The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-22
A FEMININE CRUSOE.
She Lived Seventeen Years Alone on
an Island.
Rescued to Die the Sooner-A
Strange Story of Guiana Maria Bet
ter-Than-Nothing's" Adventures on
Desert Island.


Strange Story of Guiana Maria Bet
-Nothing's" Adventures on
Desert Island.
From the New York Recorder.
One of the strange true tales of modern
life is that OF the woman Robinson Cru
soc. the "Wild Woman" as she was To-
cally but improperly called, who lived
alone for II years on San Nicolas ISL
and, a small and rocky bit of land just off
the California coast, near Los Angeles.
The California Magazine in its October
number prints some particulars never be-
fore made known of this woman's lonely
life, and of these, by the courtesy of the
eastern agents of the Californian, the
Recorder presents a condensed account:
If we could form a mental picture of
San Nicolas Island as it appeared a half
century ago, we should find its physical
features the same as those which it pre-
sents today rocky, wave-beaten
finger-tip of nature peeping above the
surface of the Pacific nearly due south
west Of Los Angeles, moss-carpeted
where the brushwood has found no soil
wherein to take root, and rising in the
center so as to form hill with somewhat
steep declivities. We should perceive at
the base of this eminence springs of fresh
water which would supply the unfor-
tunate mariner who might have the ill
luck to be cast away on that uninviting
shore. Wild dogs would be seen roaming
about or stealthily creeping up to
the seals that lay basking
in the sun and slumbering
on the craggy rocks and beach, while
shags perched on peaks and slabs plume
their oily feathers in the warm rays.
The twittering of small birds in the
brush might also form part of this men
tai impression. A close scrutiny would
reveal on the mainland side of the hill
three small bruShwood huts, with frame
works of the bones of the whale, and a
low brush fence before them as a wind
break. In front of one of these lowly
huts would be seen a woman squatted on
the ground engaged in weaving water
vessel or bottle, her textile material being
grass fiber, of which she has had an
abundance at hand, collected from the
margins of springs and the moist,
swampy patches, which occupy the
hooks and recesseS of the island
The story of the Wild Woman of San
Nicolas Island is a singular one. Outlines
and summaries of it have been published
from time to time, but a full account has
never been given, nor has any part of it
been presented as related by the princi-
pal actors engaged in her rescue after she
had lived in solitude for seventeen years
on that lonely isle. That it can be so
given now is due to the zeal and thought
fulness of d. w. Thompson, one of the
fathers of the City of Flowers, and to
him we are indebted for a decidedly curl
Gus page of history. In 1882 Mr. ThOmp-
son, accompanied by a shorthand re-
porter, sought out those principal actors
the venerable pioneers. George Nidever
and Charles Brown-and by elaborate
questioning obtained full particulars
connected with the unfortunate woman's
career.
1t is conjectured by those pioneers that
all the Santa Barbara Islands were set
tied by Indians, who, according to Brown,
were much molested by the tribes from
the northwest. These warlike savages
would cross the channel in their canoes,
and hunt and shoot the poor islanders
Just for mischief Whatever may have
been the reason for adopting such a meas
ure, the Mexican government Nidever in
forms us, decided to remove the Indians
dwelling on the island to the mainland
and distribute them among the mis-
sOnS.
The small schooner sent by the author
tiles to bring off the last family, which
consisted of seven or eight members, was
called Better-Than-Noth and was in
command of an old sea otter hunter
named Sparks. They succeeded in get
ting all on board except two children and
the woman who, though brought down to
the beach, was so distracted at her two
children having been left behind that
they let her go back and sailed away.
1t is not difficult to picture to ones self
the condition and miseries of this lonely
woman, separated from her husband and
family and dependent on herself for every
necessity of life. We can see her day by
day gazing seward on the watch for the
boat. The days summed up into months
and months grew into years, but no
schooner returned. Her children mean
while had been devoured by wild dogs.
She saw ships going by, this way and
that, but nobody came for her Her CRY
OF 'ManeQuauna! !" was UNDECIDED and
as time lapsed she became adapted to cir
cumstances and her surroundings With
deft fingers she wove blankets and water
tight vessels, smearing the latter with
melted asphaltum; she twisted the
sinews of seals, which she caught
while sleeping, into fishing lines
she dug up the succulent roots of
plants and roasted them over fire OBJ
tanned by rubbing two sticks together;
and clothed herself in sea bird skins.
which she sewed together with fine sinew
with the aid of needles made of bone. AS
the years passed by she became contented
with her lott time dulled her grief. and
she accepted the situation with the stOical
resignation of her race. Fish, seal flesh
and roots formed her diet; pure spring
water was her only beverage. Once she
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