1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: I'm debling a chuck reboarding, and I'm fair downy. And 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: even if you haven't read Daniel Dafoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: you've probably at least heard of its main character, also 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: called Robinson Crusoe, and he's said to be one of 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: the best known characters in world literature. The story, of course, 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: is about the adventures of an English seaman who gets 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: shipwrecked on an uninhabited or seemingly uninhabited island for twenty 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: eight years, and it's kind of about the experiences that 11 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: he has. They're making a home um fending off cannibals, 12 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,599 Speaker 1: and I read it I think my sophomore year of college, 13 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: and I honestly do not remember much about it now 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: except that he spent the majority of his time worrying 15 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: about being murdered by cannibal. Yeah. I got a big 16 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: kick out of that spelling. Yeah. So it's about these 17 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: little adventures that he has and just surviving. How does 18 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: he survive on this island? So it really does seem 19 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: like this bizarre, fantastical tale, but what's really interesting, at 20 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: least to us, is that it's widely believed to be 21 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: based on a true story of the story of a 22 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: Scottish man named Alexander Selkirk who was ruined on an 23 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: uninhabited island for more than four years in the early 24 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds. Yeah, it's not a straight copy of salkirk story, 25 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: so definitely not. For one thing, Salkirk spent a lot 26 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: less time on the island than fictional Robinson Crusoe Dead. 27 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: The location of the island is different. Crusoe is in 28 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: the Atlantic, Salkirk was in the South Pacific. And how 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: the heroes, if if we're going to consider them that 30 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: the main character, the main characters, how they ended up 31 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,559 Speaker 1: on the islands is very different. Seal Kirk wasn't shipwrecked. 32 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: He actually chose to be there. And I think that's 33 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: probably the most fascinating little bit of the story that 34 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: you would choose this isolation kind of unwittingly, he didn't 35 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: know exactly what he was going to get into, but 36 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: certainly more interesting than a shipwreck. Yeah, absolutely, I would totally. 37 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: I mean, y'all know I like shipwrecks too, So that's 38 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,239 Speaker 1: saying a lot. That's saying a lot for Sarah here, 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: But we're going to take a look at that really 40 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: unusual decision, or to us at least an unusual decision, 41 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: and also a little bit of course about Selkirk's own 42 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: island experience, what he did to survive while he was there, 43 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: And that's I mean in that part, that's where you're 44 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: really going to see most of the similarities between his 45 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: story and Crusoe's I think, And um, of course we're 46 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: gonna look at how did this experience change him? Yeah, 47 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: you think, a few years on the island by yourself, 48 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:41,239 Speaker 1: definitely you're gonna be a different man when you finally 49 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: come off of it. But first, of course we're gonna 50 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: look at how he made his way to the sea 51 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: in the first place. He was born Alexander Selkraig in 52 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: sixteen seventies six in Lower Largo, Scotland, which is a 53 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: fishing village in Fife County, and he was the seventh 54 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: son of a shoemaker named John cel Craig and a 55 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: woman and youth and Mackie. And like a lot of 56 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: the stories that we cover here on this podcast, we 57 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: see a situation where the son Alexander really wants to 58 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: do something different from what his dad wants him to do. 59 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: His dad, John really wants Alexander to follow in his 60 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: footsteps and join the shoemaking business that he has right. Sorry, 61 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: bad pun, unintended pun as well. But Alexander dreamed about 62 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,119 Speaker 1: a life on the seat, about getting to the sea, 63 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: and his mother supported those dreams because she believed that 64 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: alex was blessed with luck, even though he was a 65 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: bit of a troublemaking punk um. As you'll see. According 66 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: to a Smithsonian article by Bruce L. Craig, who is 67 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: interestingly actually a descendant of alex and he's checked out 68 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: all these historical records from Largo's church elders and he 69 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: found that Alexander was actually punished several times for transgressions, 70 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: little crimes such as fornication, and that's how it was 71 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: listed in the records. Yeah, definitely um kind of scandalous. 72 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: And it was for one of those little crimes, one 73 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: of those transgressions, that he was to appear before the 74 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: church elders on this day in sixteen ninety five, and 75 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: that appears to be the day that he ran away 76 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: to see for the first time. Because yeah, he skipped town. 77 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: He did not make his little court appearance before the 78 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: church elders, and um it's assumed that he was possibly 79 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: with a Scottish colonizing expedition to Panama or what is 80 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: now Panama. Yeah, but he wasn't gone for good. After that, 81 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: he popped up around home again, at least long enough 82 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: to cause some more trouble. In late November seventeen o one, 83 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: he got into this huge fight with his family which 84 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: led to him assaulting his father and his brother John 85 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: and possibly even John's wife. And the whole thing might 86 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: have started when his brother Andrew sort of laughed or 87 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: made fun of him for accidentally drinking seawater saltwater. Very sensitive. Yeah, 88 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: definitely to to go after his whole family. So you know, 89 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: he's he's around, it seems, back from from Scotland time 90 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: to time. And then in seventeen oh three he makes 91 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: his first really big break. Yeah, he joins buccaneer William 92 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: Dampier's private privateering expedition to South America. And just to 93 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: give you a little background on that, the privateers, they're 94 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: basically legitimate pirates for the British Crown. So since Alexander 95 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: had done well in math and geography and navigation in 96 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: school and impressed his mentors. Those credentials kind of helped 97 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: him secure a position as a navigator on this particular journey. 98 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: And this is around the time as well that he 99 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: started becoming known as Selkirk. And folks aren't totally sure 100 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: about why he made that change. He might have been 101 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: trying to distance himself from this kind of sketchy past, 102 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: or maybe it was just a spelling or pronunciation misunderstanding. Yeah, 103 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: I guess some historians think that maybe spelling just wasn't 104 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: that important back then. It happens, so he has his 105 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: new name Selkirk, and he joins this expedition which has 106 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: two different ships involved. One is called the sink Ports 107 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: and one is called the St. George. And Selkirk himself 108 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: was aboard the sink Ports when they set sales September 109 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: seventeen three, and like we said earlier, he was a 110 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: good navigator and helped the ship out quite a bit. 111 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: He helped them travel as far as fifty miles on 112 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: a good day. They made it to Brazil in two 113 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: weeks or so, which I find that pretty remarkable. Early 114 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: sundred but it wasn't. The expedition itself was not going well. 115 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: His navigation seems like about one of the only things 116 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: that was really working. The privateers had problems from the 117 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: very start, and a lot of that trouble came from 118 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: dissension among the ranks. Yeah, damp Here was seen by 119 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: many to be cruel and incompetent Um. For example, he 120 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: was known to let captured ships go free without disturbed, 121 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: distributing all the loot to his men like he was. Yeah, 122 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: that's how they made their cash. So a lot of 123 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: the crew didn't like him for that reason, and trouble 124 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: started pretty much from the beginning surrounding that relationship with him. 125 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: There was also a lot of illness aboard Um. During 126 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: that time, ships were breeding ground for typhus dysenterian cholera, 127 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: and so by November several of the men were sick 128 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: with fever or scurvy, which is actually caused by a 129 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: vitamin C efficiency. Yeah, and one of the guys who 130 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: get sick is the captain Charles Pickering, and he died 131 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: in late November. So you had a replacement move in, 132 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: young Lieutenant Thomas Straddling, and he took over the command 133 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: of the sink ports. You'd think that maybe with all 134 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: the dissension in their ranks, change like this might make 135 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: things a little better. It makes things worth The crew 136 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: disliked him as much, maybe even more than damp Here. 137 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: So a lot of trouble now aboard both of these ships. Yeah, 138 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: and I mean to add to these already two kind 139 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: of big issues. There was also the fact that they 140 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: weren't very successful at what they were supposed to be doing, 141 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: which was the privateering part of it. They were trying 142 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: to capture Spanish merchant ships, but they weren't able to 143 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: do it. So the sailors almost mutinied many times because 144 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: they weren't happy with strad Lane and they thought Dampier 145 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: should attack more ships. Um. As we said before, I mean, 146 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: this is how they made their money. This is otherwise 147 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: they're just wasting their time, otherwise catching scurvy right, hanging out, 148 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: risking their lives. So they really wanted this to happen. Um. 149 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: But the major difficulty that ultimately turned out to be 150 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: the turning point for silk Kirk was the poor condition 151 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: of the ship that he was on. By September seventeen 152 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: oh four, Silkirk ship was so leaky that men had 153 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: to pump water out of it almost constantly, pretty much 154 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: day and night. I mean, I think it's interesting that 155 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: that's the point, the poor condition of the ship that 156 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: drives him over the edge. Not that you know, they're 157 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: not attacking Spanish or that everyone's getting sick, but he's 158 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: seriously afraid that the ship will sink. And I mean it, 159 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: it is getting really bad, like you mentioned there there 160 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: taking the water out constantly, and so finally they decided 161 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: to return to an island called Masatierra, where they had 162 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: spent some time earlier that year, and it was located 163 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: in the one Fernandez cluster, which is about four hundred 164 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: miles of six hundred forty kilometers west of Valparius, O, Chile. 165 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: So you know, they were just hoping stop there a 166 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: little bit, build up supplies again and rest and then 167 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: head out. That was the plan, at least of the captain. Yeah, 168 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: and they did part of that. They spent about a 169 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: month there stalking the ship with provisions, but they didn't 170 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: really get much fixed on the ship. It was still 171 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: pretty warm, ridden in bad shape. So but still then 172 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: Straddling decides that it was time to set sail sil 173 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: Kirk argued with him. He stressed that he believed the 174 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: ship wasn't sound, it wasn't fit to sail. The masks, 175 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: masks and the floors were so worm eaten that they 176 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to withstand open sea, much less these 177 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: battles that the sailors really wanted to get into. So, 178 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: showing his stubbornness as we've seen before, sail Kirk refused 179 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: to back down from this fight. So he was put 180 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: ashore with some of his provisions his betting A must get, 181 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: a pistol, gunpowder, a hatchet, a knife, his navigational tools, 182 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: a pot for boiling food, two pounds of tobacco, some 183 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: cheese and jam, a flask of rum, his Bible, the 184 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: Book of Common Prayer, and the seventeen Spanish dollars that 185 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: were his share of the boot. Do they learned so 186 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: far so you could see how little they had plundered. 187 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: Spend it all in one place, right, So, I mean, 188 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: you'll see different accounts say that he brought different things ashore, 189 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: but it wasn't much. I mean, it seems like a 190 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: lot more than if you just happened to show up 191 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: somewhere by accident, but it still wasn't a lot, definitely, 192 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: and more than you would leave a mutineer too. He 193 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: wasn't being treated quite on that level. Yeah, and this 194 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: was his choice at first. But as soon as the 195 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: ship starts to leave and he is wading through the 196 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: water going to the shore, he starts to immediately regret this. Yeah, 197 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: totally regret it. Yeah. He begs, in fact, to be 198 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: let back on board the ship, but Straddling wanted to 199 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: make an example of him, you know, in that sence 200 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: he was treating him a like a mutineer, didn't let 201 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: him back on board, refused the offer. So now we 202 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: have our castaway. Yeah, and at that point we have 203 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: Silkirk and he's standing there. The ship is sailing away 204 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 1: and he's thinking, oh, may in I might get stuck 205 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: here for like a few days or something. Little little 206 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: did he know. Yeah, he really thinks that another friendly 207 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: ship will probably come along in a few days time 208 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: and things will be okay. He thinks that he'll be 209 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: able to at least survive those few days. Because Masatierra 210 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 1: or Aquas Buena since it's also known, which is now officially, 211 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: by the way, named Robinson Crusoe island, It wasn't the 212 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,079 Speaker 1: worst place that you could be stranded for a little while. No, 213 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: it had fresh water and plenty of food sources. It 214 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: seems he had access to goat meat, turtle eggs, lobsters, 215 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: and a hawthorn berry like fruit that grew on something 216 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:39,319 Speaker 1: that was known as the cabbage palm tree. And why though, 217 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: why was this uninhabited island so bountiful, Yeah, bountiful larder 218 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: of foods. And according to an article by Louis Verner 219 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: in the America's it had been explored already in the 220 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 1: fift hundreds by the Spanish and in Sebastian Garcia. Corretto 221 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: was given a land grant there. And so he's the 222 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: one who imported the goats and pigs and uh he 223 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: even had indians at a time there at a farm. 224 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: The colonna didn't work out, it failed, but the goats stayed, 225 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: they remain, they turned feral and they thrived. So you know, 226 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: it ended up being a pretty well stocked place. And 227 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: there were some other castaways on this island with the 228 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: Selkirk as well. There were rats and there were feral cats, 229 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: and these were left behind by ships, just like the 230 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: ones he was on. They had stopped at the island 231 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:28,679 Speaker 1: for a little while and the ratch to sort of 232 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: ended up there. They jumped ship right on their tails, right, 233 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 1: So some people had been left behind on the island 234 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: too in the past. Twenty four years before Alexanderston actually 235 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: and Mosquito Indian man named Will was mistakenly left behind, 236 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: eventually rescued three years later by another privateering ship. Incidentally, 237 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: the privateering ship that he had been on also was 238 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: one of damp years. I think Dampier doesn't have a 239 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: good record. He really doesn't. He gets around. But an 240 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: interesting point about Will is that the character Friday and 241 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: Defoe's novel and Robinson Crusoe may have been based on 242 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: the Sky's account. So, yeah, Silkirk, he does have this 243 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: good supply of food. He has some potential friends. The 244 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: cats on the island. You like those cats. I like cats. 245 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: It would be good to have cats if you're all 246 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: by yourself. Far cats, well, we're gonna we're gonna get 247 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: into that a little bit more. They're not necessarily feral um. 248 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: But you know, he has the knowledge that he'll be 249 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: able to have enough to eat, and the knowledge that 250 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: he could survive if if he thinks quick, but still 251 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: he's he's pretty depressed at the prospect of being alone. Yeah, 252 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 1: because he was not only alone, he was in a 253 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: pretty uncomfortable situation as well. Rats would not at his 254 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: clothes and his feet while he slept. Plus there was 255 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: just that little problem with keeping a sanity, no one 256 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: to talk to. He was alone with his thoughts, listening 257 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: to sea lions bellowing on the beach all day long. 258 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: He even contemplated suicide at one point. Eventually, though, a 259 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: change came over him. And it's kind of hard to understand, 260 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,079 Speaker 1: I guess if you haven't been in that position. But 261 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 1: the way it's described in early accounts of his story 262 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: is that after about eighteen months, after reading scriptures and 263 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: turning his thoughts to the study of navigation and quote 264 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: force of reason, he became thoroughly reconciled to his condition. 265 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: And from that point on he kind of learned how 266 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: to live on the island and seemed to find his 267 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: own sort of piece there. If not really a happiness, 268 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: it seems like a happiness, but yeah, at least not depression, 269 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: it seems. And he got down to business too, you know, 270 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: he worked on taking care of some of these problems 271 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: that were bothering him, starting with pest control. So I mean, 272 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: I would say rats nibbling at your feet at night 273 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: would be a major issue, kind of top your list, 274 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: And he managed to take care of them by doing 275 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: perhaps the most obvious thing you can think of, getting 276 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: the cats involved in the whole process. So he domesticated 277 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: some of the cats by giving them pieces of goat meat. 278 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: They wanted to hang around his camp a little more then, 279 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: and then they realized there were also lots of feral 280 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: rats around that's are often fairal like um, and they 281 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: took care of the problem right quick for for Selkirk. Yeah, 282 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: but that wasn't the only thing he had to deal with, right, 283 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: I mean, he had to find food, shelter, and then 284 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: there's just what are you doing with yourself all day? 285 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: You know, what's occupying your mind? Taking care of that 286 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: little sanity issue we mentioned before. So we're going to 287 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: kind of go through how he got his food and 288 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: his shelter and um, you know what he did day 289 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: to day. So the real Robinson cruise this is part Yeah, 290 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: this is a real Robinson cruise, so part exactly. So 291 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: first of all, what did he eat? Well, there was 292 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: plenty of fish to be had, but they bothered Silkirk's 293 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: stomach a lot, I guess, so he had to settle 294 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: for the island's version of lobster, which was actually a giant, 295 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: clawless crawfish of sorts. Um. He also it goat mate, 296 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: as we mentioned before, and once he ran out of gunpowder, 297 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 1: he managed to get really agile, to the point that 298 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: he could chase down these goats that sort of outrun 299 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: them himself, and catch them and kill them that way, 300 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: which I think is pretty amazing. I think. Um, but 301 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: when he wasn't eating goats or giant crawfish, he did 302 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: have things like turnups and watercress and the cabbage palm 303 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier. Um, just things partly left by the Spanish, 304 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: just growing on the island. And unfortunately, though he was 305 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: disturbed by the lack of salt and the lack of bread. 306 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: I can't quite figure out the salt, because presumably he's 307 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: surrounded by seawater. I think he could use some solar 308 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: action and collect the salt, but I don't know. Maybe 309 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: he had other things on his mind. He was missing it. 310 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: Maybe he just needed you there, Sarah, to show him 311 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: the way. I think he mentioned he had other spices though, Yeah, 312 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: I think there were some other peppers and things growing 313 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: on the island that he used to season as food, 314 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: but it wasn't quite salt season the goat meat season 315 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: the goat meat, but it wasn't quite what he was 316 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: used to still. Um As far as how he lived 317 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: his home, I guess you could say he managed to 318 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: build two huts with wood from pimento trees and covered 319 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: those with long grass and line them with goat skin, 320 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: so sounds actually kind of cozy plush one the larger 321 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: one was for him to sleep in and kind of 322 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 1: hang out in, and the other one was a smaller 323 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: one in which he prepared his meals. He also learned 324 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:10,679 Speaker 1: how to start a fire with wood and must get flints, 325 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 1: and he tried to keep that going all day. We 326 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: also have to discuss how he clothed himself, because obviously 327 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: a few years on an island, your clothes are not 328 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: going to last that long, especially after the rats had 329 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: been gnawing at them exactly, that would reduce the lifespan 330 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: pretty quickly. So when his clothes started to fall apart, 331 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: he had to make new ones out of goat skins, 332 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: but he didn't have a needle and thread with him, 333 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: so he had to use a nail, and again with 334 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: the goats, a little piece of goat skin or old 335 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: stocking sort of fashioned into twine or thread to to 336 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: lace all these pieces together. So he must have cut 337 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: quite a figure once he got his outfits all made. Yeah, 338 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: I guess he was pretty styling for that area of 339 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: the world at the time, but he didn't have anyone 340 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: to show it off to. Really, he didn't have a 341 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: man Friday like Robinson Crusoe did, but he did have 342 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: his an moles. As we mentioned before, he had the 343 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: cats and he also had goats. Um. I mean he 344 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,679 Speaker 1: ate the goats, but he also sort of domesticated some 345 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 1: of the goats as well. It's it's been said that 346 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: he'd break the legs of the younger ones to kind 347 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: of keep them around, and so he had his own 348 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:18,160 Speaker 1: little animal family, I guess around him. He also had 349 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: some reading material. He had been left with his Bible 350 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 1: in the Book of Common Prayer, and he would sing 351 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 1: the songs and he would pray, and later he said 352 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: that he was a better Christian while in the solitude 353 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: of the island than he ever had been before. He 354 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: also just really embraced nature too while he was there. 355 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: I mean, you'd have a lot of time to think 356 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: and think about the island you were on, and he 357 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: learned a lot about the island and himself in that way. Presumably, Yeah, 358 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: very thorough like um. And he was always always on 359 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,880 Speaker 1: the lookout for approaching ships during this time. According to 360 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: Sael Craig's article, Alexander had a lookout spot which was 361 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: about eighteen hundred feet around there in elevation, so he 362 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: had plenty of time to react if he saw someone coming, 363 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: which turned out to be really vital in a couple 364 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,120 Speaker 1: of situations, because there was at least one instance during 365 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: these four plus years when a Spanish ship came to 366 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: the island and they came ashore the Spaniards did. They 367 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,680 Speaker 1: destroyed his hut, but Selkirk managed to evade them, and 368 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: he was right to do so. It seems Werner actually 369 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,160 Speaker 1: suggests that he would have been put to hard labor 370 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: aboard a Spanish ship, or perhaps even jailed and lima. 371 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: So it wouldn't have turned out for very well if 372 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: you'd tried to kind of get on board with these guys. So, 373 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:32,880 Speaker 1: I mean, this is another thing that kind of surprised 374 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: me about this story, because you imagine somebody stranded on 375 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: an island, you're trying to hail any ship you see, 376 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: you'd rather be taken by anybody. But that he was 377 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: actually looking for ships to avoid them too, I think 378 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: is fascinating. Yeah, And I think part of this, we 379 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: were kind of talking about this a little bit before, 380 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,159 Speaker 1: is just his own kind of coming to terms with 381 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: being on the island and his sort of love for 382 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: the island or comfort growing love for the island. Yeah, 383 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: and you know we've talked about before, and you'll see 384 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,159 Speaker 1: in a lot of writings about his experience that, you know, 385 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: he looked towards the sea with hope that someone would come, 386 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: but also with a little bit of hesitation. Definitely, eventually, though, 387 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: that friendly ship did come. He spotted one on the 388 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: horizon and he was finally rescued February seventeen o nine 389 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: by a ship called the Duke, and it was commanded 390 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: by Woods Rogers. And by this point Silkirk was pretty 391 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: crazy looking. I mean, he looked like he had been 392 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: on an island for four years. He had a long beard, 393 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: he was wearing those goat skin clothes, which I mean, 394 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: that's that's gonna make you stand out, I think. And 395 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: he greeted Rogers men by making them goat soup and 396 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: telling them all about his survival. So he was happy 397 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: to to have these visitors at first. Yeah, and they 398 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: hardly knew what to make of them at all. Rogers 399 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: later wrote that Silkirk so much forgot his language for 400 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: want of use, that we could scarce understand him, for 401 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: he see to speak his words by have So just 402 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: imagine him trying to communicate. He hasn't spoken to another 403 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: human being in more than four years, and he's trying 404 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: to tell them what happened. Um, that he was marooned. 405 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: And luckily sil Kirk's old friend or perhaps his friend 406 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,400 Speaker 1: of me, We're not really sure how good a terms 407 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: they were on when they parted ways, but William damp 408 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: Here was on board the ship, so again he makes 409 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: an appearance. Yep, he recognized the silk Kirk and vouches 410 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: for his navigational skills and also delivers him an interesting 411 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: bit of news about their old ship that they've been 412 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: on together. Yeah, and that's that the ship. He was 413 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: right the ship, thank after it left. Yeah, the poor 414 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,640 Speaker 1: sink ports. I knew that was going to happen. Yeah, 415 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: you did, you called it. It sank soon after abandoning 416 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: Alexander in seventeen o four, and only about a dozen 417 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: men survive. Most of those ended up in Spanish prisons too, 418 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,160 Speaker 1: so it was actually a good thing that he ended 419 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: up on the island. Four years on the island might 420 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: be a little better than four years in a Spanish 421 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: prison at least, Yeah, I mean, even without salt definitely. 422 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,640 Speaker 1: From there, Rogers makes Silkirk navigator of his ship and 423 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,640 Speaker 1: they sail around for two more years, So it's two 424 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: more years before Silkirk actually gets home. But then they 425 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: finally returned to London in October seventeen eleven, and it 426 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: was well worth the way that turns out, Silkirk comes 427 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 1: home with eight hundred English pounds in his pocket. That 428 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: was his share of the Duke's plundered well, So obviously 429 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: the Duke did a lot better than Silkirk's last ship did. Yeah, 430 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 1: and Selkirk was famous pretty soon too, because both Rogers 431 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: and Richard Steele wrote accounts of Selkirk's experience on the 432 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: island in seventeen twelve, and seventeen thirteen. And the way 433 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: Sail Craig from the Smithsonian article described that is that 434 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: he was an eccentric celebrity, which I like that somebody 435 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,919 Speaker 1: who who could travel around from pub to pub for 436 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: a couple of years make sightings telling his adventures getting 437 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: free meals. I mean, you have to imagine people would 438 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 1: want to get a look at this guy and and 439 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: hear his story. Yeah, and he took full advantage of 440 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: the situation for a while. He actually ended up marrying 441 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: two women at the same time. They didn't know about 442 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: it. It It wasn't like a sister wife situation. He married 443 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: two women in two separate places that didn't find out 444 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 1: about it until later. So you think he wouldn't be 445 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: that good at deceit, like living by himself for four 446 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: years on the island. But yeah, who knows. Maybe he 447 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: didn't do it intentionally. Who knows. I don't know too 448 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 1: much about that aspect of the story. But I do 449 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: know that after a few months, he didn't seem so 450 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: high on life anymore. He wasn't so happy with the 451 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: situation he had, but he became a loner, and he 452 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: seemed a lot unhappier than he had when he first 453 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: made that goat stew cheerfully on the island for his rescuers. Um, 454 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: he seemed more at peace than and now it seems 455 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: like he had a hard time going back to his again. Yeah, 456 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:47,680 Speaker 1: he had a hard time going back to his old 457 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: life in his old world. And some biographers even say 458 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: that he tried to replicate life on the island for 459 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: a while by returning to Largo and living in a 460 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: cave like shelter behind his father's house. Um. He made 461 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 1: the statement which is really poignant, and Steel writes about 462 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: it in his account. He said, I am now worth 463 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: eight hundred pounds, but she'll never be so happy as 464 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: when I was not worth a farthing. Yeah. And so eventually, 465 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: in November seventeen twenty, at the age of forty four, 466 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: Selkirk decided to return to life at see something to 467 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: do and some place to go again, and he signed 468 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: on as the first mate of a naval warship that 469 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 1: HMS Weymouth, And it was bound for the Gold Coast 470 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: of Africa, and it was searching for pirates. Um again, 471 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: you know, probably hoping to make a little money. And 472 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,640 Speaker 1: there was a lot of illness on board again too 473 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 1: though yellow fever and typhoid, and eventually Selkirk himself died 474 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:46,920 Speaker 1: aboard the ship December thirteenth, seventeen twenty one. Interestingly, Dafoe 475 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,919 Speaker 1: had already published Robinson CRUs So by then it was 476 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: April seventeen nineteen, but it's unclear whether he in Selkirk 477 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: actually met. Historians debate about that. It suggested, though, that 478 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 1: Dafoe met either or both, possibly Rogers or Steel, and 479 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,720 Speaker 1: he was definitely aware of Selkirk's story. Yeah, and from 480 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,159 Speaker 1: there the story became so popular and well known. And 481 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: as we talked about in into the introduction to this podcast, 482 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,159 Speaker 1: and I mean we were talking before a little bit 483 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,719 Speaker 1: about the Swiss family Robinson and you tend to prefer that, 484 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: I think to Robinson Crusoe, Sarah, don't you. Yeah, I 485 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 1: mean it's they have their whole family there. It's a 486 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 1: little more fun and exciting. Yeah, there's not this like 487 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,919 Speaker 1: murder Vacambal's constant threat. At least they don't dwell on 488 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: it so much. Yeah, but needless to say, as many 489 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 1: stories that it's influenced since then, there is now real 490 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: evidence also. Yeah, I mean, it was the story of 491 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: Robinson Crusoe became popular enough for people to actually go 492 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 1: out and look for evidence for this real Robinson Cruso. Yeah, 493 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: and they found it. In two thousand eight, some researchers 494 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: discovered Selkirk's navigational dividers or a pair of navigational dividers 495 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:00,679 Speaker 1: from the time period that they assume are his. And 496 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: they also found some post holes on the island where 497 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: his two shelters would have been built. So you know, 498 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: I'm sweet home. Yeah, and if you want to check 499 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 1: out the real Robinson Crusoe's home, you can do that. Um. 500 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: As we mentioned, they changed the name of the island 501 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: to Robinson Crusoe Island and drive home the point they did. 502 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 1: They did drive home the point, but they also driving 503 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: home the point that they don't mind having tourists come 504 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 1: by and check it out. So I'm not sure if 505 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: you can actually see where these post holes are, but 506 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: perhaps you can. Um. If anyone has visited or know 507 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: some more about this, we definitely love to hear your 508 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: own personal Robinson Crusoe stories or Alexander Selkirk stories. So 509 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: um you can write us at History podcast at how 510 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com, or look us up on Facebook 511 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,160 Speaker 1: or on Twitter at Miston History. We also have a 512 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,360 Speaker 1: ton of articles on how to survive in various dangerous 513 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: situation um you know, everything from too cold, too too hot, 514 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,640 Speaker 1: to what should you bring? But the one we're gonna 515 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 1: recommend for this episode it since he did to have 516 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: all his jam, and his cheese, and his books, all 517 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:09,439 Speaker 1: sorts of useful items on hand. Five everyday items you 518 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: can repurpose in a survival scenario, so you can look 519 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,679 Speaker 1: that up on our homepage by searching for probably everyday 520 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: items you can repurpose in a survival scenario at www 521 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: dot how stuff works dot com. For more on this 522 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,680 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. 523 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: To learn more about the podcast, click on the podcast 524 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. The 525 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works iPhone up has a rise. Download it 526 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: today on iTunes.