Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-16
pOBINSON CRUSOE'S ISLAND.
., the Home OF the Ancient Marner-How the
AVis't Island Looks Today
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ulnnnrnru rrunnru1ru ulrnnnrruuu

the vessel finds himself upon the coast
Of Guiana, on the north part OF Bra
zil, beyond the river Amazon, toward
that part OF the river Orinoco, common.
~ called the Great river; and began Il
consult with me" continues Robinson
what course he should take, for the
ship was leaky and much disabled, and
he was for going directly back to the
coast OF Brazil. was positively
against that, and looking over the
charts of the sea coast of America with
him, we concluded there was no in
habted country for us to have recourse
to til we came within the circle OF the
Canibee Islands, and therefore resolved
to stand away for Barbados. which
by Keeping of to the sea to avoid the
in-draft Of the Gulf OF Mexico, we
might easily perform, as We hoped, in
fifteen days sail"
And somewhere in those waters the
mariner Of the story found his island
and never saw Juan Fernandez at all.
To this day West Indians insist that
the island Of Tabogo Is the one named
In the story. There Is considerable
literature bearing on this subject, most
Of 1t as old and quaint as Crusoe HIM
self, which may occasionally b. found
By searching the musty shelves Of anti
quarian book sellers. Probably the
most authentic account Of Selklrk's adj
ventures Is contained In very curious
little book, written by the man who res
cued him, Captain Woodes Rogers him.
self commander Of two Bristol priva-
tcers, the Duke and Duchess. Cap.
tain Rogers says that when his ship
approached Juan Fernandez Gin Feb
ruary, 1000 light was discovered
which they at first thought to be on
board a ship at anchor Two French
pirates had been in search OF Captain
Rogers, and it was supposed that these
were lying In wait, close to the shore
The boats which had started landWard,
hastily returned TO the ship; and the
wonder IS that they did not sail away
leaving poor Robinson to his solitude.
hut Captain Rogers was a brave man,
and instead Of flight he prepared for
battle, Next day seeing no vessel there
they went on shore, where they found u
man--so says the narrator clad in
goat-skins and looking wilder than the
first owners of them 1t was Selkirk,
WhO-almOst craZed with excitement at
sight Of a longed-for sail which might
deliver him-had built the fire that at.
tractcd their attention. The prlya.
teers took him on board and finding
that he had been q ships officer, APP
pointed him mate Of one of Rogers yes-
GELS and took him to England
The queerest Of an the books is a IT.
D. -
published in ITO, and profusely garn-
ished with capital letters, after the
fashion OF that time, 1t Is entitled
Providence Displayed, or n very Sur
prising Narrative Of one Alexander Sell
kirk, master Of merchantmen called
CinQuc Port, who, dreaming that the
ship would soon after be lost, he de-
sired TO he left on "A desolate ISLAND In
the South seas, where he lived four
years and four months without seeing
the face OF man. che ship being after
wards cast away as he had dreamed.
As also how h. came afterwards to be
mlraculously preserved and redeemed
from the fatal place by the two Bristol
prlVaieers, Duke and Duchess, that
took the rich Acapulco ship worth one
hundred tons Of gold and brought II To
England. 70 which is added an aC-
count OF birth and education; his de-
scription OF the island where he was
cast; how he subssted, the several
strange things he saw, and how he
spent his time With some pious Ejac-
uatlons that he used during his mel
ancholy residence there, Written by
his own hand and attested by most
Of the eminent merchants upon the
royal exchange
Probably II was this same little book
that furnished DeFoe with text for
his story which has delighted genera
tons of young people In all parts Of
the world. and flied them with vague
longings for seattle, shipwrecks ana
solitude. Robinson Crusoe' had a
phenomenal 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 he taps. the newspapers Of
Santiago and Valparaiso advertise 1t
In glowing terms for weeks before