Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-16
,..ro.pondence.


Special , 1J.,'' chilI, Dec. is'--Beins on
''Ip' .,orn side Of South America 1t
san easy ,. l known to the world as
dN-,"e Crusoe's'-for 1t lies on'y
.Son, 90 miles from va.p'' onr r ras
aeOu ,,t, toward sunset DOR fa'ne.'
sirals". ,,benever somebody succeeds
us , sa,' up an excursion party
N u''" Tough TO pay for char'erihs an
e'pec,''a ream Of going on foot to Poly
as w" os there is no regular commuhl-
nesla' 90 600, the main land and this
eauV" ,a Cbilian possession There Is
aoI"u .I, ,vo or three times year 10
man Fernapdes-more for the ne, p osp,ng
' ~ asootIng goats and seal and hsnins
o. SUI and Holsters than for WISHING
~, S baunts Of the Anelen, M -, n", n a
ln' ",emory Of that worthy is not nela
'ne n, generation near the scene OF
his adventures -, ,o.o0s =, our
slhoe Zoe have lamentably turned
tarleI w. myths-since II has Deeh
owl 70 ,ha, william Tell did not snoot
proven W." ram his sons head, nor bar
On ~, sPFF r,chie nirt a flag IN the lace OF o.
SS.an,SSavall Jacksons men, ana SING ~
s sS 'hroad Light of nowadays even eai .
inec v,Vs Is doubted.l am delighter TO be
"a C'au' declare that there really was
tDt w. osor Crusoe,' Though, as every
hUV'i nnnyrs that was not ms true
pouy and that he lived on the Island.
nanleI' nyactly as described In the
allnv'', uet g0O years ago, But local ira
hoIy, s 'o ~ me affair differ greatly from
oIuO account with which We are iamll-
hr . T., ,be vear 170j a
sro,chman named Alexander Selerals'
',ow commonly called Selklrk), mutlh-
,' ,Y On hoard the Spanish bark Clnque
n., =" and Was given the choice of be-
hanged at the yard-arm or put
w oro alone on an unnhabited island,
S a. .hoso Inc latter alternative, because
nv .gnred some hope OF life but when
,..1,d ON the messy rocks of Juan Fer
I nnnSez with his sailors kit and small
Ni ,nolv NJ provisions, the desoluation OF
.Sa rniace SO weighed upon him that he
t.,god with tears to be taken back
and hanged, rather than remain--a SOL
,ary human speck surrounded by a
Mid waste Of water
A few DAYS afterward he discovered
an indian on the island, who had come
Sown some years before, from the Mos
auto coast OF Central America, on the
Mate Danthere. and who, having gone
sshore TO hunt got lost and was aban-
aimed by his companions. This was the
NAN Friday" whom Daniel DeFoe inn
mortalized.
After sclkirk had lived on Fernan-
asl four Years and four months, he was
rescued BY an English ship and taken
10 southampton, where he told his
story with some judiclous omissions
and exaggerations: and so II came to
DeFoe's ears. and finally into print. The
box was not published until more than
n years after SelDrk's return to Eng
lind and il IL asserted that the author
d Robinson Crusoe" never saw his
hero nor held any communication with
him, but that he picked up the nara
live BY bits here and there, mainly
rom newspaper items which doubtless
nginated in the sailors own account
GhImseIf At any rate, 1t Is surprising
how correctly the scenery of Juan Fer
nandez island is portrayed In the we'll
known story, so that to this day I
serves well for a guide book, and by II
one may readily find the lookout" the
cave" and what remains OF Crusoe's
castle and other haunts
But Mr.. DeFoe does not appear TO
have been very well posted on the ge-
Ogpraphy Of this part of the world, for
he has located his island on the wrong
sde Of the continent, and mixed up
Valparaiso on the western coast with
MontevIdeO on the eastern.
Hunt up your long unread Robinson
Crusoe' and turn to the fourth section.
There YOU will read that the hero
starts from Brazil whore he had been
living as planter, on voyage to the
noHhward Driven by heavy gales to-
ward the equator, along the eastern
coast Of South America, the captain Of