iron crows, which however, though I found, it yet made driving thofe pofts, or piles, very laborious and tedious work.

But what need I to have been concerned at the tediouf nefs of any thing I had to do, feeing I had time enough to do it in? Nor had I any other employment, if that had been over,, at least that I could forefee, except the ranging the island to feek for food, which I did, more or lefs, every day.

I now began feriously to confider my condition, and the circumstances I was reduced to, and I drew up the ftate of my affairs in writing; not fo much to leave them to any that were to come after me, for I was like to have but few heirs, as to deliver my thoughts from. daily poreing upon them, and afflicting my mind; and as my reafon began now to mafter my defpondency, I began to comfort myself as well as I could, and to fet the good against the evil, that I might have fomething to diftinguish my cafe from worse; and I ftated it very impartially, like debtor and creditor, the comfort I enjoyed, against the miferies I fuffered, thus:

EVIL

I am caft upon an horri

GOOD.

But I am alive, and not

ble defolate ifland-void of drowned, as all my fhip's.

But I am in an hot cli mate, where if I had cloaths, I could hardly wear them.

I am without any defence, or means to refiit any violence of man or beast.

I have no foul to speak to, or relieve me.

But I am caft on an island where I fee no wild beats to hurt me, as I faw on the coaft of Africa: And what if I had been fhipwrecked there?

But God wonderfully fent the fhip in near enough the fhore, that I have gotten out fo many neceffary things as will either fupply my wants, or enable me to fupply myfelf, even as long as I live.

Upon the whole, here was an undoubted teftimony, that there was fearce any condition in the world fo miferable, but there was fomething negative, or fomething pofitive, to be thankful in it; and let this ftand as a direction from the experience of the moft miferable of all conditions in this world, that we may always find in it fomething to comfort ourfelves from, and to fet, in the defcription of good and evil, on the credit fide of the account.

Having now brought my mind a little to relif my condition, and giving over looking out to fea, to fee if I could fpy a fhip; I fay, giving over these things, I began to apply my felf to accommodate my way of liv ing, and to make things as eafy to me as I could.

I have already described my habitation, which was a tent under the fide of a rock, furrounded with a strong pale of pofts and cables, but I might now rather call it a wall; for I raised a kind of wall up againft it of turfs, about two feet thick on the outfide; and after fome time, (I think it was a year and an half) I raised rafters from it, leaning to the rock, and thatched or covered it with boughs of trees, and fuch things as I could get to keep out the rain, which I found at fome times of the year very violent.

I have already obferved how I brought all my goods into this pale, and into the cave which I had made behind me. But I must obferve too, that, at firft, this was

a con

1

a confufed heap of goods, which, as they lay in no order, fo they took up all my place; I had no room to turn myself, so I fet myself to enlarge my cave, and worked father into the earth; for it was a loose fandy rock, which yielded eafily to the labour I bestowed on it: And fo, when I found I was pretty fafe as to beasts of prey, I worked fideways to the right-hand into the rock, and then turning to the right-hand again, worked quite out, and made my door to come out on the outside of my pale or fortification.

This gave me not only egrefs and regrefs, as it was a back way to my tent, and to my ftore-house, but gave me room to flow my goods.

And now I began to apply myself to make fuch neceffary things as I found I moft wanted, particularly a chair and a table; for without thefe I was not able to enjoy the few comforts I had in the world; I could not write or eat, or do feveral thing, with fo much pleasure, without a table.

So I went to work; and here I must needs obferve, that as reafon is the substance and origin of the mathematics, fo, by ftating and fquaring every thing by reafon, and by making the most rational judgment of things, every man may be, in time, mafter of every mechanic art. I had never handled a tool in my life, and yet in time, by labour, application, and contrivance, I found at laft, that I wanted nothing but I could have made it, efpecially if I had had tools; however, I made abundance of things even without tools, and fome with no more tools than an adze and an hatchet, which perhaps were never made that way before, and that with infinite labour. For example, if I wanted a board, I had no other way but to cut down a tree, fet it on an edge before me, and hew it flat one ither fide with my axe, till I had brought it to be as thin as a plank, and then dub it smooth with my adze. It is true, by this method I could make but one board out of a whole tree; but this I had no remedy for but patience, any more than I had for the prodigious deal of time and labour which it took me up to make a plank or board. But my time or labour was little worth, and fo it was as well employed one way as another.

However,

However, I made me a table and a chair, as I observed above, in the first place, and this I did out of the short pieces of boards that I brought on my raft from the fhip. But when I had wrought out fome boards as above, I made large shelves of the breadth of a foot and an half, one over another, all along one fide of my cave, to lay all my tools, nails, and iron work, and, in a word, to feparate every thing at large in their places, that I might eafily come at them; I alfo knocked pieces into the wall of the rock, to hang my guns, and all things that would hang up.

So that, had my cave been to be feen, it looked like a general magazine of all neceffary things; and I had every thing fo ready at hand, that it was a great pleafure to me to fee all my goods in fuch order, and efpecially to find my ftock of all neceffaries fo great.

And now it was when I began to keep a journal of every day's employment; for indeed at first I was in too much hurry, and not only an hurry as to labour, but in too much difcompofure of mind, and my journal would have been full of many dull things. For example, I must have said thus: Sept. the 30th, after I got to fhore, and had escaped drowning, instead of being thankful to God for my deliverance, having first vomitted with a great quantity of falt-water, which was gotten into my ftomach, and recovering myself a little, I ran about the fhore, wringing my hands, and beating my head and face, exclaiming at my mifery, and crying out, I was undone, undone! till, tired and faint, I was forced to lie down on the ground for repofe, but durft not fleep for fear of being devoured.

Some days after this, and after I had been on board the fhip, and had got all I could out of her, yet I could not forbear getting up to the top of a little mountain, and looking out to fea, in hopes of feeing a fhip, then fancy at a vast distance I efpied a fail, please myself with the hopes of it, and then after looking steadily till I was almoft blind, lofe it quite, and fit down and weep like a child, and thus increase my mifery by my folly.

But having gotten over thefe things in fome meafure, and having fettled my houfhold tuff and habitation, made me a table and a chair, and all as handsome

abou

about me as I could, I began, I fay, to keep my journal, of which I fhall here give you the copy, though in it: will be told all thefe particulars over again, as long as it lafted; for at laft, having no more ink, I was forced to leave it off.

THE JOURNAL.

EPTEMBER 30, 1659). I, poor miferable Robinson Crufoe, being fhipwrecked during a dreadful storm in the offing, came on fhore on this difmal and unfortunate ifland, which I call the Inland of Despair, all the rest of the hip's company being drowned, and myfelf almost.

dead.

All the rest of the day I spent in afflicting myself at the difmal circumftances I was brought to, viz. 1 had neither food, houfe, cloaths, weapon, or place to fly to, and, in defpair of any relief, faw nothing but death be fore me, either that I thould be devoured by wild beafts, murdered by favages, or starved to death for want of food. At the approach of night, I flept in a tree, for fear of wild creatures, but flept foundly, tho' it rained all night. October 1. In the morning I faw, to my great furprife, the fhip had floated with the high tide, and was driven on fhore again much nearer the ifland; which, as it was fome comfort on one hand (for feeing her fit upright, and not broken in pieces, I hoped, if the wind abated, I might get on board, and get fome food and. neceffaries out of her for my relief) fo, on the other hand, it renewed my grief, at the lofs of my comrades, who, I imagined, if we had all ftaid on board, might have faved the ship, or at least, that they would not have been all drowned, as they were; and that, had the men been faved, we might, perhaps, have built us a boat out of the ruins of the hip, to have carried us to fome other part of the world. I spent great part of this day in perplexing myself on these things; but at length, feeing the fhip almost dry, I went on the fand as near