Chapter 30: Over the Mountains

After having settled all his business affairs in Lisbon, Crusoe is ready to return to England with Friday, but he dislikes the idea of traveling by sea. Instead, he decides to go by land through Madrid and France and is joined in the journey by some merchants and their servants. The trip is not smooth. They are delayed at the Spanish-French border due to heavy snowfall. There, they meet a guide who agrees to take them through the mountains into France. On the way, wolves attack them, but they all manage to survive, by killing several of the animals. Friday encounters a huge bear and kills it. Finally, they arrive safely in England.

Crusoe sells his estate in Brazil for 32,800 "pieces of eight," an old Spanish peso. He takes his two nephews under his care. Crusoe himself gets married and has three children, two sons and one daughter. Later he visits his old island and sees how things have changed there. He finds the island well settled.

Although the plot comes to its natural conclusion in the last chapter, Defoe adds a final denouement in this last chapter of the book. Crusoe has come full circle. The young Crusoe threw away everything to go to sea and find his fortune. The older, mature Crusoe comes back to England, and upon learning he is a wealthy man, he freely shares his fortune.

Like all comedies, the plot of this novel ends with the protagonist overcoming his antagonist, causing a happy ending. The hero, Robinson Crusoe, is safely back home and credits Providence with his miraculous survival and accumulation of wealth. He also gets married and has three children. His later return-journey to his Caribbean island is to satisfy his curiosity as to what has happened there. The imperialists have succeeded in settling the island in a very civilized way.

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