DOI issue:
July to December, 1846
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16543#0093
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHAMVARI.
85
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP
MISS ROBINSON CRUSOE,
CHAPTER IX.
my hut. I cooked tlie old rabbit, first skinning it. " It might hare
been ermine," I thought, " and then what hopes of muffs and tippets."
However, as it was, I felt grateful : for I knew the cold and rainy
weather must set in, when even rabbit skins would be better than no
skins at all.
And now, I am about to enter into the most dreadful and melancholy
relation of a silent life. Consider it, my sisters : a silent life. An
existence in which the tongue of woman becomes silent as echo when
not spoken to—(dear echo ! that, lady-like, always has the last word)
—silent as an untouched lute. As well as I can recollect, it was the
30th of September that, my foot—which I had already imagined
dancing upon bleeding hearts in an Indian ball-room—first touched
this inhospitable island. After a few days, it came into my mind
that I would keep an exact reckoning of the time as it passed. I felt
the more secure in doing this, that my journal would be quite private.
At first, I thought of putting down the days and weeks on paper,—
but straying on the beach, an accident determined me otherwise.
It will be remembered, that I spoke of a magnificent mirror that,
with all the strength of woman, I tore from the state-cabin. This
mirror was dashed by the envious and relentless ocean from my raft,
and sent, shivered in pieces, to be shared among the sea-nymphs. By
a strong effort of the soul, I had wrenched this mirror from my daily
thoughts—when, one morning, bending my steps towards the beach—
there had been an unusually high tide—I saw, washed upon the shore,
that very mirror. Here, I thought, is one drop of honey in my cup of
unctually each day I visited this
fish-pond ; and each day
observed the increasing sa-
gacity of the finny creatures.
I am now very certain that,
as my dear father used to
say, we much underrate the
moral perceptions of fish.
I now believe with him,
that fish think. "Who
shall say," my respected
parent was wont to ask,
"that a lobster does not
reason ? Take a lively
lobster : put him in a
saucepan full of cold water ;
then put the saucepan on
the fire As the fluid be- I Dltterne3S- I turned the mirror up—it was lying, as I thought, upon
comes heated conveying Iits face~~and discovered that there was nothing but the frame. The
strange sensations to the ! sneU was there' Dut the gem was rifled. There was, indeed, its wooden
' ' frame, but its reflecting soul was gone.
Soothing this new and most unnecessary affliction as best I might,
I resolved to turn my disappointment into some sort of profit.
Whereupon I took the skeleton of the looking-glass, and set it up in
the earth. And then upon its sides I cut every day a notch, with
double notches for what J recollected were opera nights. And this
incident, too, made me prettily moralise. " Had the glass remained,"
rPiece"o7kon or tin "that |1 said to ^yself-though I do not think, had anybody been present, I
he knows is neither rock I should nave extended the confidence—" had the glass remained, that,
nor clay nor shingle 4nd ' without incision of knife, might have told of departing years ;"—told,
then, too late, he feels that he is being cooked ; and as his life ebbs j 1 ™uf s^ more trul? than'1 fear' 1 did ' for- ^ether it was idleness,
away in hot and boiling water, he sees, with his projecting eyes, into ; ^ether lfc was woman s instinct, I cannot say, but certain it is, I was
the future. He sees himself as scarlet as a soldier of the line. And \ always behmd-hand marking my days—marking, in the long-run two
then he sees himself placed in a dish ; and one, or two, or three gen- I mstead of ten" Tt ma^ 1 know' be urSed b^ the calumniators of our
tlemen, with twinkling eyes, looking down upon him. And then he ! sex' that tnis on m? Part wa8 desiSn- But 110 : 1 rePeat xt ; 1 thmk
feels himself pass^g in small pieces down the throats of the two or ^ was pure instinct—nothing but instinct.
lobster, he begins to reason
—to suspect that he is not
in the sea. Faintly, lan-
guidly, perspiring, he
gropes with his claws for
the ocean bed ; and they
move scratchingly against
three gentlemen, who smack their mouths, as though they would
never have a belly full. Now the lobster," my dear father would say,
" feels, though he has not words to express as much ; the lobster feels,
as I began to feel when I got into the Court of Chancery ; even as I
I should observe that, among many things which I brought out of
the ship were pens, ink, and paper ; but of these I was extremely
sparing ; resolving to write my life, and not knowing to what extent
the materials might extend. I also found in the bottom of an old
felt when I found myself chewed up after the suit had risen to boiling ! chest a prayer-book, that, strange to say, had nothing perfect but the
point, and I was completely done." Thus my father would hold forth • | Marria8'e Service. This, I confess it, was an omen that at first a
whilst my mother would move uneasily in her chair, and with the !llttle revived me- And then> let me add> 1 w&s not W1th<™t a com
amiable freedom of a wife, beg him not to make a fool of himself.
And I shared in the risible unbelief of my mother ; but then I dreamt
panion. No . there was the cat—the very cat that had seemed to
glare and mew perpetual celibacy at me—that cat had smuggled
evil.
I am thrown upon a desolate
island, without a blessed soul to
speak to.
I am singled out to be a single
woman, when I might have been a
wife and a parent.
good.
Then I have this consolation
— There's nobody to scandalise
me.
I might have been married early
to a brute, and been a grand-
mother at eight-and-thirty!
not of the sagacity of fish, for I had not angled with a wedding-ring, i herself amon& the thb3gs uPon m7 raft> and was the tenant ofA m? hut
I was very soon undeceived. Doubtless, the uncaught fish quickly ! After a tune> considering my situation, I began to put down my
began to take count of the great number of their companions ensnared thoughts in writing ; making a sort of debtor and creditor account of
by that piece of gold wire, and so became shy accordingly. Be this m7 Positlon- Thus :
as it may, sometimes for half a day and more would I angle with the
ring, and never so much as get a nibble ; lots of fine, brilliant young
fish, with waistcoats of gold and silver scales, would come, floating and
swimming, and flirting about the hook, and making-believe to bite ;
and now, with a sudden twist and plunge of the tail, darting to the
other side of the stream. You may be sure that this vivacity, this
wariness of the fish, made me frequently moralise ; again and again
led my thoughts back to a delicious world of routs and dances.
Finding the fish become every day more shy, I laid by my golden
hook and tackle for a time ; and went abroad, when it was fine, with
my pistol, as much for the pleasure of practising at a mark, as to see !
if I could kill anything that, when killed, I might turn to better ac-
count than my turkey. To my great delight, I discovered that the
place abounded with rabbits. To be sure, they were as wild and skit-
tish as colts ; always running away when they saw me. At length,
however, lying down among some high grass, I got a shot; fired, and
killed a she-rabbit which, fortunately, had sixteen little rabbits near
her. When their mother fell, the poor little things all gathered them-
selves together and never stirred a foot. Whereupon I took the old
one and flung her across my shoulder ; at the same time placing all
the little rabbits in my gown as in a form, and so carried them all to
And so summing up this short account, I thought, as my dear
mother used to say when she buttered her crumpets, that much might
be said on both sides.
A. Curious Case of Sensibility.
A Secretary of a Club was brought up before Alderman Gibbs on
Friday last for keeping back the monies and accounts of the Club.
Alderman Gibbs refused to decide for certain reasons which he stated,
and for certain other reasons which he did not explain. We wonder if
these " certain other reasons " had any reference to his own position as
Churchwarden of St. Stephen's, Walbrook. There have been cases
known of consciences waking up, after slumbering fourteen years.
85
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OP
MISS ROBINSON CRUSOE,
CHAPTER IX.
my hut. I cooked tlie old rabbit, first skinning it. " It might hare
been ermine," I thought, " and then what hopes of muffs and tippets."
However, as it was, I felt grateful : for I knew the cold and rainy
weather must set in, when even rabbit skins would be better than no
skins at all.
And now, I am about to enter into the most dreadful and melancholy
relation of a silent life. Consider it, my sisters : a silent life. An
existence in which the tongue of woman becomes silent as echo when
not spoken to—(dear echo ! that, lady-like, always has the last word)
—silent as an untouched lute. As well as I can recollect, it was the
30th of September that, my foot—which I had already imagined
dancing upon bleeding hearts in an Indian ball-room—first touched
this inhospitable island. After a few days, it came into my mind
that I would keep an exact reckoning of the time as it passed. I felt
the more secure in doing this, that my journal would be quite private.
At first, I thought of putting down the days and weeks on paper,—
but straying on the beach, an accident determined me otherwise.
It will be remembered, that I spoke of a magnificent mirror that,
with all the strength of woman, I tore from the state-cabin. This
mirror was dashed by the envious and relentless ocean from my raft,
and sent, shivered in pieces, to be shared among the sea-nymphs. By
a strong effort of the soul, I had wrenched this mirror from my daily
thoughts—when, one morning, bending my steps towards the beach—
there had been an unusually high tide—I saw, washed upon the shore,
that very mirror. Here, I thought, is one drop of honey in my cup of
unctually each day I visited this
fish-pond ; and each day
observed the increasing sa-
gacity of the finny creatures.
I am now very certain that,
as my dear father used to
say, we much underrate the
moral perceptions of fish.
I now believe with him,
that fish think. "Who
shall say," my respected
parent was wont to ask,
"that a lobster does not
reason ? Take a lively
lobster : put him in a
saucepan full of cold water ;
then put the saucepan on
the fire As the fluid be- I Dltterne3S- I turned the mirror up—it was lying, as I thought, upon
comes heated conveying Iits face~~and discovered that there was nothing but the frame. The
strange sensations to the ! sneU was there' Dut the gem was rifled. There was, indeed, its wooden
' ' frame, but its reflecting soul was gone.
Soothing this new and most unnecessary affliction as best I might,
I resolved to turn my disappointment into some sort of profit.
Whereupon I took the skeleton of the looking-glass, and set it up in
the earth. And then upon its sides I cut every day a notch, with
double notches for what J recollected were opera nights. And this
incident, too, made me prettily moralise. " Had the glass remained,"
rPiece"o7kon or tin "that |1 said to ^yself-though I do not think, had anybody been present, I
he knows is neither rock I should nave extended the confidence—" had the glass remained, that,
nor clay nor shingle 4nd ' without incision of knife, might have told of departing years ;"—told,
then, too late, he feels that he is being cooked ; and as his life ebbs j 1 ™uf s^ more trul? than'1 fear' 1 did ' for- ^ether it was idleness,
away in hot and boiling water, he sees, with his projecting eyes, into ; ^ether lfc was woman s instinct, I cannot say, but certain it is, I was
the future. He sees himself as scarlet as a soldier of the line. And \ always behmd-hand marking my days—marking, in the long-run two
then he sees himself placed in a dish ; and one, or two, or three gen- I mstead of ten" Tt ma^ 1 know' be urSed b^ the calumniators of our
tlemen, with twinkling eyes, looking down upon him. And then he ! sex' that tnis on m? Part wa8 desiSn- But 110 : 1 rePeat xt ; 1 thmk
feels himself pass^g in small pieces down the throats of the two or ^ was pure instinct—nothing but instinct.
lobster, he begins to reason
—to suspect that he is not
in the sea. Faintly, lan-
guidly, perspiring, he
gropes with his claws for
the ocean bed ; and they
move scratchingly against
three gentlemen, who smack their mouths, as though they would
never have a belly full. Now the lobster," my dear father would say,
" feels, though he has not words to express as much ; the lobster feels,
as I began to feel when I got into the Court of Chancery ; even as I
I should observe that, among many things which I brought out of
the ship were pens, ink, and paper ; but of these I was extremely
sparing ; resolving to write my life, and not knowing to what extent
the materials might extend. I also found in the bottom of an old
felt when I found myself chewed up after the suit had risen to boiling ! chest a prayer-book, that, strange to say, had nothing perfect but the
point, and I was completely done." Thus my father would hold forth • | Marria8'e Service. This, I confess it, was an omen that at first a
whilst my mother would move uneasily in her chair, and with the !llttle revived me- And then> let me add> 1 w&s not W1th<™t a com
amiable freedom of a wife, beg him not to make a fool of himself.
And I shared in the risible unbelief of my mother ; but then I dreamt
panion. No . there was the cat—the very cat that had seemed to
glare and mew perpetual celibacy at me—that cat had smuggled
evil.
I am thrown upon a desolate
island, without a blessed soul to
speak to.
I am singled out to be a single
woman, when I might have been a
wife and a parent.
good.
Then I have this consolation
— There's nobody to scandalise
me.
I might have been married early
to a brute, and been a grand-
mother at eight-and-thirty!
not of the sagacity of fish, for I had not angled with a wedding-ring, i herself amon& the thb3gs uPon m7 raft> and was the tenant ofA m? hut
I was very soon undeceived. Doubtless, the uncaught fish quickly ! After a tune> considering my situation, I began to put down my
began to take count of the great number of their companions ensnared thoughts in writing ; making a sort of debtor and creditor account of
by that piece of gold wire, and so became shy accordingly. Be this m7 Positlon- Thus :
as it may, sometimes for half a day and more would I angle with the
ring, and never so much as get a nibble ; lots of fine, brilliant young
fish, with waistcoats of gold and silver scales, would come, floating and
swimming, and flirting about the hook, and making-believe to bite ;
and now, with a sudden twist and plunge of the tail, darting to the
other side of the stream. You may be sure that this vivacity, this
wariness of the fish, made me frequently moralise ; again and again
led my thoughts back to a delicious world of routs and dances.
Finding the fish become every day more shy, I laid by my golden
hook and tackle for a time ; and went abroad, when it was fine, with
my pistol, as much for the pleasure of practising at a mark, as to see !
if I could kill anything that, when killed, I might turn to better ac-
count than my turkey. To my great delight, I discovered that the
place abounded with rabbits. To be sure, they were as wild and skit-
tish as colts ; always running away when they saw me. At length,
however, lying down among some high grass, I got a shot; fired, and
killed a she-rabbit which, fortunately, had sixteen little rabbits near
her. When their mother fell, the poor little things all gathered them-
selves together and never stirred a foot. Whereupon I took the old
one and flung her across my shoulder ; at the same time placing all
the little rabbits in my gown as in a form, and so carried them all to
And so summing up this short account, I thought, as my dear
mother used to say when she buttered her crumpets, that much might
be said on both sides.
A. Curious Case of Sensibility.
A Secretary of a Club was brought up before Alderman Gibbs on
Friday last for keeping back the monies and accounts of the Club.
Alderman Gibbs refused to decide for certain reasons which he stated,
and for certain other reasons which he did not explain. We wonder if
these " certain other reasons " had any reference to his own position as
Churchwarden of St. Stephen's, Walbrook. There have been cases
known of consciences waking up, after slumbering fourteen years.