Robinson Crusoe
Chapter wise Summary
Chapter I — I Go to Sea
I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though
not of that country, my father being a foreigner. . . .
A man named Robinson Crusoe records his own
life story, beginning with his birth in 1632in the English city of York. Crusoe’s father was
a German, originally named Kreutznaer. Crusoe is the youngest of three
brothers, the eldest being a soldier and the second one having vanished
mysteriously. As the youngest son in the family, Crusoe is expected to inherit
little, and, as a result, his father encourages him to take up the law. But
Crusoe’s inclination is to go to sea. His family strongly opposes this idea,
and his father gives him a stern lecture on the value of accepting a middle
station in life. Crusoe resolves to follow his father’s advice. But when one of
his friends embarks for London, Crusoe succumbs to temptation and boards the
ship on September 1, 1651. A storm develops. Near Yarmouth the weather is
so bad that Crusoe fears for his life and prays to God for deliverance. The
ship nearly founders, but all are saved. Crusoe sees this ordeal as a sign of
fate that he should give up sea travel, and his friend’s father warns him
against setting foot on a ship again, echoing his own father’s warning.
Chapter II — I Am Captured by Pirates
Crusoe parts with his friend and proceeds to
London by land, where he meets a sea captain who proposes that Crusoe accompany
him on an upcoming merchant voyage. Writing to his family for investment money,
Crusoe sets off with forty pounds worth of trinkets and toys to sell abroad.
Crusoe makes a net income of 300 pounds from this trip, and considers it a
great success. Taking one hundred pounds with him, and leaving the remaining 200 pounds with a widow whom he trusts, Crusoe
sets off on another merchant expedition. This time he is pursued by Moorish
pirates off the coast of Sallee in North Africa. His ship is overtaken, and
Crusoe is enslaved, the only Briton among his Moorish master’s slaves. Crusoe
is assigned the task of fishing because of his natural skill. One day the
slaves’ fishing vessel gets lost in fog, and the master installs a compass on
board. The master also stores some gunpowder on board in preparation for a
shooting party, but the guests do not come. Crusoe waits.
Chapter III — I Escape from the Sallee Rover
Robinson sets off on a fishing expedition with
two other slaves, a man named Ismael and a boy named Xury. Sneaking up behind
Ismael, Robinson pushes him into the water. Ismael swims alongside the boat and
begs to be taken in. Crusoe pulls a gun on him and tells him to return to shore
or else be killed. Crusoe then asks Xury whether he will accompany him and
serve him faithfully, and Xury agrees. By evening, Crusoe calculates they have
sailed 150 miles
south of Sallee. They see wild creatures onshore that Crusoe recognizes as
lions. Crusoe shoots one dead, and he and Xury skin it. They proceed southward
toward what Crusoe believes are the Cape Verde or Canary Islands. They see
naked black people onshore, and they fear them until the natives offer them
food. When the Africans witness Crusoe shooting a leopard, they are impressed,
and they offer the skin to Crusoe. Unsure where to head, Crusoe is surprised by
a European ship in the distance. The ship picks up Xury and Crusoe, and its
kind Portuguese captain offers to take them to Brazil. The captain buys
Crusoe’s boat as well as Xury.
Chapter IV — I Become a Brazilian Planter
After a voyage of twenty-two days, Crusoe lands
in Brazil, accepting many farewell gifts from the Portuguese captain. After
meeting his Anglo-Brazilian neighbor, he conceives a plan to become a tobacco
planter. For two years Crusoe earns only enough on which to subsist, but in the
third year he begins to do well and, in retrospect, misses the labor potential
of the slave boy Xury whom he sold. Having told the Portuguese captain of
his 200 pounds
left in England, the captain arranges to have one hundred pounds sent to Crusoe
in Brazil, along with many gifts besides. After receiving what the captain
sent, Crusoe feels quite well off. Eager for slave labor to extend his business
further, he agrees to an acquaintance’s plan to sail to Guinea for black
slaves, in exchange for his own share of the slaves.
Chapter V — I Go on Board in an Evil Hour
After writing a will leaving half his
possessions to the Portuguese captain, Crusoe sets sail for Guinea on
September 1, 1659 with a cargo of trinkets with which to buy
slaves. Sailing up the South American coast, the ship encounters a storm, and
two men are lost. Crusoe fears for his life. Reaching the Caribbean, the ship
is shaken by yet another storm that drives the ship onto the sand, breaking the
rudder. The ship is clearly doomed, and the crew climbs into boats to make for
shore. Crusoe loses sight of his mates when all are swept away by an immense
wave. Finally Crusoe makes it to shore, where he immediately prays to God in
gratitude. He never sees a sign of another living crewmember. After drinking
some fresh water and finding a tree in which to sleep, Crusoe spends his first
night on the island.
Chapter VI — I Furnish Myself with Many
Things
O drug!” said I aloud, “what art
thou good for?”
Awakening the next morning refreshed, Crusoe
goes down to the shore to explore the remains of the ship. Swimming around it,
he finds it impossible to climb aboard until he finds a chain hanging, by which
he pulls himself up. Crusoe conceives the idea of building a raft out of broken
lumber, on which he loads provisions of bread, rice, goat meat, cheese, and
other foods. He also finds clothes, arms, and fresh water. He sails his
cargo-laden raft into a small cove, where he unloads it. He notices that the
land has wildfowl but no other humans. Crusoe returns to the ship twelve times
over the following thirteen days. On one of the later trips he finds thirty-six
pounds, and he sadly meditates on how worthless the money is to him. After a
strong wind that night, he awakens to find the ship’s remains gone the next
morning.
Chapter VII - I Build My Fortress
Wary of savages, Crusoe decides he must build
a dwelling or “fortress,” as he calls it. He chooses a spot with a view of the
sea, protected from animals and the heat of the sun and near fresh water. He
drives wooden stakes into the ground, using them as a frame for walls. Crusoe
sleeps securely in the shelter that night. The next day he hauls all of his
provisions and supplies inside, and hangs a hammock on which to sleep. He also
builds a cellar. During a thunderstorm he suddenly worries about his gunpowder
supply, which he separates from the other supplies and stores in the cellar.
Crusoe discovers wild goats on the island. He kills one and then sees that it
had a kid, which he then kills too. On about his twelfth day on the island, he
erects a large cross that he inscribes with the date of his arrival,
September 30, 1659. He resolves to cut a notch on the cross to
mark every passing day. He also begins a journal in which he records the good
and evil aspects of his experience, until he runs out of ink. He keeps watch
for passing ships, always disappointed.
Chapter VIII — The Journal
Crusoe makes us privy to the journal that he
keeps for a while, beginning with an entry dated “September 30, 1659,” that inaugurates his account of life on the
“Island of Despair,” as he calls it. He proceeds to narrate events that have
already been narrated: his discovery of the ship’s remains, his salvaging of
provisions, the storm that destroys the ship entirely, the construction of his
house, and so on. He notes that he has lost track of which day is Sunday, and
he is thus unable to keep the Sabbath religiously. He records the building of
various pieces of furniture and tools. He tames his first goat.
Chapter IX — I Throw Away the Husks of Corn
Continuing his journal, Crusoe records his
failed attempt to tame pigeons and his manufacture of candles from goat grease.
He tells of his semimiraculous discovery of barley: having tossed out a few
husks of corn in a shady area, he is astonished to find healthy barley plants
growing there later. He carefully saves the harvest to plant again and thus is
able eventually to supply himself with bread. On April 16, an earthquake nearly kills him as he is standing
in the entrance to his cellar. After two aftershocks, he is relieved to feel it
end with no damage to his life or property.
Chapter X — It Blows a Most Dreadful
Hurricane
Immediately after the earthquake, a hurricane
arrives. Crusoe takes shelter in his cave, cutting a drain for his house and
waiting out the torrential rains. He is worried by the thought that another
earthquake would send the overhanging precipice falling onto his dwelling and
resolves to move. But he is distracted from this plan by the discovery of casks
of gunpowder and other remains from the ship that have been driven back to
shore by the hurricane. Crusoe spends many days salvaging these remains for
more useful items.
Chapter XI — I Am Very Ill and Frighted
For more than a week of rainy weather, Crusoe
is seriously ill with a fever and severe headache. He is almost too weak to get
up for water, though he is dying of thirst. He prays to God for mercy. In one
of his feverish fits, he hallucinates a vision of a man descending from a black
cloud on a great flame. The man brandishes a weapon at Crusoe and tells him
that all his suffering has not yet brought him to repentance. Crusoe emerges
from the vision to take stock of the many times he has been delivered from
death and cries over his ingratitude. He utters his first serious prayer to
God, asking for an end to his distress. The next day, Crusoe finds he is
beginning to recover, though he is still so weak he can hardly hold his gun. He
struggles with thoughts of self-pity followed by self-reproach. Taking some
tobacco and rum, his mind is altered and he opens the Bible to read a verse
about calling on the Lord in times of trouble, which affects him deeply. He
falls into a profound sleep of more than twenty-four hours, which throws off
his calendar calculations forever. In the days that follow, Crusoe almost
completely recovers and kneels to God in gratitude. He prefers not to eat the
wildfowl while sick and instead eats some turtle eggs that he finds. He begins
a serious reading of the New Testament and regrets his earlier life. He comes
to conceive of his isolation on the island as a kind of deliverance from his
former guilty existence.
Chapter XII — I Take a Survey of the Island
Now, in the month of July, in his tenth month
on the island, Crusoe discovers that the rainy season is a very unhealthy time.
Having acquiesced in the idea that only Providence controls his deliverance
from the island, Crusoe resolves to explore the place thoroughly. He discovers
sugarcane and grapes, and is delighted with the beauty of one valley
especially. He secretly exults in imagining himself the king and lord of the
whole domain. Crusoe lays out grapes to make raisins and carries home a large
basket of limes and grapes. He contemplates choosing that site as his new home,
then spends the rest of July building a bower in the valley. He notes that his
domicile now houses some cats. He celebrates the passing of one year on the
island by fasting all day. Shortly after this occasion, he runs out of ink and
discontinues his journal.
Chapter XIII — I Sow My Grain
After planting his grain in the dry season
when it cannot sprout, Crusoe learns from his mistake, and afterward makes a
table of the dry and rainy months to facilitate his farming. He also discovers
that the wooden stakes he drove into the ground when building his “bower,” or
country house, have sprouted and grown. Over the course of several years they
grow into a kind of sheltering hedge providing cool shade. Crusoe also teaches
himself to make wicker baskets, imitating the basket makers he remembers from
his childhood. By this time he lacks only tobacco pipes, glassware, and a
kettle.
Chapter XIV — I Travel Quite Across the
Island
Finally carrying out his earlier wish to
survey the island thoroughly, Crusoe proceeds to the western end, where he
finds he can make out land in the distance. He concludes it belongs to Spanish
America. Crusoe is reluctant to explore it for fear of cannibals. He catches a
parrot that he teaches to speak, and discovers a penguin colony. He takes a
goat kid as a pet, keeping it in his bower where it nearly starves until Crusoe
remembers it. By this point, Crusoe has been on the island two years, and his
moments of satisfaction alternate with despairing moods. He continues to read
the Bible and is consoled by the verse that tells him God will never forsake
him.
Chapter XV — I Am Very Seldom Idle
Crusoe spends months making a shelf for his
abode. During the rainy months he plants his crop of rice and grain but is
angered to discover that birds damage it. He shoots several of the birds and
hangs them as scarecrows over the plants, and the birds never return. Crusoe
finally harvests the grain and slowly learns the complex process of flour grinding
and bread making. Determined to make earthenware pots, Crusoe attempts to shape
vessels out of clay, failing miserably at first. Eventually he learns to shape,
fire, and even glaze his pots. Thinking again of sailing to the mainland,
Crusoe returns to the place where the ship’s boat has been left upturned by the
storm. He tries for weeks to put it right side up but is not strong enough.
Chapter XVI — I Make Myself a Canoe
Poor Robin Crusoe! Where are you?
Where have you been? How come you here?”
Resolving to make a canoe, Crusoe selects and
cuts down an enormous cedar. He spends many months hacking off the branches,
shaping the exterior, and hollowing out the insides. The result is a far larger
canoe than he has ever seen before. He now realizes the mistake of not
previously considering its transport, since for him alone it is immovable. He
considers building a canal to bring the water to the canoe, but he calculates
it would take too long and abandons the idea. By this point, four years have
passed. He reflects that all his wants are satisfied, since he already has
everything that he can possibly use on his island. He feels gratitude imagining
how much worse off he could be now. He also reflects on several calendar
coincidences that he finds remarkable: he left his family on the same day he
was enslaved by the Moor; he escaped from the ship near Yarmouth on the same
day that he escaped from Sallee; and he was born on the same day he was cast
ashore on the island. Crusoe undertakes to make himself some new clothing out
of animal skins, and he also constructs an umbrella. Building a smaller canoe,
he sets out on a tour around the island. He is caught in a dangerous current
that threatens to take him out to sea and away from the island forever, and
when he is saved he falls to the ground in gratitude. Crusoe hears a voice say
his name repeatedly on his return, asking where he has been, and Crusoe
discovers that it is his parrot Poll.
Chapter XVII — I Improve Myself in the
Mechanic Exercises
Wary of sea journeys, Crusoe spends a quiet
year in his new home, missing nothing but human contact. He is pleased with his
newly developed skills of basket making and pottery making. Alarmed by his low
supply of gunpowder and wondering how he will feed himself if unable to shoot
goats, Crusoe decides he must learn animal husbandry and tries to catch a small
number of goats. He builds a pit in which he traps three young kids, and within
a year and a half Crusoe has a flock of twelve goats. He learns to milk them,
setting up a dairy that provides him with cheese and butter. He is pleased at
his “absolute command” over all the subjects of his island kingdom and enjoys
dining like a king surrounded by his parrot, his senile dog, and his two cats.
He provides us with a brief inventory of his island holdings: he has two
“plantations” on the island, the first his original home or “castle,” the
second his “country seat.” He has a grape arbor, fields under cultivation, and
enclosures for his “cattle,” or goats.
Chapter XVIII — I Find the Print of a Man’s
Naked Foot
Crusoe is astonished one day to discover the
single print of a man’s naked foot in the sand. Crusoe is terrified and
retreats to his “castle,” where he entertains thoughts that the devil has
visited the island. His conclusion that it is not the devil’s but a real man’s
footprint is equally terrifying, and Crusoe meditates on the irony of being
starved for human contact and then frightened of a man. Driven wild by fear,
Crusoe fortifies his home and raises guns around it, keeping watch whenever
possible. Concerned about his goats, he contrives to dig an underground cave in
which to herd them every night and creates another smaller pasture far away to
keep a second flock. Crusoe spends two years living in fear.
Chapter XIX — I See the Shore Spread with
Bones
Coming down to a far part of the shore, Crusoe
finds the beach spread with the carnage of humans. Eventually realizing that he
is in no danger of being found by the cannibals, Crusoe’s thoughts turn to
killing them as perpetrators of wicked deeds and thereby saving their intended
victims. Waiting every day on a hillside fully armed, Crusoe eventually changes
his mind, thinking that he has no divine authority to judge humans or to kill.
He also realizes that killing them might entail a full-scale invasion by the
other savages.
Chapter XX — I Seldom Go from My Cell
Crusoe describes the measures he takes to
avoid being spotted by the cannibals. He rarely burns fires, removes all traces
of his activities when leaving a place, and even devises a way to cook
underground. While descending into a large cave he has discovered, he is
shocked to see eyes staring at him. Crusoe is frightened and returns with a
firebrand, only to find it is an old he-goat. Crusoe is pleased with this new
cave and considers moving into it. Mounting to his lookout spot later, Crusoe
spots nine naked savages on the beach, lingering among the remains of their
cannibal feast. He proceeds toward them with his gun, but when he arrives they
are already out to sea again. Crusoe inspects the human carnage with disgust.
Chapter XXI — I See the Wreck of a Ship
On May 16, Crusoe is reading the Bible when he is surprised
by a distant gunshot followed closely by another. He senses the shots are
coming from a ship and builds a fire to notify the seamen of his presence. By
daylight he perceives that the shots have come from the wreck of a ship whose
men are now either gone or dead. Once again he thanks Providence for his own
survival. Going down to the shore, where he discovers a drowned boy, he
prepares to paddle out to the ship in his canoe. He finds the ship is Spanish
and contains wine, clothing, and a great treasure in gold bars and doubloons,
all of which he hauls back to his dwelling.
Chapter XXII — I Hear the First Sound of a
Man’s Voice
Crusoe reflects on the “original sin” of
disobeying his father, recounting the foolish decisions he has made throughout
his life. One night he dreams that eleven cannibals arrive on his island to
kill a victim who escapes and runs to Crusoe for protection. About a year and a
half afterward, Crusoe finds five canoes on the island and thirty cannibals on
the beach preparing two victims for slaughter. After the first is killed, the
second breaks away and runs toward Crusoe’s hiding place. He is pursued by two
cannibals but is faster than they are. Crusoe attacks both pursuers and
persuades the frightened victim to approach. Finding Crusoe friendly, the
native vows devotion to his liberator. After burying the remains of the two
pursuers so as not to be tracked later, Crusoe and the native return to his
camp, where the native sleeps.
Chapter XXIII — I Call Him Friday
Crusoe names the native Friday to commemorate
the day on which Crusoe saves the native’s life. Friday again asserts his subservience
to Crusoe. Crusoe teaches him simple English words and clothes him. Returning
together to the slaughter scene, Crusoe has Friday clean up the bones and
skulls and tries to convey to his servant the horror of cannibalism. Crusoe is
delighted with his new companion and teaches him to eat goat meat instead of
human flesh. He realizes he must expand his grain cultivation, which Friday
helps him to do.
Chapter XXIV — We Make Another Canoe
Crusoe begins to love Friday and, in the
course of rudimentary conversations with him, learns that the cannibals
periodically visit the island. Crusoe also acquires enough geographical
information to locate himself near Trinidad. Crusoe finds out that Friday is
aware of mainland Spaniards who kill many men. Crusoe attempts to educate
Friday in religious matters and finds that his servant easily understands the
notion of God, to whom Friday draws similarities with his own deity Benamuckee.
Friday has more difficulty understanding the devil, not grasping why God does
not rid the world of this evil being permanently, and Crusoe has trouble
answering this question. Crusoe admits that he lacks the religious knowledge
necessary for instructing Friday in all the aspects of God and the devil.
Friday reports that the cannibals have saved the men from the shipwreck
discovered by Crusoe before Friday’s liberation and that those men are living
safely among the natives now. When Friday expresses a yearning to return to his
country, Crusoe fears losing him, and when Crusoe considers trying to join the
shipwreck survivors, Friday becomes upset and begs Crusoe not to leave him.
Together, the two build a boat in which they plan to sail to Friday’s land in
November or December.
Chapter XXV — We March Out Against the
Cannibals
My island was now peopled, and I
thought myself very rich in subjects . . . how like a king I looked.
Before Crusoe and Friday have a chance for
their voyage to the cannibals’ land, the cannibals visit Crusoe’s island.
Twenty-one natives come in three canoes to carry out another cannibalistic
attack on three prisoners. Hesitant on moral grounds to kill so many, Crusoe
reasons that since Friday belongs to an enemy nation, the situation can be
construed as a state of war in which killing is permissible. Approaching the shore,
Crusoe observes that one of the prisoners is a European. Crusoe and Friday fall
upon the cannibals and quickly overcome them with their superior weapons,
allowing only four to escape. Friday is overjoyed to find that another of the
prisoners is his own father. Crusoe and Friday feed the dazed prisoners and
carry them back to Crusoe’s dwelling, where a tent is erected for them. Crusoe
reflects contentedly on the peopling of his kingdom with loyal subjects.
Chapter XXVI — We Plan a Voyage to the
Colonies of America
After conversing with his “two new subjects,”
Friday’s father and the Spaniard, Crusoe revisits his earlier dream of
returning to the mainland. Crusoe asks the Spaniard whether he can count on the
support of the remaining men held on the cannibals’ territory. The Spaniard
says yes, but reminds Crusoe that food production would have to be expanded to
accommodate so many extra men. With the help of his new workers, Crusoe
increases his agricultural capacity. He gives each of the new men a gun.
Chapter XXVII — We Quell a Mutiny
One day Friday comes running to Crusoe with
news that a boat is approaching the island, and Crusoe, with his spyglass,
discovers it to be English. Crusoe is suspicious. Near the shore, Crusoe and
Friday discover that the boat contains eleven men, three of whom are bound as
prisoners. Friday suspects that the captors are preparing for cannibalism. When
the eight free men wander around the island, Crusoe approaches the prisoners,
who mistake him for an angel. One prisoner explains that he is the captain of
the ship and that the sailors have mutinied. Crusoe proposes that in exchange
for liberating him and the other two, he and Friday should be granted free
passage to England. The captain agrees and Crusoe gives him a gun. Crusoe
realizes that the other seamen may notice something wrong and send more men
onshore to overpower Crusoe’s men. They disable the boat to prevent the
additional men from escaping.
Sure enough, ten seamen come in from the ship
to discover the boat destroyed. Leaving three in the second boat as watchmen,
the other seven come ashore. Crusoe then sends Friday and another to shout at
the men from various directions, and Crusoe succeeds in confusing and tiring
them so that they are finally separated. The men in the boat eventually come
inland and are overwhelmed by Crusoe’s stratagems. On behalf of Crusoe, the
captain, finally addressing the remaining men, offers to spare everybody’s life
except that of the ringleader if they surrender now. All the mutineers surrender.
The captain makes up a story that the island is a royal colony and that the
governor is preparing to execute the ringleader the next day.
Chapter XXVIII — We Seize the Ship
Having defeated the mutineers, Crusoe decides
that it is time to seize the ship, and he tells the captain of his plans. The
captain agrees. Crusoe and the captain intimidate the captive mutineers with a
fictitious report that the island’s governor intends to execute them all but
would pardon most of them if they help seize the ship. To guarantee the men’s
promises, Crusoe keeps five hostages. The plan works: the rebel captain on the
ship is killed, and the ship is reclaimed. When Crusoe glimpses the ship, he
nearly faints from shock. In gratitude, the captain presents Crusoe with gifts
of wine, food, and clothing. The mutineers are offered the chance to remain on
the island in order to avoid certain execution for mutiny in England.
Gratefully, they accept. On December 19, 1686, Crusoe boards the ship with his money and a
few possessions and sets sail for England after twenty-eight years on the
island. Back in England, Crusoe discovers that the widow who has been guarding
his money is alive but not prosperous. Crusoe’s family is dead, except for two
sisters and the children of a brother. Crusoe decides to go to Lisbon to seek
information about his plantations in Brazil.
Chapter XXIX — I Find My Wealth All About Me
t is impossible to express here
the flutterings of my very heart . . . when I found all my wealth about me.
Arriving in Lisbon, Crusoe looks up his old
friend and benefactor, the Portuguese captain who first took him to Brazil. The
Portuguese captain tells Crusoe that his Brazilian lands have been placed in
trust and have been very profitable. The captain is indebted to Crusoe for a
large sum that he partially repays on the spot. Crusoe, moved by the captain’s
honesty, returns a portion of the money. Obtaining a notarized letter, Crusoe
is able to transfer his Brazilian investments back into his own name. He finds
himself in possession of a large fortune. Crusoe sends gifts of money to his
widow friend and to his two sisters. Tempted to move to Brazil, Crusoe decides
against the idea because he is reluctant to become Catholic. He resolves to
return to England, but he is averse to traveling by sea, removing his baggage
from three different ships at the last moment. He later learns that two of
those ships are either taken by pirates or foundered. Crusoe decides to proceed
on land, assembling a traveling group of Europeans and their servants.
Chapter XXX — We Cross the Mountains
Crusoe and his group set out from Lisbon and
reach the Spanish town of Pampeluna (Pamplona) in late autumn, and Crusoe finds
the cold almost unbearable. The snow is excessive, forcing the group to stay
several weeks in Pamplona. On November 15 they finally set out toward France, despite
inclement weather. They encounter three wolves and a bear in the woods. Friday
kills a wolf and drives away the others. Friday also amuses the group by
teasing the bear before killing it. Proceeding onward, the group encounters a
frightened horse without a rider, and then finds the remains of two men who
have been devoured by wolves. Three hundred wolves soon surround Crusoe’s
group. The group shoots the wolves and frightens them with an explosion of
gunpowder, finally driving them away. Arriving at last in Toulouse, France,
Crusoe learns that his group’s escape from the wolves was virtually miraculous.
Chapter XXXI — I Revisit My Island
Crusoe lands safely at Dover, England, on January 14. He deposits his personal effects with his widow
friend, who cares for him well. Crusoe contemplates returning to Lisbon and
going from there to Brazil, but he is once again dissuaded by religious
concerns. He decides to stay in England, giving orders to sell his investments
in Brazil. This sale earns Crusoe the large fortune of 33,000 pieces
of eight. Since Crusoe is unattached to any family members and is used to a
wandering life, he again thinks about leaving England, though the widow does
all she can to dissuade him. Crusoe marries, but after the death of his wife he
decides to head for the East Indies as a private trader in 1694. On this voyage he revisits his island. Crusoe
finds that the Spaniards who have remained there have subjugated the mutineers,
treating them kindly. Crusoe provides them with gifts of cattle, supplies, and
even women. The colony has survived a cannibal invasion and is now prospering.
