An American Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe (reading cloud ebooks .TXT) 📗

take up a mouthful of earth from the bottom and let it wash through their mouths, keeping all the bits of food that happened to be in it. When one fish got a good place to feed the others swam around it and tried to get some of the food.

Robinson watched his chance and slipped his net under a group, while each one was busy trying to get the best mouthful of mud. He drew up three quite large fish, but just as he was about to lift them from the water, one of the cords which bound the net to the poles broke and he saw his catch fall back into the creek and dart away in the deepest water. But Robinson was not to be discouraged. He soon mended his net and at last was successful. In a short time he drew out another catch of two fish.

These proved excellent food and were so abundant as to furnish Robinson with all the fish he wanted as long as he stayed on the island.

XXXIII ROBINSON BUILDS A BOAT

Robinson had wished for a boat many times. He wished to explore the shore of his island. He wanted to go clear around it so that he might see it on every side. But he knew the work of making a boat would be great, if not wholly impossible.

The shaping of boards to build a boat with his rude tools was not to be thought of. He knew how the Indians made boats out of bark of trees. But he saw that for his purpose so light a boat would not do. He finally remembered a second Indian way of making a boat by hollowing out a large log. The forest was full of the boles of trees that had been blown down. But they were far away from the shore. At first he did not think of this very much. He had overcome so many difficulties that he thought, “Never mind, I will get my boat to water, no matter where I make it, in some way.” So he selected a tree trunk some distance from the bank of the little creek near his cave and began work.

He had first to burn out his log the proper length and hack it into boat shape with his stone tools. This was very slow and tedious work. He had to handle the fire with great care for there was always the danger of spoiling the shape of the slowly forming boat. Both ends must be sharpened, but one more than the other to form the prow or forward going end. After he had shaped his boat, he began hollowing it out. This he did also by burning for the most part. He used the branches of pitch bearing trees for this purpose. But it was so slow. He worked at his boat all the time he could spare from his regular duties in attending to his goats, his garden and his cave. He was always making his cave larger. Every time he made a piece of furniture or stored away grain he must make more room in his cave by digging away the earth and carrying it out. He had made a large strong wicker basket for this purpose.

He had had a vague idea that when he got his boat done he would dig a trench back from the bank of the creek and thus float his boat. But he had not thought it out clearly. “Or anyway,” he thought, “I can in some way manage to roll it to the water.” He must now actually plan to put some of these ideas into effect. He first went over the ground and found that to dig a trench from the water to the boat, so that the water would come to the boat, he would have to dig it twenty feet deep. “I can never do this,” he said, “with my poor tools.”

He next tried his rolling plan. But he had been so anxious to have a large boat that he had overlooked everything else. Try as hard as he might he could not stir his boat from the spot. After many trials with the longest levers he could handle, the boat still stuck fast. It would not budge an inch. He at last gave it up. “It will lie here,” he thought, “to remind me how foolish it is to attempt to do anything without first having thought it out carefully.”

There was nothing to do but to choose another tree trunk. This time he selected a much smaller one, and one that lay at the top of the little slope or incline from the bank of the creek. After another weary six months of work he had his second boat ready for launching. With a good stout lever he gave it a start, when it rolled quickly down into the water. Robinson again wept for joy. Of all his projects this had cost him the most work and pains and at last to see his plans successful filled him with delight.

The next problem was how to make it go. He had no certain knowledge how far it was around the island, but he knew it was farther than he wanted to row or paddle his boat. Yet he knew from the way the wind blew that he could not always depend upon a sail to help him. He must become skillful in paddling his boat. A sail too would be very helpful at times. He imagined how pleasant it would be sitting in the boat sailing along with a gentle wind. “When the wind is favorable,” he thought, “I will only have to steer with my paddle.”

So he set about weaving a sail of his sisal fibre. To do this he had to make a much larger loom than he had yet used. His sail must be at least four feet square. He was now so skilled in weaving that this was soon finished. He then made plenty of string, cord, and rope, put in a mast and was ready to sail. But he did not venture far away until he had spent weeks and weeks in learning to steer, sail, and paddle his boat.

XXXIV ROBINSON AS A SAILOR

Ever since Robinson had finished his boat he had been eager to make a tour of his island. He had indeed made a journey by land. But the deep forests and tangled vines made it very difficult to travel. His journeys had shown him but a small part of the land. He wished to know all about the land of which he, so far as he knew, was the sole master.

His first care was to fit up his boat with provisions. He made some large baskets in which to carry food and a large covered jar for water. These he stored in the bow and the stern of his boat. He fastened his parasol on the stern for a shelter from the sun. He baked up a quantity of cakes or loaves of bread and packed them in his baskets. He had woven these so carefully that they would almost hold water.

At last all was ready. It was on the sixth day of November in the sixth year of his life on the island that Robinson hoisted his sail and set out upon this voyage of discovery. He had waited until the wind was gentle and blowing as far easterly as it does at that place. He scudded along bravely, running with the land toward the East and North. All went well until

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he came to a low reef or ledge of rocks running far out to sea in a north-easterly direction.

When Robinson observed this he went on shore and climbed to a high point to see if it was safe to venture. He was afraid of hidden currents, or streams of water. These might carry him away from the shore and prevent him from getting around the point.

He did indeed observe that there was a current running out to sea past the ledge, but he thought he could by careful paddling keep his boat from striking the rock. If he could once get beyond the ledge, the wind would help him double or get around the point. Indeed the danger was that the wind would blow him on to the rocks.

He waited for two days for a gentle wind. At last without sail he pushed his boat into the current and was born swiftly seaward. He found the current much stronger than he thought it would be. It rushed his frail boat on past the point of the rocks and out into the sea. Try as best he might he could not change its course. He was steadily going out to sea. He gave himself up for lost. He reproached himself for being so rash and foolhardy as to trust his fortunes in so frail a craft. How dear at this time seemed the island to him! The wind which he had depended on to help him at this point had died down so that it was at the mercy of the current. He kept urging his boat to the westward as much as possible, with all his strength, hoping that a breeze would finally spring up.

He struggled on bravely until about noon. He had been carried out a great distance into the sea, but not so far as to lose sight of the land. All at once he felt the breeze freshening up. It caught his sail and soon his boat was cutting across the current. He did not have to go far before he was free from it and making headway for the island, which he reached about four o’clock in the afternoon.

He found himself on the northern shore of the island, but before long the shore ran away to the southward again. He ran briskly along the west side until he found a little bay or cove. He determined to enter this, draw up his boat on shore and make his way back home across the island on foot. He was almost exhausted with his great labor and was worn out with anxiety.

In the centre of the arms of the cove he found a little creek entering the sea. He paddled into this and found a good place to hide his boat.

As soon as Robinson was again on land he fell on his knees and with tears in his eyes thanked God for his deliverance. The island which had seemed to him a prison now seemed the fairest and dearest place in the world.

Having made his boat safe he started back toward his shelter. But he was too tired to go far. He soon came to a little grove of trees beneath which he laid himself down and soon was fast asleep.

You can imagine with what surprise Robinson was awakened out of his sleep by a voice calling his name. “Robinson, Robinson Crusoe,” it

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said, “poor Robinson Crusoe! Where are you Robinson, where have you been?”

He was so fast asleep that he did not at first rouse up entirely and thought he was dreaming. But the voice kept calling, “Robinson, Robinson, poor Robinson Crusoe!” He was greatly frightened and started up. But no sooner were his eyes opened than he saw his parrot sitting on a branch of a tree. He knew at once the source of the voice.

Polly had missed her master and was also exploring the island. It was a pleasant surprise. She immediately flew to him and lit on his shoulder. She showed in many ways how glad she was to see him and kept saying, “Poor Robinson, poor Robinson Crusoe!”

Robinson remained here over night and the next morning made his way back to the shelter.