第65章
They had two Canoes with them，which they had haled up upon the Shore；and as it was then Tide of Ebb，they seem'd to me to wait for the Return of the Flood，to go away again；it is not easy to imagine what Confusion this Sight put me into，especially seeing them come on my Side the Island，and so near me too；but when I observ'd their coming must be always with the Current of the Ebb，I began afterwards to be more sedate in my Mind，being satisfy'd that I might go abroad with Safety all the Time of the Tide of Flood，if they were not on Shore before：And having made this Observation，I went abroad about my Harvest Work with the more Composure.
As I expected，so it prov'd；for as soon as the Tide made to the Westward，I saw them all take Boat，and row （or paddle as we call it） all away：I should have observ'd，that for an Hour and more before they went off，they went to dancing，and I could easily discern their Postures，and Gestures，by my Glasses：I could not perceive by my nicest Observation，but that they were stark naked，and had not the least covering upon them；but whether they were Men or Women，that I could not distinguish.
As soon as I saw them shipp'd，and gone，I took two Guns upon my Shoulders，and two Pistols at my Girdle，and my great Sword by my Side，without a Scabbard，and with all the Speed I was able to make，I went away to the Hill，where I had discover'd the first Appearance of all；and as soon as I gat thither，which was not less than two Hours （for I could not go apace，being so loaden with Arms as I was） I perceiv'd there had been three Canoes more of Savages on that Place；and looking out farther，I saw they were all at Sea together，making over for the Main.
This was a dreadful Sight to me，especially when going down to the Shore，I could see the Marks of Horror，which the dismal Work they had been about had left behind it，viz. The Blood，the Bones，and part of the Flesh of humane Bodies，eaten and devour'd by those Wretches，with Merriment and Sport：I was so fill'd with Indignation at the Sight，that I began now to premeditate the Destruction of the next that I saw there，let them be who，or how many soever.
It seem'd evident to me，that the Visits which they thus make to this Island，are not very frequent；for it was above fifteen Months before any more of them came on Shore there again；that is to say，I neither saw them，or any Footsteps，or Signals of them，in all that Time；for as to the rainy Seasons，then they are sure not to come abroad，at least not so far；yet all this while I liv'd uncomfortably，by reason of the constant Apprehensions I was in of their coming upon me by Surprize；from whence I observe，that the Expectation of Evil is more bitter than the Suffering，especially if there is no room to shake off that Expectation，or those Apprehensions.
During all this Time，I was in the murthering Humour；and took up most of my Hours，which should have been better employ'd，in contriving how to circumvent，and fall upon them，the very next Time I should see them；especially if they should be divided，as they were the last Time，into two Parties；nor did I consider at all，that if I kill'd one Party，suppose Ten，or a Dozen，I was still the next Day，or Week，or Month，to kill another，and so another，even ad infinitum，till I should be at length no less a Murtherer than they were in being Man-eaters；and perhaps much more so.
I spent my Days now in great Perplexity，and Anxiety of Mind，expecting that I should one Day or other fall into the Hands of these merciless Creatures；and if I did at any Time venture abroad，it was not without looking round me with the greatest Care and Caution imaginable；and now I found to my great Comfort，how happy it was that I provided for a tame Flock or Herd of Goats；for I durst not upon any account fire my Gun，especially near that Side of the Island where they usually came，least I should alarm the Savages；and if they had fled from me now，I was sure to have them come back again，with perhaps two or three hundred Canoes with them，in a few Days，and then I knew what to expect.
However，I wore out a Year and three Months more，before I ever saw any more of the Savages，and then I found them again，as I shall soon observe. It is true，they might have been there once，or twice；but either they made no stay，or at least I did not hear them；but in the Month of May，as near as I could calculate，and in my four and twentieth Year，I had a very strange Encounter with them，of which in its Place.
The Perturbation of my Mind，during this fifteen or sixteen Months Interval，was very great；I slept unquiet，dream'd always frightful Dreams，and often started out of my Sleep in the Night：In the Day great Troubles overwhelm'd my Mind，and in the Night I dream'd often of killing the Savages，and of the Reasons why I might justify the doing of it；but to wave all this for a while；it was in the middle of May，on the sixteenth Day I think，as well as my poor wooden Calendar would reckon；for I markt all upon the Post still；I say，it was the sixteenth of May，that it blew a very great Storm of Wind，all Day，with a great deal of Lightning，and Thunder，and a very foul Night it was after it；I know not what was the particular Occasion of it；but as I was reading in the Bible，and taken up with very serious Thoughts about my present Condition，I was surpriz'd with a Noise of a Gun as I thought fir'd at Sea.
This was to be sure a Surprize of a quite different Nature from any I had met with before；for the Notions this put into my Thoughts，were quite of another kind. I started up in the greatest hast imaginable，and in a trice clapt my Ladder to the middle Place of the Rock，and pull'd it after me，and mounting it the second Time，got to the Top of the Hill，the very Moment，that a Flash of Fire bid me listen for a second Gun，which accordingly，in about half a Minute I heard；and by the sound，knew that it was from that Part of the Sea where I was driven down the Current in my Boat.