Iron County register., 1900-02-01
CRUSOEsS ISLAND.
Capt. SIocum Stops at Juan Fera
nandez ON His Way Around
the World.

Capt. Joshua Slocum describes visit
TO the island where Alexander Selkirk
passed five solitary years-an island
which several times, of late years, has
been reported as sunk.
The Spray being secured, the island
ers returned to the coffee and dough-
nuts, and I was more than fiattered
when they did not slight my buns, as
the professor had done in the Straits of
Magellan. Between buns and dough-
nuts there was little difference except
in name. Both had been fried in tai
low, which was the strong point in
both, for there was nothing on the is
land fatter than a goat, and a goat is
but a lean beast, to make the best of it.
So with a view.to business | hooked my
steelyards to the boom at once, ready
to weigh out tallow, there being no
customs officer to say: why do you
do 500" and before the sun went down
the islanders had learned the art of
making.buns and doughnuts. l did not
charge a high price for what l sold,
but the ancient and curious coins got
in payment. some of them from the
wreck of a galleon sunk in the bay no
one knows when, ] sold afterward to
antiquarians for more than face-value.
In this way [ made reasonable profit.
I brought away money of all denomina-
tions from the island, and nearly all
there was, so far as | could find out.
Juan Fernandez, as place of call, is
a lovely spot. The hills are well wood
ed, the valleys fertile, and pouring
n fhrnTv0h
streams of pure water. There are no
serpents on the island, and no wild
beasts other than pigs and goats, of
which I saw number, with possibly
dog or two. The people lived without
the use of rum or beer of any sort.
There was not a police officer or law
yer among them. The domestic econ
omy of the island was simplicity itself.
The fashions of Paris did not affect
the inhabitants; each dressed accord
ing to his own taste. Although there
was no doctor, the people were all
healthy, and the children were all beau
tiful. There were about As souls on the
island all told. The adults were mostly
from the mainland of South America.
One lady there, from Chilli, who made a
f1ying-jib for the Spray, taking her pay
in tallow, would be called belle at
Newport. Blessed island of Juan Fer
nandez! Why Alexander Selkirk ever
left you was more than l could make
out.
A large ship which had arrived some
time before, on fire, had been stranded
at the head of the bay, and as the sea
smashed her to pieces on the rocks,
after the fire was drowned, the island
ers picked up the timbers and utilized
them in the construction of houses,
which naturally presented a ship-like
appearance. The house of the king of
Juan Fernandez, Manuel Carroza by
name, besides resembling the ark, wore
polished brass knocker on it's only
door, which was painted green. In
front of this gorgeous entrance was
fiag-mast all ataunto, and near it a
smart whale-boat painted red and blue,
the delight of the kings old age.
I of course made pilgrimage to the
old lookout place at the top of the
mountain, where Selkirk spent many
days peering into the distance for the
ship which came at last. . The
cave in which Selkirk dwelt while on
the island is at the head of the bay,
now called Robinson Crusoe bay. It is
around a bold headland west of the
present anchorage and landing. Ships
have anchored there. but it affords
very Indifferent berth. Juan
Fernandez was once a convict station.
A number of caves in which the pris-
oners were kept. damp, unwholesome
dens. are no longer in use, and no more
prisoners are sent to the isIand.-Cen-