The Solitary of Juan Fernandez, or the Real Robinson Crusoe

Tropics.-Invasion of the Island.-War and Plun

is hammock is his sail, attached to his tall myrtles by strips of goat-skin. Perhaps he is resting after the fatigues of the day? No, it is the day of the Lord, and Selkirk now can consecrate the Sabbath to repose. With his eyes half closed, he is inhaling, undoubtedly, the perfume of his myrt

f large reeds; all set in handles of myrtle, stalks of coarse grain, or the hollow bones of birds. In these he is luxu

the nicotiana. As it was necessary to judge by their taste, he bit their leaves-chewed them, still in imitation of the monkey: but, to his new and profound h

fused all nourishment; his throat was burning; his body was covered with an eruption, and his languid and trembli

pride, with his eyes turned towards the sea, he allowed a long-repres

and wild sorrel completed the cure. Would he have dared to ask it of the other productio

han ever. What to him imports experiment, what imports danger? Is it not to procure this pr

ferent plants which appear to him most proper for the use to which he destines them, and to submit them afterwards to a trial by fire. Will not the smoke which e

e day banish it; so it is only with trembling that I here announce its relationship to the nicotiana; the other, which, like the petunia, grows in profusion in the islands as well as on the continent of

1

throxyl

thanks to a slight amalgam of chalk, sea-water, an

urniture of his house; he smokes while fishing, and while hunting; on his return to his dwelling, he lies down at the entrance of his grotto, on his bank of turf, re-lights his

withstanding this addition to his comfort, notwithstanding

his uneasiness continues; he ascribes it to his food, the insipidity of the fish which he has eaten without salt, since his quarter of pork is consumed, and his stores of pickled fish exhausted.

est breath of air, and the sea, motionless, ceases to dash against the shore. What an inexpressible weight such a silence adds to isolation! And yet it is not an unbroken silence, for then a shrill and harsh sound seems to grate upon the ear. It is as if in this muteness of nature, one could hear the motion of the earth on its axis; then, above his

and painful silence; he articulates a few words aloud, and his

o smoke, Selkirk was vainly awaiting the evening breeze; nothing came, but the obscurity of night. The moon, delaying her appearance, submitting in her turn

waves violently agitated and foaming. He thought he distinguished a multitude of barques and canoes furrowing the

; but he hears a frightful

d sweat bathes his forehead; he runs to his grotto, takes his gun, puts in his goatskin pouch some horns of powder and shot, a piece of smoked meat, not forgetting his Bible! and passes the nig

utions, he returns to his grotto. H

ies whose invasion

ia, having left the shores of Chili or Peru, are accomplishing one of their periodical migrations. They ha

eril, Selkirk finds amusement, a s

ea-elephants, flocks of old Neptune, who have their chiefs, their pacha; who are acquainted with and practise the discipline of wa

ed, half fish; their feet encased in a sort of web, and terminated by crooked claws, with which th

ghtful roaring and bellowing annoys him, and makes him regret the silen

s his fish-pond and bed o

fall beneath his balls, leaving the shore bathed in their blood. The rest at last take flight, and the army o

s the oil which he extracts in abundance from their fat. Now he can have a lamp constantly burning, even by night. He has all the comforts of life. Of the hairy skin of the seals, he manufactures a broad-brimmed hat

ul, which has already tormented him at different periods, becomes with Selkirk more and more frequent; he cannot conquer it as he did the seals. His s

sists in attributing to transient indisposition, he goes to walk in the

ite the sea, from which his eye can traverse its immense extent. He opens the holy book, and closes it immediately; th

me to his island and bear him from his desert, from his ennui. His e

waves seemed to break in foam, as against the prow of a ship; his eyes become dim, a tremor seizes him.

himself; 'it is a reef, a roc

mines again; he seems to see the waves whiten

inhabited? I will construct a barque, an

on the dry leaves which the wind has swept

Mari

At sight of Selkirk, she makes a movement as if to flee; but almost immediately adv

marked that he

et her for a long time, seemed to

man form, which he at first disliked, now awakens in him ideas of indulgence and peace. He reproaches himself with having treated her so brutally, when the poor animal, who alone had accompanied him into exile, at first accosted him

to her a little s

nd motions of the shoulders, which Selk

s her, saluting her wi

g with her teeth and lips

ame; then he starts for his habitation, and Marimonda follows him. The man