“I was lying in my bed, or Hammock, awake, very well in Health, had no Pain, no Distemper, no Uneasiness of Body; no, nor any Uneasiness of Mind, more than ordinary; but could by no means close my Eyes; that is, so as to sleep; no, not a Wink all night long, otherwise than as follows: It is as impossible, as needless, to set down the innumerable Crowd of Thoughts that whirl’d through that great thorow-fare of the Brain, … ever since I had seen the Print of a Foot in the Sand.”

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe; Pages 141-142

      “Always on the move, avaricious curiosity never paused to savor any single experience, even the most perfect of its kind; this is ‘why the sequence of chords pleases us more than the continuation of the same chord, even if it were the most melting in all of music,’ as Mersenne put it.

Daston, Wonders and the Order of Nature; Page 308

                  Defoe’s character Robinson Crusoe is a man of great curiosity, as portrayed in this quote. This point in the novel is part of a new episode in Crusoe’s life on the island. He has been alone but for the company of his tamed creatures throughout the last ten or so years, and by chance one day comes across one solemn human footprint in the sand. This evidence of other humankind sends Crusoe into a panicked state, during which he fortifies his home, crops, and livestock from the observation of the mysterious being who left their mark upon his beach. However, after his numerous safety precautions are in place, he remains unsatisfied and unable to quiet his thoughts. The metaphor comparing his brain to a “great thorow-fare” portrays the mind as a large roadway in which an excess of crowded thoughts travel in all directions, and each thought with its own destination and unique journey. This image is similar to that of the mind being in constant motion in the quote taken from Daston. Crusoe has spent time and energy putting into place every possible defense, but he remains thoroughly intrigued with this footprint to the extent that he is unable to sleep. As Daston mentions, he is unable to enjoy his moment of safety and general well being due solely to the fact that he is curious about this unknown being. Daston’s quote contains the words of another individual, who compares the sequence of thought in the curious mind to the sequence of chords played in a song. It is clear that Crusoe’s mind is a constant curious blur of thought, moving from one idea to the next in a way that makes sense of Mersenne’s words. Crusoe’s curiosity is much like a sequence of musical chords, never ceasing to enjoy one single experience, but preferring to question and ponder long into the night.