The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-16 00:00:00

NEW ROBINSON CRUSOES.

Some time ago we mentioned the return of two
men who had.been between one and two years on
the desert Island of Amsterdam. The following is a
more detailed and interesting account of the manner
in which they contrived to subsist, and of their final
release:—
It appeared, from their own account of themselves,
that they joined the Governor Hunter,. a schooner
of about sixty tons, belonging to Van Dieman's
Land, at the f France, that vessel being en-
gaged on a sealing voyage; and in Septembcr,lB26,
they arrived off the northernmost island, above-
mentioned. It is customary for these ships to land a
number of their crew at the different islands, where
seals and sea-lions are procurable, and to take them
off again- a few months afterwards, with the oil and
skins they may have been able to obtain. • Accord-
ingly, a boat was sent off from the schooner, with a
bagof biscuits, a few pounds of flour, and other pro.
visions.'-also a kettle, a frying pan, and a consider-
able quantity of salt, for the purpose of curing the,
seal skins. It happened to be in the evening Paine
and Proudfoot, and the provisions, were landed at a
convenient point, where two comfortable huts were
discovered, roofed with grass--the habitations doubt-
less of some former adventurers. The boat had to
return again to the schooner, to take off more pro-
visions, and four other men, but after getting on
board, a smart breeze sprung up, the vessel was
driven to leeward, and nothing more was seen or
heard of her at the island. The two sufferers were
thus left to themselves, and, in the morning, ex-
amining the extent and quantity of their resources,
they found that almost all the stock of salt had been
destroyed by the surf; and that neither of them, a
most extraordinary circumstance for sailors, had even
a knife; Paine's being in his jacket pocket, acci-
dentally left in the boat, and Proudfoot had lent his
to a messmate. Their only clothing was on
their backs. They seem to have husbanded their
little store of bread and provisions with great care,
haying made them last five months. After that
they were thrown entirely on their own ingenuity
and exertions for every meal they had.
Circumstanced as they were, it was natural for
them to keep a constant look out for ships, and they
saw several, but at a great distance, during the first
month of their residence on the island. The first
they saw was the Hope, bound to Hobart's Town,
Van Dieman's Land, which, in November, 1826,
approached within a few miles of the shore, and
sent out a boat, to fish. Paine and Proudfoot ran
with alacrity to the beach, and, hailing the boat,
communicated their situation to the oflieer,
reply, told them, that when he returapd to the ship,
he would inform the Captain of the circumstance,
and act according to his orders. He dids
return
to the ship, and the unhappy men had
,00n
the mortification to see the boat hoisted up, and the
vessel making ail sail in prosecution of her
time on
voyage.
They had then, however, been but
,short
the island, and their provisions not being eXhausted,
they had not yet felt•the utter desolateness of their
condition.- From that period to the appearance of
the Palmira, twelve months afterwards, they had
not seen a single ship.
It is certain that they thought themselves on the
i,ja.rtd of St. Paul, for they kept continually looking
to the north. in search of Amsterdam, the islands
being hi sight of each other on a clear day, and
wondered why it could not be seen. It was in
other respects a great misfortune to them, for there
are hot springs on the other island, of temperature
high enough to boii 4el), which are to be caught
in lagoon or basin close by.
with the greatest facility
In 1793, the Hindostan anehoted at this island,
and on examination, found the basin to he the crater
of a volcano. in the hot springs, the thermometer
stood at 212, the general standard cif heat at all the
springs round the water a edge, at lama, the
men
boiled some fish.
To keep an account of time, Paine and Proud-
foot notched the stave of a cask every morning;
• but they had committed error of two'"daye,....
their calculation bringing them to the:,?.„klA ,Nov.,
instead of the 4th, whet; the Ril.Po- allived4 the
*;land.
Destitute in a-arnictkabrot:deeee of the meant' of
assisting thenisehres—withotit tool or instrument,
fortune, after a short timp, eontiihuted" 4 little to
their aid. They found on the rocks, at different
times, a needle, an old knife, and a spike nail ; with
the latter they made a hook, and a piece of eoharope
supplied them with a line. With this they contrived
to catch fish, but there being no barb at the point of
the hook, they had often the misfortune to loe their

prey. The only kind of fish they could obtain was,
what the sailors call the trumpeter, and the only shell-
fish, limpets. They were frequently much distressed
for want of fresh water. The rocky surface of the
ground, not being covered with more than two or
three feet of earth, digging for a spring was out of
the question, even if they had teen furnished with
the means. They had, therefore, to search for pools
of rain water, and sometimes they had to go several
miles for a draught to quench their thirst. The
Island was well furnished with wild hogs, but all
the time they were on it, they could not manage to
catch above five. These they ran down, and felled with
a stick, torn from a staunted tree, only two or three
inches in diameter. " You must have run very fast
for your dinner," said the Captain. " Certainly, we
ran fast for a dinner," was the reply, " but the pig
had to run for his life." The flesh of the Amster—
dam wild hog Was very dry and hard, without an
atom of fat. Once they caught a few young ones,
which could not, in running away, keep up with the
old sow. These, of course, afforded the two Ro-
binson Crusoes a sumptuous banquet.
Soon after their arrival they were under the ne-
cessity of clearing the ground, by setting fire to the
impenetrable tufts of tusak, and long grass, which
obstructed their proceedings, and the conflagration,
spreading over the greater part of the island, is said
to have lasted several months.

To improve their resources they attempted to
make a bow and arrows, but the branches of ander-
wood, and the shoots of stunted trees, were found
too brittle for the purpose. They could only sub-
sist indeed from hand to mouth, as the salt failed
them, which prevented their laying up a stock of
fish, and for many months they were accustomed to
eat their casually procured victuals without any salt
at all. On more occasions than one they were three
days without an opportunity of obtaining a morel
of food. _ _ _ _ _

They had a tinder-box when they landed, but the
tinder was soon expended, and there was nothing
to be found of a vegetable nature dry enough to
supply its place. Keeping up the fire in the hut,
therefore, during the latter part of their residence,
became a subject of most painful anxiety, especially
in the night, for if it happened to go out, there was
no chance of lighting it again ; and the preservation
of the " vestal flame," seems to have been the chief
cause of any quarrelling or difference between them.
The youngest was a heavy sleeper, so that upon
Proudfoot more frequently fell the imperative and
indispensible duty of watching ; and if they went
together any distance from the hut, it was usual with
them to heap the fire with peat and moss; and
sometimes, for better security, they carried a piece
of ignited peat along with them.
One day, they succeeded in ascending to the highest
peak, where they discovered the crater of a volcano
more than a hundred yards in diameter, and so deep
that no bottom could be seen. The island produces
nothing edible, except parsley, which is found in
great quantity ; it is covered with thick underwood
and tusak, and dried grass was the only thing which
they had to supply the place of a bed, or keep them
in any degree warm, during the night.
No snow fell in the winter months, but. hail and
sleet continually, and it was extremely cold at that
season of the year. Their health continued good
without interruption, and the only accident that oc-
curred was a fall which Proudfoot experienced, from
a precipice, and which confined him with a violent
sprain, in his shoulder, for four months.
The only birds they could get hold of were the
snowy pottroll, and these they caught in holes; the
flesh, of course, dry and fishy, but the eggs were
good. The albatrosses laid their eggs, and conti-
nued themselves in the most precipitous and inac-
cessible parts of the rocks, defying the exertions of
man to disturb their repose.
On the 4th of November, when the Palinira was
first seen by them, Paine was sanguine enough to
anticipate their deliverance, and offered to wager
' that his notion was right. Proudfoot,less confident
than his young companion, derided the idea. But
seeing the vessel come nearer, they both rushed
down from the height upon which they stood, and
instantly lighted as large a fire as they could, to give
intimation of the presence of human beings on the
spot. Nearing the island, the ship hoisted her co-
' lours, and then their happiness was cemplete, for
they then felt certain of their sufferings being at an
end. The surf, though on the lee side of the island,
was Very high, and threatened destruction to the
boat. Mr. Addison hailed the men, and the mo-
ment his voice was heard, Paine said to his com-
panion, " I am sure that is my old chief mate ;" and
so it was, for three or four years before they had
belonged to the same ship, the Regalia, and had
been at Macquarrie Island together. As the surf
ran so high, it was fortunate that they had left a
euflicient length of coir-rope to throw into the boat,
and hold on by, which enabled them to get on board
without much difficUlty.—The Palmira arrived in
safety at Calcutta on the 24th of December.