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ROBINSON CRUSOE |
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so high as at first, being near land, I held my hold till the wave abated and then fetched another run, which brought me so near the shore, that the next wave though it went over me yet did not swallow me up as to carry me away, and the next run I took I got to the mainland, where to my great comfort I clambered up the cliffs of the shore, and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger and quite out of the reach of the water.
I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank God that my life was saved in a case wherein there was some minutes before scarce any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express to the life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the very grave; and I do not wonder now at that custom, viz., that when a malefactor who has the halter about his neck is tied up and just going to be turned off and has a reprieve brought to him—I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon with it, to let his blood that every moment they tell him of it, that the surprise may not drive the animal spirits from his heart, and overwhelm him:
For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.
I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance, making a thousand gestures and motions which I cannot describe, reflecting upon all my comrades that were drowned, and that there should not be one soul saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw them afterwards, or any
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