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_ It was talking one night with a certain prince, one of the banished
ministers of state belonging to the Czar, that the discourse of my
particular case began. He had been telling me abundance of fine
things of the greatness, the magnificence, the dominions, and the
absolute power of the Emperor of the Russians: I interrupted him,
and told him I was a greater and more powerful prince than ever the
Czar was, though my dominion were not so large, or my people so
many. The Russian grandee looked a little surprised, and, fixing
his eyes steadily upon me, began to wonder what I meant. I said
his wonder would cease when I had explained myself, and told him
the story at large of my living in the island; and then how I
managed both myself and the people that were under me, just as I
have since minuted it down. They were exceedingly taken with the
story, and especially the prince, who told me, with a sigh, that
the true greatness of life was to be masters of ourselves; that he
would not have exchanged such a state of life as mine to be Czar of
Muscovy; and that he found more felicity in the retirement he
seemed to be banished to there, than ever he found in the highest
authority he enjoyed in the court of his master the Czar; that the
height of human wisdom was to bring our tempers down to our
circumstances, and to make a calm within, under the weight of the
greatest storms without. When he came first hither, he said, he
used to tear the hair from his head, and the clothes from his back,
as others had done before him; but a little time and consideration
had made him look into himself, as well as round him to things
without; that he found the mind of man, if it was but once brought
to reflect upon the state of universal life, and how little this
world was concerned in its true felicity, was perfectly capable of
making a felicity for itself, fully satisfying to itself, and
suitable to its own best ends and desires, with but very little
assistance from the world. That being now deprived of all the
fancied felicity which he enjoyed in the full exercise of worldly
pleasures, he said he was at leisure to look upon the dark side of
them, where he found all manner of deformity; and was now convinced
that virtue only makes a man truly wise, rich, and great, and
preserves him in the way to a superior happiness in a future state;
and in this, he said, they were more happy in their banishment than
all their enemies were, who had the full possession of all the
wealth and power they had left behind them. "Nor, sir," says he,
"do I bring my mind to this politically, from the necessity of my
circumstances, which some call miserable; but, if I know anything
of myself, I would not now go back, though the Czar my master
should call me, and reinstate me in all my former grandeur."
He spoke this with so much warmth in his temper, so much
earnestness and motion of his spirits, that it was evident it was
the true sense of his soul; there was no room to doubt his
sincerity. I told him I once thought myself a kind of monarch in
my old station, of which I had given him an account; but that I
thought he was not only a monarch, but a great conqueror; for he
that had got a victory over his own exorbitant desires, and the
absolute dominion over himself, he whose reason entirely governs
his will, is certainly greater than he that conquers a city.
I had been here eight months, and a dark, dreadful winter I thought
it; the cold so intense that I could not so much as look abroad
without being wrapped in furs, and a kind of mask of fur before my
face, with only a hole for breath, and two for sight: the little
daylight we had was for three months not above five hours a day,
and six at most; only that the snow lying on the ground
continually, and the weather being clear, it was never quite dark.
Our horses were kept, or rather starved, underground; and as for
our servants, whom we hired here to look after ourselves and
horses, we had, every now and then, their fingers and toes to thaw
and take care of, lest they should mortify and fall off.
It is true, within doors we were warm, the houses being close, the
walls thick, the windows small, and the glass all double. Our food
was chiefly the flesh of deer, dried and cured in the season; bread
good enough, but baked as biscuits; dried fish of several sorts,
and some flesh of mutton, and of buffaloes, which is pretty good
meat. All the stores of provisions for the winter are laid up in
the summer, and well cured: our drink was water, mixed with aqua
vitae instead of brandy; and for a treat, mead instead of wine,
which, however, they have very good. The hunters, who venture
abroad all weathers, frequently brought us in fine venison, and
sometimes bear's flesh, but we did not much care for the last. We
had a good stock of tea, with which we treated our friends, and we
lived cheerfully and well, all things considered.
It was now March, the days grown considerably longer, and the
weather at least tolerable; so the other travellers began to
prepare sledges to carry them over the snow, and to get things
ready to be going; but my measures being fixed, as I have said, for
Archangel, and not for Muscovy or the Baltic, I made no motion;
knowing very well that the ships from the south do not set out for
that part of the world till May or June, and that if I was there by
the beginning of August, it would be as soon as any ships would be
ready to sail. Therefore I made no haste to be gone, as others
did: in a word, I saw a great many people, nay, all the
travellers, go away before me. It seems every year they go from
thence to Muscovy, for trade, to carry furs, and buy necessaries,
which they bring back with them to furnish their shops: also
others went on the same errand to Archangel.
In the month of May I began to make all ready to pack up; and, as I
was doing this, it occurred to me that, seeing all these people
were banished by the Czar to Siberia, and yet, when they came
there, were left at liberty to go whither they would, why they did
not then go away to any part of the world, wherever they thought
fit: and I began to examine what should hinder them from making
such an attempt. But my wonder was over when I entered upon that
subject with the person I have mentioned, who answered me thus:
"Consider, first, sir," said he, "the place where we are; and,
secondly, the condition we are in; especially the generality of the
people who are banished thither. We are surrounded with stronger
things than bars or bolts; on the north side, an unnavigable ocean,
where ship never sailed, and boat never swam; every other way we
have above a thousand miles to pass through the Czar's own
dominion, and by ways utterly impassable, except by the roads made
by the government, and through the towns garrisoned by his troops;
in short, we could neither pass undiscovered by the road, nor
subsist any other way, so that it is in vain to attempt it."
I was silenced at once, and found that they were in a prison every
jot as secure as if they had been locked up in the castle at
Moscow: however, it came into my thoughts that I might certainly
be made an instrument to procure the escape of this excellent
person; and that, whatever hazard I ran, I would certainly try if I
could carry him off. Upon this, I took an occasion one evening to
tell him my thoughts. I represented to him that it was very easy
for me to carry him away, there being no guard over him in the
country; and as I was not going to Moscow, but to Archangel, and
that I went in the retinue of a caravan, by which I was not obliged
to lie in the stationary towns in the desert, but could encamp
every night where I would, we might easily pass uninterrupted to
Archangel, where I would immediately secure him on board an English
ship, and carry him safe along with me; and as to his subsistence
and other particulars, it should be my care till he could better
supply himself.
He heard me very attentively, and looked earnestly on me all the
while I spoke; nay, I could see in his very face that what I said
put his spirits into an exceeding ferment; his colour frequently
changed, his eyes looked red, and his heart fluttered, till it
might be even perceived in his countenance; nor could he
immediately answer me when I had done, and, as it were, hesitated
what he would say to it; but after he had paused a little, he
embraced me, and said, "How unhappy are we, unguarded creatures as
we are, that even our greatest acts of friendship are made snares
unto us, and we are made tempters of one another!" He then
heartily thanked me for my offers of service, but withstood
resolutely the arguments I used to urge him to set himself free.
He declared, in earnest terms, that he was fully bent on remaining
where he was rather than seek to return to his former miserable
greatness, as he called it: where the seeds of pride, ambition,
avarice, and luxury might revive, take root, and again overwhelm
him. "Let me remain, dear sir," he said, in conclusion--"let me
remain in this blessed confinement, banished from the crimes of
life, rather than purchase a show of freedom at the expense of the
liberty of my reason, and at the future happiness which I now have
in my view, but should then, I fear, quickly lose sight of; for I
am but flesh; a man, a mere man; and have passions and affections
as likely to possess and overthrow me as any man: Oh, be not my
friend and tempter both together!"
If I was surprised before, I was quite dumb now, and stood silent,
looking at him, and, indeed, admiring what I saw. The struggle in
his soul was so great that, though the weather was extremely cold,
it put him into a most violent heat; so I said a word or two, that
I would leave him to consider of it, and wait on him again, and
then I withdrew to my own apartment.
About two hours after I heard somebody at or near the door of my
room, and I was going to open the door, but he had opened it and
come in. "My dear friend," says he, "you had almost overset me,
but I am recovered. Do not take it ill that I do not close with
your offer. I assure you it is not for want of sense of the
kindness of it in you; and I came to make the most sincere
acknowledgment of it to you; but I hope I have got the victory over
myself."--"My lord," said I, "I hope you are fully satisfied that
you do not resist the call of Heaven."--"Sir," said he, "if it had
been from Heaven, the same power would have influenced me to have
accepted it; but I hope, and am fully satisfied, that it is from
Heaven that I decline it, and I have infinite satisfaction in the
parting, that you shall leave me an honest man still, though not a
free man."
I had nothing to do but to acquiesce, and make professions to him
of my having no end in it but a sincere desire to serve him. He
embraced me very passionately, and assured me he was sensible of
that, and should always acknowledge it; and with that he offered me
a very fine present of sables--too much, indeed, for me to accept
from a man in his circumstances, and I would have avoided them, but
he would not be refused. The next morning I sent my servant to his
lordship with a small present of tea, and two pieces of China
damask, and four little wedges of Japan gold, which did not all
weigh above six ounces or thereabouts, but were far short of the
value of his sables, which, when I came to England, I found worth
near two hundred pounds. He accepted the tea, and one piece of the
damask, and one of the pieces of gold, which had a fine stamp upon
it, of the Japan coinage, which I found he took for the rarity of
it, but would not take any more: and he sent word by my servant
that he desired to speak with me.
When I came to him he told me I knew what had passed between us,
and hoped I would not move him any more in that affair; but that,
since I had made such a generous offer to him, he asked me if I had
kindness enough to offer the same to another person that he would
name to me, in whom he had a great share of concern. In a word, he
told me it was his only son; who, though I had not seen him, was in
the same condition with himself, and above two hundred miles from
him, on the other side of the Oby; but that, if I consented, he
would send for him.
I made no hesitation, but told him I would do it. I made some
ceremony in letting him understand that it was wholly on his
account; and that, seeing I could not prevail on him, I would show
my respect to him by my concern for his son. He sent the next day
for his son; and in about twenty days he came back with the
messenger, bringing six or seven horses, loaded with very rich
furs, which, in the whole, amounted to a very great value. His
servants brought the horses into the town, but left the young lord
at a distance till night, when he came incognito into our
apartment, and his father presented him to me; and, in short, we
concerted the manner of our travelling, and everything proper for
the journey.
I had bought a considerable quantity of sables, black fox-skins,
fine ermines, and such other furs as are very rich in that city, in
exchange for some of the goods I had brought from China; in
particular for the cloves and nutmegs, of which I sold the greatest
part here, and the rest afterwards at Archangel, for a much better
price than I could have got at London; and my partner, who was
sensible of the profit, and whose business, more particularly than
mine, was merchandise, was mightily pleased with our stay, on
account of the traffic we made here.
It was the beginning of June when I left this remote place. We
were now reduced to a very small caravan, having only thirty-two
horses and camels in all, which passed for mine, though my new
guest was proprietor of eleven of them. It was natural also that I
should take more servants with me than I had before; and the young
lord passed for my steward; what great man I passed for myself I
know not, neither did it concern me to inquire. We had here the
worst and the largest desert to pass over that we met with in our
whole journey; I call it the worst, because the way was very deep
in some places, and very uneven in others; the best we had to say
for it was, that we thought we had no troops of Tartars or robbers
to fear, as they never came on this side of the river Oby, or at
least very seldom; but we found it otherwise.
My young lord had a faithful Siberian servant, who was perfectly
acquainted with the country, and led us by private roads, so that
we avoided coming into the principal towns and cities upon the
great road, such as Tumen, Soloy Kamaskoy, and several others;
because the Muscovite garrisons which are kept there are very
curious and strict in their observation upon travellers, and
searching lest any of the banished persons of note should make
their escape that way into Muscovy; but, by this means, as we were
kept out of the cities, so our whole journey was a desert, and we
were obliged to encamp and lie in our tents, when we might have had
very good accommodation in the cities on the way; this the young
lord was so sensible of, that he would not allow us to lie abroad
when we came to several cities on the way, but lay abroad himself,
with his servant, in the woods, and met us always at the appointed
places.
We had just entered Europe, having passed the river Kama, which in
these parts is the boundary between Europe and Asia, and the first
city on the European side was called Soloy Kamaskoy, that is, the
great city on the river Kama. And here we thought to see some
evident alteration in the people; but we were mistaken, for as we
had a vast desert to pass, which is near seven hundred miles long
in some places, but not above two hundred miles over where we
passed it, so, till we came past that horrible place, we found very
little difference between that country and Mogul Tartary. The
people are mostly pagans; their houses and towns full of idols; and
their way of living wholly barbarous, except in the cities and
villages near them, where they are Christians, as they call
themselves, of the Greek Church: but have their religion mingled
with so many relics of superstition, that it is scarce to be known
in some places from mere sorcery and witchcraft.
In passing this forest (after all our dangers were, to our
imagination, escaped), I thought, indeed, we must have been
plundered and robbed, and perhaps murdered, by a troop of thieves:
of what country they were I am yet at a loss to know; but they were
all on horseback, carried bows and arrows, and were at first about
forty-five in number. They came so near to us as to be within two
musket-shot, and, asking no questions, surrounded us with their
horses, and looked very earnestly upon us twice; at length, they
placed themselves just in our way; upon which we drew up in a
little line, before our camels, being not above sixteen men in all.
Thus drawn up, we halted, and sent out the Siberian servant, who
attended his lord, to see who they were; his master was the more
willing to let him go, because he was not a little apprehensive
that they were a Siberian troop sent out after him. The man came
up near them with a flag of truce, and called to them; but though
he spoke several of their languages, or dialects of languages
rather, he could not understand a word they said; however, after
some signs to him not to come near them at his peril, the fellow
came back no wiser than he went; only that by their dress, he said,
he believed them to be some Tartars of Kalmuck, or of the
Circassian hordes, and that there must be more of them upon the
great desert, though he never heard that any of them were seen so
far north before.
This was small comfort to us; however, we had no remedy: there was
on our left hand, at about a quarter of a mile distance, a little
grove, and very near the road. I immediately resolved we should
advance to those trees, and fortify ourselves as well as we could
there; for, first, I considered that the trees would in a great
measure cover us from their arrows; and, in the next place, they
could not come to charge us in a body: it was, indeed, my old
Portuguese pilot who proposed it, and who had this excellency
attending him, that he was always readiest and most apt to direct
and encourage us in cases of the most danger. We advanced
immediately, with what speed we could, and gained that little wood;
the Tartars, or thieves, for we knew not what to call them, keeping
their stand, and not attempting to hinder us. When we came
thither, we found, to our great satisfaction, that it was a swampy
piece of ground, and on the one side a very great spring of water,
which, running out in a little brook, was a little farther joined
by another of the like size; and was, in short, the source of a
considerable river, called afterwards the Wirtska; the trees which
grew about this spring were not above two hundred, but very large,
and stood pretty thick, so that as soon as we got in, we saw
ourselves perfectly safe from the enemy unless they attacked us on
foot.
While we stayed here waiting the motion of the enemy some hours,
without perceiving that they made any movement, our Portuguese,
with some help, cut several arms of trees half off, and laid them
hanging across from one tree to another, and in a manner fenced us
in. About two hours before night they came down directly upon us;
and though we had not perceived it, we found they had been joined
by some more, so that they were near fourscore horse; whereof,
however, we fancied some were women. They came on till they were
within half-shot of our little wood, when we fired one musket
without ball, and called to them in the Russian tongue to know what
they wanted, and bade them keep off; but they came on with a double
fury up to the wood-side, not imagining we were so barricaded that
they could not easily break in. Our old pilot was our captain as
well as our engineer, and desired us not to fire upon them till
they came within pistol-shot, that we might be sure to kill, and
that when we did fire we should be sure to take good aim; we bade
him give the word of command, which he delayed so long that they
were some of them within two pikes' length of us when we let fly.
We aimed so true that we killed fourteen of them, and wounded
several others, as also several of their horses; for we had all of
us loaded our pieces with two or three bullets apiece at least.
They were terribly surprised with our fire, and retreated
immediately about one hundred rods from us; in which time we loaded
our pieces again, and seeing them keep that distance, we sallied
out, and caught four or five of their horses, whose riders we
supposed were killed; and coming up to the dead, we judged they
were Tartars, but knew not how they came to make an excursion such
an unusual length.
About an hour after they again made a motion to attack us, and rode
round our little wood to see where they might break in; but finding
us always ready to face them, they went off again; and we resolved
not to stir for that night.
We slept little, but spent the most part of the night in
strengthening our situation, and barricading the entrances into the
wood, and keeping a strict watch. We waited for daylight, and when
it came, it gave us a very unwelcome discovery indeed; for the
enemy, who we thought were discouraged with the reception they met
with, were now greatly increased, and had set up eleven or twelve
huts or tents, as if they were resolved to besiege us; and this
little camp they had pitched upon the open plain, about three-
quarters of a mile from us. I confess I now gave myself over for
lost, and all that I had; the loss of my effects did not lie so
near me, though very considerable, as the thoughts of falling into
the hands of such barbarians at the latter end of my journey, after
so many difficulties and hazards as I had gone through, and even in
sight of our port, where we expected safety and deliverance. As to
my partner, he was raging, and declared that to lose his goods
would be his ruin, and that he would rather die than be starved,
and he was for fighting to the last drop.
The young lord, a most gallant youth, was for fighting to the last
also; and my old pilot was of opinion that we were able to resist
them all in the situation we were then in. Thus we spent the day
in debates of what we should do; but towards evening we found that
the number of our enemies still increased, and we did not know but
by the morning they might still be a greater number: so I began to
inquire of those people we had brought from Tobolski if there were
no private ways by which we might avoid them in the night, and
perhaps retreat to some town, or get help to guard us over the
desert. The young lord's Siberian servant told us, if we designed
to avoid them, and not fight, he would engage to carry us off in
the night, to a way that went north, towards the river Petruz, by
which he made no question but we might get away, and the Tartars
never discover it; but, he said, his lord had told him he would not
retreat, but would rather choose to fight. I told him he mistook
his lord: for that he was too wise a man to love fighting for the
sake of it; that I knew he was brave enough by what he had showed
already; but that he knew better than to desire seventeen or
eighteen men to fight five hundred, unless an unavoidable necessity
forced them to it; and that if he thought it possible for us to
escape in the night, we had nothing else to do but to attempt it.
He answered, if his lordship gave him such orders, he would lose
his life if he did not perform it; we soon brought his lord to give
that order, though privately, and we immediately prepared for
putting it in practice.
And first, as soon as it began to be dark, we kindled a fire in our
little camp, which we kept burning, and prepared so as to make it
burn all night, that the Tartars might conclude we were still
there; but as soon as it was dark, and we could see the stars (for
our guide would not stir before), having all our horses and camels
ready loaded, we followed our new guide, who I soon found steered
himself by the north star, the country being level for a long way.
After we had travelled two hours very hard, it began to be lighter
still; not that it was dark all night, but the moon began to rise,
so that, in short, it was rather lighter than we wished it to be;
but by six o'clock the next morning we had got above thirty miles,
having almost spoiled our horses. Here we found a Russian village,
named Kermazinskoy, where we rested, and heard nothing of the
Kalmuck Tartars that day. About two hours before night we set out
again, and travelled till eight the next morning, though not quite
so hard as before; and about seven o'clock we passed a little
river, called Kirtza, and came to a good large town inhabited by
Russians, called Ozomys; there we heard that several troops of
Kalmucks had been abroad upon the desert, but that we were now
completely out of danger of them, which was to our great
satisfaction. Here we were obliged to get some fresh horses, and
having need enough of rest, we stayed five days; and my partner and
I agreed to give the honest Siberian who conducted us thither the
value of ten pistoles.
In five days more we came to Veussima, upon the river Witzogda, and
running into the Dwina: we were there, very happily, near the end
of our travels by land, that river being navigable, in seven days'
passage, to Archangel. From hence we came to Lawremskoy, the 3rd
of July; and providing ourselves with two luggage boats, and a
barge for our own convenience, we embarked the 7th, and arrived all
safe at Archangel the 18th; having been a year, five months, and
three days on the journey, including our stay of about eight months
at Tobolski.
We were obliged to stay at this place six weeks for the arrival of
the ships, and must have tarried longer, had not a Hamburgher come
in above a month sooner than any of the English ships; when, after
some consideration that the city of Hamburgh might happen to be as
good a market for our goods as London, we all took freight with
him; and, having put our goods on board, it was most natural for me
to put my steward on board to take care of them; by which means my
young lord had a sufficient opportunity to conceal himself, never
coming on shore again all the time we stayed there; and this he did
that he might not be seen in the city, where some of the Moscow
merchants would certainly have seen and discovered him.
We then set sail from Archangel the 20th of August, the same year;
and, after no extraordinary bad voyage, arrived safe in the Elbe
the 18th of September. Here my partner and I found a very good
sale for our goods, as well those of China as the sables, &c.;, of
Siberia: and, dividing the produce, my share amounted to 3475
pounds, 17s 3d., including about six hundred pounds' worth of
diamonds, which I purchased at Bengal.
Here the young lord took his leave of us, and went up the Elbe, in
order to go to the court of Vienna, where he resolved to seek
protection and could correspond with those of his father's friends
who were left alive. He did not part without testimonials of
gratitude for the service I had done him, and for my kindness to
the prince, his father.
To conclude: having stayed near four months in Hamburgh, I came
from thence by land to the Hague, where I embarked in the packet,
and arrived in London the 10th of January 1705, having been absent
from England ten years and nine months. And here, resolving to
harass myself no more, I am preparing for a longer journey than all
these, having lived seventy-two years a life of infinite variety,
and learned sufficiently to know the value of retirement, and the
blessing of ending our days in peace.
-The End-
'The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'
by Daniel Defoe _
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