The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-27
ISLANDS OF FACT AND FANCY.
Some Interesting Stories Regarding Ker-
guelen, the Land of Desolation.

guelen, the Land of Desolation.
The islands of Kerguelen, of which
France has recently taken possession,
were well named by Cook the Land of
Desolation." Their history, however,
is not without interest. They were
the cause of the rise and fall of young
French admiral of the last century;
their rocky coasts appear in two recent
French novels, and there still cruises
around them the last of the American
whalerS which were once seen so often
in the South seas. No one seems to
know the Yankee captain well, though
few South sea navigators have not seen
him. In 1772 the Cheva lier de Kergue-
len, admiral in the French feet, discov-
cred these islands As the exploring
parties sent short distances into the in
terror of the largest island did not
reach the farther coast, De Kerguelen
became convinced that he had discov-
cred the great southern continent of
which geographers had written much
He fastened back to France and pc
titioned the king so earnestly to take
possession of the new land that an ex-
snd placed under De Kerguelens com
nand- The land was soon found to be
sniy a group of volcanic islands. and
the admiral was forced to return to
Paris and to acknowledge his mistake
The admiralty. stung by the ridicule of
the people, called a court-martial, which
decided that De kerguelen, who was
then scarcely thirty years old, must
lose his rank and be imprisoned in
definitely in the castle of Saumer. He
was soon released, but never served
again the navy. NJ. de Tnseau recent
~ introduced De kerguelen as char
acter in a novel.
Four years ago the sailors of the bark
TamariS were east upon one of the Ker-
guelen islands. A sailor fastened to
the wing of an albatrOss a tube con-
tanning a roll of paper on which was
written the story of the shipwreck.
The bird was released. and strange 10
say, was caught by the mate Of vessel
cruising in that neighborhood. An ex-
petition which was sent in search of
the crew of the Tamaris, by following |
the directions on the roll of paper. had |
no difficulty in finding the caves which |
the sailors had occupied. There were |
many traces of the castawavs, but the |
men themselves had patched up rude |
boat and sailed off Since then
nothing has been heard of them.
These incidents were worked over
and used as the foundation of |
another novel, published in 1890, called |
''Le Fond dun Crur." In this story |
there also figured an American captain, |
Joseph Fuller, who commanded the |
bark Francys Allyn. Fuller is, in fact, |
in command of an old-fashicned Amer |
lean whaler. He knows the straits of |
the island as though they were a book, |
and his ship goes where no other dareS |
follow, and is seldom seen twice at the |
same anchorage. An officer of the ex-
petition which has taken possession of
the islands wrote to the Illustration
that he had seen this Joseph Fuller A
vessel sailed one night into the harbor
opposite the shore where the French !
men were encamped, much TO the lat
ter's surprise. The officer continues as
follows:
This morning the bark hoisted the
American flag. On her stern was the
name Francys Allyn. Her captains
name is Joseph Fuller. 1t was not one
of the least of my surprises in this
strange place TO see, in flesh and blood.
a character of a novel Fuller bears no
trace of the classic type Of the sea dog
He is tall and thin; his face is sur
rounded by handsome white beard.
and his open. laughing eyes are hidden
behind a pair of spectacles. He looks
more like professor of a German uni
versity than a hardy sailor who has
lived for thirty years in these danger
Gus passages"
The kerguelen islands lie half way
between the cape of Good Hope and
Australia and south of the route usually
taken by vessels. They were visited by
Cook in 17776. and later by Rose.-N. y.
Post-EXpresS.