I said, ‘If I don’t like travelling, I will come home and become
a lawyer.
My mother was worried, but she still asked my father if I
could go.
My father said, ‘He’ll be happiest if he stays at home. If he
travels, he’ll be very unhappy. He mustn’t go.’
So I stayed at home for another year, but I didn’t become
a lawyer and I couldn’t stop thinking about travelling. On
1 September 1651 I went to Hull, a large port1 in Yorkshire,
to see a friend. I was planning to return home after the visit,
but when I saw how many ships were there, I started to think
of travelling again. Some of the ships were huge and sailed to
countries in South America and Africa, places I wanted to see.
They carried things made in England and brought back foreign
food and clothes. And the sailors in the port all looked very
happy with their lives.
My friend in Hull had a ship and was sailing for London
that day.
He said, ‘Come to London with me. You’ll see lots of
interesting things.’
I didn’t think much about my parents and I forgot my
father’s warning. Travelling was my biggest ambition. My
friend was right: there was a whole world to see. So I got on
my friend’s ship and we left for London.
It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Th e weather
was fi ne when we left Hull, but aft er eight days it changed.
We were near a port called Yarmouth when the blue sky
was suddenly hidden by black clouds and a terrible storm
began. I’d never seen anything like it: the ship was out of
control. I said to myself ‘You’re mad, Robinson Crusoe! You
should have listened to your father. Now you’re going to die.’
Still, frightened as I was, I was hoping I’d live. I promised