Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-04-28
HE FELT LIKE CRUSOE.
A NATURALIST FINDS AN
ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC.
like Alexander seikirk, He Could Alrnos-
Have Said, "Their Tameness Is
shocking to Me"-InhRb-
tied by Convicts.

George W. Dunn, the naturalist
Ind collector for the worlds fair and
different educational institutions and
museums, has been exploring the
littleknown and curious island of
Guadalupe.
He tells a story in the San Fran
cisco Examiner almost as strange as
any by Defoe The island lies out in
the Pacific. eighty miles off the
Lower California coast, and almost
opposite Cape San Sebastian. 1t is
thirteen miles long and four wide, and
g made up of mountain and valley
land, the mountains rising to a height
Of 400 feet.
IL went down there" said Mr..
Dunn, Gin a little seven-ton sloop
rom San Diego, and after a good
deal of trouble got ashore by jumping
On piece of projecting rock. was
we'll rewarded by what l saw, for
altogether it was about the strangest
place | ever got into.
1.-The foliage was beautiful. The
island is partly open and partly
covered with trees, consisting Of
three kinds Of palms, cypress, pines,
oaks and others, every one different
from those on the mainland. That
to me was a curious thing. They
we're only eighty miles away, too.
81 had not been on the island long
ill | ran igto bevies of odd little
brown wrens. They swarmed every
yherO and were vely inquisitive.
When / sat down on rocks to rest
Tho wrens would come and light on
ny boots and look into my face in
luiringly, as If to ask what | was
loing there. They were not afraid,
or they knew extremely little about
nan.
THE only human beings on the
sland were about twenty refractory
NeXicans, who were there TO look
Ifter goats. Mexico uses it as sort
If penal colony, and that is princi-
)ally why they were there. They
we're not allowed to fire gun. and
when they wanted any goats they
lad to run them down or lasso them.
AS these goats have been there
many years. have increased to $4,000
md become as wild as deer. you can
Judge what feat it is to get one of
hem. AS l saw the fleet greaser5
after them over the rocks | was re-
minded strongly of the experience of
Crusoe in Juan Fernandez. 1t was
equally as strange, and it was true.
THE MeXicans ran with wonderful
speed. Up a mountain or down or
'idewise, it made no difference. And
hey almost always got their goat
Jaw them run over piles Of rocks and
llong the edges of precipices.
They were just as sure-footod as
the goats, and nothing is supposed to
excel, if indeed TO approach. goat in
speed and ability to climb safely over
dangerous places.
sometimes they would get almost
Upon them and then throw their las
;oes. At other times they would
simply run a goat down. There was
'arely ever more than one greaser
lfser goat. The horns and bones
If the dead goats are piled in places
many feet thick on the ground.
There are lot of wild eats down
there, too. Years ago somebody let
loose some domestic cats down there.
You know how fast they increase.
There are lots of them there now, and
everywhere over the hills you may
see both cats and goats. | suppose
the cats live on both birds and fish.
The climate is so advantageous, how
aver, that there is always varied an
imal life there.
Zone other strange thing l found
in addition to the many | have al
Luded to, was that if | wanted any
water had to go up hill 10 get it.
The springs are all on top of the
mountains You never find them
Town by the shore.
"While wandering about full of
wonder at what l saw l found an old
crater on top Of the mountain chain,
midway in the island. The dead
crater was curious TO behold. 1t was
about 8 20 feet across and almost that
deep. All about it was smooth and
broken lava. Piles of basalt were
scattered here and there. Earth
quakes had shaken and half closed
the crater.
1.-The captain of my sloop was
having hard time outside. The
wind came up lively, and continued
to blow steadily, so that | couldn't
get aboard of her. The result was |
had to stay on the island five days.
during which | had to live about all
the time on the edible palms,