The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1841-12-11

es lis cloud-ilke appearance and assumes
dark forbiddng aspect, which charges to
dress of smiling green when within five
miles of its shores. A nearer view shows
us bright valleys and deep ravnes run
ming from the very summit of the loltiest
points to the walers's edge. here and there
set in the strong relief by dark iuttng
crag. and the blue ocean breaking in a
wreath of white foam at the base. Ten
TO one that the visitor does not see Oh
some elevated point solitary browsing
goat, and vainly ask whether its ances-
tors lived in daily intercourse with old
Robinson Crusoe Bnt whether the scene
be animated by any moving being, all must
admit that it is beautifully picturesque and
Wild
About midday on the first of April, we
cast anchor in the roadstpad, close to the
shore and opposite TO the town, consist
ing of one er two low houses with red
tile roofs, half-e-dozen huls, and some
twenty holes excavated in the side of the
hill, A few men and slovenly soldiers
were sauntering about smoking cigars, and
sentinel at the landing in the military
costume of Chile, leaned lisllessly upon
his musket. How poor old Robinson
would have been rejoiced with so much
company! But in his day Chile had not
cast off the yoke Of Spain, and there was
no occasion to occupy this spo, as a place
OF exile; and Robinson enjoyed freedom
in the narrow limits of his ''sea-girt isle,'
being ''from the Centre all round to the
sea. lord of the fowl and the brute"
The waters in which the ship Law were
- clea., SO beautifully transparent. that
'lsnes were seen swimming several faith
oms bel, W the surface; and the sailors
found amusement in selecting from the
hundreds that pressed forward for their
bait, such fishes only as promised most for
the table. So numerous were the fishes
OF several varieties, among which were a
kind of cod. that in less than an holr a
dozen lines caught enough to furnish all
ample repast for the whole ships compa-
ny OF more than two hundred men,
On landing, we LEANED that the popu-
latIon numbered about three hundred, of
which one hundred were Gillian soldiers,
and sixty prosonrr banished from their
homes for political offences, in many ca
ses of no deeper dye than being in the mi
nority. Amongst these persons was an
editor OF AN opposition paper; and only a
few days before one who had been Pres-
dent of the Republic, had been sent from
Juan Fernandez for greater security to
New Holland, in a CHILEAN man-oEwar,
the party in power fearing rescue. II
we may be allowed the expression, this is
a pleasant prison; for on strolling up one
OF the valleys, along a pretty brook, the
| waters OF which murmured through the
foliage OF its banks; we found an abun-
dance of peach trees bending beneath a
load OF delicious lruit--almost, if not
quite equal to those that riprn in New
Jersey. Our young readers must not be
lncredulous OH being told of peaches be-
ing fully ripe in March and A pril, but re-
member that we are talking of the south
ern hemisphere, where the succession OF
the seasons is in reverse order to those in
the United States; March and April there
corresponding with September and Octo-
Der here. Besides peaches, we saw quin-
ces, pumkins, potatoes, radshes, nasturti-
as, mint, and many pretty vines and
flowers. Goats snd bullocks run wild
and are always shot before they can be u
sed.
The soil is fertile, and the climate tenn
perale and pleasant. 1t never freezes, and
IN the raining seasons showers and sun
shine quickly succeed each other But
like Chile, the whole island is occasional
ly shaken 10 its foundation by earth
quakes. Not very long before our visit;
wharf that had been recently built vas
entirely shaken to pieces by an earth
quake that laid the CITY of Conceptio on
the coast of Chile in ruins.
IN the month of March, t. enty-eight
vessels, most of them American whale
ships, visited the island for supplies of
wood, water, and vegetables, articles of
indispensable necessity to the mariner.
These visits are not always agreeable to
the government of Chile, because they
afford opportunities for the escape of pris-
,hers. In 1882, the prisoners then on
the island rose upon their guards, took
possession ofan American sealing vessel,
and made their escape to the northern
coast of Chile.
There are no vestiges now of the resi-
dence of Robinson Crusoe; though caves
IN the sides of the hills are occupied by
prisoners occasionally when they are too
numerous to be accommodated in the
houses and huts. The romance of the
past, the docile Friday and his worthy
master, have gone together, and nothing
remains in their place but heavy hearts;
exiles from their country and friends, and