Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-09


uthere is one spot Of earth in which
all who speak the English tongue may
be said 70 take a common interest, 1t
is the island of Juan Fernandez. The
favOrite tale of nearly every childhood
Is by most of us remembered through
/ life with grateful affection, and the
( scene Of lis marvellous incidents shares
in our regard. It may be true that the
! proper Robinson CrusOe's Island was
| not off the coast Of Chill at all, but ia
I the mouth OF the OrinOCO; and it may
be also true that the continent should
be called Columbia and not America:
but habit has endeared in both cases
the existing usage 80 that Imagination
takes precedence of what is or ought
10 be TACT, and the continent will be
America, and Juan Fernando Robin
| son CrusOe's Island, until the end OF
! the chapter.
As most readers are aware, this clas-
| sic corner of the earth is in latitude 81
/ deg. 40S., about 400 miles of the coast
! of Chilli, and is about the size OF Sta
ten Island. 1t is, however, far more
I ruQEedly picturesque than that
/ beautiful suburb, and boasts one
mountain, Nuugue, that towers 1000
feet above the sea. Around it grow
in luxuriaut abundance various
grains, peaches, figs and other fruits,
together with the sandal-woOd tree
and the cork; and among these dis
port themselves or did a few years
ag0-many wild goats and not a few
wild horses. Excellent fish are album
dant there, and with the sweetest Of
water and a delicious climate, q more
inviting spot could hardly be
imagined. So thought the early buc-
/ cancer who made tia resort OF many
q day, and so thought afterWard
American and English Whalers who
touched there for supplies. For some
years the Gillian government dis
turbed the solitude Of the place by
making it a penal colony; but the
COnvicts rose in revolt, there was
some bIOOdshed, a village that had
been built at Port Cumberland, the
harbOr, was burned and the authOri-
ties after ferreting out and putting to
death the Wretches, who, on cOmplet-
ing their work of destruction, had fled
to the woods, abandoned the island to
the goats and horses. Subsequently
two or three wandering ChIlans
found shelter there and eked out a
livelihOOdtha the generous soil for the
most part supplied by selling to pass
ing ships vegetables aud water. In
1919, when the memorable rush was
made for the gold fields Of California,
sOm6O of the ships bound thitheT, round
Cape Horn, touching at Juan Eernan-
deZs They found there besides some
half a score of Chilians, including
women and children, the mate of an
American whaler, who, ike Selkirk,
had left his vessel from choice to dwell
upon the island, and who had a fami-
~ by one OF the Gillian women.
This man looked not unlike the pic
lures Of " Robinson CrusOe," having
garments of goat skins, a long beard,
and that expression oil profound vet
melancholy calm which people who
live in solitude are prone to have.
he seemed, Notwithstanding, to be
.cOntented, and spoke not of leaving
the place or Of any wish to change his
condition. a grOttO near the shore
he pointed out as Robinson CrusOe's
cave, and showed other spots identi-
flying them with localities spoken Of
in DefOe's story. He appeared to re-
gard himself as Selkirk's representa-
tive, and to take pride in being so
accepted.
Twenty years seemed to have passed
after this without any other or more
definite s being made OF Juan Fer
nandeZ; but last winter il was coded
by the CHILEAN Government to a COM
pany Of Germans, who are led by enc
Robert Wehrhan, a Saxon engineer.
He and his society have now taken
possession of the island and purpose
to make it their home. They num-
Der some sixty to seventy individ-
uals, and have taken with them cows
and other cattle, swine, fowls, all
kinds of agricultural implements,
with boats ana fishing apparatus, and
tools for the various mechanical
trades. 1t is said that Wehrhan left
Germany eleven years ago, and, after
passing some time in England, was
engaged on railways in South Amer
lea. While there he conceived the
idea that he has now carried into
effect. This is a repetition on a larger
scale Of the experiment on PitCairn's
Island, without, of course, the crimi-
nal preface that stained the history Of
the crew of the Bounty. The world
will watch the career of this little col
Ony with deeply interested eyes; for,
apart from the curiosity and sympathy
naturally attracted By the experiment
itself, no more engaging spot could
have been chosen in which to make it
than that which is cherished in so.
many hearts as Robinson UrusOe's
Island.