Robinson Crusoe's escaping from Sallee
1818
Hand-tinted copper-engraving
8.2 cm high by 5.1 cm wide, framed
Pages: ii, 195 p., [12] leaves of illustrations
Source: Illustration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, facing page 15 [Plate 1].
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
. . . attempt. But Heaven was pleased to assist me: a thick fog arose which rendered it totally impossible for those on shore to discern what was taking place at a certain distance out at sea.
"Having reached the spot where we intended to fish, I seized the opportunity when I observed my companion standing on the edge of the boat, to plunge him suddenly overboard. He immediately rose above the water, for he was an excellent swimmer; he called upon me and entreated that I would take him into the boat, vowing to follow me from one corner of the world to the other, if I would only save his life. Without heeding his supplications, I took up a gun, pointed it at him and addressed him in the following way: 'Hark ye, my friend, I have done you no harm, and intend to do you none, if you only promise to be quiet. You can swim ashore very well if you please; the sea is calm, make the best of your way to the coast, and let us . . . . [p. 15]
Robinson threatens the Moor if he attempts to get back into the fishing-boat, then sails south from Sallee in order to avoid Corsair shipping lanes. The Moslem pirates that have captured and enslaved Robinson Crusoe take him to their base of operations, the Moroccan port of Salli on the Atlantic coast which, until 1627, was under at least the nominal control of the Emperor of Morocco (as in the story). The ports of Salé and neighboring Rabat united in 1627 to form the Republic of Bou Regreg. The Barbary pirates continued to run the republic as bases for launching raids on European shipping. The Moors from Sallee in their fast, highly manoeverable ships preyed upon Christian merchant shipping, even raiding the Spanish coast in order to acquire human cattle for their slave markets. Defoe's reference to "the emperor's court" is either a mere anachronism or a deliberate attempt to suggest that Robinson Crusoe and his shipmates from the ill-fated Rogue arrived at Sallee as slaves when it was still under imperial administration, and not a Corsair republic. Thus, Crusoe's narrative apparently begins in the early 1600s, even though the date of composition was a full century later, as is consistent with the Caribbean portions of the narrative.
Young Crusoe, a British merchant sailor, is dressed in a blue sailor's coat in two early plates. However, nine illustrations depict him in goatskin jacket, breeches, and hat — "island dress." Whenever present in these hand-tinted illustrations, Friday is consistently a Negro rather than an Indian. The almost cartoon-like plates, with garish hand-colouring, present the scenes in elemental form, with the figures disproportionately large, as here Xury, the Moor, and Crusoe are out of proportion to the small fishing-boat.
Left: Stothard's 1790 realisation of a later episode in the escape, Robinson Crusoe and Xury alarmed at the sight of a lion (copper-plate engraving, Chapter II, "Slavery and Escape"). Centre: A Chapbook-like woodblock engraving with broken chains, signifying young Crusoe's escaping slavery, Robinson Crusoe throwing the Moor overboard (1815). Right: Wehnert's realisation of the same scene, with a highly realistic and dynamic interpretation: Crusoe throwing the Moor overboard (1862). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Above: Cassell's highly realistic wood-engraving of the Corsair fishing-boat and the coast of Sallee, Crusoe escapes with Xury (1863-64). [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Above: George Cruikshank's realisation of the same scene, with a Moorish fishing-boat in realistic proportion to the figures: Crusoe tosses the Moorish deckhand overboard (1831). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Many thanks for the assistance of the staff at Special Collections and University Archives, particularly John Frederick, Library Assistant, McPherson Library, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Defoe, Daniel. (adapted). The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. A New and Improved Edition, interspersed with Reflections, Religious and Moral. Adorned with Engravings. London: J. Harris, St. Paul's Church Yard, 1818.
Last modified 14 February 2018
