The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-21

The best landing place is at Cumberland
bay, at which point there is now fishing
settlement which includes about all the
people of the island. There are, it is said,
only fifteen people now living there. Back
of the settlement on the bay there are cot
tagss, or straw huts. which once formed
the homes of quite a number of settlers
who lived here These huts are made of
cane waited with straw There are gar
dens about some of them. and at one time
there was an agricultural colony here. One
man attempted to start a stock-r Using
plantation, and he had, it Is said, a. many
as $1,000 head of cattle and an equal num-
Der of sheep grazing in the valleys on the
north of the island. OF late, however, / am
told that this business has almost entirely
disappeared, the cattle are allowed to go
wild and there are now on the island wild
sheep. wild goats and wild mules. / give
this statement on the authority of Photog-
rapher Spencer.
RICHES OF JUAN FERNANDEZ.
There is no doubt but that Juan Fernan-
dez is rich island as far as the soil of the
northern part of it is concerned, and with
this new colonizing scheme it may support
quite large number of people. The hills
are covered now with wild oats, and there
is good grass in every open spot. The fruit
trees planted more than a hundred years
ago by Selkirk and others have reproduced
themselves, and there are many wild fruits.
while the grapes which you find in the
woods are as delicious as those which Rob-
inson Crusoe dried for raisins. There are
peaches, pears and ounces growing wild,
and also wild vegetables. A peculiar plant
is the panga, which has leaves forming q
cup as big as an umbrella. This fills with
water when it rains and stays full as long
as 1t is cloudy. When the sun comes out it
begins to wilt and the water flows out.
There are a number of caves on Juan Fer
nandez and several are pointed out in which
it is said that Alexander Selkirk lived. One
of these, which lies in a ridge of volcanic
rock, is as large as the average parlor, with
a roof from ten to fifteen feet above the
floor The door to this cave is about fifteen
feet high and it's extent to the at least
thirty feet. 1t shows signs of having been
lived in. There are little holes or pockets
scooped out of the walls, such as are men
toned in Robinson Crusoe's description of
his cave home, and here and there on the
walls you see rusty nails which were once
used by those who have lived here in the
past. 1t is said that the cave was the resort
coasts and ships Of this part of the world
The nails may have been driven into the
walls by them, and from the same source
probably comes stone oven which has been
built in the rear of the cave. Other caves
are covered with ferns and the vegetation
is so luxuriant that it is easy to imagine
that Sekirk, like Robinson Crusoe, might
have set out hedges about his caves. which
hno lie of frnnc md
have hidden them from view.
At one time Chile had penal settlement
on Juan Fernandez More than thousand
criminals were kept here under the charge
of a governor and guards. You can still see
the ruins of the Notifications of that time
One of the sights of the island are the damp
and fern-covered dungeons which were dug
out of the bluff facing the harbor. These
dungeons were among the most horrible
ever constructed by Spanish cruelty for the
torture of men, They were entered by
vaulted passages which led from one damp
chamber to another. They were without
ventilation and were as dark as Egypt at
the time of the plague. Some of the cells
were far underground and were so small
that their occupants could not stand up
right within them. The prisoners at one
time murdered the guards and 300 of them
escaped and landed on the shores of Chile
Here they were captured and were taken
to Valparaiso and shot. The other prisoners
who had been left upon the island escaped
and by different ships found their way to
other countries
SELKIRK'S MONUMENT.
There is monument to Selkirk on the
Island of Juan Fernandez. 1t is a marble
tablet set in the rocks at Robson Crusoes
Lookout" 1t was placed there by some
English naval officers about thirty years
ago. The inscription reads as follows:
In Memory of
Alexander Selkirk,
Mariner,
A native of Largo in the County of Fife,
Scotland who lived this island,
in complete Solitude, Four years
and four months.
He was landed from the Cirque Ports gal
ley, So tons, is guns, A. D. 1704 and
was taken off in the Duke, pri-