Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-07-25
THE HOME ov ROBINSON cnusor.



How IL Cooks To-day--- where Defoe Got II
i Material for HIs Stery.
: Across the harbor OF Valparaiso
|, an island which possesses an interes
! for every one who has been boy
{ Occasionally an excursion goes owe
2 there from this city, and tho English
men, who constitute large fraction O
{ the population, with what few Ameri
5 cans there are, go over to spend da,
t or two and renew their youth
o Itls the island of Juan Fernandez
Q Where Robinson Crusoe and his mar
Friday, #who kept things tidy" had
} the experience that has given the
} world OF boys as much enjoyment Al
> l'any that was ever written in a book
| There was Robinson Crusoe--thert
} isn'ta doubt OF it, and there was d
, man Friday, too, and the island stands
to-day exactly as it is described in the
book; bat the surprising adventures
OF Mr.. Crusoe as therein related do
not correspond exactly with the local
traditions OF the story. As the yarn
goes here, man OF the name OF
Alexander Selcraig, who afterward
called himself Selkirk, was put ashore
by the commander of the Spanish
ship Cinque Ports as punishment
tor munity.
This island was favorite stopping
place for vessels in the South seas, as
| it has good ship timber, plenty Of ex-
cellent water, abounds in fruits, goats,
rabbits and other flesh for food, and
the rocks on the coast arc covered
with Holsters, shrimps and crayiisll.
Il was aipopular resort for buccaneers
also, who ran into well-protected
harbor to repair damages and get pro-
visisions. Juan Fernandez, a famous
Spanish navigator, discovered it in
1868, and the king OF Spain gave him
a patent to the island; but rs he never
occupied it his title lapsed. In 1706
the Scotchman, Selkirk or Seleraig,
became mulinous ON board the Cinque
Ports, and had TO choose between be-
I ing hung at the yard arm or put ashore
at Juan Fernandez alone. He took
the latter alternative, and was left on
the rocks with his sailors kit and
small supply of provisions. To bis
| surprise, after he had been on the is
land a few days, he found a companion
in an Indian from the Mosquito coast
of Central America, who, some years
before, had come down ou the ship OF
the pirate Damphier, and, gongashore
on limiting expedition, had become
lost and was abandoned by his COM
raies. This was the man Friday.
Some years after Selkirk and the
Indian were rescued by Capt Rogers
OF an English merchant ship and
taken to southampton, where the
Scotehman told hIS story to Daniel
Defoe, and it got into print with some
romantic exaggeratlon,
The island is accurately described,
and the visitor who is familiar with
Robinson Crusoe can find the cave,
the mountain paths and other haunts of
the hero without difficulty; but Defoc |
has located it IN the wrong geographi- |
cal position, having placed it ON the
other side Of the'continent and mixed |
up Montevideo with Valparaiso. It is
about twepty-three miles long and ten
miles wide in the broadest part and is
covered with beautiful hills and lovely |
valleys, the highest peak reaching an
elevation of nearly 1900 feet. A hun |
duced bloodhounds to kill off the |
goats and rabbits aad to keep the |
pirates away, but the scheme didn't
work. After her independence, in
1921, Chill made Juan Fernandez
penal colony, but thirty years after
the prisoners mutinied, slaughtered
the guards and escaped. Then it was
leased to a cattle company, which has
now 10000 head of horned cattle and
as many sheep grazing upon the hills.
There are fifty or sixty inhabitants,
mostly ranchmen and their families,
who tend the herds and raise vegeta- /
bles for the Valparaiso market
Great care has been taken to pre-
serve the relies of Alexander Selkirks'
stay upon the island, and his cave and
huts remain just rs he lett them. In
1868 the officers OF the British man
of-war Topaz erected marble tablet
to mark the famous lookout from
which Mr.. Crusoe, like the "Ancient
Mrfiaer" used to watch for sail "and
yet no sail from day TO day." The
inscription reads:
ALEXANDRA SELKIRK,
% MARINER,
A native Of Largo, County Of Fife, Scotland,
who lived upon this Island In COM
plete solitude for
-FOUR YEARS AND -FOUR MONTHS,
He was landed from the CINoUE PORTS
galley, 90 TONS, 10 guns, A ID. 1904
and was taken OFF in the I
DUKE, Privateer, on
February 18TH, 1909,
Hedlcd Lieutenant of II. ID. NJ. S. s.
Weymouth, A. ID. l723,
Aged ~ years,
This tablet Is erected upon Seikirk's lookout
CoMMoDoaE POWELL.
and the officers OF II. y. II. s. >.
TOPAZ,
A. ID. 1868. 4,
No one ever goes to Juan Fernan- !
iez without bringing away rocks and
sticks as relics Of the place. There is ,
! very fine sort of wood peculiar to !
he island, which makes beautiful j
canes, as it has a rare grain and pol I
shes well. e t3 ta 80 Z