The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-29
THE HOME OF CRUSOE.
rzE1sLAND WHERE TIE ANCIENT
MARINER LIVED.

zon Crusoe Really Existed.
From the Pittsblrg Dispatch
Reing on this western side of South
America it is an easy matter to visit Juan
rsrnandez-the island known to the world
- "Robinson Crusoe'sn-for it lies ONLY
obout 400 miles from Valparaiso, sailing
e+raipht toward sunset Or rather, it is
.asv whenever somebody succeeds in drum
ming up an excursion party large enough
tocbarter an especial steamer, otherwise
one might as we'll dream of going on foot
into Polynesia, as there is no regular com>
nunication between the mainland and this
Isolated Chilean possession. There is a pic
mic TWO or three times year to Fernandez
more for the purpose of shooting goats
than for visiting the haunts of the Ancient
Mariner. for the memory Of that worthy is
not held in much veneration near to the
scene of his adventures.
since so many of the heroes of our earlier
DAYS have lamentably turned out to be
MYTHS. since it has been proved that Will
lam Tell did not shoot an apple from hls
son,s head. nor Barbara Fritchie fiirt a flag
in the face of Stonewall Jackson's, men.
and Shakespeare stands confessed in bor-
owed laurels, since in the broad light of
nowadays even Santa Claus is doubted. and
tba whale that swallowed Jonah, am de-
lighted TO be able to declare that there
really was Robinson Crusoe" (though, as
everybody knows, that was not his true
namel, and that he lived on the island, al
most exactly as described III the story,
Just lS2 years ago.
THE REAL STORY OF CRUSOE.
But local traditions of the affair differ
Nha inf ol
are familiar 1t seems that in the year
1909 a Scotchman named Alexander SeI-
craig now commonly called Selkirk).
mutlned on board the Spanish bark Cinuue
Ports, and was given the choice of being
banged at the yard arm or put ashore alone
at Juan Fernandez. He chose the latter
alternative, because it offered some hope of
life, but when landed on the NOISY rocks OF
the uninhabIted land, with his sailors kit
and small supply of provisions, the desola-
ton of the place so weighed upon him that
he begged with tears to be taken back and
hanged, rather than remaln-a solitary
human speck surrounded by wild waste of
water.
A few days afterward he discovered an
Indian on the island, who had come down
some years before from the Mosquito coast
Of Central America, on the pirate, Dams
phler; and who having gone ashore to hunt,
got lost and was abandoned by his compan-
ions This was the man Friday ;" whom
Lydia Thompson's blends have immortal
lied as well as Daniel DeFoe. After Sell
kirk had lived on Fernandez four years and
four months, he was rescued by an English
merchant ship and taken to Southampton,
where he told his story-with some judi
cious omissions and exaggerations; and SO it
came to DeFOe's ears, and finally into print.
THE AUTHOR NEVER SAW HIS HERO.
The book was not published until more
than ten years after Selkirk's return to
England, and 1t is asserted that the author
Of Robinson Crusoen never saw his hero.
or heiq any communication with him, but
that he picked up the narrative by bits
here aud there, mainly from newspaper
items. which undoubtedly originated In the
sailors own account of himself. At any
rae, 1t is surprising how correctly the
scenery Of Juan Fernandez is portrayed in
the well-known story, so that 10 this day it
serves well for guide book, and by it one
may readily find the lookout, b" the "cave,"
and what remains OF Crusoe's "cayen and
other haunts. But Mr.. DeFoe does not APP
pear to have been very well posted on the
geography of this part of the world, for he
has located his island on the wrong side of
the continent, and mixed up Valparaiso on
the western coast with Montevideo on the
eastern.
AuGl6 Is CODSlu6EdDl6 llI6TdLuTb bearing
on this subject, most of il as old and Quaint
as Crusoe himself. Probably the most
authentic account of Selkirk's adventures
is contained in q very curious little book,
written by the man who rescued him, Capt.
Woodes Rogers himself, commander of two
Bristol privateers, the duke and duchess.
He says thar when his ship approached Juan
Fernandez lin February, 1902 light was
discovered, which they at first thought to
bn on hoard a shin Rf anchor
A CLOSE CALL FOR THE EXILE.
Two French pirates had been cruising in
search of Capt. Rogers, and it was supposed
that these were lying in wait, close to the
Shore The boats, which had started land
ward. hastily returned to the ship; and the
wonder is that they did not sail away, leav-
ing poor Robinson to his solitude. But
Capt. Rogers was brave man, and instead
of flight he prepared for battle. Next day q,
seeing no vessel there. they went on shore
where they found a man-so says the mar
rative, clad in goatskins and looking
wilder thai the first owners of them.n it
was Selkirk, who-almost crazed with ex-
element at sight OF Ionged-for sail which
might deliver him-had built the fire that
attracted their attention. The privateers
took him on board and, finding that he had
been a ships officer, appointed him mate of
one Of Rogers vessels aud took him to Eng
land.
The queerest OF all the books is a little
quarto volume OF only twelve pages, pub
Ashed in NO. and profusely garnished with
capital letters after the fashion of the time.
entitled Providence Displayed, or a Very
Surprising Narrative of One Alexander
Selkrk, Master of a Merchant Man, etc.
Written by His Own hand and
Attested by Most of the Eminent Merchants
Upon the Royal Exchange
Possibly it was this same little book that
furnished DeFoe with a text for the story
which has delighted generations of young
people In all parts of the world, and filled
them with vague longings for sea life, ship
wreck and solitude. At any rate, robin
son Crusoe" had a phenomenal success, &C.
corded to few works since Job wished that
MS enemy would make a book" and has
ny no means lost prestige after more than a
century and three-quarters.
THE EXcURsIoN TO JUAN FERNANDEZ.
When an excursion to Juan Fernandezis
on the tapis, the newspapers of Santiago
and Valparaiso advertise it - glowing
Terms Tor days beforehand, and-as amuse-
menus menus or the sort are rare in Chile-the
mule coaster that makes the trip is gener-
hiiy crowded to its utmost capacity, though
tue Iare IS as high as accommodations are
poor. The party we joined composed
tsioStly OF Chileans and Germans-set sail
holh 1aIcuahano, a port some 200 miles
souOh from Valparaiso; and the fare was
days. -0- '''- '-''0'40o VI e'en'
we were struck by "northern when a
&C" hours out (which, as usual in these