OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 415
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tome. Iam the rather apt to believe it to be a true account, because
the youth gave me an account of a good part of it; though, I must
own, not.so distinct and so feelingly as his maid, and the rather because
it seems his mother fed him at the price of her own life: but the poor
maid, though her constitution being stronger than that of her mistress,
who was in years, and a weakly woman too, she might struggle harder
with it,—I say the poor maid might be supposed to feel the extrenfity
something sooner than her mistress, who might be allowed to keep the
last bits something longer than she parted with any to relieve the maid.
No question, as the case is here related, if our ship, or some other, had
not so providentially met them, a few days more would have ended all
their lives, unless they had prevented it by eating one another; and
even that, as their case stood, would have served them but a little
while, they being five hundred leagues from any land, or any possi-
bility of relief, other than in the miraculous manner it happened.
But this is by the way; I return to my disposition of things among
the people.

And first, it is to be observed here, that for many reasons I did not
think fit to let them know any thing of the sloop I had framed, and
which I thought of setting up among them; for I found, at least at my
first coming, such seeds of division among them, that I saw it plainly,
had I set up the sloop, and left it among them, they would, upon very
slight disgust, have separated, and gone away from one another; or
perhaps have turned pirates, and so made the island 2 den of thieves,
instead of a plantation of sober and religious people, as I intended it
to be; nor did I leave the two pieces of brass cannon that I had on

board, or the twu quarter-deck guns, that my nephew took extraordi--

nary, for the same reason; I thought they had enough to qualify them
for a defensive war, against any that should invade them; but I was
not to set them up for an offensive war, or to encourage them to go
abroad to attack others, which in the end would only bring ruin and
destruction upon themselves and all their undertakings. I reserved the
sloop, therefore, and the guns, for their service another way, as I shall
observe in its place.

I have now done with the island: I left them all in good circum-
" stances, and in a flourishing condition, and went on board my ship again
the fifth day of May, having been five-and-twenty days among them;
and, as they were all resolved to stay upon the island till I came to
remove them, I promised to send some further relief from the Brazils,
if I could possibly find an opportunity ; and particularly I promised to
send them some cattle, such as sheep, hogs, and cows; for as to the two
cows and calves which I brought from England, we had been obliged,