296 ROBINSON CRUSOE.

a wood very forward to grow, as I have noted formerly, they
took care to have them generally much larger and taller than
those which I had planted ; and as they grew apace, so they
planted them so very thick and close together, that when they
had been three or four years grown, there was no piercing with
the eye any considerable way into the plantation; and as for
that part which I had planted, the trees were grown as thick
as a man’s thigh, and among them they placed so many other
short ones, and so thick, that, in a word, it stood like a palisado
a quarter of a mile thick, and it was next to impossible to pen-
etrate it, but with a little army to cut it all down,—for a little
dog could hardly get between the trees, they stood so close.

But this was not all; for they did the same by all the
ground to the right hand and to the left, and round even to the
side of the hill, leaving no way, not so much as for themselves,
to come out but by the ladder placed up to the side of the hill,
and then lifted up, and placed again from the first stage up to
the top; and when the ladder was taken down, nothing but
what had wings or witchcraft to assist it could come at them.
This was excellently well contrived ; nor was it less than what
they afterwards found occasion for, which served to convince
me, that as human prudence has the authority of Providence
to justify it, so it has doubtless the direction of Providence to
set it to work ; and if we listened carefully to the voice of it,
I am persuaded we might prevent many of the disasters which
our lives are now, by our own negligence, subjected to.

I return to the story. They lived two years after this in
perfect retirement, and had no more visits from the savages,
They had, indeed, an alarm given them one morning, which
put thgm into a great consternation ; for, some of the Spaniards
being out early one morning on the west side, or rather end, of
the island (which was that end where I never went, for fear ot
being discovered), they were surprised with seeing abova
twenty canoes of Indians just coming on shore, They made
the best of their way home in hurry enough; and giving the
alarm to their comrades, they kept close all that day and the
next, going out only at night to make their observation ; but
they had the good luck to be mistaken, for wherever the sav-
ages went, they did not land that time on the island, but pur.
sued some other design.

And now they had another broil with the three Englishmen ,
one of whom, a most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one
of the three slaves, whom I mentioned they had taken, because
the fellow had not done something right which he bade him