"They came up in a very submissive, humble manner." — illustration for Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1891)

They came up in a very submissive, humble manner. (See p. 251), signed by Wal Paget, bottom left. Paget has provided no context for the scene in which the three ex-mutineers made contrite by days of starving in the jungle ask the Spanish settlers' forgiveness. One-half of page 253, vignetted: 7.5 cm high by 11.4 cm wide. Running head: "An Error in Judgment" (page 253).

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.]

The Passage Illustrated: The English Sailors return somewhat chastened

In about five days’ time the vagrants, tired with wandering, and almost starved with hunger, having chiefly lived on turtles’ eggs all that while, came back to the grove; and finding my Spaniard, who, as I have said, was the governor, and two more with him, walking by the side of the creek, they came up in a very submissive, humble manner, and begged to be received again into the society. The Spaniards used them civilly, but told them they had acted so unnaturally to their countrymen, and so very grossly to themselves, that they could not come to any conclusion without consulting the two Englishmen and the rest; but, however, they would go to them and discourse about it, and they should know in half-an-hour. It may be guessed that they were very hard put to it; for, as they were to wait this half-hour for an answer, they begged they would send them out some bread in the meantime, which they did, sending at the same time a large piece of goat’s flesh and a boiled parrot, which they ate very eagerly. [Chapter III, "Fight with the Cannibals," page 251]

Commentary: An Extended Flashback

The tropical adventure of Part Two, featuring the conflict between Spanish and English colonists on Crusoe's island, continues Crusoe's conflict with the cannibals and mutineers in Part One.Here, however, Crusoe is merely re-telling a story he has pieced together from various accounts about events that transpired while he was in Europe; he plays no active role in these events, but merely comments upon the actions of the stalwart Spanish, the pair of "honest" English colonists, and the reprehensible, churlish, and racist former mutineers. And yet in this narrative Crusoe (and, by extension, Defoe) is preparing readers for the prominent role that ex-mutineer Will Atkins will shortly play.Crusoe, having brought us up to date, will continue the portion of the narrative in which he is involved in 1695, some twenty-five years before the novel's publication, so that it is very much a retrospective first-person point of view regarding events that transpire after his return to the island on the 10th of April 1695.

The Spanish colonists have been fairly complacent up to this point, but they decide to support the two "honest" English settlers against the former mutineers. After five days wandering about the jungle and finding little to eat, the trio return, starving and prepared to be reasonable. They agree to make restitution, and repair the damage they have done. And then a new danger arises: the cannibals return.

Related Material

Reference

Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Exciting Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner, as Related by Himself. With 120 original illustrations by Walter Paget. London, Paris,and Melbourne: Cassell, 1891.

Last modified 29 March 2018