The Washington times., 1902-05-09
ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND.

MANY persons seem to think that the
largest island in the Juan Fernandez
group. of the coast of Chile, was the
scene chosen by Dcfoe for the adventures
of his immortal Robinson CTusoe. our
consul at Valparaiso wrote few weeks
ago of Juan Fernandez as made famous
by the story of Robinson Crusoe, ana
one of the New York papers, last week
referred to this same island in the Pa
cinc as Robinson Crusoe Island.
The fact is that the island on which
Ctusoe and his faithful Friday had so
many charming or thrilling experiences
never had an existence, except in the I'M
agination of Defoe. On the title page ot
his look Defoe wrote OF the solitary
homo of Crusoe as "an uninhabited ISL
and on the coast of America, near the
mouth of the Great River OF Oroonoque'
Crusoe. therefore, was environed by AT
lantic instead of Pacific waters; but there
is no island off the mouth OF the Orinoco
If Defoe had cared rap to make his i'm
mortal story geographically plausible he
would not have placed the abode OF Cru
soc of the mouth of the 0rinoco. The
story itself carried with it the conviction
of very truth, but not the geographical
position assigned to Crusoe's island.
1t is a noteworthy fact that many OF
| the best accounts written of Juan Fer
nandez contain no allusion 10 Defoe
novel. The one book that has been writ
ten on the island. however, perpetrates
| the hlunder alluded to above. a Chileah
| named Vivuna, in 1883. published book
of S34 pages in which be gave an eX-
baustive description of the island and It's
history His subtitle was History OF
| the Island of Robinson Crusoe. MS
book contains long account OF the va
rious opinions as to whether Defoe 5
book vas based on the adventures OF
| Alexander selkirk when he led lonely
life fo- four years on Juan Fernandez.
| The outline of Selkirk's life that has
come down to Us SHOWS clearly enough
that he had little merit Of his own, out
the controversy that became even bitter
soon after Dcfoe's story was putllshed
as to whether the novelist had appropri-
ated selkirk's narrative and interviewer
| II with his iictien had the curious effect
TO make Selldrk a hero for all time. ms
name became associated with the story
Of Robinson Crusoe simply because 1t
was stoutlv asserted in Defoc's day that
the great novelist was plagiarist, who
had sponged On the sailor Selkirk for
literary material.
II was agreed by all critics long ago
that there is not a particle OF evidence
that Defoe made riratical use OF sei-
kinks narrative in the preparation of MS
story. There is no similarity whatever
| in the descriptions of Inc real and the
| suppositious islands. in their climates of
in the incidents given IN the two books
Neither Is there any more reason 10 ne
| .feve that Defoe derived the man lHea
of his story from Selkirk's solitary llie
on an ISLAND than that he may have CD
tained it from the published account OF
Tho experiences Of Peter SerranO, q ship
wreck keG sailcr who lived alone for sew
eral years on an island in the Caribbean
under conditions somewhat similar tt
| those described IN Deioe's story. An Eng
Iish edition OF SeIrano's narrative wa:
published some years before Robinson
Crusoc was written.
II is very likely that the idea Of writing
a story ABOUT a castaway on an islah'
NAV have been suggested TO l'cI,e by oG'
or The other Of these narratives OF actua
experi ,ncc. gut this is q very slcndcl
basis upon which 10 ground the accusa
| tIons hat were made against Defoe; an'
: the very circumstance that he was false
lv charged with having made imprope
| use of Selkirks book makes it unjust Il
| the memory Ct he prince of raconteurs
as we'll as incorrect in fact TO speak o
| Juan Fernandez rs Robinson Crusoe Isl
aud-New York Sun.