The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-26

be Left on a DesOlate Island in the South Seas. Where he Lived Four Years and Four Months Without Seeing the Face of Man. the Ship Being Afterwards Cast Away as he had Dreamed. As Also How he Came Afterwards to be Miraculously Preserved and Redeemed from the Fatal Place by the Two Bris- tol Privateers, Duke and Duchess, that Took the Rich Acapulso Ship Worth One Hundred Tons of Gold and Brought it to England. To which is Added an Account of Birth and Education; His Description of the Island where he was Cast; How he Subsisted; the Several Strange Things he Saw, and how he Spent his Time. With Some Pi0us Ejaculations that he Used During his MAIelancholy Residence There. Writ ten by his Own Hand and Attested by Most of the Eminent Merchants Upon the Royal Exchange"
 Probably it was this same little book that furnished DeFoe with text for his story which has delighted genera tions of young people in all parts of the world, and filled them with vague long ings for sea-Iife, shipwrecks and soli- tude. Robinson Crusoe'' had a phe- nomenal success, accorded to few works since Job wished that his enemy would make a book" and has by no means lost prestige after two hundred years.
 When an excursion to Juan Fernan- dez is on the tapis. the newspapers of Santiago and Valparaiso advertise it in glowing terms for weeks beforehand; nf o-f V.or a in Chili, the little coaster that is char tered for the trip is generally crowded to it's utmost capacity, though the fare is as high as accommodations are poor. The party we joined-composed mostly of Chilians and Germans-set sail from Talcahuano, port some two hundred miles south from Valparaiso; and the fare was put at eighty dollars (gold) per capita, for an absence of eight days.
 We were struck by a ''norther" when g. few hours out. (which, as usual in these waters, came tearing up from the south around Cape Horn), and the sea- sick misery that commonly attends a voyage so short that one has not time to get his sea-legs on, was intensified by the over crowded condition of the tiny steamer, and the odoriferous messes Qimberger, liverwurst and other myste- ries) that our Teutonic friends insisted on devouring between their hearty ar-o- o-u-u-u-ps. But the most disagreeable things have an end, and late on the sec- ond day we came to anchor off the is- land of our dreams. Nothing could be seen but wild seas on one hand rolling off into the darkness, and on the other a black, perpendicular wall of rock, whose ragged pinnacles appeared to pierce the sky, broken by awful gorges through which the wind walled dismal | ly. Some of the cliffs seemed so near that we might almost touch them with | our hands, and the surf beat so fright | fully upon them that returning waves kept the ship rolling as when out on the unsheltered ocean. Sleep was out of the question, so little group of Americans beguiled the hours by reading Robin son Crusoe" aloud to one another, in the uncertain light of swaying lanterns Another passenger had thoughtfully brought along the later book of MT. j. Ross Browne, called 'Crusoe's Island and elicited unmeasured applause by reading how that distinguished man felt when he first set foot upon Juan Fer | nandeZ.
 Next morning all hands were on deck to see the sun rise over the hills of Cru soc Island; and when the thick vapors that shrouded them were lifted, a scene of beauty was disclosed worth coming far to see. Beyond the abrupt walls ot the rocks that lowered a thousand. feet straight out of the sea, were mountains whose tops were bathed in the glory oi morning, their sides covered with green est verdure and golden fields of wild oats, their feet hidden in groves oi corkwood, palmetto and myrtle. Far ther inland great peaks of reddish stone lowered to the clouds, silvery cascades leaped down to the ocean; and snowy foam outlined the shore where the surf beat in measured swells like the voice oi a distant Niagara. The ravines showed focks and herds and cultivated fields and in the central valley, nestled amid
 blooming orchards, were the bamboo cottages matched with straw in which the few inhabitants live. There is but one spot in all the southern coast, which is the side of the island usually ap. preached, where the rock opens wide enough to admit the smallest vessel
 This single inlet Is named Cumberland Bay, and nearly all the rest of the shore is totally inaccessible to man, with fear. ful cliffs overhanging the water, where
 wailing winds and moaning surf keer up g. perpetual dirge for the thousands of sailors who have been shipwrecket in sight of safety. This letter is al. ready too long to admit of description
 of the island and an account of our ad. ventures ashore so we will defer it un. til another week.
 | FANNIE B. WARD.
 REV. DIR. SMITHS LETTERS. |