The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-13
ROBINSON CRUSOE.
thE EXACT LOCATION OF THIS He
\ Ro'S ISLAND HOME.

~ Do Foe. .It wss Stated That Crusoe
was Wrecked ON sn Island In the Delta
/ efths Ori.soe Later Editions Changed.
) IL the question were asked, "Where Is
the island OF Robinson Crusoep" the ma
bority of people would answer, "Juan Fer
handcz." Some would 90 so far az to say
that Robinson Crusoe and Alexander Sell
kirk were one and the same person.
I 1.-THE original title of De Foes Robin
son Crusoe" had been kept In the later
editions, the island of Juan Fernandez
Hould never have been associated with the
name OF Robinson Crusoe. On the original
tatie page OF this great English romance it Is
nistinctly stated that Crusoe was wrecked,
and afterward lived for many years on an
Island situated In the delta of the OrinocO
Juan Fernandez Is small island in the
Pacific, In 81 degrees south latitude and
situated 400 miles west of Valparaiso, on
the Chilean coast. The climate Is not trop
ical, and the soil, which Is light, supports
scrubby underground.
I'm 1900" says Sir Wyville Thompson
in his account of this island, "Dampier
called at Juan Fernandez, and while there
Captain Straddling of the Cinque Port gal
Icy quarreled with his men, AZ of whom
deserted, but were afterward taken on
board by Dampier Five seamen, however,
remained on shore. In October, 1704, tho
Oinque Port returned and found two of
these men, the. others apparently having
been captured by the French. On this oc-
casion Captain Straddling had disagree
anent with his master, Alexander Sclkirk,
who insisted ON being put ashore rather
than serve longer with Straddling Sell
kinks desire was complied with, and he
was sent on shore with few ordinary
necessaries. Before the ship left he begged
10 be readmitted, but this was refused,
with the curious result that, with little
merit of his own, he became hero Of all
time as Robinson Crusoe, the cynosure Of
all boys eyes.
a"It il extremely improbable that Alex
ander Selkirk ever placed his journal In
the hands of De Foe, but his story cx
cited some public interest, and in cater
ing for the public amusement that prince
of raconteurs was most likely to have
adopted Selkirk's tale for combination
with other m&erial in one of his wonder
full realistic novels. Many Of the incidents
an the Adventures of Robi9son Crusoe'
are evidently inconsistent with the nara
tive Of Selkirk and are undoubtedly taken
from other sources For example, the foot
print on tho sand and the decidedly trop-
ical description Of Robinson Crusoe's Is
land would agree better with one Of the
outlying islands Of the West Indies. Alex
ander Selkirk was relieved from what ap-
pears to have been by no means unbear-
able exile In 1909 by the ship Duke, Cap
tain Wood Rogers" having been ON the is
land in complete solitude for years and 4
months. He died lieutenant of the Wey-
mouth in 1928, at the age of AZ.
When we look into De Foes account, we
ind that, after Crusoe had spent some
time In the Brazils, he and his friends lit
ted out q vessel for Africa for cargo Of
slaves. On the 1st Of September, 1859, 1--WE
set sail" quote from DE Foes book,
s'standing away to the northward upon
our own coast" After passing the equator
they met with a hurricane and were for
many days unable to get an observation.
When mt last one was obtained, they found
the ship to be Gin about IL degrees north
latitude 80 that he (the captain)
found he was on the coast of Guiana, or
She north part of Brazil, beyond the river
Amazon, toward that part of the river
OroonoQue commonly called the Great riv-
er." The ship was found to be so much
damaged by the storm that I'VE concluded
there was no inhabited country for us to
have recourse to till we came within the
circle of tho Caribbee islands, and there-
fore resolved to stand away for Barbados,
and by keeping off at sea, avoid the indraft
of the bay or gulf of Mexico.
"With this design we changed our course
and steered northwest by west, in order to
reach some of the English islands, where
hoped for relief, but our voyage was 9th
erwisc determined, for, being in the lati-
tude of 12 degrees and Is minutes, a Sec
ond storm came upon us, which carried us
away with the same impetuosity west
ward and drove us so out OF the way Of all
human commerce that, had our lives been
spared to the sea, we were rather in dan
ger of being dcvonred by savages than ever
returning to our own country"
After the arrival of the man Friday and
Crusoe's conversation with him he says,
in speaking of the currents, which are
very strong and numerous about TobagO:
This / understood to be no more than
the set of the tide, as going out or coming
in, but afterward understood Ii was Oc-
casioned by the great draft and refiux Of
the mighty river Oroonoko, in the mouth
or gulph of which river, as 1 found after
ward, our island lay, and that this land
which perceived to the w. and $. W. was
the, great island of Trinidad, on the north
point Of the mouth of the river. /
asked him (Friday) the names of the sew
eral of his sort of people, but could not get
no other name than Caribs, from whence
j easily understood that these were the
Caribbees, which our maps place on the
part Of America which reaches from the
mouth of the river OroonOko to Guiana
and onward to st. Martha (probably st.
Martin 81"
Trinidad is at all times plainly visible
from Tobago, being only 10 miles distant.
The only other island from which Trinidad
may be seen Is Grenada, which lies 7b
miles due north, but Trinidad can only be
made out ON very clear days Moreover,
Grenada was inhabited in Crusoe's time
by Caribs.
have given this rather lengthy argu-
nent in what might mt first sight seem to
be trivial subject, but Robinson Cru
noe, although fictitious character, Is 50
well known and so often the subject of ev-
eryday allusion hope will bc excused