"Came ranging along the shore" — illustration for Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1891)

Came ranging along the shore. (See p. 278). Paget has already described the destruction of the Englishmen's plantation in "All their huts and household stuff flaming up together." Now he reveals the agents of that destruction. One-half of page 280, framed: 8.4 cm high by 12.6 cm wide. Running head: "Victory" (page 281).

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 Return of the Cannibals in Force

As they came on shore in the evening, and at the easternmost side of the island, our men had that night to consult and consider what to do. In the first place, knowing that their being entirely concealed was their only safety before and would be much more so now, while the number of their enemies would be so great, they resolved, first of all, to take down the huts which were built for the two Englishmen, and drive away their goats to the old cave; because they supposed the savages would go directly thither, as soon as it was day, to play the old game over again, though they did not now land within two leagues of it. In the next place, they drove away all the flocks of goats they had at the old bower, as I called it, which belonged to the Spaniards; and, in short, left as little appearance of inhabitants anywhere as was possible; and the next morning early they posted themselves, with all their force, at the plantation of the two men, to wait for their coming. As they guessed, so it happened: these new invaders, leaving their canoes at the east end of the island, came ranging along the shore, directly towards the place, to the number of two hundred and fifty, as near as our men could judge. Our army was but small indeed; but, that which was worse, they had not arms for all their number. The whole account, it seems, stood thus: first, as to men, seventeen Spaniards, five Englishmen, old Friday, the three slaves taken with the women, who proved very faithful, and three other slaves, who lived with the Spaniards. To arm these, they had eleven muskets, five pistols, three fowling-pieces, five muskets or fowling-pieces which were taken by me from the mutinous seamen whom I reduced, two swords, and three old halberds. [Chapter V, "A Great Victory," page 278]

Commentary

Defoe presents this invasion in force as a direct consequence of the escape of one of the three natives whom the Spanish settlers spared when they discovered the men asleep after a cannibal feast. Here Paget introduces readers to the invading force that has just set fire to the plantation of the two young Englishmen, forcing them to flee through the jungle with their native wives and children. The illustration, therefore, maintains the suspense as the young aboriginals comprise a formidable force that vastly outnumbers the European settlers, despite their superior weaponry. The natives rather than the settlers are presented in the text and the Paget series as menacing invaders whose presumed goal is the total destruction of the colony, which is no longer just a group of adult males but now includes aboriginal wives and some children of mixed race. The Paget series curiously depicts the natives as Negroes rather than Carib Indians, a confusion which has its origin in other programs of illustration. Other illustrators have shown the flight of the colonists or the battle between the mainland natives and the planters; however, but no one but Paget has depicted the actual incursion or the subsequent burning of the Englishmen's plantation. The overall effect of the illustration of the invading aboriginal army must have been to recall for readers in the early 1890s the Anglo-Zulu wars of ten years earlier in South Africa.

Related Material

Related Plate from the 1864 Cassell Edition

Above: The earlier Cassell edition's realistic wood-engraving of the badly outnumbered European force turning back the invaders, A Battle. [Click on image to enlarge it.]

Reference

Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Of York, Mariner. As Related by Himself. With upwards of One Hundred and Twenty Original Illustrations by Walter Paget. London, Paris, and Melbourne: Cassell, 1891.

Last modified 6 April 2018