An hour after, the accursed race are multiplying round him, more numerous and more ravenous than ever.
He comprehends then what an error he has committed in the complete destruction of the wild cats which peopled the island.

With the most generous intentions, how often is man mistaken in the object he pursues! We think we are ridding us of an enemy, and we are depriving ourselves of a protector.

God only knows what he does, and he has admitted apparent evil, as a principle, into the admirable composition of his universe; he suffers the wicked to live.

Selkirk had been more severe than God, and he repents it.

If his poor cats had only been exiled, he would hasten to proclaim a general amnesty.