Wichita eagle., 1890-01-23

had arrived, he began to get uneasy, but it
was two months before he was willing to ad-
NIT that be had made mistake in his calcu-
lataons. He then concluded that he had been
driven to whatis called tho Middle Islands"
group of eighteen islands lying midway be-
tween Madagascar and the Sunda islands,
and only 100 n1[1es south Of the equator. He
held to this ida thereafter, although he was
as much mistakes as IN the frst instance.
The weeks and months went by, and when
Can't. HSksen had been SIX months on his
island horne be began to feea that II he ever
left 1.-THE must do so by his own efforts. Now
and then there was . storm, but for the most
part the weather was perfect. Mother land
was in sight from his island, and the most
patient Investigation could net furnish proof
that any one had ever landed there. He was
not much Of . scholar, hut in his rambles he
found sufficient evidence to show that the
island had been thrown mp out Of the sea
by volcanic ecsion. That event must have
occurred many years before, for some Of the
trees wereAs large as his bocy. How the birds
got there was matter he did not try to solvs.
After six or eight months of lazy life, and
after waiting until he felt sure that the ISL
and would be visited only by accident, the
captain set about building some sort of craft
There was heap Of drift wood ON the east
ern side of the island, and in overhauling it
he found number Of planks and boards
which must have come from q craft pounded
TO pieces by gale, but he had no tool of any
description except a large pocket knife.
While this dampened his ardor to great ex-
tent, he put in an hour or two occasionally at
the work Of building, and laid the
foundation Of the raft we found him ca.
When Capt. Harsen had been on the island
ten months he ate some fruit which poisoned
him, and made him almost helpless for the
next three months. When he finally recov-
cred he found it almost impossible to rouse
up any ambition He fell into state Of apa
thy, lost all track of time and did nothing
but eat and sleep. He must have lived a sort
of wild beast life for two or three years, and
perhaps have been out of his right mind
much of the time. What finally aroused him
was the sight of ship sailing past his island
home one day. She was too far away to be
signaled, but the sight Of her inspired hope
and ambition. He had had fire off and on,
producing it by flint and finder, but after
this he made a signal pile and kept fire
constantly burning, to be ready for any pass
ing ship.
1t was like awakening from a long sleep.
His hair and beard had grown to great
length, his clothing was about worn out, and
he found that he had gained enormously in
flesh. He prepared set of rules to govern
his future actions. He got up at certain
hour, went to bed at certain hour and put
in so many hours day at work on his raft.
Such craft as he finally completed could
have been knocked together in a day by
sailor with the proper tools, but as he had
only his bare hands bis progress was slow.
The foundation consisted of four logs or
beams, about twice as long as broad These
were foot or more thick, and he burned
holes through them and fastened them by
means of pins. Then he built up with planks
and boards until he bad a platform about
thirty inches above the sea.
1t was after the raft had been. completed
that Capt. Harsen began to dread voyage
on it. He realized what great waste of
waters the Indian ocean was, and the perils
he must encounter in leaving his island on
such a float, and he tarried month after
month in hope some ship would come to the
rescue. When forced to provide himself with
clothing he taught himself TO weave mats
from the long grass so plentiful around him,
and the skirt or kilt he had on when we found
him he had worn for year or more. After
he had stepped mast and made a sail he set
out on short voyages with his raft, and he
would not have trusted himself to it entirely
had he known his exact location. When he
finally did set out it was with the expectation
of soon landing on some other island to the
south.
The captains provisions for the voyage
consisted of roasted birds and fruits The
only thing he had to hold water was shells,
and by filling four or five of them he cal
culated on a weeks supply. One day, when
fair wind blew from the north and the
weather gave promise of holding good for
several days, he cast loose from the island
and began his perilous voyage. He had been
four days out when we sighted him, and
there was no Land, except his island, within
1000 miles. His supply Of water was gone,
his provisions within a day of it, and even
the light seas encountered had almost racked
his raft to pieces. He figured that he had
made 100 miles i'll the four days. and when
we came to look at the chart we came to the
conclusion that he was out Of his mind No
such island was put down-indeed, no land
of any sort-for thousand miles in any
direction. He insisted on the truth of his
story, however. There was his raft, and
that was in his favor. 1t was against COM
mon sense to believe that he had come from
Madagascar or Australia on such float as
that
The whole story was gone over many times
before we reached Melbourne, and was there
given to the papers and 70 the government
officials. 1t was SO strange that no one be-
Eex-e>d III nd coaEiy,ox e.
it by denying that the man was Capt. Har-
sen, when 10! the man that had been his first
mate and sailed the ship home arrived in port
as mate of Scotch ship and identified his old
commander at once. There was govern
ment survey ship in port at the time, and,
after some delay, she set off with Capt Har
sen on board to locate and chart this solitary
island. We could give her the location WITHIN
hundred miles, and, after sailing to and fro
for a week, she made discovery. While she
could not find the island, she did find shoal
or bank in midocesn TO mark its site
Further than that, trees and other drift
stuff were encountered in that locality to
prove that some queer thing had taken place.
On spot about q mile square soundings
showed depth OF from thirty to sixty feet
only, while all around it the lead would take
down q mile of line. While Capt. Harsen
could not show them an island, he could
point out the site of one, and In their report
TO the government the officers of the ship
took the theory that the island had sank into
the sea from whence 1t .sprang. The spot
was placed upon all the charts issued the next
year, and foot note warned navigators TO
give it a wide berth. Capt. Harsen reached
home in good health to sail many other voy
ages, and died only about ten years ago.
While the truth of his story has often been