A great storm described; the longboat sent to fetch water; the author goes with it to discover the country. He is left on shore, is seized by one of the natives, and carried to a farmer’s house. His reception, with several accidents that happened there.
Condemned by nature and fortune to a restless life, I remained in England for only two months before setting sail again. On June 20, 1702, I departed on the Adventure, bound for Surat. Our voyage was prosperous until we reached the Cape of Good Hope, where a leak in the ship and the captain's illness forced us to winter. It was not until the following March that we were able to continue our journey.
After passing the Straits of Madagascar, we encountered a series of increasingly violent winds. For twenty days, we were driven far off course, eventually finding ourselves in unknown waters. On the 19th of April, a fierce storm began to rage. The sea became terrifyingly unpredictable, and the waves broke against the ship with such force that I feared for our survival. We were forced to let the ship drive before the wind, having no way to navigate through such a tempest. By the time the weather finally cleared, the most experienced sailors on board had no idea where we were. Despite the ship being sturdy and the crew healthy, we were in desperate need of fresh water.
On June 16, 1703, a lookout spotted land. The following day, we arrived at a vast continent. The captain sent a dozen armed men in a longboat to search for water, and I requested permission to accompany them. Upon landing, we found the landscape rocky and barren. While the men searched the shore for springs, I wandered about a mile inland. Finding nothing of interest, I began to walk back toward the creek.
To my horror, I saw our men already in the boat, rowing frantically toward the ship. I was about to call out to them when I noticed a colossal creature wading into the sea after them. He took prodigious strides, yet because the sea floor was covered with sharp rocks, he was unable to overtake the boat. I did not stay to see the outcome; instead, I fled in a state of absolute terror.
I climbed a steep hill to gain a better view of the country. I found it to be fully cultivated, but the scale of everything was staggering. The grass in the fields was twenty feet high, and the stalks of corn rose at least forty feet into the air. I walked for an hour through a field of barley, which felt more like a dense forest, until I reached a hedge that was over a hundred feet tall. At the end of the field stood a wooden stile, but it was impossible for me to climb, as each step was six feet high.
As I was searching for a gap in the hedge, I saw another inhabitant approaching. He was as tall as a cathedral spire and covered ten yards with every step. Paralyzed by fear, I hid among the corn. The giant called out in a voice so booming that it sounded like thunder, and seven other monsters appeared, carrying reaping hooks the size of six scythes. They began to harvest the field where I lay. I attempted to move forward, but the fallen stalks were so thick and the sharp beards of the grain so painful that I could not advance. Exhausted and despairing, I lay down between two ridges and lamented my fate.
In this miserable state, I reflected on my time in Lilliput. There, I had been a giant, capable of dragging a whole fleet. Now, I was as insignificant to these creatures as a single Lilliputian would be to an Englishman. I realized then that nothing is truly large or small except by comparison.
Suddenly, one of the reapers approached within ten yards of me. Fearing I would be crushed under his massive foot, I screamed as loudly as I could. The creature stopped, looked around, and eventually spotted me. He picked me up between his forefinger and thumb, holding me sixty feet above the ground to examine my shape. Although his grip pinched my sides painfully, I remained still, raising my hands toward the sun and speaking in a humble, pleading tone. To my relief, he seemed pleased by my voice and gestures. He placed me gently in his pocket and ran toward his master, a substantial farmer.
The farmer examined me with great curiosity. He blew my hair aside to see my face and placed me on the ground. To show I was a rational creature, I pulled off my hat and made a low bow. I then took a purse of gold from my pocket and presented it to him. He was baffled by the coins, but after observing my behavior, he became convinced that I was more than a mere animal. He spread his handkerchief on his hand and signaled for me to step into it. He then carried me to his house and showed me to his wife. She initially screamed in fright, as if I were a spider, but she soon grew tender toward me.
At dinner, I was placed on a table thirty feet high. The farmer’s wife minced a bit of meat and crumbled some bread for me, which I ate using my own knife and fork, much to the family’s delight. However, the meal was not without danger. The couple’s youngest son, a mischievous boy of ten, grabbed me by the legs and held me high in the air. His father immediately rescued me and punished the boy with a blow to the ear that would have leveled an army. Fearing the boy might later seek revenge, I knelt and signaled that I wished for him to be forgiven.
During the meal, the mistress's favorite cat leaped into her lap. Its purring sounded like a dozen spinning wheels at work. Though the cat was three times larger than an ox, I resolved to show no fear. I walked bravely past its head, and the animal seemed more afraid of me than I was of it. I also encountered the family dogs, one of which was a mastiff as large as four elephants.
After dinner, my master went back to his fields, leaving his wife to care for me. I was exhausted and fell asleep on her bed, covered by a handkerchief larger than a ship’s sail. When I woke, I found myself alone in a vast room. Suddenly, two rats, each the size of a large dog, crept onto the bed. One attacked my collar, but I drew my sword and managed to kill it after a fierce struggle. The other fled, wounded. When my mistress returned and saw the blood, she was terrified, but I smiled and pointed to the dead rat to show I was unharmed.
Later, I signaled that I needed to go to the garden. I hid between two leaves of sorrel to attend to my private business, reflecting on the strange turns my life had taken. I have recorded these details not to be tedious, but to show that even the most insignificant creature has a story worth telling.