The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-11-21 00:00:00

THE ORIGINAL ROBINSON CRUSOE

Colonel Sutcliffe, " the retired governor of Juan Fer-
lclez," has recently published a volume, giving an
count of that island from its discovery by Don Juan
rnandez (after whom it was named), in 1572 ; and to
s volume he gives the title of Crusoniana, from the
,t that it was the well-known abode of Alexander
]kirk on this island, which furnished De Foe with the
Is of his inimitable romance of Robinson Crusoe.
generally known that there was previ-

mat(
But it is

ously to Alexander Selkirk a solitary tenant of this
island, and one, too, whose sojourn there, as recorded
by Dampier and Ringrosse, must have been known to
De Foe, as will be seen from the following extract from
Colonel Sutcliffe's hook, in which we trace the original
of the story of Man Friday, and his discovery of his
father in Robinson Crusoe

At the moment of their [a crew of Buccaneers]
ried escape [from Juan Fernandez], one of their
y, a Mosquito Indian, named William, happened to
so that the ship was
bay. Poor Will

oods hunting goats

got -hack to th

lad only the clothes on his back, a knife, a gun, a small
corn of powder, and a few shot. His situation became
till more critical when the Spaniards entered the hay,
ook up the anchors and cables, and, having caught sight
)f him, made a diligent search ; but he eluded their
)ursuit, and remained the sole human occupant of the

ropier, in the account which he gives of Will's
' At first he could procure scarcely any
which he found hut ordinary eating :

I btit seals

some other articles he obtained by means of his powder
and shot, but these were soon expended. He next made
a saw of his knife, by notching it ; and so, by incessant
labour, cut the barrel of his gun into small pieces. He
kindled a fire by striking with the gun flint against a
piece of the barrel. Having heated the pieces of iron,
he hammered them out, and bent them just as he pleased
with hard stones, and sawed them with his jagged knife.
By persevering industry, he ground them to an edge
and hardened them to a good temper, as there was oc
casion

and thus he procured harpoons, lances, fish-
hooks, and a long knife.' All this may seem strange to
those who are unacquainted with the sagacity of the
Indians; but it i., no more than the. Mosquito men are
accustomed to in their own country, where they make
and striking instruments without either
forge or anvil, though they spend a great deal of time
about them. Having obtained these conveniences, he
no longer lived upon seals, nor did he afterwards ever
kill any, except when he wanted lines, which he made

heir ow•n fishin

by cutting the seal-skins into thongs. He had now a
plentiful and comfortable subsistence, living upon goats,
birds, or fish, as best suited his inclination ; his clothes
wore out, but he supplied their place by fastening a skin
round his waist; he built himself a little house or hut,
about half a mile from the sea, which he lined with goat-
skins. To render it complete, his couch of sticks, raised

.
about two feet distance from the ground, was spread
with the same, and constituted his only bedding. Du-
ring the period of William's residence on the island, he
was often sought for by the Spaniards ; and at one time,
being guided by the light of his fire, they nearly sur-
prised him. This escape, and his having frustrated, by
his activity and wiles, all their endeavours to take him,
made his pursuers consider him to be a supernatural
being. Will could easily distinguish his friends from
the Spaniards, by the rigging and appearance of their
vessels and boats ; and, on two English ships making
their appearance, he almost went frantic with joy, sup-
posing they came on purpose to fetch him away—of such
consequence is a man to himself. In order to give them
a hearty welcome, he caught and killed three goats, and
dressed them with the chonta' (cabbage palm), that he
might be ready to treat the crews as soon as they came
on shore. On their landing, he was recognised by a
Mosquito Indian, named Robin, who was the first that
leaped on shore. Will bad stationed himself at the sea-
side, dressed in his goat-skin, to congratulate them on
their arrival. The meeting of the two Indians, and old
friends, was affecting. Dampier gives the following de-
scription of the scene he witnessed Robin ran to his
brother Mosquito-man, threw himself flat upon his face
at his feet—who, helping him up and embracing him,
fell flat with his face on the ground at Robin's feet, and
was by him taken up also. We stood with pleasure to
behold this interview, which was exceedingly affection-
ate on both sides ; and when their ceremonies of civility
aso, that stood gazing at them, drew

were over. WE
E

ach of us embraced him we had found there,
who was overjoyed to see so many of his old friends
come hither, as he thought, purposely to fetch him.'
Dampier and Edmund Cook were his firmer shipmates.
The latter was now only a private seaman ; and Will
found, that although his -friends had not made so long a
voyage merely on his account, they proved themselves
not unmindful of him ; for, as soon as they had anchored,
they immediately got out their boat on purpose to send
for him --

They stayed, to refit and refresh themselves,
from the 23d of March to the Bth of April, 1684. Will
was very useful in procuring goats, of which there was
an abundance on the island ; and, after having resided
there alone for three years, two months, and eleven
days, he embarked with his former friends, to renew the
avocation of a Buccaneer."