Robinson Crusoe is a fictional character in the book of Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719. In this famous work, Robinson is shipwrecked and ends up on the island, surviving alone before meeting Friday, another lonely resident of the island.
Alexander Selkirk: biography
Defoe's story, however, is based on the real life experiences of the Scottish sailor. The prototype of Robinson Crusoe Alexander Selkirk (photo of his statue is presented below) was born in 1676 in the small fishing village of Lower Largo, in the region of Fife, Scotland, near the mouth of the Firth of Forth.
He was hired by the boatswain on the Sank Por ship, which was bound for privateer sailing in 1702. The owners of the ship received a privateer patent from Lord Admiral, which not only allowed merchant ships to arm themselves from foreign ships, but also authorized attacks on them, especially those flying under the flags of the enemy countries of Britain. In essence, privateering was no different from piracy - robbery was another way of earning when normal sea trade stopped during the war.
The fate of Sank Pore was inextricably linked with another privateer enterprise, led by the captain of St. George William Dampier.
Robbery license
In April 1703, Dampier left London at the head of an expedition consisting of two ships, the second of which was called "Fame" and was under the command of Captain Pulling. Nevertheless, even before the ships left Downes, the captains quarreled, and Fame sailed away, leaving St. George alone. Dampier sailed to Kinsale, Ireland, and there he met the Sank Pore under Pickering. Both ships decided to join forces, and a new agreement was concluded between the two captains.
Dampir was hired by Thomas Escort to send an expedition to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) in order to search and rob the Spanish ships carrying treasures. Two captains agreed to sail along the coast of South America and capture a Spanish ship in Buenos Aires. If the extraction amounted to 60, 000 pounds or more, the expedition was to immediately return to England. If unsuccessful, the partners planned to go around Cape Horn to attack Spanish ships carrying gold from the mines in Lima. If this had not succeeded, it was agreed to sail north and try to capture the Acapulco, a Manila ship that almost always carried treasures.
Ill-fated expedition
The privateer expedition left Ireland in May 1703, and as things progressed, things began to go wrong. The captains and crew quarreled a lot, and then Pickering fell ill and died. He was replaced by Thomas Stradling. Disputes, however, did not stop. Discontent was caused by crew suspicions that Captain Dampier was not decisive enough in deciding to rob passing ships and, as a result, a lot of booty was lost. He was also suspected that, after the mission was completed, he and his friend Edward Morgan would not want to share the booty with the crew.
In February 1704, during a stop on the island of Juan Fernandez, the Sank Por team rebelled and refused to return aboard the ship. The crew returned to the ship after the intervention of Captain Dampier. To make matters worse, sails and tackle remained on the island after the team hastily retreated when they spotted a French ship. As the voyage continued, the means for cleaning and repairing the ships necessary to prevent damage to the ship by the worms were lost, and the ships soon leaked. By that time, the relationship between the two teams had reached a point, and then they agreed upon reaching the Gulf of Panama to divide production and disperse.
Riot on the ship
In September 1704 the St. George sailed away, and the Sank Pore returned to Juan Fernandez in an attempt to restore his sails and gear, but it turned out that the French ship had taken them. It was here that the boatswain Alexander Selkirk rebelled, refusing to swim further. He understood that the condition of the ship was so poor, and his relationship with Captain Stradling was so tense that he chose to try his luck and land on Mas-a-Tierra, one of the uninhabited islands of the Juan Fernandez group. He was left with a pistol, knife, ax, oats and tobacco, as well as the Bible, religious literature and several navigational instruments. At the last moment, Alexander Selkirk asked to be taken aboard, but Stradling refused.
As a result, it turned out, although against his will, he saved his life. After sailing from Juan Fernandez, the Sank Pore leak became so strong that the crew was forced to leave the ship and transfer to rafts. Only 18 sailors survived, who managed to get to the coast of South America, where they were captured. The Spaniards and the local population abused them and then the crew was put in jail.
Alexander Selkirk: life on the island
Near the coast, he found a cave where he could live, but in the first months he was so frightened by his isolation and loneliness that he rarely left the coast, eating only shellfish. Alexander Selkirk - the prototype of Robinson Crusoe - spent days sitting on the beach, peering into the horizon with the hope of seeing a ship that would save him. More than once, he even thought about suicide.
The strange sounds coming from the depths of the island terrified him, and seemed the cries of wild bloodthirsty beasts. In fact, they were published by trees that fell from a strong wind. Selkirk came to his senses only when his beach was captured by hundreds of sea lions. There were so many of them, and they were so huge and terrible that he did not dare to approach the shore, where there was the only source of his food.
Fortunately, the nearby valley abounded with lush vegetation, in particular cabbage palm trees, which became one of its main sources of food. In addition, Selkirk discovered that the island was inhabited by many wild goats, probably left behind by pirates. At first he hunted them with a gun, and then, when the gunpowder ended, he learned to catch them with his hands. In the end, Alex domesticated several and fed them meat and milk.
The trouble of the island was the big ferocious rats who had a habit of nibbling his arms and legs while he was sleeping. Fortunately, wild cats lived on the island. Selkirk tamed several, and at night they surrounded his bed, protecting him from rodents.
Phantom hope
Alexander Selkirk dreamed of salvation and daily looked out for sails, lit lights, but several years passed before the ships visited Cumberland Bay. However, the first visit was not quite what he expected.
Joyful, Alex rushed to the shore to honk the two ships anchored off the coast. Suddenly he realized that they were Spanish! Since England and Spain were at war, Selkirk realized that in captivity he had a fate worse than death, the fate of a slave in a salt mine. A search party landed and, noticing the Robinson, began firing at him while he ran and hid. In the end, the Spaniards stopped searching and soon left the island. Having escaped captivity, Alex returned to his much friendlier cats and goats.
Happy salvation
The Robinson remained alone on the island for four years and four months. He was rescued by another privateer ship, led by Captain Woods Rogers. In his naval magazine, which he conducted during this famous voyage, Rogers described the moment of Selkirk’s rescue in February 1709.
“We arrived on the island of Juan Fernandez on January 31. Replenishing supplies, we stayed there until February 13th. On the island we found a certain Alexander Selkirk, a Scotsman, who was left there by Captain Stradling, who accompanied Captain Dampier on his last voyage, and who survived for four years and four months without a single living soul with whom he could communicate, and not a single companion except wild goats. ”
In fact, Selkirka, in spite of his forced loneliness, had to beg him to board, as he learned that among his rescuers there was the ill-fated sailing commander “Sank Por” and now the pilot on the Woods ship Roger Dampier. In the end, he was persuaded to leave the island, and he was appointed assistant to Rogers' Duke ship. The following year, after the capture of the Spanish ship Nuestra Senora de la Incarnacion Disenganio, transporting gold, the sailor Alexander Selkirk was promoted to the boatswain of the new expedition vessel, renamed Bachelor.
