[00:02.25] December the 9th, 1682.
[00:06.12] I have been on the island now for over 23 years.
[00:13.21] I would be happy here, but for the fear of the cannibals, though almost three years have passed since I saw the boat.
[00:20.65] Even so, I have been careful to keep guns about me, to watch out for boats and to make sure I did nothing which would draw attention to me.
[00:29.88] For a whole year, I even avoided chopping wood and making things in case the noise gave away my presence.
[00:37.75] Gradually, however, the fear passed, though I always kept my guns ready.
[00:43.75] I am glad now that I did.
[00:49.52] I was harvesting my crops yesterday when I saw the light of a fire on my side of the island, only a couple of miles away.
[01:00.24] I went straight to my hillside camp, knowing that if anyone found my excellent crop of corn, they would soon realize someone was living here.
[01:09.87] I pulled up the ladder, loaded my weapons and began to pray to God for deliverance.
[01:16.86] But, after a while, I knew I couldn't bear sitting here any longer without knowing what was going on.
[01:25.60] Cautiously, I clambered to the top of the hill.
[01:30.47] There, I perched behind a rock, trusting that this would shelter me from view.
[01:38.25] Using my perspective glass, a nautical magnifier I had rescued from the wreck years ago, I made out nine naked Indians sitting around a fire on the beach.
[01:51.07] They had two canoe with them which they had hauled up onto the sand.
[01:57.45] Later, when the tide had turned, they put out to sea again.
[02:04.55] I went to another vantage point.
[02:09.01] From there, I spotted five canoe out at sea.
[02:14.61] The other three must have landed on another beach.
[02:20.08] I also noticed more bones and uneaten parts of human bodies on the beach.
[02:27.06] There was blood everywhere, staining the golden sand.
[02:39.28] May 17th, 1684.
[02:45.14] I haven't seen any sign of the Indians for over a year, but I've been in constant fear of them returning and taking me by surprise.
[02:56.15] I've been sleeping badly, dreaming terrible dreams.
[03:02.85] Then, last night, I had another sign that I am not as alone as I thought.
[03:12.53] A gale blew all yesterday with a good deal of thunder and lightning.
[03:19.79] I woke from a troubled sleep, fancying I'd heard the sound of a gun being fired out at sea.
[03:28.49] Racing to the top of the hill, I saw a flash of fire and heard a second shot.
[03:35.93] I wondered if it might be a ship in distress.
[03:40.12] Dragging together all the dry wood I could find, I set my bonfire ablaze to guide any boats towards my island.
[03:49.78] The wind was so fierce that the fire soon died out.
[03:55.48] But when I heard another gunshot, I built up the fire again and worked even harder to keep it a light.
[04:04.59] But when dawn came, I could see only the wreck of a ship on the rocks.
[04:11.93] Still, there might be survivors.
[04:17.27] The sea was much calmer now.
[04:21.20] Surely I could risk a voyage in my canoe.
[04:27.79] But when paddling hard, I approached the worst of the currents.
[04:33.39] I hesitated.
[04:37.97] Despite my desire to help any survivors, despite my terrible need to see a human face, I knew I was heading for danger again.
[04:50.41] I remembered the horror of those currents and how I thought I'd never get back home again.
[04:59.69] I paddled my canoe up a little creek and sat on the shore, trying to work out which currents would safely take me to the wreck and then return me to the island.
[05:12.09] I finally decided to keep to the north.
[05:19.21] After sleeping the night in the canoe, I returned to the sea, and in less than two hours I had reached the wreck.
[05:28.32] The ship had stuck fast, jammed in between two rocks.
[05:34.86] The waves were gradually breaking her up.
[05:39.10] Was there no one left alive?
[05:45.54] But, as I hove close to, a dog ran out on her deck, yelping and crying.
[05:54.37] When I called to him, he jumped into the sea, swimming to my canoe and I hauled him aboard.
[06:02.32] The poor creature was almost dead from hunger and thirst.
[06:07.66] I gave him bread and water and he ate like a ravening wolf.
[06:13.46] It was a joy to care for him.
[06:18.41] I then went on board.
[06:25.98] The first sight I saw was two members of the crew who had drowned in the galley.
[06:34.27] They had their arms around each other.
[06:38.56] Water had penetrated everywhere and the provisions were ruined.
[06:45.14] All I could salvage was a small cask of brandy, several muskets and powder, a fire shovel and tongs, two brass kettles and a copper pot.
[06:58.00] There were also various chests.
[07:03.14] At first I thought they contained only some clothes, but hidden among them, I later found three great bags of pieces of eight, six gold dubloons, and some small gold bars.
[07:17.81] Yet I value them less than the dog, who is my new companion.
[07:26.37] May 10th, 1685.
[07:31.89] I have kept constant watch for the cannibals, and today they returned.
[07:38.73] This morning, I discovered no less than five canoe pulled up on the shore on my side of the island.
[07:47.72] There was no sign of their occupants.
[07:53.91] I clambered up to the top of the hill, taking care that my head didn't show.
[08:00.34] I was sure that if they discovered me, I couldn't take on so many.
[08:07.11] With the help of my perspective glass, I saw there were about 30 Indians and that they had lit a fire and were preparing to roast meat.
[08:19.51] I wondered if the meat was human.
[08:24.69] I got my answer soon enough.
[08:28.98] As I watched, the Indians returned to their canoe and dragged out two men.
[08:37.43] One of them was immediately knocked unconscious.
[08:45.56] As I watched in horror, the Indians began to carve up his body, cutting him up in pieces for cooking.
[08:55.23] While they did this, they left the other victim standing by himself, ready to be hacked to pieces.
[09:05.79] Perhaps they thought he wouldn't dare try to escape.
[09:12.85] But suddenly, he started to run with incredible speed along the sands towards me.
[09:21.48] Three of the cannibals immediately took up the chase.
[09:27.20] He swam the creek that lay between his pursuers and my cave, despite the fact that the tide was high.
[09:35.16] He must have been an extremely powerful swimmer.
[09:40.24] Only two of the Indians could swim.
[09:46.38] The other paused by the bank and then ran back to his fellow cannibals.
[09:54.08] I suddenly realized that I had to save this man's life.
[10:00.78] I raced down my ladder, grabbed my guns, took a shortcut through the trees and sprinted towards him.
[10:10.02] Follow me, I shouted to him.
[10:13.92] Of course he didn't understand, instead he seemed terrified.
[10:22.02] Then I rushed at the two Indians.
[10:26.37] The first I knocked down with the stock of my musket.
[10:31.40] I didn't want to fire in case it brought the others over the river towards me.
[10:38.27] But his companion aimed a bow and arrow at me, and I was forced to shoot him in the head.
[10:46.20] At the sound, the Indians on the beach looked towards us.
[10:51.48] Would they follow?
[10:55.75] But the noise seemed to fill them with fear.
[10:59.28] They fled to their boats and immediately began paddling furiously.
[11:06.43] Clearly they had never heard the sound of gunfire before.
[11:12.53] I turned back to the Indian I had rescued.
[11:17.28] He stood stock still, staring down at his two fallen enemies, too frightened to move.
[11:27.10] When I signaled him to approach me, he trembled as if he had been taken prisoner and was about to be killed.
[11:37.40] Slowly, however, he walked towards me.
[11:43.79] Then, he knelt down before me, kissed the ground, and taking my foot, set it on his head.
[11:54.58] I took this to mean that he was promising to be my slave.
[12:01.94] But I had only stunned the first Indian with the butt of my musket.
[12:07.68] Just then, he began to come round.
[12:11.94] My new friend glanced at my sword and signal to me that he needed it.
[12:18.66] I handed it to him and he slowly walked over to his enemy and with one blow, cut off his head.
[12:30.34] Together we buried the bodies.
[12:34.87] Then I took my new friend back to my cave, where I gave him bread, a bunch of raisins and some water to drink.
[12:45.28] When we had eaten, I made signs for the man to lie down and go to sleep, pointing to a place where I had laid a heap of straw and where there was a pile of blankets.
[12:59.66] I have decided to call him Friday, for the simple reason that today is Friday.
[13:08.51] He is a tall, handsome fellow and is probably about 26 years old with long black hair, a high forehead and a round, plump face.
[13:20.57] After all these long years of loneliness, I am overjoyed to have a companion at last.
[13:31.67] May 11th, 1685.
[13:39.17] Friday does not seem to understand that I am completely against the eating of human flesh, for today he took me back to the place on the beach where we had buried his enemies, and indicated that we should dig them up and eat their flesh.
[13:57.70] I tried to express my anger and outrage at the idea, and I believe he soon began to realize that cannibalism was not something that he and I were going to enjoy together.
[14:12.35] Taking a sword and guns, and with Friday's bow and arrow, we went back to the shore where the cannibals had been.
[14:22.37] The sand was covered with human remains.
[14:27.81] Using sign language, Friday made me understand that there had been a great battle amongst rival tribes.
[14:37.52] Prisoners had been taken and that the victors planned to celebrate with a cannibal feast.
[14:48.68] I asked Friday to clear up the remains and made a great fire on the sand to burn them.
[14:57.02] As he worked, I could see that he hankered after the flesh and was still a cannibal at heart.
[15:05.82] I hope I will be able to lead him into better ways.
[15:13.25] May 28th, 1685.
[15:21.42] I have begun to teach Friday a few words of English, and as the days pass, I have begun to realize that no man could be a more faithful friend than Friday, although our relationship is more like father and son.
[15:38.42] To help Friday lose his taste for human flesh, I decided to offer him other kinds of meat, and took him into the woods to kill a young goat.
[15:50.08] It was also a good opportunity to show him how a gun worked, as this was still a complete mystery to him.
[16:00.06] I have also given him some clothes to wear.
[16:04.89] He found them strange at first, but I think he is rather proud of them now.
[16:14.79] September 2nd, 1685.
[16:23.51] After a few months, Friday's English is improving, and I have been able to ask him how he came to be taken prisoner by the enemy tribe.
[16:35.20] He told me that his tribe was the stronger, but that the group of warriors he was with had been outnumbered by the enemy.
[16:46.41] But why didn't your people rescue you? I asked.
[16:52.60] Friday explained that he had been taken away by canoe.
[16:59.80] My tribe have no canoe that time, he said.
[17:07.31] What does your nation do with the men they take? I asked.
[17:12.81] Do they eat them as these did?
[17:16.31] Yes, my nation eat man's too, eat all up, Friday explained.
[17:25.11] They come here.
[17:28.27] Have you been here with them?
[17:31.65] Yes, I've been here.
[17:35.71] And he pointed to the northwest side of the island, which it seems was where his tribe held their feasts.
[17:45.31] I also learned from Friday that the currents around this island change between morning and afternoon.
[17:55.01] If I had picked a different time to try my canoe, I might not have had such a desperate journey.
[18:06.44] Perhaps, with his help, I may one day be able to escape.
[18:14.79] In return, I have told Friday my own story.
[18:19.79] He seems able to understand most of what I say.
[18:27.23] I have taught him to shoot.
[18:31.83] I have described the countries of Europe to him and, in doing so, made myself even more homesick than before.
[18:44.44] I have also shown him what is left of my ship, which is very little after so many years.
[18:54.27] When he understood that I had arrived on the ship, he said something that at first I didn't understand.
[19:06.93] Me see boats like this come to place at my tribe.
[19:14.97] Eventually, I realized he meant that another ship had been driven up on the shores of his island, and that his people had saved the white men from the sea.
[19:27.67] What was even more interesting was that they hadn't killed and eaten them.
[19:32.80] They only ate men who came to fight against them, and that the 17 survivors still lived amongst the tribe.
[19:45.06] December 4th, 1685.
[19:55.15] I was standing with Friday on top of the hill on a very clear day, when he became excited, pointing to the distant land on the horizon.
[20:06.64] This, he said, was his home.
[20:11.46] I wondered whether he was homesick, so I asked him about his future, for I didn't want to keep Friday if he was miserable.
[20:24.50] Did he really want to go home?
[20:28.58] He said yes, but he couldn't swim that far.
[20:35.11] And when I said I'd make him a canoe, he replied that he would only return to his island if I agreed to go with him.
[20:47.14] Hoping there could still be white men on the island, I agreed.
[20:53.95] Soon, we began to make plans.