"Crusoe crosses the desert in Tartary" for Daniel Defoe's "Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" (1863-64)

Crusoe crosses the desert in Tartary (page 380) — the volume's ninety-ninth composite wood-block engraving for Defoe's The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner. Related by himself (London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64). Part II, The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Chapter XV, "Description of an Idol, which they destroy." Full-page, framed. 13.8 cm high x 21.9 cm wide. Running head: "The Tonguese Nation" (p. 381).

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: Crusoe in the Desert of Mogul Tartary

So we passed away safely on to Jarawena, where there was a Russian garrison, and there we rested five days.

From this city we had a frightful desert, which held us twenty-three days' march. We furnished ourselves with some tents here, for the better accommodating ourselves in the night; and the leader of the caravan procured sixteen waggons of the country, for carrying our water or provisions, and these carriages were our defence every night round our little camp; so that had the Tartars appeared, unless they had been very numerous indeed, they would not have been able to hurt us. We may well be supposed to have wanted rest again after this long journey; for in this desert we neither saw house nor tree, and scarce a bush; though we saw abundance of the sable-hunters, who are all Tartars of Mogul Tartary; of which this country is a part; and they frequently attack small caravans, but we saw no numbers of them together. [Chapter XV, "Description of an Idol, which they destroy," pp. 379-80]

Commentary: Crusoe and the Tartars

Almost a constant in the various nineteenth-century programs of illustration for Defoe's eighteenth-century novel are the various artists' interpretations of the fierce and formidable Tartars. Ironically, in Defoe's novel when the nomadic horsemen encounter a much smaller but much better armed body of Europeans and Chinese the Tartars turn and flee at the first whiff of gunpowder. Whereas Thomas Stothard (1790, 1820)shows the Tartars shadowing the merchants' column and Cruikshank depicts the aftermath of a Tartar attack in two separate scenes, Phiz depicts the Europeans standing up to the thieves. Finally, Paget leaves out the Europeans entirely and depicts a Tartar horseman in full retreat, one of the 1891 edition's dozen full-page lithographs.

However, here Crusoe returns as the dominating figure on a white horse — presumably the same mount that the illustrators have included into the individual study of Crusoe as he assaults the Tartar idol in Crusoe and the Tartar Idol, sword drawn, although here he is fully bearded. The porters who heretofore looked oriental are now stocky European types (foreground, left and right), although the wagons in the centre of the composition do not appear to be like those of Western Europe. The minimalist border of rough staves complements the vast emptiness of the Siberian Steppes in the background.

Related Material

Stothard's, Cassell's, and Paget's Scenes involving the Tartars (1790, 1820; 1864, 1891)

Left: As Crusoe and his party cross Tartar territory, the wily horsemen shadow them in Stothard's Robinson Crusoe travelling in Chinese Tartary. Centre: The dominating figure of Crusoe as the man of action returns in the previous Cassell illustration Crusoe and the Idol. Right: Paget's dramatic full-page realisation of the Tartars' retreat, As soon as they saw us, one of them blew a kind of horn. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Cruikshank's Scenes of Combat with the Tartars (1831)

Left: As Crusoe regain consciousness, he discovers that his companions have driven off the robbers in Crusoe, regaining consciousness, sees the dead Tartar. Right: Cruikshank's dramatic tailpiece for Farther Adventures: Crusoe and his partyy deliver a furious volley from behind a stockade of stacked tree trunks in The Europeans fire a withering volley at the charging Tartar horde in Russia. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Phiz's Interpretation of the Tartars' Theft of the Camel (1864)

Above: Phiz's highly dramatic, full-page illustration of the Portuguese pilot's grabbing the Tartar, Robinson Crusoe attacked and robbed by Tartars. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

The Cassell's Interpretation of the European counter-attack against the Tartar Cavalry (1864)

Above: The Cassell's team produced a pair of highly dramatic, full-page illustrations for the Tartary section; particularly dynamic is A Fight with Tartars, in which the Europeans stage a daring counter-attack against the Tartars, taking them by surprise. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Wal Paget's Interpretation of the Tartars' Retreat (1891)

Above: Paget's realisation of the scene in which a lone Scot confronts three Tartars: Killed the second with his pistol. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

References

Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner. Related by himself. With upwards of One Hundred Illustrations. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64.

Last modified 16 April 2018