CRUSOE'S ISLAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 256, 8 April 1915, Page 7

CRUSOE'S ISLAND.

WHERE THF DRESDEN WAS SUNI

AN IDEA Ij SOLITUDE IN Till-

PACIFIC

(By Frank (',. Carpenter.) Valparaiso, Chili

' I dined the other night on lobsters caught on the shores of the island where Alexander Selkirk, the real Robinson Crusoe, was cast away. They were large, tender, and juicy, and I doubt if better can b" found in the world, il'ib-. h;kom Crusoe's island is becoming a gre.it fishing ground. It has fine cod in its Avaters, and it is noted for its lobsC-rs and other shellfish. It has also a la-'g" Chilean fishing colony, and the .)apa.'i"se who are organising a fishing industry in northern Chile, are considering the exploitation of that territory. Robinson Crusoe's island is known on the maps as Joan Fernandez. It belongs to Chile, and it lies about 400 miles we-t | of Valparaiso, and 2000 miles west of the Panama Canal. It is reached by government steamers, which go there to supply the colony at certain times of the vetr, and it is ruled by officers of the Chil'an Government. During my stay here 1 have met men who know the island well.

KEPT COOL BY CURRENT.

They describe it as a paradise. Tt lias plenty of rain and is covered with a luxuriant vegetation. It is affected by th" antarctic current, which keeps it perpetually cool, and the northern h:ilf, on which the rains fall, is covered wild green. ; / The island is only twelve miles Ion." by seven miles wide. It consists of a great mas 3 of rocks rising out of tin 1 ocean to a height of more than 4000lt. It is made up of hills and moimtaii:*, with many ravines and short valle-'s. The most of the shores are inaccessible, but at Cumberland Bay there is an excellent landing place. Behind this is a settlement of cottages and huts of cat.e wattled with straw 7 . The houses have garden?! about them, and at one time there was an attempt to start a sto.-k raising industry. There are wild fruits which have reproduced themselves fr.Tii trees planted by Alexander Selkirk, :i'id •from the same source there are wild grapes as delicious as those which Kobinsq;i Crusoe dried for raisins. TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. Alexander Selkirk was the, hero of Defoe's story and the real Robinson Crusoe. He was cast away on this island more than 200 years ago, and there IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK, MARINER. A native of Largo, in (lie county <>f Fife, Scotland, who lived on this island, in complete solitude, four years and four mouths.

He was landed from the Cinque . Ports galley, !>!S tons, IS guns, A.D., 1704, ar.-l was taken oil' in the Duke, privateer, 12th February, 1700.

J He died lieutenant of IT.M.s Wey ! mouth, A.D., ] 723, aged 47 years.

This tablet is erected near Selkirk's Lookout by Commodore Powell and t'.ic officers of'H.M.s. Topaz, A.H. 180 S. ; After his rescue, a little more than 2(H) years ago, Selkirk went to London and there met Defoe, who h.ul many talks with him, and therefrom got the idea and background of his storv. The work "Robinson Crusoe," was r-üb-lished ten years later. It ran through four editions in as many months, and was the big seller of its time. It is one ' of the biggest sellers of to-day, and it lanks with the Bible and John BunyaVs "Pilgrim's Progress" as the greatest sellers of history. "Robinson Crusoe" has been translated into nearly every known language. Tt has been printed in Spanish, Cerman, Russian, Italian, Creek, ami Arabic. It is one of the boys' books of Japan, and a Chinese edition has been recently issued which is having an enormous sale.

SPECIAL STEAMER TOUR. Now that the Panama Canal is completed there probably will be sonic special steamship excursions to Robi.i-ion Crusoe's island. The round trip fr.riii Valparaiso can be made in three or foi.-r days, and it might include a look at chtcave in which Alexander Selkirk lived, at the Lookout, where for four long years he scanned the sea for ships, ami I doubt not, at vestiges of v.rusoc's man Friday, and perhaps a petrified footprint of,that which the savage made upon the sand.

Selkirk was found by a ship that had seen the fire on the Lookout. According to the narrative of the captain who t lok him to England, ho was clad in goatskins and was running about as though crazy. When ho reached London his talk was the wonder of the coffee houses, and his adventures were discussed by everyone. Sir Richard Steele told of them in one of his papers, and sSelki-"k published a little pamphlet offtwalve pages describing his wanderings.