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第2章 好厉害（四更）

them better rules than they were able to give themselves;only I made them promise me to live in love and good neighbourhoodwith one another; and so I prepared to leave them.

ere for a timeout of all government of themselves.

　　In two days more we passed the great China wall, made for afortification against the Tartars: and a very great work it is,going over hills and mountains in an endless track, where the rocksare impassable, and the precipices such as no enemy could possiblyenter, or indeed climb up, or where, if they did, no wall couldhinder them. They tell us its length is near a thousand Englishmiles, but that the country is five hundred in a straight measuredline, which the wall bounds without measuring the windings andturnings it takes; it is about four fathoms high, and as many thickin some places.

　　"Sir," says he, "asking your pardon for such freedom, you are rightin this, that, it being done in your absence, you could not becharged with that part of the crime; but, I beseech you, flatternot yourself that you are not, therefore, under an obligation to doyour utmost now to put an end to it. You should legally andeffectually marry them; and as, sir, my way of marrying may not beeasy to reconcile them to, though it will be effectual, even byyour own laws, so your way may be as well before God, and as validamong men. I mean by a written contract signed by both man andwoman, and by all the witnesses present, which all the laws ofEurope would decree to be valid."

f their country, andconquer them in one campaign; and had the Czar (who is now agrowing prince) fallen this way, instead of attacking the warlikeSwedes, and equally improved himself in the art of war, as they sayhe has done; and if none of the powers of Europe had envied orinterrupted him, he might by this time have been Emperor of China,instead of being beaten by the King of Sweden at Narva, when thelatter was not one to six in number.

　　The only just thing the rogues did was, that when the Spaniardscame ashore, they gave my letter to them, and gave them provisions,and other relief, as I had ordered them to do; also they gave themthe long paper of directions which I had left with them, containingthe particular methods which I took for managing every part of mylife there; the way I baked my bread, bred up tame goats, andplanted my corn; how I cured my grapes, made my pots, and, in aword, everything I did. All this being written down, they gave tothe Spaniards (two of them understood English well enough): nordid they refuse to accommodate the Spaniards with anything else,for they agreed very well for some time. They gave them an equaladmission into the house or cave, and they began to live verysociably; and the head Spaniard, who had seen pretty much of mymethods, together with Friday's father, managed all their affairs;but as for the Englishmen, they did nothing but ramble about theisland, shoot parrots, and catch tortoises; and when they

　　Though our men were able to fight them upon all occasions, yet theywere in no condition to pursue them, or hunt them up and down; foras they were too nimble of foot for our people when they found themsingle, so our men durst not go abroad single, for fear of beingsurrounded with their numbers. The best was they had no weapons;for though they had bows, they had no arrows left, nor anymaterials to make any; nor had they any edge-tool among them. Theextremity and distress they were reduced to was great, and indeeddeplorable; but, at the same time, our men were also brought tovery bad circumstances by them, for though their retreats werepreserved, yet their provision was destroyed, and their harvestspoiled, and what to do, or which way to turn themselves, they knewnot. The only refuge they had now was the stock of cattle they hadin the valley by the cave, and some little corn which grew there,and the plantation of the three Englishmen. Will Atkins and hiscomrades were now reduced to two; one of them being k

　　As for Will Atkins, who was now become a very industrious, useful,and sober fellow, he had made himself such a tent of basket-work asI believe was never seen; it was one hundred and twenty paces roundon the outside, as I measured by my steps; the walls were as closeworked as a basket, in panels or squares of thirty-two in number,and very strong, standing about seven feet high; in the middle wasanother not above twenty-two paces round, but built stronger, beingoctagon in its form, and in the eight corners stood eight verystrong posts; round the top of which he laid strong pieces, knittogether with wooden pins, from which he raised a pyramid for ahandsome roof of eight rafters, joined together very well, thoughhe had no nails, and only a few iron spikes, which he made himself,too, out of the old iron that I had left there. Indeed, thisfellow showed abundance of ingenuity in several things which he hadno knowledge of: he made him a forge, with a pair of woodenbellows to blow the fire; he made himself charcoa

　　Upon this, after long debate, it was concluded that they would notremove their habitation; because that, some time or other, theythought they might hear from their governor again, meaning me; andif I should send any one to seek them, I should be sure to directthem to that side, where, if they should find the place demolished,they would conclude the savages had killed us all, and we weregone, and so our supply would go too. But as to their corn andcattle, they agreed to remove them into the valley where my cavewas, where the land was as proper for both, and where indeed therewas land enough. However, upon second thoughts they altered onepart of their resolution too, and resolved only to remove part oftheir cattle thither, and part of their corn there; so that if onepart was destroyed the other might be saved. And one part ofprudence they luckily used: they never trusted those three savageswhich they had taken prisoners with knowing anything of theplantation they had made in that valley, or of any cattle