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

ROBINSON CRUSOE. 105
none appeared. This was a very great difcouragement,
at which I was very much concerned ; yet never did
this wear off the edge of my defire to the thing ;
but the longer it feemed to be delayed, the more eager
I was for it : In a word, I was never at firfi: fo careful
to fhun the loathed fight of thefe favages, as I was now
eager to be upon them. Befid.es,-1 thought mylclf
fufficiently able to manage one, two, or three favages,
if I had them, fo as to make them my entire {laves,
to do whatfoever I fhould direft them, and prevent
their being able at any time of doing me a mifchief.
Many a time did I ufe to pleafe myfelf with this affair,
with long and ardent expeftations ; but nothing yet
prefented, all my deep proje&ed fchemes and numer¬
ous fancies vanilhed away, as though while I retained
thofe thoughts, the decree of Providence was fuch
that no favages were to come near me.
It was about a year and a half, that as I was mofi:
ferioufly mufing of fundry ways how I fhould attain
my end, one morning early I was very much furprifed
by feeing no lefs than five canoes all on Ihore toge¬
ther on my fide the iflnnd, and the creatures that be¬
longed to them all landed, and out of my fight. Such
a number of them difconcerted all my meaffures •, for
feeing fo many boats, each of which would contain
fix, and fometimes more, I could not tell what to
think of it, or how to order my meafures to attack
tw’enty or thirty men fingle handed : Upon which
much difcomforted and perplexed, I lay ftiil in my
caftie ; however I put myfelf in the fame pofture for
an attack that I had formerly provided againft, and
was ready to enter upon an engagement, fhould they
attempt it. But when I had waited a long while,.till
fuch time as my impatient temper would let me bear it
no longer, I fet my guns at the foot of my ladder, and
as ufual afeended up to the top of the hill at two ftages;
however, handing that my head did not appear above
the hill, fo that by any means they could not perceive
me ;