Accidents > Life and most surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner, who lived eight and twenty years in an uninhabited island on the coast of America, near the mouth of the great river Oroonoque

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ROBINSON CRUSOE.
conduct very eminently appeared in the latter part
of my abode on this ifland ; I am a ftranger in deter¬
mining whence fhd'e fecret intimations of Providence
derive; yet,methinks,they are not only fome proofs of
the converfe of fpirits, but alfo of the fecret commu¬
nications they are fuppofed to have with thofe that
have not palled through the gloomy vale of death.
As in thefe many anxieties of mind, the care of
my prefervation put a period to all inventions and
contrivances, either for future accommodations or
conveniencies ; fo I never cared to drive a nail, chop
a flick, fire a gun, or make a fire, left either the noife
lliould be heardor the fmoke difcover me: And,
upon this account, I ufed to burn my earthen ware
privately in a cave which I found in the wood, and
which I made convenient for that purpofe: But the
principal caufe that firft brought me here was to
make charcoal, fo that I might bake and drels my
bread and meat, without any danger. While I was
cutting down fome wood for this purpofe, I percei¬
ved a cavity behind a very thick branch of under¬
wood. Curious to look into it, I attained its mouth,
and perceived it fufficient for me to ftand upright in
it. But when I had entered and took a further view,
t wo rolling fhining eyes, like flaming ftars, feemed
v to dart themfelves at me, fo that I made all the hafte
cut that I could, as not knowing whether it was the
Devil or a monfter that had taken his refidence in
that place. But when I recovered from my furprize,
I called myfelf a thoufand fools, for being afraid to
fee the Devil one moment, who had now lived al-
rnoft twenty years in the moft retired folitude:
- And therefore, rcfuming all the courage I had, 1
tonk up a flaming firebrand, and in I rufhed again ;
when not having proceeded above three fteps, f
was more affrighted-than before; for then I heard
a very loud ugh, like that of a human creature ih
the greateft agony, fueceeded with a broken noife,
refembling