CRUSOE'S ISLAND

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 1, 1 July 1922, Page 12

CRUSOE'S ISLAND

PKOPOSED HEALTH KESOP.T.

THere is a lonely spot in thfc Paoific which the Chilian Government is proposing to turn into a health resort. ' Juan Fernandez lies like.a vivid greeii jewel in. the .heart of an opal Eea, 420 miles west of Valparaiso. Fair and lovely it rises, 13 miles long and four miles broad; with its peaks 3000 .feet above the quivering Southern Sea. It beckons. still .with the lure of an. enchanted land (says the Children's Newspaper),. for it was here that in 1704 the original of Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, a. buccaneer, was. marooned by his own request after he had quarrelled with his skipper. He lived on the,island for four years and four months, when he was finally rescued by Captain Woodes Hogers, who described him as a- man dressed in goatskins, atid wilder in appearance than the goats themselves. Selkirk actually did have a man Friday— an Indian whom he found in the woods and rescued_ from death. But he was drowned while fishing. Rcoeri* visitors to Juan. Fernandez saw Crusoe's Cave, which is lined- with shelves and has a cupboard still intact. Near,the cave is k spur of rock, on which -sohie years ago a Chilian surveying- party discovered the remains of an old' flagstaff deeply embedded: in the earth. This was probably the one that the. castaway had erected on " his look-out , point. in the hope of attracting the attention of some passing ship. It was -t this point on thfe hill road called Selkirk's Look-out, 'where, in a gap in the trap-rock, a magnificent view may be had of the ■Whole island-and of the sea north and south, that a tablet was erected to_ the,memory of Alexander Selkirk. He lived to be master's* mate of H.IVI.S. Weymouth, and Ydied in 1721. •The vegetation of the island is reported to be wonderful. The native growth is a kind of beautifu] tree; fern, while the valleys are covered with-wild quinces, pears, peaohes, and grapes, -which ■ Crusoe himself or other, early settlers, probably planted. There, are plenty of goats, pigs, and ponies running wild, 'and- tha surrounding sea sw-arnjs ■yfith fish, principally, a species of cod, delicious/to eat. Quantities of sea-Is* sun themselves.on.the:rocks near by. This earthly paradise-Has only some SO inhabitants, most of whom'are of GeHrian origin. The project of turning- it into' a Jiealtb resort will ba Chili's third'attempt to invade its loneliness. At one time it was used as a penal settlement! and as ships were, scarce in those days it is to be feared that warders and prisoners were1- left frequently without food or. supplies. Then,about 50 years ago, the Chilian Govern-Tti-ent formed a scheme for colonising the island, but it was a failure. Will it be a success as a health l-esort, or will it remain nothing more than an enchanted Islo of Dreams? • . .