A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before

by Daniel Defoe

After this, they grew a little more governable; but, in short, the sight of the gold, and the easy getting it (for they picked it up in abundance of places), I say, the sight of the gold made them stark mad. For now they were not, as they were before, trafficking for the owners and for the voyage; but as I had promised the gold they got should be their own, and that they were now working for themselves, there was no getting them to go on, but, in short, they would dwell here; and this was as fatal a humour as the other.

But to bring this part of the voyage to an end, after eight days they came to the hospitable wealthy Chilian's house, whom I mentioned before; and here, as the Spaniard had contrived it, they found all kind of needful stores for provisions laid up, as it were, on purpose; and, in a word, here they were not fed only, but feasted.

Here, again, the captain discovered a cursed conspiracy, which, had it taken effect, would, besides the baseness of the fact, have ended in their total destruction; in short, they had resolved to rob this Chilian, who was so kind to them; but, as I said, one of the lieutenants discovered and detected this villanous contrivance, and quashed it, so as never to let the Spaniard know of it.

But, I say, to end this part, they were one-and-twenty days in this traverse, for they could not go on so easy and so fast, now they were a little army, as we did, who were but six or seven; at length they came to the view of the open country, and, being all encamped at the edge of a descent, the generous Spaniard (and his three servants) took his leave, wishing them a good journey, and so went back, having, the day before, brought them some deer, five or six cows, and some sheep, for their subsisting at their entrance into, and travel through, the plain country.

And now they began to descend towards the plain, but they met with more difficulty here than they expected; for, as I observed that the way for some miles went with an ascent towards the farthest part of the hill; that continued ascent had, by degrees, brought them to a very great, and in some places, impassable descent; so that, however my guide found his way down, when I was through, it was not easy for them to do it, who were so many in number, and encumbered with mules and horses, and with their baggage, so that they knew not what to do; and, if they had not known that our ships were gone away, there had been some odds but, like the Israelites of old, they would have murmured against their leader, and have all gone back to Egypt. In a word, they were at their wits' end, and knew not what course to take for two or three days, trying and essaying to get down here and there, and then frightened with precipices and rocks, and climbing up to get back again. The whole of the matter was, that they had missed a narrow way, where they should have turned off to the south-east, the marks which our men had made before having not been so regular and exact just there, as in other parts of the way, or some other turning being so very like the same, that they took one for the other; and thus, going straight forward too far before they turned, they came to an opening indeed, and saw the plain country under them, as they had done before, but the descent was not so practicable.

After they had puzzled themselves here, as I said, two or three days, one of the lieutenants, and a man with him, seeing a hut or house of a Chilian at some distance, rode away towards it; but passing into a valley that lay between, he met with a river which he could by no means get over with the mules, so he came back again in despair. The captain then resolved to send back to the honest rich Chilian, who had entertained them so well, for a guide, or to desire him to give them such directions as they might not mistake.

But as the person sent back was one of those who had taken the journal which I mentioned, and was therefore greatly vexed at missing his way in such a manner, so he had his eyes in every corner, and pulled out his pocket-book at every turning, to see how the marks of the places agreed; and at last, the very next morning after he set out, he spied the turning where they should all have gone in, to have come to the place which they were at before; this being so remarkable a discovery, he came back again directly, without going on to the Chilian's house, which was two days' journey farther.

Our men were revived with this discovery, and all agreed to march back; so, having lost about six days in this false step, they got into the right way, and, in four more, came to the descent were I had been before.

Here the hill was still very high, and the passage down was steep and difficult enough; but still it was practicable, and our men could see the marks of cattle having passed there, as if they had gone in drifts or droves; also it was apparent, that, by some help and labour of hands, the way might be led winding and turning on the slope of the hill, so as to make it much easier to get down than it was now.

It cost them no small labour, however, to get down, chiefly because of the mules, which very often fell down with their loads; and our men said, they believed they could with much more ease have mounted up from the east side to the top than they came from the west side to the bottom.