"Placed himself between him and the savage." — illustration for Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1891)

Placed himself between him and the savage. (See p. 259), signed by Wal Paget, bottom left. Paget has described the Spanish settler as reasonable and moderate by his posture and gesture, protecting the wounded Carib from the bellicose Englishman waving a hatchet at him. One-half of page 261, vignetted: 8.6 cm high by 10.6 cm wide. Running head: "The Governor's Action" (page 261).

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: Colonists quarrel over the treatment of the aboriginals

And now [the Spanish settlers] had another broil with the three Englishmen; one of whom, a most turbulent fellow, being in a rage at one of the three captive slaves, because the fellow had not done something right which he bade him do, and seemed a little untractable in his showing him, drew a hatchet out of a frog-belt which he wore by his side, and fell upon the poor savage, not to correct him, but to kill him. One of the Spaniards who was by, seeing him give the fellow a barbarous cut with the hatchet, which he aimed at his head, but stuck into his shoulder, so that he thought he had cut the poor creature's arm off, ran to him, and entreating him not to murder the poor man, placed himself between him and the savage, to prevent the mischief. The fellow, being enraged the more at this, struck at the Spaniard with his hatchet, and swore he would serve him as he intended to serve the savage; which the Spaniard perceiving, avoided the blow, and with a shovel, which he had in his hand (for they were all working in the field about their corn land), knocked the brute down. Another of the Englishmen, running up at the same time to help his comrade, knocked the Spaniard down; and then two Spaniards more came in to help their man, and a third Englishman fell in upon them. They had none of them any firearms or any other weapons but hatchets and other tools, except this third Englishman; he had one of my rusty cutlasses, with which he made at the two last Spaniards, and wounded them both. This fray set the whole family in an uproar, and more help coming in they took the three Englishmen prisoners. The next question was, what should be done with them? They had been so often mutinous, and were so very furious, so desperate, and so idle withal, they knew not what course to take with them, for they were mischievous to the highest degree, and cared not what hurt they did to any man; so that, in short, it was not safe to live with them. [Chapter IV, "Renewed Invasion of the Savages," page 259]

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 conflict between the Spaniards and the two "honest" English settlers on the one hand and the three ex-mutineers on the others periodically flares up, resulting in property damage and, as here, assaults/ Having had enough, the Spanish Governor, the man whom Crusoe rescued from the cannibals in Part One, has no choice but to exile the trio to protect the community.

Related Material

Parallel Illustrations by George Cruikshank (1831) and the Cassell's illustrators (1864)

Above: George Cruikshank's vignette of the same incident, born of racism and a false sense of entitlement on the part of the ex-mutineers, A Spaniard with a shovel comes to the assistance of an Indian. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Above: The 1864 Cassell's Wal Paget's woodblock engraving of the continuing conflict between the three former mutineers and the other colonists, Spaniard protecting the Savage.".

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