emper, no uneasiness of body, nor any uneasiness of mind,
more than ordinary, but could by no means close my eyes, that is, so as
to sleep; no, not a wink all night long, otherwise than as follows:--It
is impossible to set down the innumerable crowd of thoughts that whirled
through that great thoroughfare of the brain, the memory, in this
night's time: I ran over the whole history of my life in miniature, or
by abridgment, as I may call it, to my coming to this island, and also
of that part of my life since I came to this island. In my reflections
upon the state of my case since I came on shore on this island, I was
comparing the happy posture of my affairs in the first years of my
habitation here, compared to the life of anxiety, fear, and care, which
I had lived in, ever since I had seen the print of a foot in the sand;
not that I did not believe the savages had frequented the island even
all the while, and might have been several hundreds of them at times on
shore there; but I had never known it, and was incapable of any
apprehensions about it; my satisfaction was perfect, though my danger
was the same, and I was as happy in not knowing my danger as if I had
never really been exposed to it. This furnished my thoughts with many
very profitable reflections, and particularly this one: How infinitely
good that Providence is, which has provided, in its government of
mankind, such narrow bounds to his sight and knowledge of things; and
though he walks in the midst of so many thousand dangers, the sight of
which, if discovered to him, would distract his mind and sink his
spirits, he is kept serene and calm, by having the events of things hid
from his eyes, and knowing nothing of the dangers which surround him.

After these thoughts had for some time entertained me, I came to reflect
seriously upon the real danger I had been in for so many years in this
very island, and how I had walked about in the greatest security, and
with all possible tranquillity, even when perhaps nothing but the brow
of a hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night, had been
between me and the worst kind of destruction, viz. that of falling into
the hands of cannibals and savages, who would have seized on me with the
same view as I would on a goat or a turtle, and have thought it no more
a crime to kill and devour me, than I did of a pigeon or curlew. I would
unjustly slander myself, if I should say I was not sincerely thankful to
my great Pre