The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-03-11

he Soon discovered t;i;., O. Illd iln1cd
on 4 VCidant island about one mile
square. The verdure was about the same
as that of madagascar, with the same
variety of birds and insect life. There
was species of water-rat on the island,
but no other animal, and he never saw
reptile of any Sort.
"'he island was a little paradise.
There were several springs of fresh
water. fruits and nuts IN abundance,
and nothing to make him afraid. As
soon as he got rested the captain began
to figure on his position, and he finally
cOncl 4ded that he had been east on one
of the Aldabra group, two hundred
! miles to the north of Cape Amher. Mad
agascar. Subsequent develop, 1ents
proved that he was more than four hun
dred miles out of his rCckonin,,. T0'i-
! ing tina. he was correct i'll his location
of the island, Captain Harscn f. u-ed
that = I'D only to possess himself " III
latter and ali would be well. The
aida, u islands were much visited by
. tshc men, who caught and prepared a
! certain iishfood for the Chinese, and he
had no other idea than that he you'd be
taken OF within two or three weeks.
{ he wisely decided to improve the inter
val by resting up. ana for two weeks he
f. slept good share Of each day and all
night. lie built himself a shelte sat
isfied his HUNGER with fruits. oysters
shrinDs and fi>'. and took solid comfort
for awhile. He did rot begin 20 grow
=, une y for month. Then, as he I'D
! sighted al aail and no visitors had
! rived. jegan to get uneasy. bat it
WAS two nOhthS before he was willing
To admit nat he had made mistake in
his calculation. lie then concluded
that he had been dri ven to what is
called :he Middle Islands," group of
eighteen islands lying midway between
Madagascar a.i,i the Snuda islands and
only one hur lred niles sout; of the
equator. lie held to his idea there
after. although he Va; as mitch mis-
taken IS in the FIRST instance.
The weeks and months went by, and
when Captain larsen had been six
months on his island homo he began To
. feel that if he ever lett IL he mast DO so
; by his own eEortS. Now and then there
vas a storm. but for the most part the
weathe: was perfect. No other land
was in sight from his island, and the
most patient investigation could not
furnish proof that any one had ever
landed there. lie was not much of
, scholar. but in his rambles he found suf-
ficient evidence to show r. at 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 were as large as his body. How
the birds got there was 4 matter lac did
not try TO solve. After six or eight
/ months of lazy life. and after waiting
until he felt sure that the island would be
visited only by accident. the captain set
about building some sort of craft. There
w2s a heap of drift-wood on the eastern
size of the island, and in overhauling it
he found a numb Der of plankS and boards
which must have come from a craft
pounded to pieces by a gale, but he had
no tool of any description except
large pocket aife. While this Damp
ened his ardo. to great extent, he put
in an hour or two occasionally st the
work of building, and laid the FONDA
ton of the raft we foInl him on.
When Captain Harsen had been on the
island ten months he ate some fruit
which poisoned him. and made li... al
most helpless for the next three months
When be finally recovered he found it
almost impossible to rouse up any am
bition. lie fell into state of apathy,
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 a
ship sailing past his island home one
day. She was too far away t. be sig
nailed. but the sight OF her inspired
hope and ambition. He had had fire
off and on. producing il 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 certain hour, went TO bed at
certain hour. and put in So many
hours day at work On his raft. Such a
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 his 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 had "a 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