Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1844-04-25
MISCELLANEOUS
THE ORIGINAL ROBINSON CRU
S0IN


OF Juan FernanGez,' has recently pub
lshed volume, giving an account o
that Island from its discovery by Dor
Juan Fernandez, (after whom 1t was
named J In 1879. and to this volume he
gives the title of Crusonioad, tlOm the
fact that it was TIE weil-known abode Of
Alexander SeIkirk on this Island, which
furnished DeFoe with the materials Of
his iGimitable romance OF Robinson Cru
soc. But it is not so generally known
that there was previously to Alexander
Selkirk solitary tenant oftbis islard,
and one, too, whose soiourn there, as re-
corded By Dampier ard Rinsrose, must
have been known to De Foe, as VIII be
seen by the following extract from Col.
SATELLITES book. in which we trace the
original Of the story of Man Friday, and
his discovery Of his ftther' Robinson
Crus0e.
AT the moment Of their "a crew OF
Buccaneers) buried escape from joan
Fernandez, one of their crew. Musqui-
to Indian, named William, happened to
be in the woods hunting goats, SO that
the ship was under sail before he got back
to the bay. Poor wifi had only The
clothes on his back. knife, gun, a
small lforn Of powder, and few shot
His situation became more critical when
the Spaniards entered the bay, took up
the anchors and cables, and having
caught sight Of him, made diigent
search; bat he eluded their pursuit, and
remained the sole human occupant Of the
island.
'Dampier. in the accouat which he
gives OF WHY'S sojourn, states-'At first
he could procure scarcely any food but
seals, which he found but ordinary eat
ing; some other articles he obtained by
means Of his powder ard shot, but these
were soon expended. He next made a
saw of his knife, By notching it, and so,
by incessant labor, cut the barrel OF his
gun into small pieces. He kindied fire
oy striking with the gun flint against a
peice of the barrel. Having heated the
pieces Of iron, he hammered them out,
and shaped 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 harden
ed them to good temper as there was
occasion; and thus he procured harpoons
lances. tishhooks, and a long knife. All
this may seem strange to those who are
not acquainted with the saeacity of the
Indians: but it is no more than these
Mosquito men are accustomed to in their |
own country, where they make their !
own fishing & stsikins instruments with: !
E,,af fi,a, Tor hnV
spend good deal of time. Having ob
tanned these conyeniences he no longer |
lived upon seals, nor did he afterNa |
ever Kill any, except when he wanted |
lines, which he made by cutting the seal
skins into thongs. He had now plen- |
tlful and comfortable subsistence, living |
upon goats, birds, or fish, as best suited |
his inclination; his clothes were out, but |
he supplied their place by fastening a
skin round his waist; he built house or
hut, about half a mile from the beach, |
which he lined with goat skins. TO rem
der it complete, his coach of sticks. rails |
ed about too feet distance from the
ground, was spread with the same and
constituted his only bedding.
During the period of Williams resi-
dence on the island, be was often sought
for by the Spaniards, and at one time be-
ing guided by the light of his fire, they
nearly surprised hin. This escape, and
his having frustrated, by his activity and
wl'es, all their endeavors to take him,
made his pursuers consider him to be a
supernatural being. Will could easily
distinguish his friends from the Span
iards, by the rigging and appearance OF
their vessels and boats, and on two Eng
llsh ships making their appearance,he al
most went frantic with Joy, supposlne
they came on purpose to fetch him away
of such consequence is a man to him.
self In order to give them hearty
welcome, he caught and killed three
poats, and dressed them with the 'chonta'
fcabbage palm that he nigh be really to
Il eat the crews as soon as they came on
shore. On their landing, he was seeog-
nlzed by a Mosquito Indian, named
Robin, who was the first that leaped on
shore. viii had stationed himself at the
seaside, dressed in his soatskin, to con
graduate them on their arrival. The
meeting. Of die two Indians, and old
friends was affecting. Dampler gives
the following description Of the scene he
Witnessed: Robin ran to his brother
Musquito man, threw himself Fat on his
face at his feet who helping him up and
embracing him, fell fiat with his face on
the ground at Ro6in's feet, and was by
him taken up aisu. We stood with
pleasure to behold this interview, which
was exceedingly aifpctionate ON both
sides, and when their ceremonies of CT
Witty were over we also, that stood ga
xins at them drew near Each Of US
embraced him we found there, who was
uvsrjeyed to see 50 many Of his old
friends come hitler, as be thought pur-
poseiy to e him. Dampier aud Ed.
munJ Cookswere lis former shipmates.-
.The latter was now only private sea-
man: and VIII found. that although his