The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-20
FACT AND FANCY ISLANDS.
interesting Points Concerning the
Land of Desolatlor.
From the Post-Erpress.

From the Post Express.
The Islands of Kerguelen, of which
France has recently taken possession, were
well named by Cook the Land of Desola-
! ton" Their history, however, is not with
out 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 Amerl-
can whalers which were once seen 80 often
In the South seas. No one seems TO know
the yankee captain we'll, though few South
Sea navigators have not ssen him.
q In l112 the Chevalier de KerRuelen, ad-
mirGl in the French fleet, discovered these
islands. As the exploring parties sent
short distances into the interior of the larz-
est island did not reach the farther coast,
De kerguelen became convinced that he
| had discovered the great southern continent
of which geOgraphers had written much.
He fastened back TO France and petltioned
the king so earnestly to take possession of
the new land that an expedition was fitted
out for that purpose and placed under De
Kerguelen's command. The land was soon
found to he only q group OF volcanic islands,
and the admiral was forced 60 return TO
Paris and to acknowledge his mistake. The
admiralty, stung by the ridicule OF the peo-
pie called oourt-martial, which decided
that De Kerguelen, who was then scarcely
30 years old, must lose his rank and be i'm
prlsoned indefinitely in the castle of
Saumer. de was soon released, bus never
served again in the navy. NJ. de Tinseau
recently introduced De Kerguelen as a
character in q novel.
Four years ago the sailors Of the bark
Tamaris were cast upon one OF the Kerr
guelen islands. A sailor fastened to the
wing of an albatross Il tube containing a
roll Of which
story Of the shipwTeck. The bird was re-
leased, and, strange to say, was caught by
the mate of q vessel cruising in that neigh
borhood. An expedition which was sent in
search of the crew OF the Tamaris, by fol-
lowing 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 castaways. but the meu them
selves had patched up a rude boat and sailed
off.
Since then nothing has been heard sf
| them. These incidents were worked over
and used as the foundation of another novel
published in 1890, called lie Fond dun
Ceur." In this story there also figured an
American captain, Joseph Fuller, who com
| manded the bark Franoys Allyn. Fuller is,
in fact, in command CT an old-fashioned
American whaler. He knows the straits OF
the islands as though they were book, and
his ship goes where no other dares follow,
| and is seldom seen twice at the same anch-
orage. An officer of the expedition which
has taken possession of the islands wrote to
illustration that be 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 latter's
surprise. The officer continues as follows:
This morning the bark hoisted the
American flag. On her stern was the name
Franoys Allyn. Her captains name is
Joseph Fuller. 1t was not one or the least
Of my surprises in this strange place to see,
in flesh and blood, character in q novel.
Fuller bears no trace of the classic type of
the sea dog He is tall and thin; his face
is surrounded by a handsome white beard,
and his open, laughing eyes are hidden be-
hind pair Of spectacIes. lie looks more
like professor Of a German university
than hardy sailor who had lived for thirty
years in those dangerous passages
The Kerguelen islands lie half way be-
tween the Cape Of Good Hope and Australia
and south of the route usually taken by YES
sells. They were visited by Cook in 1776,
and later by Ross