THE SHIPWRECKED ON AN UNINHABITED ISLAND.

In the year 1805, a large ship, on the voyage homeward from the East Indies, was wrecked² in a violent storm in the South Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles from the Cape³ of Good Hope. The ship went to pieces in the night, having struck on the rocky coast of an unknown island. When daylight appeared, 37 persons only remained out of about 200, who had been in the ship. These had been, for the most part, saved by seizing hold of spars or pieces of wood when the ship’s timbers separated. A woman and her two children got safe to shore on a hen-coop; indeed they were wrecked so near the shore, that the fowls⁴ in the hen-coop were found to be little worse for having been thrown into the sea. Part of a regiment⁵, which had been some time in India, was returning to England in the ship, and some of the soldiers and their wives and children were among those who were saved. The ship’s cook and the carpenter were also saved, and some[73] of the common sailors, but none of the officers of the ship, or those belonging to the regiment, were among the survivors⁶. Only one of the many passengers had the good fortune to get to shore; and he had saved his life by being a strong swimmer. His name and station were unknown to the crew, but he had gained among them, during the voyage, the name of the Philosopher.
The Shipwrecked (first plate)

The first day which this small remainder of the ship’s crew passed on the island, on which Providence⁷ had thrown them, was melancholy⁸ enough. Most of them sat on the rocks or on the ground, and kept looking on the sea from which they had so lately escaped. Some were bewailing the loss of their relatives, some that of their money, and others that of their ship’s provisions; they were cold, and wet, and comfortless, and yet disposed to do nothing to better their condition.

Amidst this general idleness, the Philosopher, as he was called, was as busy as a bee. Instead of sauntering about with a book, or gazing at the clouds, as he had often done on board the ship, he was hurrying along the shore in all directions, with such of the men as he could persuade to move, and examining every little creek⁹ and bay about the part of the island on which they were cast away. And he was well rewarded for his trouble, for the sea threw upon the land[74] all the lighter¹⁰ part of the cargo¹¹ of the lost ship; provisions in sufficient abundance, some boxes of clothes, many chests of tea, some casks of flour, and large portions of the timbers and ropes of the vessel¹². In a small sandy creek, about a quarter of a mile distant from the wreck¹, one of the ship’s boats was found, upside down, and in it, preserved by being covered down tightly with a sail, were found a compass, a watch, and a few bottles of wine, with some biscuit, which had probably been put in for the use of the unfortunate persons who had ventured into the boat in the hope of reaching the land. A few yards farther on was found the dead body of a lady, one of the passengers from India, and by her side, wrapped closely and very carefully in a Scotch¹³ plaid, a male child of about a year old, which was first supposed to be dead also; but the Philosopher, fancying he perceived signs of life in the little creature, hurried back with the infant to the party who had refused to move, and gave it in charge to the women, which soon made them busy, for in the midst of their own misfortunes they were all anxious that the poor little child should live.

Before the day was over, many of the dead bodies were thrown ashore¹⁴, and all were decently buried. Many of the drowned persons had filled their pockets with money, trinkets, and different valuables which[75] they possessed¹⁵. The hope of sharing this booty soon spread activity among all the other idlers, and the recovered property was pretty equally divided among them all; the Philosopher alone refusing to receive any of the money or valuables, and only reserving for his own use the compass, one of the watches, some of the books, with the paper and other contents of his writing-desk, which floated ashore after they had been on the island nearly a week. The spirits of the whole party being a little revived, they made fires, partook of an evening meal, and retired¹⁶ to rest in sheltered places under the hills, much more cheerfully than might have been expected in their situation.

It would be curious to relate the contrivances which the new inhabitants of the island had recourse to for their own comfort. The island was of a crescent shape, like most islands in the South Sea, and was five miles across and six in length, with a large and beautiful harbor. There was grass, and there were shrubs¹⁷, and many beautiful and delicate trees, and flocks of wild pigeons and other birds, and many butterflies and other insects, but no quadrupeds of any kind.

Those who have read the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, know how much even one man might do in a desolate¹⁸ island, with the help of the stores of a ship, and with a gun and ammunition¹⁹. Our shipwrecked[76] people had many advantages over him. Some of the sailors had been brought up farmers’ boys, three of the soldiers were Glasgow weavers²⁰, the carpenter and the cook soon found plenty to do, and the women were tailors to the whole settlement.

In six months from the time of their landing, corn and potatoes were growing, hand-mills were working, women were spinning and teaching their children the same, and there were two looms²¹ nearly made by the ship’s carpenter, under the direction of the Glasgow weavers. Flowers were seen at the doors of several of the huts, and some parts of the island were inclosed with shrubs and trees. Women might be seen spinning and teaching their children how to do the same. Within six months more, the population of the island was increased by the birth of four children.
The Shipwrecked (second plate)

Every man at first worked at every thing; and the same man dug his ground, caught his wild-fowl, gathered the eggs from the nests in the rocks, and repaired his house when necessary. In short, every man was what we call a jack-of-all-trades, and as happens commonly in such cases, hardly any was master of one. But when the first clothes which they had got from the ship were almost worn out, and every man tried to patch and mend his own, they began to think it would be better if one or two of the party should take that[77] business into their own hands, and it was then given up to the women. When the looms were set to work, the two weavers were chiefly employed in making a coarse kind of cloth from a sort of hemp²² which grew on the island, from which, after it was steeped in water and beaten with sticks, a strong thread could be spun²³. Of this cloth, of various thicknesses, they helped the women to make coats and gowns, boots and shoes, and stockings. They made hats of a strong flat rush which grew on the sand-hills near the sea. This work took up so much of their time that the land of the two weavers was overrun with weeds, and it was found better for them to give up their farm to a neighbor, who should be paid for the produce in boots, coats, and money. The carpenter also was but a poor farmer, and his crop failed. So he gave up farming, and worked away at building houses, and making tables, and chairs, and bedsteads, receiving payment in potatoes, corn, wild-fowls, eggs, or sometimes in money. In the course of two or three years, some were bakers²⁴ only, some poulterers, some potato merchants, and only about half of the company were farmers; of which the consequence was the land was better tilled, the corn better ground and baked, the fowls better fed, eggs more easily to be had, the potatoes better, and the huts kept in better repair. Each man had a trade of his[78] own, and each knew his trade pretty well. Each man was consequently better fed, clothed, and lodged²⁵, than when he worked at every trade himself.

The individual whom we have mentioned as the Philosopher, was not an idle man among all these working people. He was schoolmaster to all the children, who were so fond of him, that he was seldom to be seen without the strongest of them scrambling²⁶ over the rocks or along the coast after him. He measured out and divided the land which was each man’s portion. He taught the rest of the men to select some of the roots with which the island abounded²⁷; and to cultivate near their dwellings²⁸ the graceful²⁹ trees which were natural to the soil. He made curious nets, which enabled others to catch a constant supply of fish and of birds. He constructed clocks of wood, which were found very useful in the different huts; and he taught some of the bigger boys to make vessels³⁰ of clay as well as bricks, the latter of which made the foundation of the houses better able to resist the storms that now and then swept across the island. He also managed to make two or three musical instruments, on one or other of which he would occasionally play in an evening, whilst the children, and indeed often their fathers and mothers also, would dance on the grass after the labors³¹ of the day. He was the only person in the island who could keep[79] an account of time; and he was of much use to the farmers in advising them when to sow different seeds, and in what soils. In short, there was no end to his contrivances. He also found time to make a collection of all the different plants that grew on the island, from some of which he prepared medicines for those who happened to be sick. He made a survey of the whole of the island, and made drawings of it and of the little town in which the shipwrecked people lived; cheering them by saying they would some day look at them in England. He persuaded every man and woman in the island to rest from work one day in seven; on which day he used to have them collected together, and on the long winter evenings, to read some prayers to them, and a chapter or two from a Bible which had come ashore with some other books. He taught many of the men and women to sing the hymns³² and ballads³³ of their own country; and contrived³⁴ to make them so busy and so comfortable, that many of them ceased to sigh for home; whilst their children, too, were growing up in the peaceful island, ignorant of all that was doing in any other land upon the globe, except what they learnt from the lessons and books of the good Philosopher.

1 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

2 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

5 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

6 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

7 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

8 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

9 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

10 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

11 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

12 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

13 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

14 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

15 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

16 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

17 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

18 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

19 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

20 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。

21 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 hemp   

n.大麻；纤维

参考例句：

• The early Chinese built suspension bridges of hemp rope.古代的中国人建造过麻绳悬索桥。
• The blanket was woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.毯子是由亚麻编织，羊毛镶边的。

23 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

24 bakers   

n.面包师( baker的名词复数 )；面包店；面包店店主；十三

参考例句：

• The Bakers have invited us out for a meal tonight. 贝克一家今晚请我们到外面去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bakers specialize in catering for large parties. 那些面包师专门负责为大型宴会提供食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 abounded   

v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Get-rich-quick schemes abounded, and many people lost their savings. “生财之道”遍地皆是，然而许多人一生积攒下来的钱转眼之间付之东流。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Shoppers thronged the sidewalks. Olivedrab and navy-blue uniforms abounded. 人行道上逛商店的人摩肩接踵，身着草绿色和海军蓝军装的军人比比皆是。 来自辞典例句

28 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

30 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

31 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

32 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

33 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

34 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。