Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1899-02-08
CRUSOE'S ISLAND.
OF THE ISLAND MADE
FAMOUS BY THE STORY.
ALEXANDER sELKIRK, THE ORIGINAL
OF DE FOES HERO, AND HIS
LIFE ON THE ISLAND.

hODlnSOn Crus0e'S Island IS 10 be COLO
nized. The government OF Chile has just
adopted resolutions to that fleet and by
the time this letter shall have been pub
lished an inspector will have been APP
pointed and in all proba bility number
of new inha bitants will have been carried
to the island OF Juan Fernandez, says a
Valparaiso, Chile, letter to the Atlanta
Constitution. Within the past four weeks
the president of Chile has visited this
island on tour OF inspection, and both
himself and his official report that it can
be made OF great value to the country 1t
has been decided to give each settler
house and certain amount of land, and
he idea is to make a large fishing colony
there.
The Goldfish which are caught off the
shores of Juan Fernandez are especially
fine. They swarm about its shores, and,
III connection with Holsters, and other
SHELF fish, might form the basis of great
industry. There are also many seals,
wairuses and other marine animals in
the waters near by, and the mainland
has III its woods many wild goats, wild
sheep and wild mules. There are parts
OF the island which are very fertile and
it is thought that they can really be made
a valuable property.
The island of Juan Fernandez lies Just
about i00 mites west of Valparaiso, in the
south Pacific ocean. II can only be
reached by special steamers, which make
excursions there once or twice year.
Before | describe the island as it is in the
year of our Lord 1898, let me tell you
omething of its history, and how it came
to be the inspiration for that wonderful
| tale OF Robinson Crusoe.
ROBINSON CRUsoE.
The story dates back to 1904, almost
200 years. AT that time an English ship
OF ninety tons, known as the "Cinque
Ports was sailing through the south
Pacific ocean. Upon her the first real
Robinson Crusoe. He was Seotehman,
named Alexander Selkiri.. He was the
sailing master of the ship, but for some
reason or other fell out with the captain
and one story is that he headed a mutiny
and WAS given the choice OF being
hanged al the yardarm or of being placed
OH this desert island of Juan Fer
tive. and, with small supply of pro-
Visions, he was landed in what is now
called Cumberland bay. THIS was IN
September, 1901. He lived there for four
Years and four months, " hen The English
J priNHteer Duke" was attracted by his
watch tire and came to anchor at the
Is and and carried him home to tngiand.
Daring his stay Seikirk had many of
the adventures described in De Foes
nook, although De Foe, having bet err
knowledge OF the islands north of Brazil
IA the Caribbean "a, has made much OF
his story Corre-p pond to these IN It's de.
-erlptieus OF scenery, products and
climates. The skeleton or plan OF De Foe
Ms undoubtedly suEge sted by ;9eIkIrkis
adventures, and 3ou can almost trace
poor Robinson Crusoe's wanderings in
tAe story of selklrk and juan FernandeZ
In the first ph3ce, the terrors which
assaulted Selknk when he found HIM
-etf all alone on this Wild spot We're the
-ame rs those of Cfusoe. He wished for
time that ire had chosen to be hanged
rather than hsVe come ashore. | don't
know about the finding OF the foot prints
N the sand, but shortly after Sel<irk
came, an Indian was lost i'll the woods,
having ian ded with q party which SelkirK
did not set. This Indian he adopted, and
his history concerning him was the foun-
da ion of Robinson Crusoe's man "Fri-
/ day y Gu REM mber the nursery rhy me
/ Ms TO how ROBIN son Crusoe " as dressed:
! Poor ODD Robinson Cru-oe Poor Old Rob
/ inson Crusoet
lie made him coat of cd Nanny Goat,
. wonder how lie could do so"
/ Well, v hen Selknk Vas found, accord
/ ing to the narrative of Captain Rodgers,
who took hlm to England, "he was clad
III goat skins and MAS running about as
/ though crazy" lie had built a fire upon,
what Is now known on the island as
Robinson Crusoe's look out, and had in
his way attracted the ships attention.
has lookout Is an immense hill, which
Rises almost straight up from the shore,
the top of hich can be seen for miles
around.
When Selkirk arrived in London his
story became the talk Of the town. 1t
+ was told IN all of the clubs and coffee
houses and Sir Richard Steele made ii
paper describing Selkirk's adventures in
one of ms papers. tie tells how selkirk
al his first landing in England seemed to
have lost the character of the average
man by his solitude, but how, later on,
his strangeHess Wore off. Seiklrk pub
hsbed a 1ttle pamphlet of twelve pages
describing his wanderings.
The bulk OF the story OF Robinson
+ Crusoe, however, was from the brain of
Daniel De Foe, and it was his genius chat
made it the greatest story of adventure
the world has ever known. 1t WAS
written III London and was first pub
lished 179 years ago. Later editions have
been considerably changed, and it is said