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

142 'ROBINSON CRUSOE.
lie could not exprefs himfelf fo fully, muft be his fen-
timents •, for the tears ran down his cheeks in fuch a
plentiful manner, that I had much ado to refrain from
weeping alfo, when I beheld the poor creature’s affec¬
tion: So that I was forced to comfort him in the bed
manner, which I did by telling him, ff he was content
to abide with me, I fhould be ever willing tokeephim.
After Friday’s grief was fbmething abated, more
fully to convince me of his affeftion, he faid, O Maf¬
ter, me not care he in tny nation, leave you here; me deftre
my nation learn good, that all; meaning that his defire
was for the converfition of that barbarous people.
But as I had no apoftolic million, nor any concern
about their falvation; fo I had neither the lead inten¬
tion or defire of undertaking it: And the ftrength of
my inclination, in order to efcape, proceeded chiefly
from my late difcourfe with Friday about thofe feven-
teen white bearded men, that had been driven upon
the barbarian coaft, whom I defigned tojoin with, as
a furer means to further our efcape. To which in¬
tent my man and I went to fearch for a proper tree to
fell, whereof we might make a large periagua, or ca¬
noe, to undertake the voyage : And indeed we need
not be long in finding one fit for our purpofe, there
being wood enough in the ifland to have built a fleet
of large vefiels : but the thing we principally wanted
was, to get one fo near the water, that we might
launch it after it was finifhed, and not commit fo hor¬
rid a miftake as I had done once before.
Well, after'a great fearch for what was bed and
mod convenient, Friday at lad, whofe judgement in
fuch affairs was much fuperior to mine, pitched upon
a kind of wood the mod fitting for it. To this day I
cannot tell the name of the tree I cut it from, nor
deferibe it any other way, than only by faying, that it
is very like what we call fudic, or betwixt that and
the Nicaragua wood, being much of the fame colour
and fmell. But tho’ my man exceeded me in the
knowledge of the mod proper tree, yet I fliewed