a prey to that horrible creature, or such as he is!" The thought was so terrible, that he could not sustain it; and therefore when he got home, he began reading the history of Joseph and his brethren, to put it out of his mind. Indeed, whenever he felt anxious or unhappy, he always began to read the Bible, either to strengthen his faith in the goodness of God (through the merits of our Redeemer), or to amuse and divert him, by the extraordinary and interesting persons and events of which it treats. Many a time did Charles wonder that he knew so little of the Bible; but for that very reason, it had, at this time, the advantage of being entirely new to him. He knew that his mamma read frequently in it; and that she used to hear him read, and so did his father; but though they said it was beautiful and excellent, he had always considered it as a kind of task it was his duty to perform, not an actual pleasure, as he now found it to be; so that he could scarcely lay it down, from any motive but that of hunger. When his spirits had become composed, he considered, that probably the creature in question was a shark, of which he had heard the sailors talk a good deal, as being a most ravenous creature, and also that they were frequently seen before a storm; so he began to consider that perhaps another tempest would soon be visiting the island, and he must guard, as well as he could, from the effects.
His first care was to gather all the dates he could, since although they were not near so fine as those in India, they were very valuable to him, for he eat them as bread to his coffee, which was generally his first meal, and afterwards to his meat, if he had got any: they also formed the staple food of his parrot. He took great pains in laying them out to dry in the sun, turning them, so that they were in a manner cured for keeping; after which he dug a deep hole in the dry sand, and covering the inside with large dry plantain leaves, he laid the dates in layers, securing a stock, which was likely, as he thought, to last him all through the succeeding winter, if he remained on the island so long, which was but too probable. He next proceeded to gather figs, guavas, and oranges, so as to get a good stock; the figs he preserved in the same way as the dates, and the guavas he used for food at the present time, because they would not keep. As many large birds had lately been seen on the northern coast of the island, he took some pains in shooting them, for the purpose of drying their flesh by hanging it in the sun, to serve him during those months when it was probable they would have forsaken the island. He also contrived to make a fire-place, less liable to be affected by the wind than it had hitherto been, by building a wall, partly of sea-sand and partly stone, with three sides about a yard high, by which means the heat of the fire was preserved, and the smoke conducted to a certain height. Often would he ruminate on the possibility of having a fire within his hut, but this he found to be impossible, because there was no vent for the smoke; and if he had attempted to pierce a hole through the top, it might probably all come tumbling at once about his head, and both destroy his habitation and bury his property. In order to guard, as well as possible, against the evils of winter, he next made a very great collection of firewood, by gathering innumerable sticks, together with pieces of the wreck, which was now completely dried, from long exposure on the beach; and these he built up on the outside of his hut to a great distance, leaving himself only a narrow entrance, which he could close easily by a piece of board from within. When he had, with great labour and considerable ingenuity, got this construction finished, he set himself to work to thatch it all over, in such a manner as to keep out the wet, if any violent rain should come, remembering that the external covering would both keep his firewood dry and himself warm, when the cold winds of winter should arrive. He wished much that he could cut some flat turf; but as he had only such a shovel as is used in parlours for this purpose, he could not manage it; and he was obliged to use some large leaves, from a tree in the upper part of the island, but he found that they answered extremely well. His first care was every morning, as soon as he had prayed to God, to go and cut the notch in his almanack trees; and never did he fail to keep the seventh day as a day of rest and holy observance; but the number of weeks he thought he would not count, until there was a great many, in order that he might not harass his mind with watching for ships, whilst there was no chance for him to see any.
After seeing the great fish we have mentioned, he did not go near the boat for above a week; and when he then visited it, he heard a great rush in the water, which made him think the old enemy was returned; as however, he was well armed, he ventured to go forward, and jumping into the boat, he looked around carefully but fearlessly. He perceived great quantities of the most beautiful sea-shells he had ever beheld, upon the shore; and on stooping over the side of the boat to gather some, saw, under the shade, a fine turtle. This was to him a valuable prize, since he could instantly kill it, and carry it home; and it was a kind of food he greatly needed, for such was his fear of expending powder, before the time came for firing signal guns, that he had lately again suffered for the want of animal food, having confined himself to dates, and the remains of his cocoa-nuts, which although nutritive, were not sufficient food for a boy who was growing very fast, and had been used to every comfort in his earlier days. It must be remembered, that he had neither bread, butter, milk, nor wine; the dried dates, on which he principally lived, had now no sweetness to tempt his palate; so that he rarely eat more than barely sufficed to allay his appetite, and certainly required more.
The turtle was not only a present prize, but a promise for the future; and as it accounted for the great fish haunting the shores (since it probably sought food as well as himself), he lost that painful idea which had frequently crossed his mind, in spite of all his care to expel it, that his dear father had been devoured by the monster, who had followed the boat to find another victim.
We mentioned, that on arriving at the place where he found the turtle, he was well armed. This was by a contrivance of his own. He had broken down a young bamboo tree, about seven feet high, and having split the end of it, and taken one of Captain Gordon's razors out of the haft, he inserted it into the nick, contriving to put a little nail, which he picked out of the timbers of the ship, through the hole of the rivet, and then tying the whole very firm, with the fibres of a plant. With this weapon he contrived, many times, to kill fish in the clear rills of the island, and sometimes birds also, which was a great comfort to him, as every thing which saved his gunpowder seemed to him a present gain.
When he had been about two months on the island, the change of weather he had anticipated came suddenly upon him. One Friday evening it began to rain violently, just in the way of a thunder shower; but yet it continued so incessantly, that neither that day, nor three succeeding ones, could he venture out of the hut, where he found the value of the large stock which he had prepared for fuel, as the rain never penetrated his cavern, though the sound it made, in battering against the dry leaves, or trickling amongst the wood, where it found entrance, was so great, that it seemed as if he were seated in the midst of a cascade, or about to be overwhelmed beneath the waves of the sea.
The poor parrot was so much frightened, that he could not be easy any where but in the arms of his loving master, frequently crying out—"Captain Gordon, ahoy!" "Never despair, my dear boy!" and every thing else that he had been taught, which sometimes made his poor master smile, notwithstanding the awkwardness of his situation. As his hut was quite dark, he lighted his lamp, which was a luxury he rarely indulged (as he generally rose and laid down with the sun, on purpose to save his oil); and as his last stock of turtle was in the hut, he warmed it by degrees over the lamp, and fed Poll with some cocoa-nut, as he could not fetch him any dates from the shore.
Terrible as his situation would have appeared to his tender mother, had she beheld him thus cooped up in his solitary hut, over which a deluge was descending, that threatened every moment to overwhelm him, yet Charles himself was sensible of many comforts; and most devoutly thanked his heavenly Father for the shelter and food which he was blessed with, and the pleasure he experienced in having his poor parrot to speak to, and his lamp to warm his food, and cheer his darksome dwelling.—"Surely," said he, "I may say, that, considering my lonely situation, I am very well off; for although I am really houseless, yet I have a dwelling, which is the more remarkable, because the island is not rocky, as many places are. If it is not rich and fruitful, yet there are no venomous reptiles, no wild beasts, and there is plenty of good sweet water, and little dates, which are better than if they were bigger; for if the trees had been very tall, I could never have climbed into them, now poor Sambo is not here to help me—and then, what a comfort it is to have this good book to read, full of so much information, about all the most material things that have happened ever since the world began, and which tells me of what will take place when the world has an end! If I did but know what had become of my dear papa, really I should not be so very ill off, after all; I have surely reason to believe that the great God and Father of all looks down upon me with pity, though I am but a poor insignificant child, left (as it were) to perish on a lonely island." At length the pattering ceased, and a brisk air seemed stirring on the island; and Charles gladly crept out of his hiding-place, anxious to see the change this deluge might have made, and especially to examine the state of his dates, which he greatly feared would be entirely ruined. He found the usual rills of the island running like rivers into the sea, which also appeared to have encroached exceedingly on his little territory; and things seemed altogether so much changed, that he dreaded not finding the spot where his stores were garnered, a matter of the greatest importance, as he had no other supply for the present. After he had cut his usual notches, he began to count the trees, which brought him to two palms, where he had formed his reservoir. The sandy soil was so deeply saturated with the rain, that, after labouring in removing it till he was quite worn with toil, he was obliged to return to the hut, without accomplishing his object; but he took care to cover the place well with leaves, that he might resume his task the next day: and returned to make himself a fire, and get once more a cup of coffee, to which he had yet a few figs, which were left in his hut.
During the time he was digging, Charles was too busy to be aware of the great change in the atmosphere; but he now became sensible that it was extremely cold, and that a supply of clothing was not less necessary to him than food. After he had lighted his fire, and ground, or rather crushed, his coffee, between two flat stones, he put on that cloak of Sambo's which he had found; and after cutting two holes with the razor, for his arms, he tied it round him, with a rope of long grass, and found it added much to his comfort; but his legs and arms were still cold; and he now observed, with great regret, that his shoes would scarcely keep on his feet three days longer. His stockings were nearly quite gone; and his shirt, which he used frequently to take off, wash in the brook, dry in the sun, and then put on again, was now torn in so many places, that he had very little good of it.
In this dilemma, he once more determined, if possible, to get to the inside of the box, which had never yet been used for any thing but a seat, and which was so well made, that he had not any instrument whereby he could effect an entrance into it. It now struck him, that the best thing he could do was to shoot the box; and accordingly he dragged it out, as far as he could, from the hut, as he durst not fire into his dwelling, lest he should injure something besides the box. When we consider that the loss of a single cup would have been irreparable to him, we shall not wonder that he was as much afraid of injuring his little black hole, as if it had been a splendid drawing-room, and that he prepared for this affair, with as much solicitude as if he had been about to spring a mine.
