[00:00.36] April 29th, 1661.
[00:03.09] I have harvested my first crop of grain.
[00:07.82] The crop I sowed back in November failed, but another crop sown in March of this year has sprouted and grown.
[00:15.70] I may even be able to make bread.
[00:20.39] July 2nd, 1661.
[00:26.38] I've been dividing my time between my original camp on the hillside and my country home.
[00:34.10] There was much work to be done in both places, and I have been busy making repairs and extensions.
[00:42.65] I then decided to travel across the island and make a thorough exploration.
[00:49.88] Taking my gun, a hatchet, a large quantity of powder and shot, and as much biscuit, cake, and raisins as I could carry, I finally set out one morning with my faithful dog.
[01:01.91] As I walked, I tried to work out where my island is.
[01:07.71] On a clear day, I can see land to the west, at least 20 leagues away.
[01:15.61] If this land was that part of the American coast occupied by Spain, I would have seen ships passing, so it is much more likely to lie between the Spanish colonies and Brazil.
[01:28.35] This has always worried me.
[01:32.92] I know for a fact that the very worst savages live here.
[01:37.18] They are cannibals, and never fail to murder and eat any humans who fall into their hands.
[01:46.30] The other side of the island is much more attractive than mine.
[01:50.89] There are open fields with flowers and grass, beautiful woodland, and a large number of parrots.
[01:59.79] I decided to try to capture one, tame it, and teach it to speak to me.
[02:07.33] The bird wouldn't have a human voice, but at least it would be company for I am so unbearably lonely.
[02:16.52] Eventually, I managed to knock a parrot out of a tree with a stick.
[02:23.23] Fortunately, the bird quickly recovered, and I took it with me on my journey.
[02:29.92] Further on, there were hares and foxes, rather different from the ones I was used to at home, but recognizable nonetheless.
[02:40.82] At last, I came to the opposite seashore.
[02:44.85] The coastline here is much more attractive than on my side of the island.
[02:52.00] More important to me, this shore was covered with hundreds of turtles, whereas I considered myself lucky if I found one or two on mine.
[03:04.68] I traveled along the coast for about 12 miles, and then, having set up a huge pole on the shore as a marker, I decided to go home again, but taking a different route.
[03:18.00] In fact, this was to prove too difficult, because the weather grew so misty, I couldn't see the sun and therefore couldn't navigate.
[03:27.70] I found myself in a large valley that was surrounded by hills covered in woodland.
[03:35.61] I had no idea which direction to take, so I retraced my steps to my marker and returned home the way I had come.
[03:44.78] By the time I got home, I was exhausted.
[03:52.51] August 28th, 1661.
[03:58.65] The rainy season has arrived, forcing me to pass more time in the shelter of my home.
[04:05.77] I have spent the days teaching my parrot, whom I've named Paul to talk, and above all, say my name.
[04:16.12] I would not say that I am happy here.
[04:19.67] I still dream of being rescued, but I have accepted that my fate for now is to stay on this island.
[04:29.74] I am living a better life here than I did in the old days before I was shipwrecked.
[04:40.04] September 30th, 1662.
[04:47.49] I have now been on the island for almost three years.
[04:55.07] I have not been idle in the past few months.
[04:58.63] My corn has had to be protected from goats, hares, and birds.
[05:06.88] Then, I needed to learn how to make bread, though I have no grindstone to grind the corn and no yeast.
[05:16.69] At first, I tried to make a grindstone out of rock, but this was too soft.
[05:22.70] Instead, I used a hardwood, and this has worked well.
[05:28.45] The yeast I have had to do without.
[05:33.59] But I have also succeeded in making clay pots to bake my bread in.
[05:40.88] They are misshapen, ugly things, but they work.
[05:45.33] I shaped them out of raw clay, let them dry in the sun, then fired them in a bonfire.
[05:54.55] I even managed to make a pot which could hold liquid.
[05:59.87] One of my pots became coated in sand before I fired it, and when I took the pot out of the fire, I discovered that the sand had melted into a glaze.
[06:12.44] It has taken months to achieve all this.
[06:18.28] But today, I sampled my first small barley loaves.
[06:27.65] January 5th, 1663.
[06:36.69] Some months ago, I decided to make a canoe.
[06:42.23] I cannot count on its being a means of escape because of the hundreds of miles of uncharted waters around the island.
[06:52.27] And if I try to reach the nearby land, I run the risk of meeting cannibals.
[06:59.30] But at least I could explore the coast, which would make me feel less trapped on the island.
[07:08.01] I chose a vast cedar tree in the woods.
[07:13.63] I spent 20 days chopping it down, and a further 14 days hacking off the branches.
[07:23.51] A month passed while I shaped the tree into a boat, and it took nearly three months while I hacked out the inside.
[07:35.70] Eventually, I succeeded in making a huge canoe with more than enough space for myself and my cargo.
[07:46.65] But I deliberately pushed one problem to the back of my mind.
[07:53.22] How to get such a large, heavy boat into the water.
[07:59.08] The craft lies about 100 yards from the sea, and it is too heavy for me to drag any distance.
[08:09.41] All my work has been wasted.
[08:16.10] March 8th, 1664.
[08:23.13] I have decided to make another canoe.
[08:26.59] My heart is sick at the thought of all the work this will mean, but I must not allow myself to be defeated by setbacks.
[08:37.42] This time, I will make a smaller one, and think carefully about where I build it so that I have a chance of floating it when it is finished.
[08:49.67] June 19th, 1665.
[08:56.32] My canoe is finished and launched.
[09:01.95] Even though I tried to make the job of launching it easier for myself, I found I still had to dig a canal from my boatyard to the creek so that I could float the canoe at high tide.
[09:16.26] Just digging the canal has taken me months, but I have succeeded.
[09:24.84] That moment of triumph, when I brought the canoe through the canal to the creek, was the greatest joy I have ever felt in my life.
[09:35.90] I then fixed up a small mast and sail.
[09:40.97] Finally, I made lockers at either end of the canoe so that I could stow provisions as well as ammunition.
[09:51.14] I also cut into the side of the craft so that I could place my gun in the hollow, making a flap to hang over the weapon to keep it dry.
[10:02.13] If I meet any enemies on the sea, I shall be able to defend myself.
[10:11.92] November 6th, 1665.
[10:18.55] At last, I am nearly ready to set sail.
[10:25.66] Today, I fixed an umbrella I had made in a step in the stern to keep the worst of the sun off my head.
[10:34.52] I then loaded my lockers with two dozen loaves of bread, a pot of rice, a small bottle of rum, half a goat, and powder and shot.
[10:46.74] I also have on board two large heavy coats I salvage from the wreck.
[10:52.84] I will lie on one and use the other to cover me up at night.
[11:01.32] December 23rd, 1665.
[11:08.60] My voyage around the island took me much longer than I had thought.
[11:15.13] About two leagues out to sea, there were a large number of rocks, some above water and some underneath.
[11:23.99] And beyond the rocks was a shoal of sand.
[11:28.10] I realized I would have to take my canoe a long way out to sea, go right round them, and then find somewhere where I could land again.
[11:39.60] The thought of sailing so far from the island worried me, so I went ashore and climbed a hill to get my bearings.
[11:48.29] From the hill, I could see that a very strong current ran to the east, and even came close to where I had landed.
[11:58.16] I soon realized that if I wasn't careful, the current could sweep me so far out to sea that I wouldn't be able to get back to the island that I now called home.
[12:10.06] I stayed ashore for a couple of days, as the wind was blowing strongly from the south southeast.
[12:19.87] On the third day, it dropped, and I set off in my canoe again.
[12:26.05] But however hard I tried to avoid the current, I was still caught by its fearsome pull.
[12:33.82] It dragged the canoe onward with terrifying violence.
[12:39.52] There was no wind to help me, and the paddle was useless.
[12:45.67] Then I saw something ahead which made me despair.
[12:51.31] The current ran on both sides of the island.
[12:57.59] In a few leagues, the two fierce currents would join.
[13:03.38] All I had feared was coming true.
[13:07.19] I couldn't get home.
[13:10.21] I would circle the island in the current for the rest of my days.
[13:16.77] Using the paddle, and utterly exhausting myself, I kept the canoe as much to the north as possible, so that I could take advantage of an eddy towards the side of the current.
[13:32.40] Suddenly, I felt a breeze on my face and I was a little more cheered.
[13:40.14] Half an hour later, the breeze became a strong wind.
[13:45.73] I spread my sail, and the wind and current carried me back towards the island, to the home I had believed I was never going to see again.
[13:57.97] When I got back on shore, I fell to my knees and thanked God for my deliverance.
[14:05.72] After a long sleep on the beach, I returned to my country house in the valley of plenty.
[14:13.88] I climbed over the fence, lay down in the shade, and slept yet again, until I heard a voice calling my name.
[14:27.28] Robin, Robin, Robin Cruso, poor Robin Cruso, where are you, Robinson Cruso?
[14:36.01] Where are you?
[14:37.82] Where have you been?
[14:41.26] At first, I was terrified.
[14:45.91] Then I saw my dear Paul.
[14:50.33] He was simply repeating the words I had taught him, but it sounded as if he was overjoyed to see me, and I was greatly moved.
[15:04.95] January 6th, 1677.
[15:11.17] The years seem to have passed at an incredible speed.
[15:16.51] My dog and the cats I first brought to the island are now dead.
[15:22.67] I have improved my two homes, grown crops and made bread, milked my increasing herd of goats, and trapped wild animals for food and for their skins.
[15:36.14] I have made myself clothes from those skins.
[15:39.73] I have a cap made of goat skin with a flap behind to keep the sun off, and a goat skin jacket and breaches.
[15:49.95] I have no shoes or stockings, but I have made myself rough boots from skins, which I tie around my legs.
[15:59.31] From my goat skin belt, I carry a saw on one side and a hatchet on the other.
[16:05.58] I've also got pouches for powder and shot for my guns.
[16:12.17] As I go about the island, I carry a basket on my back and a gun at my shoulder.
[16:18.82] What a sight I must be.
[16:23.45] But for years, I believed that no one would ever see me like this.
[16:31.37] Until yesterday.
[16:35.41] I was walking over the beach to the canoe about noon, when I saw the print of a man's naked foot in the sand.
[16:48.75] I stood there as if I had been struck, not able to move.
[16:55.74] I listened for a human voice above the familiar sounds of the waves and the seabirds, but though I strained my ears, I could hear no one.
[17:06.60] And yet the footprint was fresh and clear.
[17:12.42] Then I began to wonder if I had got confused and was staring down at my own footprint, forgetting that I had already passed that way.
[17:22.30] Was this a possibility?
[17:29.61] I took off my goat skin boot and set my foot down beside the footprint.
[17:37.20] The foot which had made it was clearly bigger than my own.
[17:44.32] Someone else has been on the island.
[17:52.62] I returned home terrified, glancing behind me time after time, seeing human shapes behind every tree.
[18:03.48] I reached my camp, went like a fox to earth and didn't sleep all night.
[18:10.77] Who could the footprint belong to?
[18:15.87] Who was trespassing on my island?
[18:21.46] A cannibal, or the devil himself?
[18:27.82] I held the Bible close to my chest and waited for the dawn.
[18:35.69] Today, I have begun to fortify my hillside home, including both cave and camp.
[18:44.78] I have also made musket holes in the walls surrounding my home, so that I can fire at approaching enemies.
[18:57.60] January 19th, 1679.
[19:06.10] Four days ago, two years after I saw the footprint, I thought I saw a boat out to sea at a great distance.
[19:19.12] When I reached the shore at the far end of the island, I saw a sight that utterly horrified me and made me far more fearful than the footprint had.
[19:32.43] The beach was covered with bones and skulls, lying bleached white on the sand.
[19:40.46] And in the center was a place where a fire had been lit.
[19:46.73] I realized I was gazing at the remains of a cannibal feast.
[19:55.61] I had been on the island for 19 years and never seen anything like this before.
[20:02.76] I felt sick.
[20:06.76] I had never explored this part of the island before, and I began to wonder if the cannibals had regularly enjoyed their gruesome picnic on this beach.
[20:21.74] Perhaps they came often.
[20:24.53] Perhaps I was just lucky to have been cast ashore on the side of the island they did not visit.
[20:35.38] But what if they should one day come to my part of the island?
[20:42.89] I hurriedly returned to my camp and checked my weapons.
[20:48.12] I had three pistols, two muskets and plenty of ammunition, as well as the two rusty swords I'd rescued from the ship.
[20:58.20] If the cannibals explored the rest of the island and decided to attack me, at least I'd be ready for them.
[21:09.19] Each day since then, I've climbed to the top of the hill so that I can watch for boats, but I've seen none.
[21:20.34] Even so, I was afraid that the smoke rising from my fire might be seen.
[21:27.70] But I knew I couldn't survive without baking bread and cooking meat.
[21:33.57] Then I had a brain wave.
[21:36.77] I burnt some wood under turf, as I'd seen it done in England, until it became charcoal.
[21:45.44] Then I put the fire out and used the hot charcoal to cook with instead.
[21:50.21] Now there was no more smoke.
[21:56.45] January 22nd, 1679.
[22:05.05] This morning, I had another bad shock.
[22:09.21] I was cutting down a small tree when I found a large hollow behind a pile of brushwood.
[22:18.31] I stared into the shallow cave and saw two broad, shiny eyes gazing steadily back at me.
[22:29.16] What creature could this be?
[22:33.52] A cannibal hiding so close to my home, waiting to attack me?
[22:39.64] I muttered a quick prayer.
[22:44.37] Then, gathering my courage, I picked up a blazing stick and rushed in, only to hear a sigh that put me into a cold sweat.
[22:56.45] For a moment, I was too terrified to move, but I forced myself on and saw, lying on the ground, a huge he goat, gasping for breath and dying of what I'm sure was old age.