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Today we'll be continuing the Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

Chapter Two slavery and Escape.

That evil influence which carried me first away from my father's house, which hurried me into the wild and indigested notion of raising my fortune and that impressed those conceits so forcibly upon me as to make me deaf to all good advice and to the entreaties and even the commands of my father.

I say the same influence whatever.

It was presented the most unfortunate of all enterprises to my view, and I went on board a vessel bound to the coast of Africa, or, as our sailors vulgarly called it, a voyage to guinea.

It was my great misfortune that in all these adventures I did not ship myself as a sailor, when, though I might indeed have worked a little harder than ordinary, yet at the same time, I should have learned the duty and office of a foremast man and in time might have qualified myself for a mate or lieutenant, if not for a master.

But as it was always my fate to choose for the worse, so I did here.

For having money in my pocket and good clothes upon my back, I would always go on board in the habit of a gentleman, and so I neither had any business in the ship nor learned to do any.

It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good company in London, which does not always happen to such loose and misguided young fellows as I.

Then was the devil, generally not admitting to lay some snare for them very early.

But it was not so with me.

I first got acquainted with the master of a ship who had been on the coast of guinea, and who, having had very good success there, was resolved to go again.

This captain, taking a fancy to my conversation, which was not at all disagreeable at that time, hearing me say I had a mind to see the world, told me if I would go the voyage with him, I should be at no expense.

I should be his messmate and his companion and if I could carry anything with me, I should have all the advantage of it that the trade would admit and perhaps I might meet with some encouragement.

I embraced the offer and entering into a strict friendship with this captain, who was an honest, plane dealing man, I went the voyage with him and carried a small adventure with me, which, by the disinterested honesty of my friend, the Captain.

I increased very considerably, for I carried about 40 pounds in such toys and trifles as the Captain directed me to buy.

These 40 pounds I had mustered together by the assistance of some of my relations whom I corresponded with and who I believe got my father, or at least my mother, to contribute so much as that to my first adventure.

This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my adventures which I owe to the integrity and honesty of my friend, the captain, under whom also I got competent knowledge of the mathematics and the rules of navigation.

Learned how to keep an account of the ship's course, take an observation and in short, to understand some things that were needful to be understood by a sailor.

Frezzy took delight to instruct me.

I took delight to learn, and in a word, this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant.

For I brought home five pounds, 9oz of gold dust for my adventure which yielded me in London at my return, almost 300 pounds.

And this filled me with those aspiring thoughts which have since so completed my ruin.

Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too, particularly that I was continually sick, being thrown into a violent calendar by the excessive heat of the climate, our principal trading being upon the coast from latitude of 15 degrees north, even to the line itself.

I was now set up for a guinea trader and my friend to my great misfortune, dying soon after his arrival, I resolved to go the same voyage again and I embarked in the same vessel with one who was his mate in the former voyage and had now got the command of the ship.

This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man made.

For though I did not carry quite 100 pounds of my new gained wealth, so that I had 200 pounds left, which I had lodged with my friend's widow, who was very just to me, yet I fell into terrible misfortunes.

The first was this our ship, making her course towards the Canary Islands, or rather between those islands and the African shore, was surprised in the gray of the morning by a Turkish Rover of Saley, who gave chase to us with all the sail she could make.

We crowded also as much canvas as our yards would spread or our masts carried to get clear, but finding the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight our ship having twelve guns and the Rogue 18.

About three in the afternoon he came up with us and bringing two by mistake just a thwart our quarter instead of a thwart our stern, as he intended.

We brought eight of our guns to bear on that side.

And poured in a broadside upon him, which made him shear off again after returning our fire and pouring in also his small shot from near 200 men which he had on board.

However, we had not a man touched all our men at keeping close, he prepared to attack us again, and we to defend ourselves, but laying us on board the next time upon our other quarter, he entered 60 men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and hacking the sails and rigging.

We plied them with small shot, half pikes, powder chests and such like, and cleared our deck of them twice.

However, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship being disabled and three of our men killed and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Saley, a port belonging to the Moors.

The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I apprehended nor was I carried up the country to the Emperor's court, as the rest of our men were, but was kept by the captain of the Rover as his proper prize, and made his slave, being young and nimble and fit for his business.

At this surprising change of my circumstances from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed.

And now I looked back upon my father's prophetic discourse to me that I should be miserable, and have none to relieve me, which I thought was now so effectually brought to pass that I could not be worse for now the hand of heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone without redemption.

But, alas, this was but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will appear in the sequel of this story.

As my new patron or master had taken me home to his house.

So I was in hopes that he would take me with him when he went to sea again, believing that it would some time or other be his fate to be taken by a Spanish or Portugal man of war, and that then I should be set at liberty.

But this hope of mine was soon taken away, for when he went to sea, he left me on shore to look after his little garden and do the common drudgery of slaves about his house.

And when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in the cabin to look after the ship.

Here I meditated nothing but my escape and what method I might take to affect it, but found no way that had the least probability in it, nothing presented to make the supposition of it rational, for I had nobody to communicate it to that would embark with me no fellow slave, no Englishmen, Irishmen or Scotchmen there but myself.

So that for two years, though I often pleased myself with the imagination, yet I never had the least encouraging prospect of putting it in practice.

After about two years, an OD circumstance presented itself which put the old thought of making some attempt for my liberty again in my head.

My patron lying at home longer than usual without fitting out his ship, which, as I heard, was for want of money, he used constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes, oftener, if the weather was fair, to take the ship's penance and go out into the road of fishing.

And as he always took me and young Moresco with him to row the boat, we made him very merry, and I proved very dexterous in catching fish, insomuch that sometimes he would send me with a moor, one of his kinsmen, and the youth the moresco as they called him, to catch a dish of fish for him.

It happened one time that going of fishing in a calm morning, a fog rose so thick that though we were not half a league from the shore, we lost sight of it, and rowing we knew not wither or which way.

We labored all day and all the next night.

And when the morning came, we found we had pulled off to sea instead of pulling in for the shore that we were at least two leagues from the shore.

However, we got well in again, though with a great deal of labor and some danger, for the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning, but we were all very hungry.

But our patron, warmed by this disaster, resolved to take more care of himself for the future.

And having lying by him the longboat of our English ship that he had taken, he resolved he would not go fishing anymore without a compass and some provision.

So he ordered the carpenter of his ship, who also was an English slave, to build a little stateroom or cabin in the middle of the longboat like that of a barge with a place to stand behind it, to steer and haul home the main sheet, the room before a hand or two to stand and work the sails.

She sailed with what we call a shoulder of mutton sail and the boom jibed over the top of the cabin, which lay very snug and low and had in it room for him to lie with a slave or two and a table to eat on with some small lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor as he thought fit to drink.

And his bread, rice and coffee.

We went frequently out with this boat of fishing and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me.

It happened that he had appointed to go out in this boat either for pleasure or for fish, with two or three moors of some distinction in that place, and for whom he had provided extraordinarily and had therefore sent on board the boat overnight.

A larger store of provisions than ordinary and had ordered me to get ready three fuses with power and shot which were on board his ship.

For that they designed some sport of fouling as well as fishing.

I got all things ready, as he had directed, and waited the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out and everything to accommodate his guests, when, by and by, my patron came on board alone.

And told me his guests had put off going from some business.

That fell out and ordered me with the man and boy as usual, to go out with the boat and catch them some fish.

For that his friends were to SUPP at his house, and commanded that as soon as I got some fish I should bring it home to his house.

All which I prepared to do.

This moment my former notions of deliverance started into my thoughts, for now I found I was likely to have a little ship at my command and my master being gone, I prepared to furnish myself, not for fishing business, but for a voyage.

Though I knew not, neither did I so much as consider whether I should steer anywhere to get out of that place, was my desire.

My first contrivance was to make a pretence to speak to this more, to get something for our subsistence on board, for I told him we must not presume to eat of our patrons bread.

He said that was true.

So he brought a large basket of rusk or biscuit and three jars of fresh water into the boat.

I knew where my patron's case of bottles stood, which, it was evident by the make, were taken out of some English prize, and I conveyed them into the boat while the moor was on shore, as if they'd been there before for our master.

I conveyed also a great lump of beeswax into the boat, which weighed about half a hundred weight, with a parcel of twine or thread, a hatchet, a saw and a hammer all of which were of great use to us afterwards, especially the wax to make candles.

Another trick I tried upon him, which he innocently came into also.

His name was Ishmael, which they call Moly or Moly.

So I called to him.

Moly, said I, our patrons guns are on board the boat.

Can you not get a little powder and shot it?

Maybe we may kill some alchemies, a foul like our curlows for ourselves.

For I know he keeps the gunner stores in the ship.

Yes, says he, I'll bring some.

And accordingly he brought a great leather pouch which held a pound and a half of powder or other more and another with shot that had five or six pounds with some bullets and put all into the boat at the same time.

I had found some powder of my masters in the great cabin with which I filled one of the large bottles in the case which was almost empty pouring what was in it into another and thus furnished with everything needful we sailed out of the port to fish.

The castle which is at the entrance of the port knew who we were and took no notice of us.

And we were not above a mile out of the port before we hauled in our sail and set us down to fish.

The wind blew from the north northeast, which was contrary to my desire, for it had blown southerly.

I had been sure to have made the coast of Spain and at least reached to the Bay of Katis but my resolutions were blow which way it would, I would be gone from that horrid place where I was and leave the rest of fate after we had fished some time and caught nothing.

For when I had fish on my hook I would not pull them up that he might not see them.

I said to the moor, this will not do.

Our master will not be thus served.

We must stand further off.

He, thinking no harm, agreed, and being in the head of the boat, set the sails.

And as I had the helm I ran the boat out near a league farther and then brought her too, as if I would fish.

When giving the boy the helm I stepped forward to where the moor was and making as if I stooped for something behind him I took him by surprise with my arm under his waist and tossed him clear overboard into the sea.

He rose immediately, for he swam like a cork and called to me begged to be taken in.

Told me he would go all over the world with me.

He swam so strong after the boat that he would have reached me very quickly there being but little wind upon which I stepped into the cabin and fetching one of the fouling pieces.

I presented it at him and told him I had done him no hurt and if he would be quiet, I would do him none.

But, said I, you swim well enough to reach the shore and the sea is calm.

Make the best of your way to shore and I will do you no harm.

But if you come near the boat, I'll shoot you through the head.

For I'm resolved to have my liberty.

So he turned himself about and swam for the shore.

And I make no doubt but he reached it with ease for he was an excellent swimmer.

I could have been content to have taken this more with me and have drowned the boy but there was no venturing to trust him.

When he was gone, I turned to the boy whom they called Zuri and said to him zuri, if you'll be faithful to me I'll make you a great man.

But if you will not stroke your face to be true to me that is swear by Mahamet and his father's beard I must throw you into the sea too.

The boy smiled in my face and spoke so innocently that I could not distrust him and swore to be faithful to me and go all over the world with me.

While I was in view of the moor that was swimming I stood out directly to the sea with the boat rather stretching to windward that they might think me gone towards the Straitsmouth as indeed anyone that had been in their wits must have been supposed to do.

For who would have supposed we were sailed on to the southward to the truly barbarian coast where whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with their canoes and destroy us where we could not go on shore but we should be devoured by savage beasts or more merciless savages of humankind.

But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course and steered directly south and by east, bending my course a little towards the east that I might keep in with the shore and having a fair, fresh gale of wind and a smooth, quiet sea.

I made such sail that, I believe by the next day, at 03:00 in the afternoon when I first made the land I could not be less than 150 miles south of Saley quite beyond the emperor of Morocco's dominions or indeed of any other king thereabouts.

For we saw no people.

Yet such was the fright I had taken of the Moors and the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into their hands that I would not stop or go on shore or come to an anchor the wind continuing fair till I had sailed in that manner five days.

And then, the wind shifting to the southward I concluded also that if any of our vessels were in chase of me they also now give over.

So I ventured to make to the coast and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river.

I knew not what nor where, neither what latitude, what country, what nation or what river.

I neither saw nor desired to see any people.

The principal thing I wanted was fresh water.

We came into this creek in the evening resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark and discover the country.

But as soon as it was quite dark we heard such dreadful noises of the barking, roaring and howling of wild creatures, if we knew not what kinds that the poor boy was ready to die with fear and begged of me not to go on shore till day.

Well, jury said I.

Then I won't.

But it may be that we may see men by day who will be as bad to us as those lions.

And then we give them the shoot gun, says Zuri, laughing.

Make them run way.

Such English Zuri spoke by conversing among us slaves.

However, I was glad to see the boy so cheerful and I gave him a DRAM out of our patron's case of bottles to cheer him up.

After all, Zuri's advice was good, and I took it.

We dropped our little anchor and lay still all night.

I say still, for we slept none.

For in two or 3 hours we saw vast great creatures we knew not what to call them of.

Many swords come down to the seashore and run into the water wallowing and washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling themselves.

And they made such hideous howlings and yellings that I never indeed heard the like.

Zuri was dreadfully frightened, and indeed so was I, too.

But we were both more frightened when we heard one of these mighty creatures come swimming towards our boat.

We could not see him, but we might hear him by his blowing to be a monstrous, huge and furious beast.

Zuri said it was a lion, and it might be so, for Aunt, I know.

But poor Zuri cried to me to weigh the anchor and row away.

No, says I, Zuri, we can slip our cable with the buoy to it and go off to sea.

They cannot follow us far.

I had no sooner said so, but I perceived the creature, whatever it was, within two or's length which something surprised me.

However, I immediately stepped to the cabin door and, taking up my gun, fired at him upon which he immediately turned about and swam towards the shore again.

But it is impossible to describe the horrid noises and hideous cries and howlings that were raised as well upon the edge of the shore as higher within that country upon the noise or report of the gun a thing I have some reason to believe those creatures had never heard before.

This convinced me that there was no going on shore for us in the night on that coast and how to venture on shore in the day was another question, too.

For to have fallen into the hands of any of the savages had been as bad as to have fallen into the hands of the lions and tigers.

At least we were equally apprehensive of the danger of it.

But that as it would, we were obliged to go on shore somewhere other for water, for we had not a pint left in the boat when and where to get it.

What's the point?

Zuri said if I would let him go on shore with one of the jars he would find if there was any water and bring some to me.

I asked him why he would go, why I should not go and he stay in the boat.

The boy answered with so much affection as made me love him ever after.

Says he, if wild mans come, they eat me.

You go away.

Well, Zuri, said I, we will both go.

And if the wild man's come, we will kill them.

They shall eat neither of us.

So I gave Zuri a piece of rusk bread to eat and a DRAM out of our patron's case of bottles which I mentioned before and we hauled the boat in as near the shore as we thought was proper and so waited on shore carrying nothing but our arms and two jars for water.

I did not care to go out of sight of the boat fearing the coming of canoes with savages down the river but the boy, seeing a low place about a mile up the country, rambled to it.

And by and by I saw him come running towards me.

I thought he was pursued by some savage or frightened with some wild beast and I ran forward towards him to help him.

But when I came nearer to him I saw something hanging over his shoulders which was a creature that he had shot like a hair but different in color and longer legs.

However, we were very glad of it, and it was very good meat.

But the great joy that poor Zuri came with was to tell me he had found good water and seen no wild mans.

But we found afterwards that we need not take such pains for water for a little higher up the creek where we were found, the water fresh when the tide was out, which flowed but a little way up.

So we filled our jars and feasted on the hare he had killed and prepared to go on our way.

Having seen no footsteps of any human creature in that part of the country as I'd been one voyage to this coast before I knew very well that the islands of the Canaries and the Cape de Verde Islands also lay not far off from the coast.

But as I had no instruments to take an observation to know what latitude we were in and not exactly knowing or at least remembering what latitude they were in I knew not where to look for them or when to stand off to see towards them.

Otherwise I might now easily have found some of these islands.

But my hope was that if I stood along this coast till I came to that part where the English traded I should find some of their vessels upon their usual design of trade that would relieve and take us in.

But by the best of my calculation that place where I now was must be that country which, lying between the emperor of Morocco's dominions and the Negroes lies waste and uninhabited except by wild beasts.

The negroes having abandoned it and gone further south for fear of the Moors and the Moors not thinking it worth inhabiting by reason of its barrenness and indeed both forsaking it because of the prodigious number of tigers.

Lions.

Leopards and other furious creatures which harbor there so that the Moors use it for their hunting.

Only where they go like an army, two or 3000 men at a time.

And indeed for near a hundred miles together upon the coast we saw nothing but a waste, uninhabited country by day and heard nothing but howlings and roaring of wild beasts by night.

Once or twice in the daytime I thought I saw the pico of tenArif being the high top of the mountain tenArif in the canaries and had a great mind to venture out in hopes of reaching Thither.

But having tried twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds the sea also going too high for my little vessel.

So I resolved to pursue my first design and keep along the shore.

Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water.

After we had left this place and once in particular being early in the morning we came to an anchor under a little point of land which was pretty high and the tide beginning to flow, we lay still to go further in.

Zuri, whose eyes were more about him than it seems mine were calls softly to me and tells me that we had best go further off the shore.

Bore, says he, look, yonder lies a dreadful monster on the side of that hillock.

Fast asleep, I looked where he pointed and saw a dreadful monster indeed for it was a terrible great lion that lay on the side of the shore under the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as if it were a little over him.

Zuri, says I, you shall on shore and kill him.

Zuri looked frightened and said, Me kill?

He eat me at one mouth.

One mouthful he meant.

However, I said no more to the boy, but bade him lie still.

And I took our biggest gun, which was almost musket boar and loaded it with a good charge of powder and with two slugs and laid it down.

Then I loaded another gun with two bullets and the third for we had three pieces I loaded with five smaller bullets.

I took the best aim I could with the first piece to have shot him in.

The head.

But he lay so with his leg raised a little above his nose, that the slugs hit his leg about the knee and broke the bone.

He started up growling at first, but finding his leg broken, fell down again, and then got upon three legs and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard.

I was a little surprised that I had not hit him on the head.

However, I took up the second piece immediately, and though he began to move off, fired again, and shot him in the head, and had the pleasure to see him drop and make but little noise, but lie struggling for life.

Then Zuri took heart, and would have let me go on shore.

Well, go, said I.

So the boy jumped into the water, and taking a little gun in one hand, swam to shore with the other hand, and coming close to the creature, put the muzle of the piece to his ear and shot him in the head again, which dispatched him quite.

This was game indeed to us, but this was no food, and I was very sorry to lose three charges of powder and shot upon a creature that was good for nothing to us.

However, Zuri said he would have some of him.

So he comes on board and asks me to give him the hatchet.

For what?

Zuri said I.

Me cut off his head, said he.

However, Zuri could not cut off his head, but he cut off a foot and brought it with him, and it was a monstrous great one.

I bethought myself, however, that perhaps the skin of him might one way or other be of some value to us, and I resolved to take off his skin if I could.

So Zuri and I went to work with him.

But Zuri was much the better workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it.

Indeed, it took us both up the whole day, but at last we got off the hide of him and spreading it on the top of our cabin, the sun effectually dried it in two days time, and it afterwards served me to lie upon.

Thank you for joining Bite at a Time books today while we read a bite of one of your favorite classics.

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