Volume 1856
Georges Dodds'
The Ape-Man: his Kith and Kin
A collection of texts which prepared the advent of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Presents
http://www.erbzine.com/mag18/salandio.htm
Author(s)
UnknownLink to Tarzan of the Apes
Altrocchi, Rudolph. 1944. "Ancestors of Tarzan." p. 74-124. Sleuthing in the Stacks. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press. A retelling of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan by Ibn Tufail. Feral infant on island.Edition(s) used
Anonymous. 1761. The Life and Surprizing Adventures of Don Antonio de Trezzanio, Who was self-educated, and lived forty-five years in an uninhabited island in the East-Indies. Containing his birth in a monastery; his being committed to the sea in a chest; his being cast on a desolate island in the East-Indies; his being found by a roe, with the remarkable tenderness with which she nourished and brought him up, till able to shift for himself; the language he learned, and the method he made use of for his defence from the wild beasts; an account of the different sorts of provision, and manner of providing it; the death of the old roe, and his grief thereon; his extraordinary surprise at meeting with Salandio a Mendicant Friar, who came there to live a hermit's life; Salandio teaches him to speak, and instructs him in religious principles; Antonio proposes to go off the island, which Salandio consents to; their arrival at Goa, where he enjoys ease, plenty and respect. London: Printed for H. Serjeant, at the Star, without Temple-Bar.
Text from microfilm, but available through ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collection Online)Modifications to the text
Spellings modernized This novel was previously published as:
Anonymous. 1725. The life and surprizing adventures of Don Juliani de Trezz ; who was educated and lived forty-five years in the island of Malpa, an uninhabited island in the East-Indies. Translated from the Portuguese. London : printed for T. Warner; and J. Morley.
but is identical in all respects except the use of Juliano, Garcias, Juliana and Sebastian (1725) for Antonio, Gratiano, Portia and Salandio (1761).
When we consider the strange variety of fortune which attends us in this world, we should be very cautious of being too elated when under her smiles, or too dejected when under her Frowns: for joy and calamity, since they tread so near each other's heels, ought mutually to partake of each other's colour; especially since we often find, that those actions which seem the most happy, prove to be the foundation of our greatest misery. And those on the other hand, which at present seem to be most unfortunate, like rocks, though hard and rugged, oftentimes contain the springs of those blessings which may give us unspeakable comfort and refreshment. The Life and Surprising Adventures of Don Antonio de Trezzanio . . .
An instance of this my reader will find in the following relations, which for its truth and surprising accidents, had certainly been long since published, had it not been scooped by plagiaries, to supply the far most valuable part in some late fabulous and romantic histories.
It happened in the year 1510, that the Portuguese became masters of the Island of Goa, in the East-Indies; which by its pleasant situation, and the many advantages it promised to the traders in its produce and commodities, invited many of the Portuguese gentlemen (who had either by gallantry, debauchery, or ill fortune, lessened their patrimony) to go over and settle there. Among others, Don Antonio, the fourth son of Count Antonio, who so remarkably signalized himself in the defence of his country against the kings of Spain) having consumed the major part of his substance, went over to settle there. He was now near fifty years of age, and had buried his wife, who left three sons and one daughter to be provided for out of the small remains of his tattered fortune. These children he transported to Goa with himself, they being by natural and artificial endowments, (of which both Nature and their father had been almost prodigal towards them) very likely to restore their decayed family to its pristine state, and flourishing condition.
The Portuguese, being extravagantly superstitious, had taken great care to build monasteries and nunneries, as looking upon religion and piety to be the most ready road to success in whatever they should undertake; and for that reason, always caressed the friars, and gave them the most free access and hearty welcome to their houses. Among others of the clergy who frequented Don Antonio's house, there was one Gratiano, a youth of the most comely stature and deportment, much more addicted to gaiety than religion; and who had for that reason, very much turned his mind to courtly accomplishments, and the study of mankind. This Gratiano soon saw and felt the charms of Portia, the daughter of this Don Antonio, who had every thing that might recommend her to a man of his nice taste. He found he had the most burning passion for her, and was therefore resolved to gain her affections. But knowing the danger and difficulty to avoid giving her a large fortune, or suffering her to marry beneath her quality. On the other hand Gratiano, who had now gained great lengths in the opinion of Donna Portia, had put notions into her head, of the vast pleasure and diversions she would meet in that religious life whose austerities were nothing but cloaks to conceal the most exalted transports of pleasure and diversion. Donna Portia had too good an opinion of Gratiano's taste for pleasure, as well as his honesty, to doubt any thing which he affirmed; so that she with the greatest willingness imaginable consented to her father's order, to prepare herself for the initiation. So strangely credulous is woman, when she is once prepossessed with a good opinion of her author or adviser.
The ceremony of initiating her was performed with the greatest decency, and she now began very much to suspect the fidelity of her adviser, till by the untimely visits which Gratiano made her, and the soft pleasure she took in his company, she was satisfied that he was now no more incapacitated from tasting pleasures than formerly. Gratiano knowing it to be now entirely out of her power to return home, soon took an opportunity to acquaint her with the passion he had so long entertained for her, and how far that was his motive, for giving her his advice to take up the veil: She could not but be somewhat surprised at the hearing this piece of treachery; but the love she had for him, and a constitution not a little inclined to love, joined to the impossibility of returning, pleaded so hard in his favour, that he soon obtained his pardon, with the entire possession of the lovely Portia. He now enjoyed the greatest happiness this world could afford him, full eighteen months, without ever considering what must be the effect of so freely enjoying the most transporting passion: When the unfortunate Portia finding herself with child, gave herself up entirely to grief and despair. But Gratiano knowing the severity of the Inquisition, thought continually of schemes to preserve his beautiful Portia and himself from its jaws. He at last persuaded her to send word to the abbess that she was very ill, and that she would he removed into the infirmary, which was now very convenient, there being no one ill but herself, she was likely to be perfectly retired from the eyes of even the monastery itself. The abbess consented to what she asked, finding her in the low condition to which her grief had reduced her, the Infirmary was accordingly got ready, where she lay till the time of her delivery, which was of a fine boy.
Portia would very willingly have brought up her boy, but Gratiano resolutely advised that it should be thrown into the sea; for if by any ill accident, it should chance to be discovered to the Inquisition, they were both sure to pay for it with their lives. This made the affrighted Portia consent to what her Gratiano had proposed: Whereupon she dressed herself in a disguise, which he had provided for her, and stole out of the monastery the same way that Gratiano used to come to her. She had provided an ark fit to keep out water, in which, having suckled the child, she put it; and conveyed it to the sea shore, where with a heart raging with grief and fear, she put it into the sea ; taking her last leave of it in these words:
O God, you formed this child out of nothing, and have cherished him in the dark recesses of my womb, till he was complete in all his parts: I fearing the cruelty of the severe and unjust laws commit him to thy goodness, hoping that thou, who art infinitely merciful, will be pleased by thy gracious providence, to protect him, and never leave him destitute of thy care. She spoke and let go her hold.
The wind, which was very strong and brisk, bearing with the tide, soon carried the ark out of sight, when the unfortunate Portia returned, distressed for the necessity of losing so fine a boy.
The wind and tide, by the divine direction, bore the ark to an island about seven leagues off from Goa; but though so near, and known to the Indians, was entirely uninhabited, because, having attempted thrice to land there, their ships had been staved against the Rocks; for which reason they had then entirely laid aide all thoughts of ever settling a colony in it. Upon this island it was that providence, and the waves, cast the ark; where the tide going out, it left it very dry; and the wind rising, blew a heap of sand against it, sufficient to secure it from the next tide.
The violence of the waves had loosened the joints of the ark, so that as it dried it burst: The boy was hungry, and cried. It happened fortunately at that juncture of time, that a roe wandering about the island in search of her fawn, which straying, had been devoured by an eagle;
heard the boy cry, and following the voice (imagining it to be the voice of her fawn) came up to the ark, which she immediately attacked; and what with her beating it without with her hoofs, and the boy's struggling within, they at last broke the ark, so that she could come at him: As soon as she saw him, she showed the same natural affection to him, as if he had been her own; suckling him, and taking care of him. This is the account which we are, and may reasonably be allowed to believe, as what must have preceded his being bred up with the roe, with whom he remembers himself.
This roe lived in good pasture, so that she was fat, and had such plenty of milk, that she was very well able to maintain the child. She took great care of him, and never left him but when forced by hunger: so that the child both thrived, and grew so well acquainted with his nurse, that if at any time she stayed away from him a little longer than ordinary, he would cry pitifully; and she as soon as she heard him, would come immediately running to his assistance.
Thus he went on, living only upon what he sucked, till he was almost two years old: But then began to step a little, and to breed his teeth. He always followed the roe, and she showed all the tenderness for him imaginable. She used to carry him to the places where the fruit-trees grew, and feed him with the ripest and sweetest fruits; and for nuts, or such like, she used to crack the shells with her teeth, that he might more easily come at the kernel. She still suckled him as often as he pleased, and when he was thirsty, she showed him the way to the water. If the sun shined too hot, and scorched him, she always shaded him; if he was cold, she cherished him, and kept him warm. When night came, she went home with him to his old place, and covered him partly with her own body, and partly with the feathers and coverings which she found in his ark at his first landing on the island.
As for his language, it was that of the fawns, with whom he very often diverted himself; and by being continually among them, by the time he was four years old, became perfect master of all their different sounds, and knew what they meant: As he was master of a very good ear, and a quick apprehension, he would with the greatest exactness imitate the voice of any bird or beast whatsoever. But of all the voices which he imitated, he made most use of that of the deer, by which he could imitate, and express himself as they did, either when they wanted help, call their mate, or when he would have them come nearer, or go off further, or the like. For the brute beasts have different sounds to express their different designs. Thus he contracted such an acquaintance with the wild beasts, that they were neither afraid of him, nor he of them; till he had singled out a white fawn, which, by his continually playing with him, he brought to know him, so as to come up to him as soon as ever he saw him; this fawn he was mighty fond of, insomuch that he would be uneasy that the other fawns did not give way to him when he was feeding; and would sometimes attack them in order to make them leave the place; but as they were armed, and bigger than he was, they never feared him, but would throw him down and beat him, till either his dam came to his assistance, or his cries frightened away his foes.
This made him begin to consider, that all the several sorts of animals he saw, were clothed either with hair or wool, or several sorts of feathers. He considered their great swiftness and strength, and that they were all armed with weapons, as horns, teeth, hoofs, spurs, claws,; and the like; but he had neither horns, of hoofs, or claws, with which he might defend himself, nor had he swiftness enough to fly when he was attacked. For whenever there happened any controversy about gathering such ripe fruits as fell from the trees, he always came off by the worst; for they could both keep their own, and take away his; and he could neither beat them off, nor run away from them.
He observed besides, that his fellow fawns, though their fore-heads were smooth at first, yet after some time had horns bud out; and though they were feeble at first, yet after some time grew strong, vigorous, and swift. All these Things he perceived in them, which were not in himself; and when he had considered the matter, he could not conceive what should be the reason of this difference. For though he had often felt on his head for horns with the greatest anxiety, yet could feel none; and though he had often endeavoured to fly from them, yet they always overtook him. Then he considered such animals as had any defect, or natural imperfection; but amongst them all, he could find none like himself. He took notice, that the passages of the excrements were covered in all animals besides himself; that by which they voided their proper excrements with a tail; and that by which they voided their urine by hair, or some such like thing; besides which he observed that their privy parts were naturally much more within the body, than his own were. All there hardships were matter of very great uneasiness to him, as to make him retire very often from the herd, to lament his several misfortunes: All which he now entirely despaired of being rid of, at least by the course of nature. He therefore resolves to help himself; and to that purpose, gets some broad leaves of trees, of which he made two coverings, one to wear behind, and the other before; and made a girdle of palm-tree leaves and rushes twisted together, to hang his coverings upon, and tied it about his waist, and so wore it. But, alas, it would not last long, for the leaves withered, and dropped away; so that he was forced to get more, which he doubled, and put together as well as he could, plaiting the leaves one upon another, which made it a little more durable, but not much; for as the Leaves dried they shrunk, and as they shrunk they fell away. But when these fell away, he still got new coverings. After this, meeting a bough of a tree, which was broken off by the wind, be fitted the two ends of it to his mind, and stripped off the leaves, and so made it smooth. With this he began to attack the wild beasts, assaulting the weaker sort, and defending himself from the stronger. By this means he began to know his own power, and to find that his Hands were better than their feet: For by the help of them he had provided himself with a covering for his nakedness, and a weapon as well offensive as defensive.
He was now about twelve years old; and because the repairing his covering of leaves so often, as was necessary, was very troublesome to him, he had laid a design of taking the tail of some dead beast, and wearing it himself; but perceiving that all the beasts did constantly avoid those which were dead of the same kind, it made him doubt whether it might be safe or not; so that that design was entirely laid aside. But one day as he was walking among the fruit trees, he spied the carcass of a dead eagle; to which he immediately drove up the herd, to see whether or not they would show the same aversion to that carcass, that they had done to those of beasts: But observing that none of the Herd showed any aversion to this carcass of the eagle, he concluded that this was what he had been so long in quest of, and that it would entirely suit his purpose; so he sets himself to work, and in the first place cuts the wings and tail off whole, and spread the feathers, and lays them in the sun to dry and harden. Then he drew off the skin, and divided it into two equal parts; one of which he wore upon his back, and with the other he covered his navel and privities: To the end of that half which covered his back, he fastened on the tail, so that it supplied the uses of a natural tail; and the wings he fastened on one to each arm. This dress of his answered several ends; for in the first place it covered his nakedness and helped to keep him warm: And then it made him so frightful to the beasts, that none cared to come near, or meddle with him, except the old roe his nurse, who never left him, but always continued to show the same tenderness and affection as at first. Nor was he any ways ungrateful to her, for when she grew old, and became very feeble, he used to lead her to the places where he had seen the best fruits; where he would gather them for her, and feed her: Besides which, he used very often to gather the herbage, and carry to her.
When he was now arrived to about the age of fourteen, and proved himself to be the master of the island by his staff; he began (as it was but natural he should) to look above those creatures which he had subjected to him, insomuch, that he was very uneasy at his being obliged to lye and eat in common with them. But could contrive no means of separating himself from them, but by getting up into a tree; and this was too dangerous, for he found that when he had endeavoured to sleep there, he had very near fell down, so that he only made use of the tree to sit in by bay, whence he could, with much pleasure and pride, see whole troops of his subjects, which were not long since his superiors. But as to his Sleeping amongst them, he could not nevertheless brook it, because it put him upon a level with them whom he now knew he was Master of; and besides this, his lying on the ground, and being so much exposed to rain, had very much impaired the lustre and neatness of his plumage. But a lucky sight gave him a hint how he might very easily redress this grievance, and keep himself superior to them, as well when asleep as awake: For as he was walking one morning to the farther end of the island, (a place which he had never visited before, because the height of the cliffs had deterred him from descending, whereas he was now under the cliffs, and the tide far out) he saw some swallows very busy at building their nests in the cliffs; the novelty of this very much pleased him, both because he had never seen any thing of this kind before, and as he immediately suggested to himself, that by their example, could he but once come to handle and see all the parts of their little houses, he might also build himself such a one on the island. His courage, strength, and activity were now equal to his curiosity, so that he made no scruple of climbing up the cliff, though of a prodigious height from the shore. He gained the summit of the cliffs, and became master of his so valuable treasure, when he began to fear least the birds had some little art of which he was not as yet acquainted, for he could see no reason why this earth should be harder and stronger than a piece of common round. But, however, he was resolved to try whether he could not find an Earth as fine as that; and if he could, whether he could not make it stick as hard: Accordingly he wanders up and down the island, in order to find an earth as fine as that the birds used, and at last considering with himself that the land round the pool where the deer used to drink, was the most like it of any he could remember; he immediately set to work to build him a house of the mud about this pool, having first pitched upon the place where to situate it, between four large trees, which described very near an equilateral quadrangle. It was with the greatest joy in the world that he saw his work prosper, and grow harder and stronger every day. This he looked on as his greatest happiness, that by the means of this he could exclude his inferiors, the deer, from disturbing him whenever he thought fit to lay himself to sleep. Having finished the case of his house, he then began to gather vast quantities of palm-leaves, which be laid up in one corner of his house, as a bed both to protect him from the hardness and moisture of the earth, and also to preserve his feathers from the dirt. Hither he brought the old roe, whom he always suffered to lye with him, and for whom he seemed to be almost as solicitous as for himself; for though he had now but little relish for the dates, and other fruits, yet he used to gather great heaps of them, and bring them home for his nurse, who by this time began to be so very feeble, as hardly to be able to walk, growing very lean, notwithstanding he took great care to feed her. Having been some small time used to this house, he began to grow much more tender than he used formerly to be; his wants continually increasing upon him, so that he had scarce satisfied one, before another started up, and required his attention. But what most of all perplexed him was the want of shoes in the summer-time; for the ground being very hot and hard, was, during that season, very troublesome to him. At first he thought he might make up for the want of hoofs, by taking the moist bark of trees, which he could now easily separate by the help of some flint-stones, of which he had great numbers in almost every shape. This bark he cut almost into the form of a clog, tying to it three strings, which he had learned to make with the bark of the mallows, or other such roots, which afforded strings suitable to his purpose: These strings he tied one to each side, and the other at the toe, so that he wore it with great ease, and defended himself from the heat of the ground. But this convenience soon grew out of favour, for as it grew dry, it fretted his feet more than the ground had done; so that he was obliged to contrive something else. At last it happened one day as he was wandering in the most woody part of the island, he met an old buck, which had been tore to pieces by the eagles, who had left some pieces of the skin do the ground, with the bones: This perfectly answered his designs, and always served him in hot seasons; but in the cool and moist seasons, he still chose the bare ground.
His meat had for some time been the shell fish which he found upon the sea-shore; but as he had improved his way of living as to his habitation, so he was very desirous of improving it too in respect to his diet; and for that end he began now to taste of every thing he met with: First he began with tasting the eggs of birds, perhaps by mistaking them for some kind of nut which, he had not as yet seen; but however he came to taste them, when he had once eaten of them he very much approved of that sort of food; and, therefore meeting a hen and some chickens, he brought them to his cabin, in order that they should lay their eggs there: Having now about fourteen hens and chickens, it happened one day that an eagle came and seized one of them, and eat him before his face; this made him have a strange desire to know the reason for this cruelty in the eagle: Accordingly, considering with himself, that perhaps the chickens were pleasanter to the taste than fruits, for which reason it was preferred to them; and if it should prove pleasanter to the taste than fruits, or those shell fish upon which he lived, why might not he eat them as well as the eagle. To satisfy himself as to this point, he caught one of the chickens, and with his sharpest flint cut it in two, and tasting it, found it not quite so pleasant, but for variety sake he eat near half of it; it agreed with him so very well, and he found himself so very brisk and lively after it, that for the future he was mighty fond of it. Thus by degrees did his cruelty increase, his luxury still prompting him to new trials, till at last he had an itching desire to taste whether or no the flesh of the fawns was not more pleasant than that of the fowls: It was not long before he had an opportunity of executing his design; for as he one day was running after a young fawn, the fawn fell down the cliff and died: So that finding him in the same condition he had sometimes observed other deer, who never after moved or stirred, he thought of his old desire of tasting their flesh; so he cut off part of the skin, and having separated a piece of flesh from the rest he tasted it; nor did he lose his labour, for he found it not only more sweet, but much more nourishing too, for as he was much more lively after eating the chicken than he used to be after the fruit, so he now found himself much mere lively after making a meal upon the fawn, than he used to be after having eat part of a chicken.
His pride taking away all tenderness and softness, and his appetite prompting him to it, he now made no scruple of killing a fawn, or (when fawns were not to be found) a deer, to satisfy an appetite which was now grown large and luxurious. He had now got staves much more bulky and long than formerly he was strong enough to manage: Upon the ends of which, he used to stick the horns of the wild cows, of which he had found several in the most woody part of the island. These horns he had made excessively sharp by scraping the ends of them with his flint- stones; so that by his own strength, and the length of his staves, and sharpness of the horn, he could very easily kill the deer at his pleasure. When there was now nothing that teemed wanting to gratify his luxury, he was really nearer want; for the deer what with seeing him kill their companions, and what with having been often gored by him, were grown so very shy of him, that they always fled if either they saw him, or heard him coming towards them: He had pursued them several days, but to no purpose; and he observed that the more he pursued them, the more shy they grew: So he now but very seldom was able to kill one, and that by chance; for which reason he was obliged to return again to his fish diet, which he was sure could not run away from him. He had not been long returned to his fish again, before he found himself very uneasy: He had been used to a diet much more hearty and substantial; and which was now become necessary to keep him alive. While he was thinking of his hardships, and contriving how to surmount them, he thought with himself, that his best way was to get some of the strongest and swiftest beasts in the island, and bring them tame and feed them with proper food, till they would let him get upon their backs, and then he might pursue the other beasts, and kill them at his pleasure. There were in the island both wild horses and asses; of both which sorts he chose several, such as seemed fittest for his purpose; and by exercising and keeping them from food, but when he fed them himself, he made them so tractable, that he could mount them with the greatest ease. And when he had made out of the skins of beasts, which he had formerly killed, such things as served competently well in the room of bridles, he could easily overtake such beasts as he would scarce ever have been able to have caught any other way. He now began to have such a love for his horses, that he could think nothing too good or them; for it was by the use of them that he regained his almost lost sovereignty over the beasts; so that he was desirous they should eat of every thing that he eat of, and lye as he did; for which reason he built them a house bigger than his own, and laid great quantities of palm leaves for them to lye on. But when he came to offer them some of his venison, they refused it; and rather chose to feed on the herbage which he had gathered for them before. This Refusal he attributed to nothing but their folly, thinking that if they knew the taste of it, they would admire it as much as he did. So he resolved to try one of them whether he would not eat it rather than starve: Accordingly he tied up the horse in his own cabin without either hay or water all that day and the ensuing night, and the next morning went a hunting. He soon caught a very fat buck, which he had lamed by running him through the right fore-leg, (which leg he afterwards broke short in two, to prevent his making his escape) and laying him upon his horse, carried him to his cabin alive; where he cut his throat, and let him bleed into great broad flat shells, to prevent his cabin being bloody. After this he cut him open, and offered several pieces of the flesh to his horse; but the horse snorted and would not touch it. At last considering that he had not drank for some time, and that he might perhaps drink the blood, he held one of the large shells full of blood, which the beast immediately licked up; after this he tendered him the rest, till he had drank it all up. As for the meat, he hung what he did not use himself upon a horn, which he had fixed in his wall, in hopes the horse would eat it the next day; at which Time, to his great joy, he seemed very fond of it, and devoured a considerable Quantity. He now to satisfy himself whether the horse would for the future like this diet, went out and caught another deer, which he blooded in the same manner as he had done the Day before, and offering it to the horse with a shell full of water, he found the horse refused the water and greedily drank up the blood. After this, he tried him as to the flesh again, and finding he eat it as before, he offered him some herbage, but the horse refused it, choosing rather to live on the flesh. After this he went to his stable and chose out the four tallest and swiftest of his horses, which he served just as he had the first, till he had now five horses that would eat flesh. He would have brought the rest of them to the fame diet, but that he foresaw that he should then be obliged to kill deer on purpose for them; whereas he only deigned that they should eat what he had so often been obliged to leave rotting on the ground. One rule he always observed, which was, that the horse he rode on should have the blood of the deer he killed with him. This kind of diet agreed so perfectly well with his horses, that they could run longer and swifter, than any of the wild horses, so that he had them now as much under his command as the deer themselves: Besides which, he now began to take so great pleasure in their, that he would be almost always upon their Backs, hardly ever stirring abroad without them: So that his horses were now doubly useful, both as necessary for his sustenance, and pleasure.
Being now almost at the age of seventeen, and his apprehension being very quick, he would oftentimes be employed in informing himself of the differences between various kinds of bodies; but whilst he was employing his curiosity about the shapes of these inferior beings, he met with an opportunity of exercising his judgment upon a more exalted subject. For the old roe, notwithstanding the care he took of her, growing every day weaker and weaker, at last died; so that her motions and actions ceased, and she became like those deer he had killed. When he perceived her in this condition, he grew very sorrowful, and ready to dye with grief. He called her with the same voice which she used so constantly to answer to, and made what noise he could, but he could make no impression or alteration in her. Then he began to peep into her eyes and ears, but could perceive no visible defect in either; in like manner he observed every other part of her body, and found nothing amiss, but every thing as it ought to be. He had a vehement desire, if possible, to find out the part where the defect was, that he might remove it, and she return to her former state of life and vigour: But he was altogether at a loss how to compass his design, nor could he any ways bring it about.
That which put him upon this search, was what he had observed in himself: For he took notice, that when he shut his eyes or held any thing before them, he could see nothing at all till the obstacle was removed; and so that when he put his fingers into his ears, he could not hear till he took them out again; and when he closed his nostrils together, he could not smell any thing till they were opened; from whence he concluded, that the organs of all sensations were liable to obstacles, and impediments, upon the removal of which, the fame operations returned to their
former course: Therefore having examined every external part of her, and finding no visible defect; and still perceiving an universal cessation of motion in the whole body, not peculiar to one member, but common to them all; he began to imagine that the hurt was in some part which was most remote from the sight, and hidden in the inward part of the body; and that this part was of such nature and use, that without its help, none of the other external parts could exercise their proper functions; and that if this part suffer any hurt, the damage was so universal, that a cessation of the whole ensued.
This made him very desirous to find the part, if possible, that he might remove the defect from it, that so it might be as it used to be, and the whole body enjoy the benefit of it, and the same course of actions follow as before. He had before observed in the bodies of wild beasts and other animals, that all their members were solid, and that the body had but three cavities, the scull, the breast, the belly. He imagined therefore, that this part which he wanted, must needs be in one of these cavities, and above all in the middlemost of them. He verily believed that all the members stood in need of this part; and therefore he might conclude, that it must of necessity be in the centre. And when he reflected on his own body, he felt such a part in his breast, of which he had this notion, viz. That it was impossible for him to subsist without it, so much as the twinkling of an eye; though he could at the fame time conceive a possibility of subsisting without his other parts, such as his hands, feet, arms, legs, eyes, ears, nose, &c. And upon this account, whenever he fought with any wild beast, he always took particular care to guard his breast; because of the apprehension he had of the part which was contained in it: To this he added, that whenever he was over-heated by running, or any other such disorder, he found the greatest pains and disorders in his breast; so that this part seemed not only to be seated in the breast, but also to be very liable to defects.
Having by this way of reasoning assured himself that the disaffected part lay in the breast, he was resolved to make a search in order to find it out, that whatsoever the impediment was, he might remove it if possible: But then again, he was afraid on the other hand, least his undertaking should be worse than the disease, and prove more prejudicial. He began to consider really, whether or no he had ever observed, that beasts which seemed to be in this condition, ever recovered again, and returned to the same state they were in before, but he could call to mind no such instance; those beasts which he so often killed sufficiently satisfying him that she never would recover. From hence he concluded, that if she was left alone, there would be no hope at all, but if he should be so fortunate as to find the part affected, and be able to remove the impediment, she would then recover. So that being fully resolved to open her breast, and make enquiry for the part, he provides himself with the sharpest thin flints he could find, and splinters of dry cane, almost like knives, with which he made an incision between the ribs, and cutting through the flesh, came to the diaphragm; the toughness of the diaphragm seemed to promise him that he should find the part he wanted; because he imagined no other part could want so strong a guard and defence as this must needs be, wherefore if he could once get through the muscles, he did not doubt but he should be master of his wishes. But he met with some difficulty in this work by the frequent breaking of his canes, which served him instead of dissecting knives. However he sharpened his canes again, and renewed his attempt with all the dexterity he could be supposed to be master of; at last he broke through, and the first park he met with was the lungs, which he first mistook for what he was searching after, turning them about this way and that way, to see it he could remove the impediment which occasioned the disease. He first happened upon the lobe which lay next the side he had opened, and when he perceived that it did lean sideways, he was satisfied that this was not the part he was looking after, because he was fully persuaded that the part he looked for must of necessity be in the midst of the body, as well with regard to longitude as latitude. He proceeded in his search, till at last he found the heart, which when he saw enclosed with a very strong cover, and fastened by strong ligaments, and covered by the lungs on the side he had opened; he began to say with himself, If this part be so on the other side as it is on this, which I have opened, then it is certainly in the midst, and without doubt the same I look for; especially considering the convenience of its situation, the comeliness and regularity of its figure; the firmness and solidity of the flesh; and besides, its being covered and guarded with such a membrane as I have no where else observed. Upon this he searches the other side, and finding the same membrane on the inside of the Ribs, and the lungs in the same posture, as he had observed on the side he had first opened, he concluded with himself, that this was certainly the part he had so long looked for.
Therefore he first attacks the pericardium, or membrane which covers the heart, which, after a long trial, and a great deal of pains, he made a shift to tear; and when he had laid the heart bare, and perceived that it was solid on every side, he began to examine it to see if he could find any hurt in it; but finding that there was none, he squeezed it with his hands, and perceived that it was hollow. He began then to think that what he looked for might be contained in the cavity. When he had with much ado opened the heart, he found that it had two cavities, one on the right-side, and the other on the left. The cavity on the right-Side was full of clotted blood, but the cavity on the left-side was entirely empty. Then, says he without all doubt, one of these two cavities must be the receptacle of what I am looking for. As for that, in the right-side, it is full of nothing but congealed blood, which to be sure, was not so till the whole body was in the condition in which it now is. For he had observed, that when he killed a deer, and the blood flowed from it, that it was as fluid as water, for he used to let his horses drink it, as we have before observed; but that after some time it would grow cold, and congeal to a thickness exactly like this in the roe's right ventricle, therefore what I look for cannot be such a matter as this is; for that which I mean, is something which is peculiar to this place, which I find I could not subsist without, so much as during the twinkling of an eye, and this is that which I looked for at first. For as for this blood, how often have I lost a great deal of it in my skirmishes with the wild beasts? And yet it never did me any considerable harm, nor rendered me incapable of performing any of the actions of life; and therefore what I look for is not in this cavity. Now as for the cavity in the left-side, I find it is altogether empty, and I have no reason in the world to think that it was made in vain, because I find every part appointed for some particular function or other: How then can this ventricle of the heart which I see of so excellent a frame, serve for no use at all? I cannot think but that the thing I am in search of, once dwelt here, but has now deferred his habitation, and left it empty; and that the absence of this thing has occasioned this privation of sense, and cessation of motion which happened to the body.
Now when he perceived, that the being which had inhabited there before had left its house before it fell to ruin, and forsaken it when as yet it continued whole and entire, he concluded it was highly probable, that it would never return to it any more after its being so cut and mangled: Hereupon the whole Body seemed to him to be a very inconsiderable thing, and worth nothing in respect to that being which once inhabited and acted in it, but had now totally left it; wherefore he applied himself wholly to the consideration of that being: As what it was, and how it subsisted, and what joined it to the body; whither it went, and by what passage when it left the body; what was the cause of its departure; whether it was forced to leave its mansion, or had left the body of its own accord; and if it went away voluntarily, what it was that made the Body so disagreeable to it, as to make it forsake it. With this variety of thoughts perplexed, he drew the body out of his cabin; but did not care to distribute the body of that creature to his horses, which had once so affectionately nourished him, and taken care of him.
In the mean time the carcass of the roe began to putrefy, and emit noisome vapours, which still increased his aversion to it, so that he did not care to see it. 'Twas not long after, that he chanced to see two ravens engaged so seriously, that one of them struck down the other stark dead, and when he had done, began to scrape with his claws, till he had dug a pit, in which he buried hid adversary. Our curioso having observed this action of the raven's, reasoned thus with himself: How well has this raven done in burying the body of his companion? How much greater reason was there for me to have been forward in performing this office to my nurse and mother. Upon this he makes a grave and lays his Nurse into it and buries her.
While he was proceeding in the enquiry after the nature of the being which actuated the bodies of the living and pursuing it from notion to notion; it happened that by collision a fire was kindled among a parcel of reeds or canes, which scared him at first as being a sight which as yet
he was altogether a stranger to; that he stood at a distance for some time strangely surprised; at last he came nearer and nearer by degrees, still observing the brightness of its light, and wonderful efficacy in consuming every thing it touched, and changing it into its own nature. After some time the prodigious admiration he had for it, joined to the natural boldness which God had implanted in him, prompted him on, that he ventured to come near it, and stretched out his hand to take some of it: But when he found it burnt his Fingers, and he could not deal with it that way, he endeavoured to take a stick which the fire had not wholly seized on; so taking it hold on the part which was untouched, he easily gained his purpose, and carried it home to his cabin, where he contrived a convenient place for it; and kept it continually burning, by adding fuel to it, admiring it wonderfully, and tending it day and night; but especially by night, because by its light and heat, it in some measure made amends for the absence of the sun; so that he was extremely delighted with it, and looked upon it as the most excellent of all those things which he had about him. And when he observed that it always mounted upwards, he persuaded himself that it was one of those celestial substances which he saw shining in the firmament. He was continually trying its power by throwing things into it, which he perceived it acted on, and consumed, sometimes sooner, and sometimes slower, according as the bodies which he put into it were more or less combustible.
Amongst other things which he put into it to try its force, he once slung in some deer's flesh, and as soon as he smelt the steam, it raised his appetite, so that he tasted it, and found it so very agreeable, that from that time he used himself to eat his flesh broiled on the fire; upon which account he admired his fire more and more, as it was the highest means of gratifying his appetite.
And now when his affection towards it was increased to the highest degree, both upon the account of its beneficial effects and extraordinary power; he began to think that the substance which was departed from the heart of his nurse, the roe, was (if not the very same with it) yet of a nature very much like it. He was confirmed in his opinion, because he had observed in all animals, that as long as they lived they were constantly warm without any intermission, and as constantly cold after death. Besides he found in himself, that there was a greater degree of heat by much in his breast, near the place where he had made the incision in the roe, than in any other part. This made him think that if he could dissect any animal alive, and look into the ventricle, which he had found empty when he dissected his dam the roe, he might possibly find it full of that substance which inhabited it, and so inform himself whether it were of that same nature as fire, and whether it had any heat or no: In order to this, he took a wild beast and tied him down, so that he could not stir, and dissected him after the same manner as he had dissected the roe, till he came to the heart; and essaying the left ventricle full, and opening it, he perceived, it was full of an airy vapour, which looked like a mist or white cloud, and putting in his Finger, he found it hotter than he could bear it, and immediately the creature died; from hence he assuredly concluded that it was that moist vapour which communicated motion to the animal; and that there was accordingly in every animal of what kind soever, some thing like this, upon the departure of which, the animal always died.
The success he had met with in his enquiry, had so far increased his curiosity, that he could scarce see any thing but he must know its nature, till he grew to the highest perfection in speculative as well as physical knowledge, always reasoning with the greatest strictness and exactness, unassisted human reason is capable of.
But as his knowledge increased, so did his wants grow more numerous also. He every day saw new grievances, and new causes for complaint: It was distraction to him to see any thing which he could not be master of, so as to view it narrowly, and to try what force his fire would act with towards it; for whatever he met with, after handling it for some time, he always put it into the fire.
Among other things which he found in the island, there was a very great quantity of bright glittering sand, which seemed when the sun shone upon it, like so many small stars: This sand had been washed down from a hill by the winter showers, and was left perfectly clean by the waters carrying off the filth and dull from it. This shining sand lying at the foot of the hill in great quantities, he gathered a large shell full, and brought it home, where he was mightily delighted with its brightness, which was increased to such a degree by the light of the fire, that he very much fancied it to be of the same nature as the fire itself, (for as yet he had no notion of heat being the necessary quality of fire) for which reason he quickly put it into the fire, supposing that it would unite with the fire; but to his great surprise, the wind being somewhat light, and the fire strong, it soon melted into a shining fiery mass, and by degrees he lost it. It happened some time after that he had an occasion to move his fire a little further back, so that the fire left behind it a large plate of a dirty substance, heavy and very pliable, which had here and there some very bright yellow spots; finding it so very heavy, he was very inquisitive what should be the cause of its weight; so designing to break it, he took two stones, and laid it upon one, and began to beat it with the other, when to his vast joy, he found that the more he beat it, the more it shined, for which Reason he beat it so long, that he had now brought it to the brightest colour, and very broad. As soon as he saw it in this form, he immediately found a use for it; for the stone upon which he used to eat, would very often break under his flint, so that the grits of it were very troublesome to him; so he flung away the old stone, and substituted this plate in its room. After this he strove to melt several times, but was sometimes disappointed by the want of wind to raise the fire; but at last he contrived his fire, so that he could remove the fire, and come at the metal while it was yet fluid, and gathered it up in one of his Shells, where he left it to stand till it was quite cold; when he was highly pleased to find it perfectly bright, and exactly in the shape of his shell, excepting that it was not hollow: He now began to confider the two qualities which he had observed in this shining body, one of which was, that when he had beat it, it did not break, but spread larger and larger; and the other was, that whatever it was put into when it was fluid, it would keep its form when hard. He fancied he might supply several wants with this body, if he did but take a little pains with it; and accordingly he set himself to work about it with fume round long pebbles, which he had found on the shore, in order to beat the thick piece of gold hollow like his shell: He was about four days beating his mass hollow like his shell: He was about four days beating his mass hollow, all which time he worked with the greatest pleasure, because he found every blow he gave, not only made it hollow, but larger too; insomuch that it was now three times as big as his shells were, and would hold about two quarts. After this manner he furnished himself with some domestic utensils, which were of the most extensive service to him. He also gathered up all the gold dust he could find, and laid it in his cabin, in order to make any thing which he might hereafter have occasion for; and at the same time brought home the largest and smoothest stones he could find, together with pebbles proper for his designs, by which means he made himself not only a more beautiful, but also a more useful set of tools; for he by degrees improved himself so far in hammering of his metal, as to bring it to an edge so as to cut like a sword. By which means he still gained a greater command over the deer and other wild beasts; for his horns would often gore them, and yet they would get out of sight; whereas he had now learned the way of hamstringing them, by cutting them with a machine which he had fixed to the tops of his staves in the room of the horns.
As he was wandering over the island, he had of late seen some very fine-feathered birds, with blue necks and long tails, though otherways very much like the poultry which he had about his cabin: He was for a long time very desirous to catch some of these birds. They were very plenty in the woody part of the island; but whether he was too careless, or how it came about, he could not tell, but he had never observed them till very lately: These birds he would pursue for whole days together, but all to no purpose, and he had entirely laid aide all hopes of ever being able to have them in his power. But it happened one day as he was walking in the wood to see these birds, (for he was very much delighted with their beautiful colours) that he saw a small kind of eagle seize one of them in his claws, and carry him aloft to a tree: He walked round and round the tree, to see what the eagle did with him; and at last observed the eagle carry the pieces of him, as he tore him, into a bundle of sticks, and then come out again and fetch more, till she had quite devoured him. This gave him a desire of climbing up the tree to see what it was which lay hid in this bundle of sticks, and to which the eagle had carried this meat. He had with much trouble and difficulty gained the top of the tree; when the old eagle saw him, it is impossible to express the fury and courage with which the eagle attacked him; she struck him several times with her talons so fiercely, that he was almost covered with blood; but as he was
turning at her to seize her, she struck him on the head with such force, that he quite lost his senses, and fell down from top to bottom, but as the tree was very full of boughs, his fall was so successively broke, that he had no damage by it. He lay for some time senseless on the ground, but when he came to himself, he remembered the ill usage he had met with from the eagle, and was resolved to attempt his first design once more: In order to which, the next day he armed himself with an engine of gold, made much like our bills, sharp on one side, and crooked it the end, in order to wound her if she came near him any more; and as for his defence, he took a hide or skin of a deer, which he had taken off from the deer without cutting open the legs and shoulders, so that he wore it in the nature of a coat: Thus armed, he once again mounted the tree, the old eagle standing on a neighbouring tree, till he was very near the top, at which time she flew at him with her usual violence; whilst he was defending himself against the she eagle, the he eagle came Home with a chicken in his talons; but he soon dropped the chicken in order to assist his mate in the defence of their young: They attacked their aggressor after such a violent manner, that he was several times thinking of giving over his design, but feeling the eagle flying at him, and that he was obliged to defend himself he struck her on the neck with such force that he broke it, and she fell dead on the ground; this made the he eagle redouble his attack, but after receiving a cut or, two, he flew away, and left his young ones an easy Prey to the enemy. He was not a little pleased, when, upon looking into the nest, he found four young eagles, which he carried Home, hoping that in time they would be as tame as his horses were, and that he might bring them to kill the fowls for him, which he could now by no means come at. When he had got them safe to his cabin, he tied them by the legs to great stones, and set them in one corner of his cabin, laying them some palm-leaves to lie on: He fed them with the entrails of the deer which he killed, and gave them such liberty, as not to make them hate and avoid either him or his cabin. After this manner he kept them till they were near a year old; at which time they were perfectly strong and very ravenous; but so fond of him, as to fly after him wherever he went. They were entirely under his command, and whatever he thought proper to fly them at, they certainly attacked. By this means he not only grew absolute master of the whole feathered kind, but he had also another method of catching the deer. For when he flew them at a deer, they always pitched between his horns, and pecked out his eyes, till they had entirely blinded him, by which means he was easily taken. This method of hunting was not only diverting, as it was different from what he had been used to, but was also useful; because he could now kill any single deer in a much shorter time, and without giving himself any manner of trouble. By this means he foresaw he should be free from a very great inconveniency which he had sometimes laboured under: For whenever (as sometimes it happened) he was sick, and out of order, so as to be unable to ride, he was then obliged to kill his chickens, or return to his fish, both of which he very much disliked since his tasting the venison.
All this while he had continually employed his Mind in contriving how to supply himself with all kinds of necessities from the gold, which (as was before observed) was to be gathered in vast quantities at the foot of a hill, not far from his cabin: He was well acquainted with the manner of dealing with it, as the melting and beating it; and therefore thought he could, with a little labour, form it into any shape which his necessities required. He first contrived to make beds or moulds of the ashes, in which he raised little hills, that when it melted and filled his mould, upon cooling, it might be hollow, and so save him much of the trouble which it used to cost him to beat them hollow: Besides which, he had very often been unfortunate in hammering his metal, for after beating for a month to make it hollow, he would sometimes beat a hole in it, and by so doing, lose a whole month's labour; whereas, by being able to cast them very near as hollow as he would have them, he had nothing to do but to scour them to that brightness which he so very much delighted in. By this means he supplied himself with cups of several sorts, some of which he had made with long handles, by boring small holes through the beds of sand, which would let the metal run out so as to afford a round handle of near a foot long. Others he had made with broad handles, somewhat like porringers, which he used for his eating and drinking, they being both more useful and convenient, and at the same time more beautiful than the shells which he had hitherto made use of. He had cast several flat and long pieces of gold, which he sharpened at both sides by beating; these he thought would in many cases be far preferable to the long and thin flints, which as yet he had made use of instead of knives. After having made several of his golden pots, he would sometimes boil little pieces of venison, with which manner of cookery he was highly pleased; because it not only differed from his common way, which was broiling it, but also because the broth or liquor in which he boiled it, was by far preferable to his common drink, which as yet was only common water; with which, nevertheless, he was obliged to be contented; because he had as yet no vessel to bold a quantity of broth more than what was sufficient for one meal: This made him for some time think of making a very large one, which might hold about the quantity of two gallons, or more; at last, having built a great heap of ashes about three foot high, and beat it down very hard, he made a pit in it, in which he proposed to melt his metal; and when it was melted, by making a hole through the side of the ashes, to let it run down into a mould below. In order to make his mould, he was obliged to fetch a quantity of sand from the sea-side, because he had employed all his Ashes in making his furnace; of this sea- sand he made his bed and mould, smoothing it with the greatest exactness, that he might have the less trouble in beating it after it was cast. When this was finished he began to fetch the gold dust, of which he brought a sufficient quantity, to make a vessel twice as large as what he designed; all which he laid in the pit which he had made in the furnace. When all these necessary preparations were got ready, he had nothing to do but to expect a strong wind, which was not long expected before it came: accordingly, he lighted a strong fire on his furnace, which, by the assistance of the wind, soon put his metal in fusion. He now began to think himself master of his wishes, and that he had nothing to do but to make a hole in the side of his furnace, and his pot would be made: But when he had bored his hole, he was in the utmost confusion imaginable; for the metal flowing into the sand which was not sufficiently dry, began to fly about him, scalding him in above forty places; nor could his agility and nimbleness any ways secure him, for the metal flew much swifter than he could run to secure himself. Thus he was not only disappointed as to his design; but was also so wounded as to be scarcely able to walk: During this illness he felt the blessing of having his eagles, for as without them he would now have been incapable of killing them; so by their assistance he was easily supplied.
The veneration which he always had for fire was not a little heightened by this disaster; for there is something in the nature of man which makes him adore his injurer when there is no possibility of revenging himself. It was some time before he was recovered of his scalds, all which time he was continually thinking of finding out ways to melt his metal, among other methods he happily hit upon making a pot of clay, which he dried thoroughly in the sun, and before his fire, for the space of a month, and after that burnt it in the fire, where he let it lie for several days: In this he melted some of his gold dust, which succeeded according to his desire; for (though it was not without difficulty) yet he could move it from the fire to his mould, and by that means cast his pots, but not so large as he at first wished they might be. From this Time he changed his drink (which as yet had been nothing but common water) for a kind of liquor which he made by boiling pieces of meat, and then letting it settle, till by inclination he could decant the liquor tolerably clear, after which he used to add the bark of a kind of Cassia, which tastes like cinnamon, and boiled it up a fresh: This drink was not only pleasant to the taste, but vastly strengthening also.
Nor was his thoughts taken up all this while only with contriving ways to satisfy appetite; for he scarcely ever missed the least hint which he could meet with of methods how to serve his other necessities. Among others he improved the use he had made of the Althæa-root, so as to form himself a kind of cloth, which in a greater measure, by being wrapped round his legs, protected them from the thorns, and thereby offered him to search some woody parts of the island, which he had long desired, but had been, upon attempting it, always obliged to desist, by the sharpness of the thorns, with which the shrubs were by Nature armed. The desire he had of searching these Places arose from his seeing the birds carry food into them, which he supposed was to nourish their young ones: Among others, he had observed a red bird which used to whistle continually after the most agreeable manner imaginable.
He had for some time had a great desire to catch and tame some of these young birds, which he doubted not but he could effect, after the same manner as he had before fed his eagles: Therefore, having armed his legs, by binding round them this cloth, he entered the woody places with the greatest resolution. He found several things which he believed to have been their nests, but which they had now left: Then he began to consider that he had observed them to carry meat into these places but at one time of the year, which had now been elapsed some time; but when it returned again, he doubted not but he should be complete master of his desires: Accordingly, the next spring he searches these places again, and found two nests of these red nightingales, which he carried to his cabin, where he fed them with the greatest care; and for a cage to keep them in, he had made at the top of his cabin a little mud house about two yards long and one broad, which he had covered with a kind of net-work, which he had contrived to make with the Althæa-roots: Thus he kept them till the ensuing year, at which time, he became infinitely fond of them because then they began their whistling, with which he was always highly diverted.
When he was in the woods he had taken several parcels of chickens, to the number of two and thirty which he brought home likewise to his cabin: These chickens continually decreased in Number, though he neither killed them, nor could they fly away, because he had broke their wings: This somewhat surprised him, till one day he observed a chicken's feather sticking to the beaks of one of his eagles: This obliged him to consider of ways how to preserve them, so that his eagles might not be able to reach them. The cage which he had made for his nightingales showed him how he might be master of his wishes ; which accordingly he was, by building a cage for them as he had done for his nightingales, with these differences; that as that was two yards long, this was near twenty, and as that was open at the top, and close on all sides, this was open on one side, and covered at the top by laying on large boughs, and over them great quantities of earth; by this means his poultry both flourished and grew more numerous, and were also more under his command.
About this time it happened, that as he was walking in the farther part of the island, he met with a mare who had just then foaled; her colt lay by her as yet very weak, and hardly able to stand: He immediately had a desire to have this colt home to his cabin; for he believed that a horse bred up to be tame from his being so very young, would be by far more gentle and tractable than those which he had as yet at his cabin. He would have caught it directly; but upon his offering to touch the colt, the mare made at him with much fury and violence, so that he thought it would be much more proper to go home and get one of his horses and his scimitar; which he did, with as much expedition as possible. Upon his return the mare and colt were not to be found; this made him very uneasy, and to leave no path unexamined, till after several hours search, he met with them again. After taking some pains, he got a halter round the colt's neck, which he tied to his own horse's tail, and went to his cabin: He grew prodigiously fond of his colt, feeding it night and morning with the milk of some roes which he kept tame about his cabin; always keeping it in the same cabin as he himself lay in. This colt, as it grew bigger, would always follow him, and was, by that means, the most useful companion he could wish to have: For as he fed him after the same manner as he did his other horses, so he was not less brisk and strong, which, added to his being so very familiar, soon made him the chief favourite with his master.
About the same time he began to find the inconveniency of having so loose a garment as the loose skins were; wherefore, he began to contrive how to make them fit neater and closer to his body; first he used to tie it close to his waist, but that did not answer his design, because both his legs and arms were then naked. At last he began to confider, that if he could meet with a very large buck, he would, if possible, draw off the skin without cutting either the legs or shoulders of it; and if he could do that, he could not see why he might not be able to make the shoulders of the skin to fit his arms, and the legs to fit his thighs. He had observed that the skins, while they were warm and moist, might be stretched shorter or longer, narrower or wider, as occasion required. As he wished, so it happened, for not long after he saw a large buck, of about twelve hands high, which was perfectly fat and stout; he flew one of his Eagles at him, who soon blinded him, and left him upon the ground: He brought him home to his cabin, where he immediately opened him; but took care not to cut the skin, except down the belly, and up to the neck. He flayed off the skin (while the beast was yet warm) just as he had wished; and immediately after it was separated from the body drew it on his own body, whereby he brought it to fit him very neatly; for he cut holes all down the sides of it, and laced it close to him; by this means, though it dried, yet it could not shrink any where, but where it was too big for him. After the same manner he furnished himself with coverings for his legs and feet, so that he was now completely covered. When he had completed his dress, he laid it up in his cabin, deigning
it only for his winter Habit, at which time it not only used to rain very plentifully, but the rains were generally attended by cold bleak winds, which used to confine him much to his cabin.
While he was thus contriving measures to satisfy the necessities of his body, he was not deficient in furnishing his mind; for the success he had met with in his searches after the seat of life (which he believed to be in the left ventricle) and the nature of it (which he was perfectly satisfied was a kind of fire) made him employ much time and observation in the dissecting of bodies.
He had a great desire to the various parts of animals, to find out their order and situation, their quantities, their qualities, and the order of their connection one with another; and by what means of communication they enjoy the benefit of this moist vapour or fire, which is life, so as to be moved, cherished, and live by it: How this moist vapour is continued during the time of its remaining in the body, whence it has its supply, and by what means preserved. The method he took in these enquiries was to be continually dissecting all sorts of animals, as well living as dead ; always observing with the greatest curiosity the nature, form, bulk and situation of the most minute parts. But because he found great varieties in the same part in different species of animals, and even sometimes in animals of the same species; therefore he would endeavour to mark out upon the ground with a stick, the shape of every thing which was very singularly remarkable. The beasts being apt to walk over and deface his marks, and other accidents often happening to them, he set himself about contriving other ways to preserve his observations. At last, he used to preserve the skins of the deer by stretching them and drying them: Upon these he used to draw, by the help of the coals of his fire, all his observations of the parts of animals. As he had naturally a great genius, and which was particularly adapted to drawing, so these anatomical were not only perfectly curious, but also neat. He observed that animals which had been some time kept from food were very poor, and had little or no fat in their bodies; from hence he concluded, that the food which they eat was turned to fat, and after that served to nourish them.
He observed, that when a bone was broke, the part to which the bone belonged was weak and infirm; as when the bone of the leg was broke, the animal could not stand upon it; and that when a part was bruised, then the animal could not move it, or at least not with that natural ease as otherways it was wont: Hence he concluded that the bone was the strength of the animal, and that they served to support him like so many pillars, and that the muscles were only necessary to move those bones, or other weight which was allotted to each to be moved by it.
After this manner of reasoning, joined to the most regular and just observations, he attained to a very great knowledge in the actions, nature, form and situation of the parts of animals, so as to be exceeded by very few who have had the assistance of all ages to forward their studies.
And now he apprehended plainly, that every particular animal, though it had a great many limbs, and variety of senses and motions, was, nevertheless, one in respect of that spirit and life, whole original was from one firm mansion, (viz. the heart) from whence its influence was diffused among all the members: That all the members were subservient to it, or informed and supported by it; and that this spirit made use of all the members in the same manner as he did of his weapons, or any other instruments: For as he sometimes used his scimitar to cut with, at other times: of a smaller Kind like Knives; at other times of his staves to strike, and the like; so though the body was one, yet the spirit made use of it in several ways, according to the respective uses of each member, and the several ends which it proposed to obtain.
Thus far had his observations brought him when he was arrived to near the thirtieth year of his age; at which time he began to apply himself to a more abstruse and speculative study, than what was merely the object of his senses: He proceeded to examine the natures of bodies in this sublunary world; as the different kinds of animals, plants, minerals, the various sorts of stones which he found, Earth, Water, Smoke, Flame, Heat, and such like, all which afforded him matter for great speculation, and by many experiments which he tried upon them, very much pleased, diverted, and informed him of their nature: In all these he observed different qualities, and different actions, that their motions agreed in some respects, and differed very much in others; and that so far as they agreed they were one, but when they were considered, with relation to their differences, they were many.
From hence he proceeded to a still more speculative study, till he had, by a close and strict reasoning, convinced himself that there was a Being superior to him, as much or more than he was superior to the beasts: This Being he imagined to be very much of the nature of fire; because he had observed fire to be capable both of uniting or dissolving of bodies, which two qualities he believed must be the attributes of this Being.
In the mean Time he was very solicitous in observing the several kinds of animals, and considering their actions, as what they were continually employed about, in hopes of finding some of them who might possibly have notions not unlike to his; with which he might communicate his thoughts, and be informed of theirs.
But he was altogether disappointed in his search; for he found that their thoughts were entirely taken up in getting provision, and satisfying their desires of eating, drinking, and choosing the most shady places in hot weather, and the most sunny places in the cold weather; and that all the time of their lives, both day and night, till they died, was spent after the same manner, without the least variation, or minding any thing beside their appetites: From whence it appeared to him, that they had no notions like his; or their thoughts any objects or desires which exceeded their appetites.
Having passed this judgment upon the animals, he knew that it was much more reasonable to conclude so of vegetables, which had but few of those apprehensions which animals had; and if that whose apprehension was more perfect did not attain to these notions, much less could it be expected from that whose apprehension was less perfect; especially when he saw that all the actions of plants, and other vegetables, reached no father than to nutrition and generation.
All this while his experimental studies were not in the least banished by his abstruse speculations; for as he had a genius perfectly adapted to curious enquiries, so he was continually trying some experiment or other in order to inform himself of the natures and qualities, and advantages he might reap from the various bodies which he met with. As there were some (nay many) which were useless and trifling, so there were others which were of the greatest use and advantage to him. He tried many experiments about making bodies swim in water, which proved to be the foundation of what he thought the greatest blessing he could find in this life.
He had observed that the hollow shells of nuts would swim, and bear up a considerable weight in the water: Now this quality of swimming he entirely attributed to its being hollow, because he had observed that his golden cups, though by much too heavy to swim when solid, yet when he had cast and beat to a sufficient hollowness, they would always swim: Hence he thought he might reasonably conclude, that it was not impossible for him to make something which might be large enough, and hollow enough to swim, though he himself were in it. The possibility of effecting this design, joined to the earnest desire he had to extend (if possible) his limits and power, made him always very uneasy till he had set about this project.
He had observed a very large tree (which had been blown down about a year before) this he thought was the most convenient thing he should meet with for his design, provided he could but hew it into some shape, and dig it hollow. Though this was a prodigious undertaking for one who was so very ill furnished with tools as our Antonio was; yet he was resolved not to be startled at it, but go through with it, as he had done with the making of cups: To this purpose he formed several kinds of hatchets, and axes of gold, which he afterwards beat to a substantial strong edge.
With these he set himself to work, and in about three days cleared his tree from all boughs, limbs, and roots, which he knew would be of no use to his machine: When he had done this, he began to consider into what shape be should hew his tree; for he was well satisfied that one shape would be much more convenient than another: The better to inform himself as to this point, he collected the shells of several kinds of nuts, some of which were round, others oval, and others very long ovals and pointed, some only at one end, others at both ends; upon each of there he had tried several experiments, as which would sustain the greatest weight, which move fastest, which with the least force, and the like; by which he found that those which were flattest and round supported the greatest weights; but then they not only moved slowest, but also required the greatest force to move them. He likewise found that those which were long and pointed at both ends, moved with the greatest swiftness, and that they required the least force to move them; but then they supported the least weight. Hence considering with himself which would be most useful, a boat which would swim swiftly, and carry but little luggage, or a boat which would carry much luggage, but would move but slowly; he gave the preference to the former, as what he was sure would be the greatest pleasure, and, for what he knew, might be the most useful of the two.
Accordingly he set himself to work to shape the Tree, which he did in about eight days, making it nearly of the fame form as the canoes are of, which the Indians make use of. Thus far he succeeded with much ease, but when he came to excavate it, he found himself much at a loss; but supplying the defect of tools by flint-stones of various shapes, he at last (after about three weeks hard labour) completed his design.
But when he should have enjoyed the fruits of his labour, he found himself quite at a nonplus; for his machine was much more than he with all his strength could move, much more carry it near half a mile. He believed that could he by any means fasten his horses to it, they might be able to draw it to the sea- side; but as yet he had nothing stronger than a strip of leather, which he used as a bridle for his horses; which was far from being strong enough to move so weighty a machine as this was. He endeavoured several ways to supply this want, but all to no purpose. He got vast quantities of the Althæa-root, and endeavoured to weave them together into a large pope, but this still proved too weak: Then he got great quantities of leather, and wreathed them together; these he found somewhat stronger, but not quite strong enough: At last he thought of tying some of his horses to his machine by the tail, and fastening others by these leather ropes. To this purpose he made two large golden hooks, these he drove into the stern of his boat, and with leather tied the tails of the horses (which were very long and full) round these hooks: Besides these, he fastened all his other horses to these hooks by long thick ropes made of leather: By this means he got his boat to the water-side just below the high-water mark. He knew that the tide would bear it off the ground, and might probably carry it from the shore; for which reason he got a large rope, which he tied to the hooks, and by that means fastened it to a tree which grew very near the high-water mark.
He was now (with the greatest joy imaginable) master of his so long wished machine. He had got it down to the water- side, and was impatient to satisfy his desire of tempting the sea.
He took the opportunity of the next high-water (it being very fair weather) and armed with a pole, he suffered the water to bear him off from the shore: He had not been long from the shore side, before he found his machine unmanageable; for as the waters grew deeper, he lost by degrees the force of the pole, insomuch that he was at last unable to reach the ground, so that he was entirely at the mercy of the waves.
There were about half a league from the shore, a long ridge of rocks; upon these rocks (after some tossing) our Antonio was cast; nor was his boat (the winds being very calm, and the waters smooth) any ways injured by this voyage.
Never was anyone more joyful than Antonio was to find himself on these rocks, not that they so much pleased him as that he was out of the power of the waters. He met with nothing on these rocks except oysters, which were very large and plentiful; each oyster being more than he could eat at one meal.
He was for some time very anxious about getting home again, being very unwilling to put himself again upon so dangerous and broad a passage, but as the tide went out, these fears vanished; for the passage became not only shorter, but more easy also; for when the tide was out, the ground was never out of the reach of his pole; so that he returned to shore with very little either of danger or trouble.
Though this first attempt had been so very dangerous, yet it did not in the least abate the pleasure which he took in his boat: It only made him use it with greater care and caution; For he would very often venture again on the sea, but for the future always took care not to let the boat go out of the reach of his pole.
By frequent rowing himself along the shore, he became so perfectly master both of his pole and boat, as to be able to go with an incredible swiftness.
But his being obliged not to go beyond such a depth, soon became a matter of as great grief to him, as his not being able to bring his boat to the water had been. This put him upon contriving methods how to manage his boat without reaching the ground: And first of all observing the great strength of the wind, and the ease of moving any thing in the water; he contrived a kind of sail, which was palm-leaves plaited between two poles, and fastened with leather thongs. This served him competently well instead of sails; as his boat was very narrow and easily moved: But then, as this Sail was of no use but when the wind blew, if he did not contrive some way to guide and move it without the wind, he should never be able to sail but when it was very unpleasant sailing.
After many trials he at last contrived two boughs, the twigs of which he tied together; and by adding more twigs than what naturally belonged to them, he made them like our brooms; the handles or poles of these he put through two holes, one of each side, and could move himself with them, (though it was much more laborious) after the same manner, almost, as we do with oars. But the continual labour which attended this manner of moving his boat, soon put his invention upon the rack to find out something which might be more light, and yet equally useful; which he effected by making a kind of plaitwork of palm leaves at the end of two long poles, which he hooped and strengthened with a thin plait of gold.
He had now supplied himself with the necessaries for his boat; but did not end there: For after this he set himself about adorning his vessel, which he did with large plaits of gold, which served as well for ornament as strength. Besides which, he fixed at the head of his boat a pair of very large stags horns; over which, (when the Sun shone too hot) he would throw a skin, and by that means preserve himself from its too scorching heat.
Having thus fitted his Boat, he very frequently diverted himself with rowing along the shore; but durst not venture far to sea, lest the wind and water jogging against him, should prove too strong for him; till by frequent practice he became more strong as to his arms, and could manage his boat with prodigious swiftness, far exceeding our European rowers.
He would now make frequent visits to those rocks upon which he had once been so happily cast; where, upon a more strict enquiry, he found several things which he thought of very great value: For besides the oysters, (which he had found when he first landed there) these rocks abounded with great plenty of lobsters, crabs, and almost all kinds of shell-fish; which he found, by being boiled, were not only grateful to his palate, but were also a very heartening diet. He likewise found here a great variety of stones, which he admired highly; some for their colour, and others for their brightness, and others for their make and shape.
But frequently being upon the water, he would by degrees venture farther to the sea, being less and less fearful of the danger, as he grew more and more expert at his oars; insomuch as sometimes to be almost out of sight of his island.
As he was one day sailing pretty near the shore, he heard a prodigious noise at sea, which was equally loud as thunder; but not continuing so long, he satisfied himself that it was not thunder, but something which he had never before heard.
Being of a temper equally bold and curious, he resolved to run to the shore, and see what it could be which could make so great a noise; when he came to the sea-side, he saw at a very great distance, two things, from which he saw flashes of fire rise before he heard the noise. He immediately leaped into his boat, and rowed himself towards them, with as much expedition as the wind (being full against him) would permit. He soon came near enough to have a full view of them. He found them so prodigious large, and the noise and fire so very terrible, that he thought it much the best way, to lye off at a good distance from them; for he concluded them to be two terrible animals, who breathed smoke, and threw fire at each other, and that they were fighting for each others life.
After sometime observing them fight, he perceived that they drew nearer and nearer him, which (as he was highly afraid) put him upon his oars to make the best of his way home again. As he was unwilling they should see where he went on shore, he went round to the other side of the island, where he fastened up his boat.
When he was at home again, he began to consider the danger he had been in, and how probably it might have happened that they might have caught and devoured him.
But still his curiosity would not suffer him to stay in his cabin: He was too desirous of feeling what became of these creatures, not to go to the side of the island where they were.
But for his greater security, he took his scimitar in his hand, that (if he found himself able to encounter with them) he might not be unarmed: And if they were too strong for him, he hoped they would not prove so nimble as his horse; which (as we observed before) always followed him, and was ready at his command.
When he came near the shore, he conveyed himself into a thicket, from whence he could plainly observe them; for they were now come very near the shore, so as not to be quite a league off at sea.
He had not been long in the thicket before he observed one of them making hard for the shore. He had resolved not to encounter him, and had therefore got his horse in his hand ready to mount him, and fly to his cabin, when he saw the creature sink under the Water, and the other make off to the sea so as to be very near being out of sight.
Though his fear was somewhat abated by seeing this which was so near the shore, sinking under the water ; yet as it (by being tossed about by the waves) seemed to move, he thought it might possibly recover ; wherefore he made what haste he could to his cabin, thinking that to be the safest place he could be in.
He staid within his cabin all that evening and the next day, not daring to go near the shore; but the third day he mounted one of his horses, and went to see what was become of the monster. When he came to the shore he met with the most agreeable surprise imaginable; for the tide was far gone out, and had left the strand covered with ten thousand things; which he admired not only as they were such things as he had never seen, but also as he saw they would most of them be of service to him.
The ship which was stranded being a large English East-India merchant ship, which, when she found she could neither conquer nor save herself by flight, had sunk herself rather than fall into the hands of the pirates, who had engaged her.
She was laden with clothes of all sorts, and all kinds of utensils for a factory, which was then just settled in those parts by the English.
Besides these utensils and commodities which he found here, the cables were what he was glad to find, as they were what he had the greatest occasion for: Because the leather thongs were very troublesome, and what would not bear the wet.
He made what haste he could to carry home what he thought most useful, as swords, cutlasses, axes, hatchets, clothes, and such like, binding them together with the ropes, being very unwilling that the tide should carry them off again.
The tide was now coming in, and he had saved what he thought the most valuable of the goods, when he began to look about the shore, where he saw under the rocks, a body entirely (as far as he could see) like his. This sight though it was very surprising, was nevertheless very welcome to him, because it satisfied him as to what he had much doubted, viz. whether or no there were not more than one of his shape, as well as of that of other creatures.
But after the pleasure which naturally attends being satisfied in so important an affair, was over; he began to be very melancholy, and consider the state of this body.
And first of all, he was perfectly satisfied that it was a duty necessarily incumbent on him, not to let it lie there, but to take it thence, and inter it after the same manner as he himself would wish to be interred, whenever he should die. For this reason, when the tide was gone out far enough, he went down to the strand, and laying the dead body on his horse, conveyed it to his cabin, where he laid it on a large bed of palm-leaves, and covered it with a deer skin; then he went out and made a large pit, sufficient to bold the body at full length: After which he returned home to his cabin, where he uncovered the body, and laying it on one of his horses, he conveyed it to the hole which he had made, and put it into it; with as much solemnity and decorum as he could contrive.
The execution of this duty struck a great damp on his spirits, and threw him into many dismal and melancholy reflections.
Sometimes he would be under the greatest concern imaginable, that he could never meet with this creature while he was alive; for as their forms were so exactly alike, so he thought their sentiments must be likewise.
At other times he would employ his thoughts on the possibility, nay, certainty, there seemed to be, that he himself should one time or other be in the same condition with this creature. He saw that every kind of beast grew old; and as it grew old; decayed, till by along decay it died.
Sometimes he would turn his thoughts to find out (if possibly he could) whither his life was gone, where it inhabited, and what it did when separated from the body. But here he was lost and puzzled in mazes from which he could by no means extricate himself.
This melancholy lasted several weeks; all which time he never so much thought of saving the rest of the things which lay about the strand. But as these thoughts vanished, he again set himself to work, labouring very hard very day, till, by the assistance of his horses he had gathered up every thing which was to be found upon the coast.
Among many other things which he found upon the shore, fortune had happily supplied him with a considerable quantity of sails; of which he made no small advantage. For first of all, his cabin had hitherto been but just sufficiently covered to keep out the too violent beams of the sun; but was entirely defective as to keeping out of the rain.
This great inconveniency he found he might now easily remove, by covering it over with a large sail; which he did, and withal supported it so well in the middle with very high poles, that though the rains continued ever so long, or were ever so violent, his cabin was nevertheless always dry. Besides which, its use was again very serviceable to him: For though he had sheltered himself from the sun and rain, yet the winds, which, in some seasons of the year are very bleak, were very troublesome to him, and gave him very much uneasiness.
For we must observe, that as he used himself to lye under these kind of coverings, his body grew much more tender, and of consequence more sensible to the cold winds. But this inconveniency he soon removed, by hanging a large piece of sail before his door.
All this while he had many uneasinesses about the man which he had found; upon the shore: For as the melancholy which had seized him, went off, it left a very great desire in him of meeting such another creature who might be a companion for him, and perhaps be very assisting to him, in making many conveniences which he found he very much wanted.
He would very frequently walk round the shore, in hope of meeting such an one; but was always disappointed.
As he every day improved in finding out conveniences for himself, so he grew likewise every day wiser and wiser, in finding out the inconveniencies of those things which he enjoyed. For which reason he was always busy in altering or making some one thing or other.
He soon found many faults in his house, and those of such a nature as could not possibly be mended.
For first of all, it was very far from the sea-side, where he had now fixed his chief pleasure.
Secondly, it was the lowest part of the island; and, for that reason, damp, and sometimes very splashy.
For these, and other inconveniencies, he resolved with himself to build another cabin, which should be both more pleasant and commodious.
To this end, he chose a place upon the sea-shore, facing the south; where he found a very large rock, which by nature was very hollow, and consequently more fit for his purpose.
When he had thus pitched upon the place, he began to form a design after what manner he should build it.
And first of all, as the rock was very ragged, he thought it absolutely necessary to line the inside of the cave with mud, breast high; which done, he raised a thick and strong semi-circular wall of above ten yards diameter; this again he subdivided into three different parts, separating them from each other by a wall, leaving only small holes by which he could get into them, and which might always be stopped up by pieces of boards which he had gathered upon the coast.
As he made his walls very thick and strong, and the clay with which he built them was at some distance from the sea- side, his work went on so slowly, that it took up the whole summer to build: the walls, at the end of which, the wet season coming on, obliged him to give over working till the succeeding summer should give him leave to complete it. So that he began now to think of visiting the northern part of the island, where he had not been for several months past.
He had not travelled about the northern part of the island above an hour, before he met what he had so long and so earnestly wished for, a creature like himself. `
For as the island of Goa grew more populous, so the number of religious sects multiplied likewise among them. Among the rest, there were many mendicants, whose whole subsistence depends upon the accidental charity of those who please to relieve them, by giving them the fragments and offals: Among these there are some who choose rather to lead an hermetical life, devoid of all the pleasures of society and others who think it sufficient penance to live by begging only.
The former insisting on some passages in the Divine Law, which exhorts men to choose a solitary and retired life, for the more convenient applying their thoughts to the Divine Being, and his glorious attributes; well considering, that the very seeing the various pleasures which the world enjoys, is sufficient (at least sometimes) to shuffle those bright ideas from the imagination, and thereby very much interrupt them in the enjoyment of those pleasures, which the religious only are capable of tasting.
The latter on the other hand, affirm, that conversation and society drives away evil thoughts, and banished, the prodigious diversity of thoughts which offered themselves to the mind. Nor was this all; for they affirmed, that man (though under the strictest discipline, and justest regulations) was nevertheless too strong not to break out sometimes into very inordinate and brutish sallies, which were very much curbed by society and conversation.
Among the former set of these mendicants, there happened to be one Salandio, who was resolutely bent upon leading the most retired hermitical life he could possibly contrive: in order to which, having got intelligence that there was an uninhabited island, which the ships passed by in their eastern voyages, he agreed with a captain of a vessel, to endeavour to let him a-shore on this island.
Having gathered what utensils he could get, he embarked, and was within a few days (though not without much danger) put upon the island; where he was highly pleased and transported to find the island so very fruitful of every thing which was necessary to the real happiness of this life, and that it was now in his power to turn his thoughts towards his great and glorious creator with the most uninterrupted attention and devotion. In which state he continued for several days, glorifying God; and when he had occasion to eat, gathering or killing what he thought necessary to satisfy his hunger.
Antonio in the mean time was wholly employed at the other end of the island, in building his house; so that Salandio did not meet with him.
But Antonio, as we before observed, being obliged to leave his building till the next summer, now roving through all parts of the island, they soon spied each other.
Salandio, for his Part, did not in the least doubt but it was some religious person, who, for the sake of a solitary life, had retired into the island as he himself had done; for which reason he thought it not in the least proper to speak to him lest he should spoil his meditation.
Antonio, on the other hand, was over ravished with joy, to think that he had found what he so long wished to see, a creature like himself.
Now Salandio had a black coat on, made of wool and hair; which Antonio, as he drew nearer to him, believed to be his natural skin; which made him stand wondering and gazing at him a long time.
Salandio finding Antonio so near him, ran away as fast as he could: And Antonio being desirous of having a more distinct view of him, pursued him a little way; but finding Salandio made so much haste, he stopped, and retired into the wood: So that Salandio (imagining that he was quite gone off) fell to his prayers, and reading, and invocations, and weeping, and supplication, and complaining, till he was altogether taken up so as to be regardless of every thing else.
In the mean time, Antonio stole upon him by degrees; and Salandio took no notice of him, till he came so near him as to hear him read, and praise God, and observed his humble behaviour and his weeping, and heard him praise God in a voice very pleasant and distinct, and very different from the voice of any other creature whatsoever. Then he looked upon his shape and lineaments, and observed him to be formed exactly as he was, and was satisfied that the coat which he had on, was not a natural habit, as he at first imagined it to be; but an artificial habit like his own. And when he observed the decency of his behaviour and supplication, he did not any ways question but that he was one of the same kind of creatures with himself; and that as the deer follow one another, so they ought to keep each other company; for which reason he resolved to go and speak to it. Whereupon he drew nearer to him; which Salandio perceiving, he again betook himself to his heels: And Antonio being of a much superior strength and vigour, pursued him till he overtook him, and held him fast, so that he could not get away.
When Salandio looked upon him, and saw him clothed with the skins of wild beasts with hair on, and his own hair so very long as to cover a great part of his body, and observed his prodigious swiftness and strength; he was very much afraid of him, and began to pacify him, by stroking and entreating of him.
But Antonio did not understand one word he said, nor knew any thing of his meaning: But saw he was afraid, and therefore endeavoured to allay his fear with such voices as he had learned of some of the beasts, and stroked his head, and both sides of his neck, and showed kindness to him, and expressed a great deal of gladness and joy; till at last Salandio's fears were laid aside, and he knew that he meant him no harm.
Now Salandio, out of a desire of knowing the meaning of things, had long before applied himself to the study of most languages, so as to be able to converse in almost any language whatsoever. So he began to speak to Antonio in all the several languages which he was master of, and to ask him questions concerning his way of life, and took pains to make him understand him; but all was in vain, for Antonio stood all the while wondering at what he heard, and was entirely ignorant of what it meant; only he observed that Salandio was pleased, and well affected toward him. And thus they stood for some time, wondering one at another.
Now Salandio had by him some remainder of the provision which he had brought with him out of the ship; which he offered to Antonio: But he (having never seen such food before) knew not what to make of it. Then Salandio eat some of it himself, and invited Antonio to eat some of it too.
But Antonio (though his natural curiosity very much prompted him to taste the food which Salandio offered him) nevertheless refused to eat of it, because it was contrary to those rules which he had some time since settled, with regard to his diet. For finding, as he was working at the sea-side, a large barrel full of fish, and eating heartily of them, they threw him into such a fever as had well nigh cost him his life. For which reason he firmly resolved with himself never to let his luxury or curiosity tempt him to eat of any thing but what he had already found to agree with him; so that, notwithstanding Salandio continued urging and inviting, after the most kind manner, to partake with him; yet he absolutely persisted in his resolution.
Notwithstanding this, Antonio had a very great inclination to be more intimately acquainted with Salandio; and for that reason, conducted him to the farther parts of the island, in order to let him live in his cabin, and ride upon his horses, and eat of his venison.
Salandio, on the other hand, willingly accompanied him, in hopes that he should be able to teach him to speak, and reduce him from his savageness, to be a servant of the most high God.
When they were come to the other side of the island, Salandio was not a little surprised at the manner after which Antonio lived; especially when Antonio offered him a horse, and took a tame eagle out of his cabin, in order to kill some venison ; and saw with what dexterity both his eagle and his horses pursued the game.
When they had been together a few days, Salandio began to teach him to speak, and to call things by their names: in which he found him so very quick of apprehension, that he was, in a very short time, capable of expressing his sentiments, and conversing freely.
Then Salandio began to enquire of him his manner of living, and how he came into the island; in answer to which, Antonio told him, that he knew nothing of his original, nor any father or mother that he had ever had, except that roe which, had suckled him and brought him up. Then he described to him his manner of living from first to last, and by what steps and degrees he advanced in knowledge.
Then Antonio began to enquire of Salandio about his manner of living and condition; and Salandio gave him an account of the island from whence he came, and what manner of people they were who inhabited it, and what sort of life they had led before the religious sects, (which we formerly mentioned) settled amongst them.
He also gave him an account of what was delivered in the Law, (i.e. the Scriptures) relating to the description of the divine world, Paradise and Hell, and the awakening and resurrection of mankind, and their gathering together to judgment, &c. All which things Antonio heard with the highest Pleasure; not seeing any thing in them contrary to either his reason or the nature of that being which he had long since imagined to preside over the affairs of this world.
All this while the pleasure which Antonio took in the company of Salandio, increased so very much, as to make him very desirous of finding out more such creatures like himself, with whom he might have more constant conversation; for Salandio would oftentimes absent himself from Antonio whole days together, for the more convenience of pursuing his devotions. For which reason he proposed to Salandio to go over, and live among those people whom he had described to him.
Salandio strongly opposed it for many months, but finding his constitution growing weaker and weaker every day, he at last consented; upon which they resolved to keep close to the shore, without stirring from it either day or night, till God should be pleased to afford them an opportunity of crossing the sea. And all the while they were intent upon this, they continued praying to God to direct them in this their business and to bring it to a happy issue.
At last, as God, whole name be ever praised, would have it, it happened that a ship which had lost her course, was driven by the wind and tide, upon the shore of the island; and as they drew nearer to the shore, they seeing two men upon the Land, resolved to go on shore there.
Then Salandio spoke to them, and desired them to carry him and his companion along with them in the ship; to which they readily consented; and it pleasing God to lend them a fair wind, they in a short time arrived at Goa.
When they were landed, Salandio's friends came about him, and he gave them an account of Antonio, and how he had lived: So that the people flocked to him on all sides, and admired and reverenced him.
Nor were the religious less pleased at his profound sense and judgment; for they very speedily initiated him into their order, being in the fifty third year of his age; where he enjoys ease, plenty, and respect.
F I N I S.
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