In the year 1805, a large ship, on the voyage homeward from the East Indies, was wrecked in a violent storm in the South Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles from the Cape of Good Hope. The ship went to pieces in the night, having struck on the rocky coast of an unknown island. When daylight appeared, 37 persons only remained out of about 200, who had been in the ship. These had been, for the most part, saved by seizing hold of spars or pieces of wood when the ship’s timbers separated. A woman and her two children got safe to shore on a hen-coop; indeed they were wrecked so near the shore, that the fowls in the hen-coop were found to be little worse for having been thrown into the sea. Part of a regiment, which had been some time in India, was returning to England in the ship, and some of the soldiers and their wives and children were among those who were saved. The ship’s cook and the carpenter were also saved, and some[73] of the common sailors, but none of the officers of the ship, or those belonging to the regiment, were among the survivors. Only one of the many passengers had the good fortune to get to shore; and he had saved his life by being a strong swimmer. His name and station were unknown to the crew, but he had gained among them, during the voyage, the name of the Philosopher.
The Shipwrecked (first plate)

The first day which this small remainder of the ship’s crew passed on the island, on which Providence had thrown them, was melancholy enough. Most of them sat on the rocks or on the ground, and kept looking on the sea from which they had so lately escaped. Some were bewailing the loss of their relatives, some that of their money, and others that of their ship’s provisions; they were cold, and wet, and comfortless, and yet disposed to do nothing to better their condition.

Amidst this general idleness, the Philosopher, as he was called, was as busy as a bee. Instead of sauntering about with a book, or gazing at the clouds, as he had often done on board the ship, he was hurrying along the shore in all directions, with such of the men as he could persuade to move, and examining every little creek and bay about the part of the island on which they were cast away. And he was well rewarded for his trouble, for the sea threw upon the land[74] all the lighter part of the cargo of the lost ship; provisions in sufficient abundance, some boxes of clothes, many chests of tea, some casks of flour, and large portions of the timbers and ropes of the vessel. In a small sandy creek, about a quarter of a mile distant from the wreck, one of the ship’s boats was found, upside down, and in it, preserved by being covered down tightly with a sail, were found a compass, a watch, and a few bottles of wine, with some biscuit, which had probably been put in for the use of the unfortunate persons who had ventured into the boat in the hope of reaching the land. A few yards farther on was found the dead body of a lady, one of the passengers from India, and by her side, wrapped closely and very carefully in a Scotch plaid, a male child of about a year old, which was first supposed to be dead also; but the Philosopher, fancying he perceived signs of life in the little creature, hurried back with the infant to the party who had refused to move, and gave it in charge to the women, which soon made them busy, for in the midst of their own misfortunes they were all anxious that the poor little child should live.

Before the day was over, many of the dead bodies were thrown ashore, and all were decently buried. Many of the drowned persons had filled their pockets with money, trinkets, and different valuables which[75] they possessed. The hope of sharing this booty soon spread activity among all the other idlers, and the recovered property was pretty equally divided among them all; the Philosopher alone refusing to receive any of the money or valuables, and only reserving for his own use the compass, one of the watches, some of the books, with the paper and other contents of his writing-desk, which floated ashore after they had been on the island nearly a week. The spirits of the whole party being a little revived, they made fires, partook of an evening meal, and retired to rest in sheltered places under the hills, much more cheerfully than might have been expected in their situation.

It would be curious to relate the contrivances which the new inhabitants of the island had recourse to for their own comfort. The island was of a crescent shape, like most islands in the South Sea, and was five miles across and six in length, with a large and beautiful harbor. There was grass, and there were shrubs, and many beautiful and delicate trees, and flocks of wild pigeons and other birds, and many butterflies and other insects, but no quadrupeds of any kind.

Those who have read the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, know how much even one man might do in a desolate island, with the help of the stores of a ship, and with a gun and ammunition. Our shipwrecked[76] people had many advantages over him. Some of the sailors had been brought up farmers’ boys, three of the soldiers were Glasgow weavers, the ............