d I went home again, filled with the belief that some man
or men had been on shore there; or, in short, that the island was
inhabited, and I might be surprised before I was aware; and what course
to take for my security I knew not.

Oh, what ridiculous resolutions men take when possessed with fear! It
deprives them of the use of those means which reason offers for their
relief. The first thing I proposed to myself was, to throw down my
enclosures, and turn all my tame cattle wild into the woods, lest the
enemy should find them, and then frequent the island in prospect of the
same or the like booty: then the simple thing of digging up my two
corn-fields, lest they should find such a grain there, and still be
prompted to frequent the island: then to demolish my bower and tent, that
they might not see any vestiges of habitation, and be prompted to look
farther, in order to find out the persons inhabiting.

These were the subject of the first night's cogitations after I was come
home again, while the apprehensions which had so overrun my mind were
fresh upon me, and my head was full of vapours. Thus, fear of danger is
ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself, when apparent to
the eyes; and we find the burden of anxiety greater, by much, than the
evil which we are anxious about: and what was worse than all this, I had
not that relief in this trouble that from the resignation I used to
practise I hoped to have. I looked, I thought, like Saul, who complained
not only that the Philistines were upon him, but that God had forsaken
him; for I did not now take due ways to compose my mind, by crying to God
in my distress, and resting upon His providence, as I had done before,
for my defence and deliverance; which, if I had done, I had at least been
more cheerfully supported under this new surprise, and perhaps carried
through it with more resolution.

This confusion of my thoughts kept me awake all night; but in the morning
I fell asleep; and having, by the amusement of my mind, been as it were
tired, and my spirits exhausted, I slept very soundly, and waked much
better composed than I had ever been before. And now I began to think
sedately; and, upon debate with myself, I concluded that this island
(which was so exceedingly pleasant, fruitful, and no farther from the
mainland than as I had seen) was not so entirely abandoned as I might
imagine; that although there were no stated inhabitants who lived on the
spot