in the year 1805, a large ship, on the voyage homeward from the east indies, was wrecked in a violent storm in the south pacific ocean, about 500 miles from the cape of good hope. the ship went to pieces in the night, having struck on the rocky coast of an unknown island. when daylight appeared, 37 persons only remained out of about 200, who had been in the ship. these had been, for the most part, saved by seizing hold of spars or pieces of wood when the ship’s timbers separated. a woman and her two children got safe to shore on a hen-coop; indeed they were wrecked so near the shore, that the fowls in the hen-coop were found to be little worse for having been thrown into the sea. part of a regiment, which had been some time in india, was returning to england in the ship, and some of the soldiers and their wives and children were among those who were saved. the ship’s cook and the carpenter were also saved, and some[73] of the common sailors, but none of the officers of the ship, or those belonging to the regiment, were among the survivors. only one of the many passengers had the good fortune to get to shore; and he had saved his life by being a strong swimmer. his name and station were unknown to the crew, but he had gained among them, during the voyage, the name of the philosopher.
the shipwrecked (first plate)
the first day which this small remainder of the ship’s crew passed on the island, on which providence had thrown them, was melancholy enough. most of them sat on the rocks or on the ground, and kept looking on the sea from which they had so lately escaped. some were bewailing the loss of their relatives, some that of their money, and others that of their ship’s provisions; they were cold, and wet, and comfortless, and yet disposed to do nothing to better their condition.
amidst this general idleness, the philosopher, as he was called, was as busy as a bee. instead of sauntering about with a book, or gazing at the clouds, as he had often done on board the ship, he was hurrying along the shore in all directions, with such of the men as he could persuade to move, and examining every little creek and bay about the part of the island on which they were cast away. and he was well rewarded for his trouble, for the sea threw upon the land[74] all the lighter part of the cargo of the lost ship; provisions in sufficient abundance, some boxes of clothes, many chests of tea, some casks of flour, and large portions of the timbers and ropes of the vessel. in a small sandy creek, about a quarter of a mile distant from the wreck, one of the ship’s boats was found, upside down, and in it, preserved by being covered down tightly with a sail, were found a compass, a watch, and a few bottles of wine, with some biscuit, which had probably been put in for the use of the unfortunate persons who had ventured into the boat in the hope of reaching the land. a few yards farther on was found the dead body of a lady, one of the passengers from india, and by her side, wrapped closely and very carefully in a scotch plaid, a male child of about a year old, which was first supposed to be dead also; but the philosopher, fancying he perceived signs of life in the little creature, hurried back with the infant to the party who had refused to move, and gave it in charge to the women, which soon made them busy, for in the midst of their own misfortunes they were all anxious that the poor little child should live.
before the day was over, many of the dead bodies were thrown ashore, and all were decently buried. many of the drowned persons had filled their pockets with money, trinkets, and different valuables which[75] they possessed. the hope of sharing this booty soon spread activity among all the other idlers, and the recovered property was pretty equally divided among them all; the philosopher alone refusing to receive any of the money or valuables, and only reserving for his own use the compass, one of the watches, some of the books, with the paper and other contents of his writing-desk, which floated ashore after they had been on the island nearly a week. the spirits of the whole party being a little revived, they made fires, partook of an evening meal, and retired to rest in sheltered places under the hills, much more cheerfully than might have been expected in their situation.
it would be curious to relate the contrivances which the new inhabitants of the island had recourse to for their own comfort. the island was of a crescent shape, like most islands in the south sea, and was five miles across and six in length, with a large and beautiful harbor. there was grass, and there were shrubs, and many beautiful and delicate trees, and flocks of wild pigeons and other birds, and many butterflies and other insects, but no quadrupeds of any kind.
those who have read the adventures of robinson crusoe, know how much even one man might do in a desolate island, with the help of the stores of a ship, and with a gun and ammunition. our shipwrecked[76] people had many advantages over him. some of the sailors had been brought up farmers’ boys, three of the soldiers were glasgow weavers, the carpenter and the cook soon found plenty to do, and the women were tailors to the whole settlement.
in six months from the time of their landing, corn and potatoes were growing, hand-mills were working, women were spinning and teaching their children the same, and there were two looms nearly made by the ship’s carpenter, under the direction of the glasgow weavers. flowers were seen at the doors of several of the huts, and some parts of the island were inclosed with shrubs and trees. women might be seen spinning and teaching their children how to do the same. within six months more, the population of the island was increased by the birth of four children.
the shipwrecked (second plate)
every man at first worked at every thing; and the same man dug his ground, caught his wild-fowl, gathered the eggs from the nests in the rocks, and repaired his house when necessary. in short, every man was what we call a jack-of-all-trades, and as happens commonly in such cases, hardly any was master of one. but when the first clothes which they had got from the ship were almost worn out, and every man tried to patch and mend his own, they began to think it would be better if one or two of the party should take that[77] business into their own hands, and it was then given up to the women. when the looms were set to work, the two weavers were chiefly employed in making a coarse kind of cloth from a sort of hemp which grew on the island, from which, after it was steeped in water and beaten with sticks, a strong thread could be spun. of this cloth, of various thicknesses, they helped the women to make coats and gowns, boots and shoes, and stockings. they made hats of a strong flat rush which grew on the sand-hills near the sea. this work took up so much of their time that the land of the two weavers was overrun with weeds, and it was found better for them to give up their farm to a neighbor, who should be paid for the produce in boots, coats, and money. the carpenter also was but a poor farmer, and his crop failed. so he gave up farming, and worked away at building houses, and making tables, and chairs, and bedsteads, receiving payment in potatoes, corn, wild-fowls, eggs, or sometimes in money. in the course of two or three years, some were bakers only, some poulterers, some potato merchants, and only about half of the company were farmers; of which the consequence was the land was better tilled, the corn better ground and baked, the fowls better fed, eggs more easily to be had, the potatoes better, and the huts kept in better repair. each man had a trade of his[78] own, and each knew his trade pretty well. each man was consequently better fed, clothed, and lodged, than when he worked at every trade himself.
the individual whom we have mentioned as the philosopher, was not an idle man among all these working people. he was schoolmaster to all the children, who were so fond of him, that he was seldom to be seen without the strongest of them scrambling over the rocks or along the coast after him. he measured out and divided the land which was each man’s portion. he taught the rest of the men to select some of the roots with which the island abounded; and to cultivate near their dwellings the graceful trees which were natural to the soil. he made curious nets, which enabled others to catch a constant supply of fish and of birds. he constructed clocks of wood, which were found very useful in the different huts; and he taught some of the bigger boys to make vessels of clay as well as bricks, the latter of which made the foundation of the houses better able to resist the storms that now and then swept across the island. he also managed to make two or three musical instruments, on one or other of which he would occasionally play in an evening, whilst the children, and indeed often their fathers and mothers also, would dance on the grass after the labors of the day. he was the only person in the island who could keep[79] an account of time; and he was of much use to the farmers in advising them when to sow different seeds, and in what soils. in short, there was no end to his contrivances. he also found time to make a collection of all the different plants that grew on the island, from some of which he prepared medicines for those who happened to be sick. he made a survey of the whole of the island, and made drawings of it and of the little town in which the shipwrecked people lived; cheering them by saying they would some day look at them in england. he persuaded every man and woman in the island to rest from work one day in seven; on which day he used to have them collected together, and on the long winter evenings, to read some prayers to them, and a chapter or two from a bible which had come ashore with some other books. he taught many of the men and women to sing the hymns and ballads of their own country; and contrived to make them so busy and so comfortable, that many of them ceased to sigh for home; whilst their children, too, were growing up in the peaceful island, ignorant of all that was doing in any other land upon the globe, except what they learnt from the lessons and books of the good philosopher.
