The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-02-20
10 auhiIA ia did IA berfn q rror


rived, he began TO get uneasy, but II
was two months before he Was willing
to admit that he had made Q mistake In
his calculations. He then concluded
that be had been driven 70 what Is
called the middle Islands,n group Of
eighteen islands lying midway between
Madagascar and the Sunda islands, and
only one. hundred miles south of the
equator. lie held to this idea there
after, although he was as much mis-
taken as In the first instance.
The weeks and months went by, and
when Captain ffsrsen mad beer SIX
months on his island home he began to
feel that IL he ever left it he must do so
by his own efforts. Now and then there
was storm, but for the most part the
weather was perfect. No other land
vas In sight from his island, and the
most patient investigation could not
furnish proof that any one had ever
landed there. He was not much Of a
scholar, but in his rambles he found suf-
ncfent evidence TO show that the island
had been thrown up out Of the sea by
volcanic action. That event must have
occurred many years before, for some OF
the trees we're as large as his body. How
the birds got there was a matter he did
not try to solve. After six or eight
months OF lazy life, and after waiting
until he feltsure that the island would be
visited only by accident, the -eaptain set
about building some sort OF craft. There
was a heap OF drift-wood on the eastern
side of the island, and in overhauling 1t
he found mum Der of planks and boards
which must have come from craft
pounded to pieces by gale, but he had
no tool Of any description except a
large pocket-knife. While this damp
=ened his -arder- to a great extent,s-he put
in an hour or two occasionally at the
work Of building, and laid the founda-
ton of the raft we found him on.
When Captain Harscn had been on the
island ten months he ate some fruit
which poisoned him, and made him al
most helpless for the next three months.
When he finally Recovered he found it
almost impossible to rouse-np any am
bition. He fell into state of apathy,
lost all track of time, and did nothing
but eat and sleep. He must have lived
sort eof 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 q
ship sailing past his island home one
day. She was too far away to be sig
nailed, but the sight of her inspired
hope and ambition. He had had a fire
off and on, producing it by flint and tin
der, but after this he made a signal pile
and kept fire constantly burning, to
be ready for any passing ship. 1t was
like awakening from long sleep. His
hair and beard had grown to great
length, his clothing was about worn out,
and he found that he had gained enor-
mously in flesh. He prepared set OF
rules to govern his future actions. He
got UP at a certain hour, went to bed at
a certain hour, and put in SO many
hours day at work on his raft. Such a
craft as he fnall y completed could have
been-kneeked-t together in day by a
sailor with the proper tools, but as he
had only his bare hands his progress
was slow. The foundation consisted OF
-four logs or beams, abeat-twiee 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 had platform about
thirty inches above the sea.
1t was only, after the raft had been
completed that Captain Harsen began to
dread a voyage on it. He realized what
a great waste of waters the Indian
Ocean was and the perils he must en-
counter in leaving his island on such a
float, and he tarried month after month in
hope some ship would cometo 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 a
mast and made sail he set out on short
voyages with his raft, and he would not
nSve trusted himself to it entirely had
he known his exact location. When he
t finally did set. out it was with the ex-
pactation of soon landing on some other
81 md 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 calculated on weeks supply.
One day, when a 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 per-
ilous voyage. He had been four days
out when we sighted him, and there was
no land, except his island within one
thousand mill His supply of water was
gone, his provisions within day of it,
and even the light seas encountered had
almost racked his raft to pieces. He
figured that he mad made one hundred
miles in the four days, and when we
came tolook 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 common sense to Believe
that he had come from Madagascar or
Australia on such floats as that :.
The whole story was gone over many
times before we reached Melbourne, and
was there given to the papers and to the
Government officials. 1t was so strange
that no one believed it, and we were
seeking to get around it by denying that
the man was Captain Harsen, when, lol
the man who had been his first mate
and sailed the ship home arrived in port
as mate of a Scotch ship and identified
his old commander at once. There was
Government survey ship in port at
the time, and after some delay she set
off with Captain Harsen on board toto
cate and chart this solitary island. We
could give her the location within a
hundred miles, and after sailing to
and fro fora week she madea discovery.
" htfe7sf1e could not find the island, she
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