第62章

Besides this，I kept my self，as I said，more retir'd than ever，and seldom went from my Cell，other than upon my constant Employment，viz. To milk my She-goats，and manage my little Flock，in the Wood；which as it was quite on the other Part of the Island，was quite out of Danger；for certain it is，that these Savage People who sometimes haunted this Island，never came with any Thoughts of finding any Thing here；and consequently never wandred off from the Coast；and I doubt not，but they might have been several Times on Shore，after my Apprehensions of them had made me cautious as well as before；and indeed，I look'd back with some Horror upon the Thoughts of what my Condition would have been，if I had chop'd upon them，and been discover'd before that，when naked and unarm'd，except with one Gun，and that loaden often only with small Shot，I walk'd every where peeping，and peeping about the Island，to see what I could get；what a Surprise should I have been in，if when I discover'd the Print of a Man's Foot，I had instead of that，seen fifteen or twenty Savages，and found them pursuing me，and by the Swiftness of their Running，no Possibility of my escaping them.

The Thoughts of this sometimes sunk my very Soul within me，and distress'd my Mind so much，that I could not soon recover it，to think what I should have done，and how I not only should not have been able to resist them，but even should not have had Presence of Mind enough to do what I might have done；much less，what now after so much Consideration and Preparation I might be able to do：Indeed，after serious thinking of these Things，I should be very Melancholly，and sometimes it would last a great while；but I resolv'd it at last all into Thankfulness to that Providence，which had deliver'd me from so many unseen Dangers，and had kept me from those Mischiefs which I could no way have been the Agent in delivering my self from；because I had not the least Notion of any such Thing depending，' or the least Supposition of it being possible.

This renew'd a Contemplation，which often had come to my Thoughts in former Time，when first I began to see the merciful Dispositions of Heaven，in the Dangers we run through in this Life. How wonderfully we are deliver'd，when we know nothing of it. How when we are in （a Quandary，as we call it） a Doubt or Hesitation，whether to go this Way，or that Way，a secret Hint shall direct us this Way，when we intended to go that Way；nay，when Sense，our own Inclination，and perhaps Business has call'd to go the other Way，yet a strange Impression upon the Mind，from we know not what Springs，and by we know not what Power，shall over-rule us to go this Way；and it shall afterwards appear，that had we gone that Way which we should have gone，and even to our Imagination ought to have gone，we should have been ruin'd and lost：Upon these，and many like Reflections，I afterwards made it a certain Rule with me，That whenever I found those secret Hints，or pressings of my Mind，to doing，or not doing any Thing that presented；or to going this Way，or that Way，I never fail'd to obey the secret Dictate；though I knew no other Reason for it，than that such a Pressure，or such a Hint hung upon my Mind：I could give many Examples of the Success of this Conduct in the Course of my Life；but more especially in the latter Part of my inhabiting this unhappy Island；besides many Occasions which it is very likely I might have taken Notice of，if I had seen with the same Eyes then，that I saw with now：But 'tis never too late to be wise；and I cannot but advise all considering Men，whose Lives are attended with such extraordinary Incidents as mine，or even though not so extraordinary，not to slight such secret Intimations of Providence，let them come from what invisible Intelligence they will，that' I shall not discuss，and perhaps cannot account for；but certainly they are a Proof of the Converse of Spirits，and the secret Communication between those embody'd，and those unembody'd；and such a Proof as can never be withstood：Of which I shall have Occasion to give some very remarkable Instances，in the Remainder of my solitary Residence in this dismal Place.

I believe the Reader of this will not think strange，if I confess that these Anxieties，these constant Dangers I liv'd in，and the Concern that was now upon me，put an End to all Invention，and to all the Contrivances that I had laid for my future Accommodations and Conveniencies. I had the Care of my Safety more now upon my Hands，than that of my Food. I car'd not to drive a Nail，or chop a Stick of Wood now，for fear the Noise I should make should be heard；much less would I fire a Gun，for the same Reason；and above all，I was intollerably uneasy at making any Fire，least the Smoke which is visible at a great Distance in the Day should betray me；and for this Reason I remov'd that Part of my Business which requir'd Fire；such as burning of Pots，and Pipes，etc. into my new Apartment in the Woods，where after I had been some time，I found to my unspeakable Consolation，a meer natural Cave in the Earth，which went in a vast way，and where，I dare say，no Savage，had he been at the Mouth of it，would be so hardy as to venture in，nor indeed，would any Man else；but one who like me，wanted nothing so much as a safe Retreat.

The Mouth of this Hollow，was at the Bottom of a great Rock，where by meer accident，（I would say，if I did not see abundant Reason to ascribe all such Things now to Providence） I was cutting down some thick Branches of Trees，to make Charcoal；and before I go on，I must observe the Reason of my making this Charcoal；which was thus：I was afraid of making a Smoke about my Habitation，as I said before；and yet I could not live there without baking my Bread，cooking my Meat，etc. so I contriv'd to burn some Wood here，as I had seen done in England，under Turf，till it became Chark，or dry Coal；and then putting the Fire out，I preserv'd the Coal to carry Home；and perform the other Services which Fire was wanting for at Home without Danger of Smoke.